When I think of what is most essential, I think of the four basic elements for human survival: water, food, shelter, and human connection. Of course, there are many other things that we feel to be our basic needs or wants in this life, but we certainly cannot survive without water for more than a few days. Our human body is composed mainly of water. I was born on 22 April: Earth Day, and I feel deep within my bones that we must revere and protect all aspects of Mother Earth. It is just good common sense that we do not destroy our own body nor our habitats as human creatures on this planet.

Words cannot convey how deeply it pains me to see the starkly ignorant, destructive, greedy short-term decisions being made by the US president, a so-called world leader. Last month, Trump announced plans to reverse the Obama-era Clean Water Rule, a step toward overriding the US Clean Water Act protections in place since 1972. Water is the very basis of human and animal existence, as are soil, air, sunlight, and green growing things. The environmental degradations from corporate pollution, agriculture, and industry that many of us witnessed in the mid-to-late 20th century, are now being invited back, to our horror. Streams, wetlands, rivers, oceans, lakes, and ponds will be again subjected, in many cases, to rampant pollution, dumping, and poisoning.

Who will speak for the waters, alongside those who have been speaking, praying, drumming, singing, litigating, championing, and fighting all along without cessation? Can any single one of us stand to remain silent? I am a Buddhist and a writer, but I have never been a highly political person. In this age, however, to remain silent seems to me its own kind of violence. I don’t see an alternative to becoming political, to sharing my voice and actions. Today, children as young as nine or ten years of age are often the most vocal about the plight of the environment, as they know full well it is they (and their children) who will reap the full consequences of what is occurring now to their Mother Nature.

It is hard to comprehend any type of logic behind decisions such as these new deregulatory measures. 

What may help ease farmers’ short-term gain, will likely harm them and others, or kill their offspring. No other species but us humans make such catastrophic choices.

Alongside the children are the elders who stand up and speak out for protection. Lakota grandmother and Water Protector Cheryl Angel of South Dakota shares:

May we all follow the sanity and strength of our elders and the youth who have the Earth at the center of their concerns, that we all may live and flourish together.

Sarah C. Beasley (Sera Kunzang Lhamo), author of Kindness for all Creatures: Buddhist Advice for Compassionate Animal Care (Shambhala 2019), has been a Nyingma practitioner since 2000, a certified educator, and an experienced writer and artist. She has a BA in Studio Art and an MA Candidate in Educational Leadership. Sarah spent close to seven years in traditional retreat under the guidance of Lama Tharchin Rinpoche and Thinley Norbu Rinpoche. With a lifelong passion for wilderness, she has summited Mt. Kenya and Mt. Baker, among other peaks. Her book and other works can be seen at www.sarahcbeasley.com.

See more

What the Trump Administration Is Doing to Your Water (EARTHJUSTICE)
Trump Eases Pollution Controls on Streams and Wetlands (The New York Times)
Standing Rock: Three Years and Still Fighting (Resilience)