Flushed Away - Academic Paper - Laura DiFiore

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Flushed Away: Water Conservation and Buddhist Philosophy

By

Laura DiFiore

Buddhist Philosophy

Professor Bender

14 December 2006

Word Count: 3,043



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Flushed Away: Water Conservation and Buddhist Philosophy

After four weeks (in the Outback), we’ve reached Cooper Pedy and I never thought I’d

be so happy to see civilization in my life! Although it’s a stretch to call this

civilization…everything is so run down and dusty, but it’s cool how the buildings are

3/4th buried. We got out of the Jeep and bought fresh bottles of water at a corner store

– nearly $5.00 for a liter! – but never has anything tasted so good! We were standing

outside laughing as we drank, and for some reason, I splashed some of my water at

Mike. This woman walked out of the store just as I did so, with a little boy holding her

hand, and she looked at me horrified, shouting “What are you doing? That’s precious

drinking water!” I mean, after four weeks of living on three liters of water a day per

person I know damn well how precious drinking water, especially ice-cold, fresh,

unboiled and unsterilized water is, but sheesh! To get all bent out of shape over a

small splash! I think that was over the top for her… but still… somehow, I feel, um, I

don’t know… ashamed.

Personal Diary Entry, December 2, 19931

Australians, especially Aboriginal Australians, understand the significance of water in

a way the average American may never know. Their understanding of water’s importance to

life, much less the frailty of the earth’s still-abundant water supply, along with their attitude of

preciousness towards water is distinctly Buddhist, although it is unlikely they would ever

claim it as a Buddhist viewpoint. More likely, Australians would say they are simply being

smart and pragmatic. From ultra-low-flow toilets to grey-water recycling, Australians use

1 I spent four months traveling throughout Australia in 1993-1994, four weeks of that in the Outback. Six of ustraveled together, and carried 3 liters of water per day per person for all water needs – cleaning, cooking,drinking - on our journey. When I checked into the hostel in Cooper Pedy, I was stunned to learn that we werelimited to 1.5 liters per day per person!



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technology in simple and ingenious ways to best use and preserve their limited water supply.

While their reasoning may be simple survival, their attitude and outlook towards water is not

only distinctly Buddhist, it is one that should be emulated by Americans, if not all of the

world.

While it may be obvious why Australians must be concerned about their water use,

why would Americans need to be? Don’t we have a virtually unlimited supply of safe, clean,

fresh drinking water? Well, yes, we do… today… but that is unlikely to last forever, and it is

most definitely not unlimited. It is, in fact, likely that within our lifetimes, there will be a

serious worldwide water crisis. Water is, contrary to popular belief, not necessarily a

renewable resource – especially ocean water. To the extent that it is renewable, the costs are

quite often prohibitive. According to the Christian Science Monitor 2 ,

- 1.1 billion people worldwide do not have access to safe drinking water

- 4,700 people die every day due to lack of potable water (mostly children under the

age of 5)

- Per-person water use more than doubled compared to the rate of population growth

during the last century.

Not only is clean drinking water inaccessible to nearly 16% of the world’s population, we are

using up our supply of drinkable water at an unsustainable rate. This is not only obvious in

desert regions of Australia and Africa, it is happening right here in America. Aquifers

throughout the country are drying up. The High Plains Aquifer, covering and supplying water

to parts of Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, South Dakota, New Mexico, Wyoming and Texas

provides 30 percent of the water used for agriculture within the United States.3 From 1940 to

2 “Backstory: Tapping the World.” Christian Science Monitor. Online edition of the March 22, 2006 articlefound at http://www.csmonitor.com.3 United States Geological Survey. Water Level Changes in the High Plains Aquifer, Predevelopment to 1994.USGS, 4 March 1996.



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1980, the level of this aquifer dropped as much as 100 feet in many places – that’s 100 feet of

water covering an area of several thousand square miles gone forever to the high demands of

modern agriculture. Gone forever because much of this water was poisoned with heavy

metals, fertilizers, and other poisons commonly used to increase agricultural yields at the

expense of the future sustainability of the ground wells the water came from. We are not only

hurting our water supply, we are destroying it and ultimately our own survivability.

The average American’s attitude towards water use is unfathomable to a Buddhist.

Americans are just five percent of the world’s population yet we use 15 percent of the world’s

water supply annually.

4

For such a small set of the population to consume – and abuse – such

a large amount of available drinking water is contrary to basic Buddhist principles. For

starters, by hurting our water supply, we are hurting our planet, ourselves, and every other

living and nonliving creation. We are creating a state of suffering – in a world where all life

is suffering – to such an extent that we risk our own ultimate demise because we “grasp” more

and more water everyday. We use drinking water to flush our toilets: that is simply obscene!

