711
malian) target, and not without other unintended collateral damage.
18
Many years ago
in New Zealand, a Buddhist community with land holdings had to choose what to do
about bio-invasives on their property. Without naming names or outcomes, we’ll
leave it to you, the reader, to work through the likely ethical scenarios (Fig. 78.5).
Yet, on the positive side, none of our current predicament smacks of “emptiness,”
which Nagarjuna equated with “the ultimate truth” and the essence of Mahayana,
“the middle way”
19
Which suggests that the twenty-first century is somewhere
murkily in between those same ethical scenarios. Indeed, the lack of moral account18 See “Bait residue issues,” by Kate Guthrie, April 7, 2016, Predator Free NZ, https://predatorfreenz.org/friday-afternoon-reads-5/. Accessed January 8, 2020.
19 See The Fundamental Wisdom of the Middle Way, Nagarjuna’s Mulamadhyamakakarika,
Translation And Commentary By Jay L. Garfield, Oxford University Press, New York, 1995, p. 93.
Fig. 78.5 Avalokiteshvara Buddha of Compassion Tangka, Thailand, ca. Mid-19
th Century.
(Private Collection). (Photo © M.C. Tobias)
78.2 A Context for Choice
malian) target, and not without other unintended collateral damage.
18
Many years ago
in New Zealand, a Buddhist community with land holdings had to choose what to do
about bio-invasives on their property. Without naming names or outcomes, we’ll
leave it to you, the reader, to work through the likely ethical scenarios (Fig. 78.5).
Yet, on the positive side, none of our current predicament smacks of “emptiness,”
which Nagarjuna equated with “the ultimate truth” and the essence of Mahayana,
“the middle way”
19
Which suggests that the twenty-first century is somewhere
murkily in between those same ethical scenarios. Indeed, the lack of moral account18 See “Bait residue issues,” by Kate Guthrie, April 7, 2016, Predator Free NZ, https://predatorfreenz.org/friday-afternoon-reads-5/. Accessed January 8, 2020.
19 See The Fundamental Wisdom of the Middle Way, Nagarjuna’s Mulamadhyamakakarika,
Translation And Commentary By Jay L. Garfield, Oxford University Press, New York, 1995, p. 93.
Fig. 78.5 Avalokiteshvara Buddha of Compassion Tangka, Thailand, ca. Mid-19
th Century.
(Private Collection). (Photo © M.C. Tobias)
78.2 A Context for Choice