Greenness Within | Teen Ink

Greenness Within

February 16, 2022
By AndrewRqy BRONZE, Guangzhou, Other
AndrewRqy BRONZE, Guangzhou, Other
3 articles 0 photos 0 comments

       In his eyes, this space is covered with the color of liveliness, the color of peace, the color of hope. Green, all green. It is purer than his heart can ever be, not like a child who has not yet experienced the world, but like an elder who loves and embraces every aspect of it. However, he can hear it cry, he can sense the sorrow under its forgiveness. He can see its arm striking out to seek help, and he’s about to take its hand. For this belief, he stepped into the tent, where a crowd of people is sitting circularly, patiently waiting for him to preach. 
       At this moment, he thinks back to how he got involved in this, and he remembers the day that man approached him with his offer. The man’s height was very rare for Tibet people to witness, and his body looked like one of the athletes in those traditional customs. However, his gesture spoke of the gentility and wisdom of a well-educated person. For years he preached Tibetan Buddhism to local communities, provided assistance for those in need, and treated those suffering from illness. Now, the man asked for his assistance, for the assistance of his reputation, for the assistance of the religion that he represents. The man needed his help to persuade the villagers to help save the environment, to live an eco-friendlier life, to abandon anything made of plastics, and swear to never use them again. The plan was to save the environment, the nature that accompanied his race from the very start. 
       Green used to be the only color of this land, but now there are white, black and all other colors hidden beneath and covering some areas. The colorfulness does not help dress the land with beauty. Instead, the environment now permeates the sense of death and despair, slowly choking itself until giving up its last breath. The land needs help, and it needs it now. 
       This is what Tibetan Buddhism wants, a world where man and nature coexist peacefully. But he could not accept the man’s offer with no hesitation. The cost for this plan to succeed is significant enough to not be ignored. In the wish to build a village where people produce no waste harmful to the environment and enroll in conservation acts, villagers would be forced to abandon some of the tools and lifestyles they heavily relied on.  
       He had been to their residences, which are just tents with simple equipment and a lot of recycled plastic containers. The woman he met treated him warmly by offering a bowl of milk. She looked satisfied, kind, and enthusiastic about his arrival. Her hand was rough but warm, with scars that signal her hard-working spirit. The woman had to raise two little children and take care of the cows by herself as her husband had to work in the city. However, the income of the family can barely sustain their daily life, leaving little money to be saved. As a monk, he could not contribute more than sympathy and comfort, and he would never want the possible consequences of the plan to put any more stress on their already struggling life.
       Yet he agreed to do it, not because he chooses to leave behind his doubts, but because he wants to put the choice in people’s hands and let them decide their fate, the land’s fate, between the two paths. 
       Now he is entering the room to convince the villagers to take on this mission and adjust their current lifestyle to help save the environment through small actions such as replacing the plastic tools in their houses. The fear of leading them to go the wrong way hesitates his motion. Deepening his breath and letting his body shake. At last, he gets in. Standing on the stage, the scene differs much from his imagination and would last in his mind for the rest of his life. 
       The crow is sitting on the ground patiently waiting for him to deliver his speech. Even though they may have an instinct that urges them to protect the environment, they do not understand why their belief in Tibetan Buddhism is essential in developing such an instinct into strong motivation. He is here to make them understand. He could tell from their eyes, stirring right at him with hope and bravery shining inside, that they are ready, they are determined to make their home a better place, to live peacefully with nature like their ancestors once did.
       At this moment he realized that he is not here to persuade them, but here to guide them. His job is not to plant the seed of conservation in their mind, but to encourage the germination of it. Now, it is time for him to guide the people to reach the future
 
 


The author's comments:

This article describes a celebrated monk's thoughts when he is about to convince the villagers to live a life that produces no harmful waste to the environment and be actively involved in conservation acts. The fiction is based on the real story of a monk in Qinghai, Tibet.


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