We use drinking water to water grass simply to improve the appearance of our front yards –

up to 30% of our drinking water is used on front lawns. We wash our cars and trucks with

drinking water… we use drinking water to fill up our radiators and hose down our streets. To

use precious drinking water for such non-life-vital purposes is not only obscene, it violates

virtually every precept of the eight-fold path5. By no stretch of the imagination is flushing our

toilets (often with up to four gallons!) with fresh drinking water a good example of right

action, much less right living.

4 Christian Science Monitor.5 Olson, Carl. Original Buddhist Sources: A Reader. 2005. Rutgers University Press: New Brunswick, NewJersey, and London.



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For Buddhists, water is not only essential to life, it is a elemental symbol of life, one

that is used throughout Buddhist practices. Buddhists consider water one of the five basic

elements (earth, water, fire, air, space6) and much Buddhist symbolism revolves around water.

The cone portion of many stupas represents water, and the cone portion is usually the

uppermost portion of a stupa7. This uppermost portion – the highest-reaching part – of a

stupa serves to highlight the importance of water to not only all other elements, but to all of

life. Water is one of the “Eight Offerings,” offered to cleanse one’s mouth, face, or feet.8 We

are created in our mother’s womb in a water-filled sac, without water we could not exist much

less end the cycle of rebirth! The lotus, another important Buddhist symbol, can only grow in

water 9. It is not by accident that Buddhists chose the lotus flower as one of their more

important and prolific symbols. Like a human growing in a mother’s water-filled womb10, the

lotus grows in water, as do all fish (the Golden Fish is a symbol of good fortune for

Buddhists)11. Many insects and animals require water to grow… frogs, for example, start

their lives out as water-living tadpoles. All mammals gestate in water, many reptiles spend

part of their lives in water, often their eggs are laid in water or near water. The water-growing

lotus is such an important symbol to Buddhists that Buddha is routinely represented as sitting

on the bloom of a lotus.12 Water, especially clear, pure, tranquil water is often a symbolism

for a untroubled mind, a symbol of not only mindfulness, but a symbol of nibbana, the

6 Sometimes the elements are listed as only four – space being excluded. I don’t know why.7

Harderwijk, Rudy. A View on Buddhism. http://buddhism.kalachakranet.org. Stupas can be small, to sit on adesk, or very large, as when an entire temple is built in the form of a stupa. Stupas represent “the enlightenedmind of the Buddha.”8 Harderwijk.9 Kumar, Nitin. “The Lotus in Buddhism.” Exotic India Arts. Reprinted at ReligionFacts.com.http://www.religionfacts.com/buddhism/symbols/lotus.htm 10 Levitt, Peter. “An Intimate View.” Dharma Gaia: A Harvest of Essays in Buddhism and Ecology. Ed. AllanHunt Badiner. Berkely, California: Parallax Press, 1990. Pp 93-96.11 Harderwijk.12 Kumar.



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cessation of all that poisons our mind, the Buddha-nature.13 Water is not just a sacred symbol

to Buddhists, its use as a symbol is common throughout most world religions.14 From

Orpheus’s reformation of the Dionysian religion to modern-day Christianity, water is used in

sacred rites worldwide.15 The sacred symbolism of water is nearly universal.

Buddha recognized the importance of water conservation; in fact, he “set down rules

forbidding his disciples to contaminate water resources.”16 Monks are forbidden from

throwing waste, trash, food and other contaminants into water, and they were extolled to

protect the lives of all animals (obviously, including humans) that rely upon any water supply

for survival

17

. The Vinaya Pitaka explains how to safely build toilets (so as not to

contaminate local water supplies) and recognizes water and the ocean as the home of other

sentient beings, that being fish.18 Anyone who damages water supplies does “so at great

karmic peril.”19 For a Buddhist, to damage essential water is not only to cause (and increase)

suffering of all life, it puts one’s own future life and future enlightenment at risk.20

Why is it that Americans use so much water – more than 420 liters a day – compared

to the 30-50 liters generally considered the basic daily amount of water necessary for

cleaning, cooking, and drinking?21 Why do we believe it absolutely necessary to flush our

toilets with drinking water? Suggest to the average American that they reuse their shower

water to flush their toilets and you will likely get a very squeamish response, along the lines

13 Hanh, Thich Nhat. The Heart of Buddha’s Teachings: Transforming Suffering into Peace, Joy and Liberation. New York: Broadway Books, 1999. Pp. 236-140.14

Abraham, Ralph. “Orphism: The Ancient Roots of Green Buddhism.” Dharma Gaia: A Harvest of Essays in Buddhism and Ecology. Ed. Allan Hunt Badiner. Berkely, California: Parallax Press, 1990. Pp 39-49.15 Abraham, p 44-45.16 Kabilsingh, Chatsumarn. “Early Buddhist Views on Nature.” Dharma Gaia: A Harvest of Essays in Buddhism

and Ecology. Ed. Allan Hunt Badiner. Berkely, California: Parallax Press, 1990.17 Kabilsingh, p 11.18 Kabilsingh, p 11.19 Kabilsignh., p 11.20 Kabilsignh.21 Christian Science Monitor.



