The land beneath our feet is one of the few constants in our lives. With undiscerning generosity, it holds us, feeds us and grounds us throughout our lives and all the generations of humanity.
The crises of our time, whether ecological, social or psychological, share a common root- forgetting we belong to the natural world. Whole systems and lives have been built as though land is a resource to be used rather than a part of us.
The consequences are impossible to ignore unless you have the luxury of being shielded from them. Environmental destruction hits hardest those who have contributed least to it- communities in the global south, people without economic cushioning and future generations who have no say in the decisions being made now.
"There is a pleasure in the pathless woods, there is a rapture on the lonely shore, there is a society where none intrudes, by the deep sea."
The same tendencies that drive environmental destruction- greed, aversion, delusion- are the tendencies that Buddhist practice has always sought to work with. The ecological crisis is not separate from the inner life. It is, in part, an outer expression of it. Which means that practices that cultivate awareness, reduce craving and foster a sense of connection are not a retreat from the world's problems. They are a response to them.
At Buddhafield Base, care for land and ecology is not a policy or a feature. It is a value that shapes everything: how decisions are made, how the land is worked, how people are invited to relate to the 70 acres that will become its home. The intention is to grow organic food, develop a forest garden, rewild areas of the land and support local biodiversity. Buildings will be eco-conscious, and energy will come from renewable sources. But these are outcomes, not the point. The point is a shift in orientation, from extraction to reciprocity.
There are important parallels between our usual personal predicament, our sense of separation from the rest of the world, and our collective sense of separation from the natural world.
The outdoor setting of Buddhafield's events is not incidental. The elements are participants and part of what makes the experience transformative. Living simply together under canvas, preparing food, tending a fire- these acts reconnect people with a quality of presence that is harder to find in ordinary life. They also quietly challenge the assumption that comfort and consumption are the measures of a good life.
There is a long tradition, across many cultures and spiritual paths, of understanding the health of the inner life and the health of the land as reflections of one another. At Buddhafield Base, that understanding will be lived rather than theorised. The land will be tended carefully, not because it is useful, though it is, but because it deserves care, the beings that depend on it deserve care and because the practice of giving that care is one of the most reliable paths back to what matters.
The energy expended in pushing down despair is diverted from more creative uses, depleting the resilience and imagination needed for fresh visions and strategies.
Buddhafield Base is a project for land, for the future and for exemplification of our four values - authentic community, meaningful work, celebration of creativity and imagination and care for land and ecology. Find out how you can support us here.