Science & Spirituality: Making Meaning of Climate Change
Since 2017, Ram Appalaraju has refocused his life to focus on action, advocacy, and the spirituality of addressing climate change. Born and raised as a Hindu and trained in Vedanta, then embarking on Buddhist path, he is now a Buddhist Eco-Chaplain and teacher at the Sati Center for Buddhist Studies in California. In addition to his spiritual practice, he brings with him a wealth of scientific and technological knowledge from a professional career in Silicone Valley. His life, then, his spiritual traditions, education, and heartful practices have placed him at an intersection of science, spirituality, and meaning-making as he works as a teacher and advocate addressing climate change.
At the Climate Cafe Multifaith, Appalaraju offered a presentation walking through four main points: Buddhism, ecology, science and advocacy. These four things enfolded together, and he brought both spiritual tools, of compassionate practice, and scientific tools to bear. Of the science, he is trained to use the En-Roads climate simulator from MIT and Climate Interactive. For the spiritual, Appalaraju brings practices of compassion and heartfulness to the challenges of climate change.
This article follows up the four part frame Appalaraju identified: Buddhism, ecology, science, advocacy. These four things together, says Appalaraju offers a meaningful entry into climate work, joining the teachings of Buddhism with care of nature, science, and adding “a spiritual dimension.” To help unpack the simplicity and complexity of this frame, I offer this article in weaving together the ‘what,’ ‘when,’ ‘how,’ and ‘why’ of informed and spiritually meaningful action on climate change.
First ‘what.’ Appalaraju applies his experience and expertise to address the climate crisis by raising awareness about the problem and possible solutions. He has a number of educational tools for this, both spiritual and technical. From the technical side, he uses the ‘En-ROADS.’ This program with its series of adjustable levers, shows what solutions (such as planting trees or electrification) make the most impact against problems such as sea level rise, warming temps, and air pollution. The research behind En-ROADS not only helps policy makers, teachers, and concerned citizens see what could work, but also demonstrates what gaps exist.
“Right livelihood, right action, and right speech.”
—Ram Appalaraju
Photo by A Shuhani.
Next, the ‘when.’ The effects of climate change are already widely felt. And the ‘when’ of Appalaraju’s framework is ‘right now.’ Not only do existing solutions need to be applied right now, but the development of new technologies—both nature based and otherwise—need to be fast tracked and implemented as soon as possible. Says Appalaraju, “if you turn on the TV or open the newspaper, you don't have to go to the second or third page, topics like biodiversity loss, ocean degradation, urban flooding, political strife, climate crisis, the immigrant migrations, economic instability, food shortages, wildfires, soil degradation—right? You can just list on and on… you cannot avoid them.”
The ‘when’ is right now, but not just the scary parts that shout from the headlines. The ‘when’ is also about now being the time for advocacy and action. Says Appalaraju, “we tend to respond with anger, helplessness, despair, frustration, grief…” Appalaraju notes that these emotions are natural. Yet, they can also be paralyzing. And paralysis, he says, “That’s not an action I can take.” And this is where Appalaraju turns back to the Buddhist Path, explaining, “I have a moral obligation to make a right effort and to act here, but I have to let go of this emotion of despair and all that stuff and get to business, get to work,” and to do so “in the most meaningful way.”
‘When,’ then, is both temporal and spiritual. Action matters right now. But meaningful action, as a reflection of “moral and right effort” is an essential spiritual frame for the work. For Appalaraju, this can look like an alignment, of human will alongside the will of God, “in the Vedantic Hindu sense, probably Christian ideas, also, there's a notion of God's will and free will. I want to take my free will and use it properly, that's where the moral and ethical code comes in. My effort needs to make my free will align with God's will… I want to use my free will, to do things that are of value to others, or of a ‘higher significance’ that hopefully aligns to the Gods.”
“The simple answer is: we have work to do.”
—Ram Appalaraju
Photo by The Tampa Bay Estuary Program, cropped.
Okay, but how? We see the news, how do we move past our dismay into “right and moral action.” For Appalaraju out of his framework, ‘Buddhism, ecology, science, and advocacy,’ strategies begin with the acknowledgement that “climate change is real.” It is real, and the argument around that needs to shift toward action to include a range of tools, including education, advocacy, and heartfulness.
