The last couple years I have been reading everything I can by and about Thomas Berry, the Christian theologian or “geologian”, as he called himself, who contributed a great deal to the study of eco-spirituality and the environmental movement. I came across a short biography of Berry written by his student, Mary Evelyn Tucker, on the website “Center for Humans & Nature”. In it she mentioned that in addition to Berry’s interest in indigenous spirituality, he also was influenced by Asian traditions and philosophies, particularly Confucianism. She noted that Berry thought that Confucianism had much to teach the contemporary environmental movement. As an East-Asian Studies major in undergraduate, I had studied Confucianism, but had taken a greater interest in Taoism, so I was curious to see what had captivated Berry about Confucianism. I found my college text on Confucianism by H.G. Creel, Confucianism and the Chinese Way and dug back into it.
Confucianism taught that nature and human are interconnected. Confucius inherited this idea of the intimate relationship of nature and humans from older Chinese culture, and held to that tradition as well as to the elaborate rituals and etiquette that were aimed at harmonizing and revitalizing the universe and human society. Confucius taught that it was critical that human beings be in harmony with nature and to establish benevolent government that protected this harmony. He considered nature (which included earth, humans, animals and plants) to be basically good and had an optimistic view of the possibility of improving people, government and, by implication, nature. One does this through education and self cultivation. This idea of basic goodness reminds me of the original goodness of nature as found in indigenous (primal) religions and in Native American and Celtic Spirituality. Confucius was unencumbered by Western dualism. For Confucius, humans were not separate from nature or the cosmos.
Confucius saw the universe to be an interconnected triad of heaven, earth and human. Heaven for Confucius was not what we conceive of as God, but what he referred to as the Way of heaven. This Way was the manner in which the cosmos functioned. To be in harmony with heaven, or the Way, was for humans to follow truth and to find their original nature. The earth, nature, plants and animals were considered by Confucius to be in harmony with heaven, but humans had some work to day to get into harmony. This concept of the Way is much like Taoism, in which the Way is translated as Tao: the way things work, the inherent system or process of the cosmos, nature and humans.
Earth and human, the other two parts of the triad are to be kept in harmony with heaven. Humans can bring themselves to be more in harmony with heaven through living a moral life. This included practicing the correct ceremonies (li), the correct etiquette and adopting proper beliefs and behavior. It must be noted that for Confucius the main concern was human society and good government. The person was to cultivate themselves to be better servants of other people. However, Berry and others have noted that in Confucius’ time, it was assumed that the moral person was also serving nature.
Part of the “Way” for Confucius was Ch’i, the material force of the universe. The ceaseless movement of Ch’i in nature gives birth to new life. This Chi is sometimes pictured in Chinese landscapes as the mist descending from the mountains. Humans are supposed to model this ceaseless vitality of the cosmic process in our behavior and the organization of our society. Through Chi, everything is connected. The five elements are metal, wood, water, fire and earth. Each element corresponds to a season, a color and a direction. For example, fire corresponds to south, summer and the color red. Rituals, etiquette and human behavior and natural systems all revolve around these interconnections. The moral person’s job is to keep all of this in harmony. Therefore, cultivation of the individual’s life and the cultivation of the land in agriculture are interconnected and equally important. Humans are considered co-creators with heaven in re-ordering human society and human’s relationship with nature. Contemporary process theology in some ways shares this philosophy of interconnection.
Berry taught that Confucianism was an “anthropocosmic” philosophy as opposed to an anthropocentric philosophy. Instead of having humans as the center of creation around which the universe revolves, Confucian thought sees humans as “an integral part of the ‘chain of being’ encompassing heaven, earth and the myriad things”(Evelyn Tucker). Humans, for Confucius, are considered to be interconnected, (interpenetrating, united) with all of the cosmic order.
This philosophy has much to teach contemporary environmentalists. Confucianism can help us develop our new eco-spirituality or eco-centric theology that undergirds our environmental action. As I move away from the anthropocentric and dualistic traditions I grew up with in traditional, Christian theology, Confucianism’s non-dualism and wholistic view of the cosmos is very helpful. I agree with Berry that it has much in common with indigenous spiritualities around the world. What I find to be unique in Confucianism is the moral responsibility of humans to cultivate and educate ourselves to be instruments for re-harmonizing and revitalizing human society and individuals with heaven and earth.
To restate this idea, dualist theism found in western religious traditions such as Christianity, Judaism and Islam is anthropocentric. A basic principle of eco-centric theology is the move from understanding God and humans as separate from the rest of the cosmos – temporarily part of nature – to seeing God and humans as part of nature: interconnected. Confucianism is closely related to primal religions and spirituality that were almost universally non-dualistic. If we consider humans and God are utterly separate from the cosmos, then it is possible to view nature as serving humans and expendable. Views such as dominion over nature and it’s exploitation are intrinsic to dualism. However, if humans and God are considered part of the process of the cosmos, then to inflict damage on nature is to damage God and ourselves. Confucian philosophy is consistent with non-dual thought in which human life and our conception of God is interwoven with the cosmos. Following from this is an entirely different understanding of theology, ethics and human identity. Our ethics cease to be concerned primarily with human well-being, but must be adapted to include all of nature. Non-dualism changes everything, from how we think about God’s identity, to how we view humans, other animals and all of nature and the cosmos. I was surprised to discover in Confucius an ally in eco-spirituality.