Education is a key beginning, especially if you remember that education is about learning as well as teaching. Appalaraju, having spent a lifetime in high tech, employs his scientific skills to teach about climate change, as well as demonstrate technological solutions and opportunities to address the crisis. Education, tho, is also about spirituality and practice. As an eco-chaplain, Appalaraju recognizes that human experience and spiritual practice are an essential part of developing a heartful space from which right action can grow.
For Appalaraju, then, encourages a practice of reconnection to nature. He explains, “that's what my chaplaincy training was all about, to really build and cultivate a relationship with nature. …when I say I care about nature, am I saying that it is different than me? All of the things we are experiencing, such as suffering, has got a deep level of not just interconnectedness, but interdependency.”
And this, then, is the root of true advocacy. Through a practice of cultivating this relationship with nature, including human nature, what can arise is a meaningful advocacy for nature and humanity that is rooted in compassionate lovingkindness.
“In Buddhism, we use the phrase ‘right aspiration,’ which means, it's not like playing the lottery, but it is something I can work towards, achieving an outcome that's favorable for many, many, many people and species.”
Photo by Vishwanth P, cropped
Climate change is the ‘what’ that needs to be addressed right now. We do that with education, compassion, heartfulness, knowledge and advocacy. In bringing together Buddhism, Ecology, Science and Advocacy, Appalaraju invites us to open our hearts, engage our ‘right intensions,’ and take action.
And finally, importantly, ‘why.’ The obvious, of course, is that unchecked climate change is a man-made crisis that is a threat to every living thing on the planet. The science is clear, we must address climate change to restore the natural balance of the carbon cycle that has existed for millions of years, supporting life as we know it on earth. Says Appalaraju, “people may not relate to only a couple of degrees or one degree [of warming], but this is a path to death for every species. …We have to bring warming down to 1.5 degrees.”
The other part of ‘why,’ is about living into the possibilities for a more spiritual and harmonious life in general. Our lives are too often built around consumerism and “likes” on social media. The disconnection of our lives from nature doesn’t just threaten life on this planet, it threatens the meaning of the life we live together. Appalaraju explains that we have lost touch ecologically with the planet that sustains us. We are taught to “ignore nature.” In place of that, our whole focus has become “Let's make one widget and sell lots of them and make money.” The industrial revolution fundamentally changed our world view to one of production for monetary acquisition. Says Appalaraju, “And that's the world we are stuck in.”
Like all good teachers, Appalaraju has a book recommendation for us, The Invention of Nature, Alexander von Humboldt’s New World, by Andrea Wulf.
“Science,” says Appalaraju, “aided by spirituality is how I position myself.” The two together give him every reason to be hopeful. For when it all comes together, the energy and thoughtfulness generated by this combination allows us to ask of ourselves, what are we going to do and build as we “engage in activities that are meaningful?”
One tangible hope came recently with the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act. Using the En-ROADS modeling tool, Appalaraju can show how far that bill really goes to address the crisis. Says Appalaraju, “if the Inflation Reduction Act is fully executed, the projections show we are going to [see even better results] than the projections that were made. That's how powerful this bill is.” That is hope, indeed. Hope not only of keeping warming below the 1.5C threshold, but hope also in the human community. Appalaraju credits the work of advocacy and action to bring this big potential change about, saying, “you all did this to make it happen.”
In this video, Eco-Chaplain Ram Appalaraju speaks to what gives him Hope in addressing the climate crisis.
Ram Appalaraju has been retired since 2017 and has been on Buddhist path for about 8 years. He spent his professional career in high-tech. He serves as a Buddhist Eco-Chaplain serving communities at various organizations offering spiritual connection with nature and compassion for compassion and care. He also serves as a chaplain at Santa Clara County (CA) prison and jail where he serves the inmates as well as teaches meditation practices. In addition, Ram deeply cares about ecological and climate change causes and serves in the boards of a few non-profit organizations where he contributes on issues relating to ecological education, issues relating to diversity, equity, and inclusiveness and volunteer care. One such organization is Environmental Volunteers Inc. which teaches K-12 kids on ecological topics. Ram is trained as a Climate Ambassador for En-Roads climate simulator from MIT and Climate Interactive.
Rev. Richenda Fairhurst is here for the friendship and conversations about climate, community, and connection. She organizes the Climate Cafe Multifaith as a co-leader of Faiths4Future. Find her in real life in Southern Oregon, working as Steward of Climate with the nonprofit Circle Faith Future.