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of “eww, that’s gross.” Ask yourself as you read this: How many times today did you flush

your toilet with drinking water? Does even one of those flushes contain more water than you

drank today? Very likely. At between 1.5 and four gallons per flush, most of us flush much

more water than we drink. It seems at first that, for a Buddhist, this would be a prime

example of grasping, but American’s abuse and misuse of water cannot simply be explained

as simply grasping. It is not caused by greed or hatred, or even delusion22 (that water is a

renewable, endless resource): all are convenient explanations but not enough. Our abuse of

our water supply is truly an example of mindfulness, rather, lack of mindfulness, and our

inability to recognize the essential interdependence of all beings – including water. We

simply do not recognize that we are hurting other beings, our planet, and water itself. We are

not being mindful when we automatically flush the toilet without thinking about what we are

doing, much less about where the water we so cavalierly flush away came from nor where it is

going.

No joke, sign on the hostel bathroom says “If it’s yellow, let it mellow. If it’s brown,

flush it down.” How funny – how gross! Actually, the toilets are kinda cool. They

use compressed air and a few OUNCES of water to flush, make a big swoosh sound…

loud! The shower, though, is really weird. You get one shower token per day for 75

seconds of water. There is two buttons, one for hot, one for cold, you gotta push and

hold them with both hands to get the shower to work. I ran out of water before I could

get shampoo out of my head, ended up just wiping it off with the towel. Hair never

been so shiny before!


22 DeSilva, Padmasiri. “Buddhist Environmental Ethics.” Dharma Gaia: A Harvest of Essays in Buddhism and

Ecology. Ed. Allan Hunt Badiner. Berkely, California: Parallax Press, 1990. P 17.



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Water may be the best example of the Buddhist concept of interbeing, and the

importance of interbeing to Buddhists. Interbeing, the interconnection of everything to

everything else, implies not only creative forces behind each being’s existence (we cannot

“exist” without having something create us, nor do we actually ever cease to exist as from us

becomes new creation), it also implies “the idea of mutual obligation between nature and

humanity, and between people.”23 Water is not just an essential element of interbeing, it is a

member of the Buddhist sangha, as is all of the earth.24 Water, as does everything else in

existence, is imbued with “sacred power” essential to all of life.25 Everything is

interdependent, especially water, and this is particularly true to Buddhists. Water is not just

essential to the health of plants, animals, and humans, it is essential to the very health of the

earth itself and its atmosphere. We, “are an active part of the Earth’s atmosphere, constantly

circulating the breath of this planet through our bodies,”26 and as an essential part of the

atmosphere which contains not only air but water vapor, it is vital to the future of the Earth

itself that we continue to have access to clean water not only for drinking, but for breathing.

It is not enough to blame “wrong” mindfulness as the reason for our misuse of water;

we must face the fact that our mindset towards water “derives from a dysfunctional and

pathological notion of the self.” 27 Those 1.1 billion people without access to clean water are

denied this essential element of life not just because its uneconomical to provide them with

the means for a clean water system, it is our self-centered, competitive and consumptionistic

view of the entire world, along with our misguided belief in our own (cultural) superiority that

23 deSilva, p 18.24 Halifax, Joan. “The Third Body.” Dharma Gaia: A Harvest of Essays in Buddhism and Ecology. Ed. AllanHunt Badiner. Berkely, California: Parallax Press, 1990. P 25.25 Halifax, p 24.26 Abram, David. “Perceptual Implications of Gaia.” Dharma Gaia: A Harvest of Essays in Buddhism and

Ecology. Ed. Allan Hunt Badiner. Berkely, California: Parallax Press, 1990. Pp 76-77.27 Macy, Joanna. “The Greening of the Self.” Dharma Gaia: A Harvest of Essays in Buddhism and Ecology. Ed.Allan Hunt Badiner. Berkely, California: Parallax Press, 1990. P 57.



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has warped our sense of self to the point where we simply do not recognize that every other

human is a part of our own “self.” Every time one flushes four gallons of water down the

toilet with a few small squares of bleached paper 28 you are flushing away four gallons of

water that could mean the difference between life and death for at least one other person on

the planet. But we don’t think about thirsty people in other countries…the idea that anyone

may actually die of dehydration is pretty much alien to the average American. This is not just

a result of general lack of understanding of non-self, it is not just a lack of mindfulness or

understanding of interbeing, it is also a result of competition29.

Americans view just about everything as competition, but then so do many other

animals and even plants. We are biologically ingrained to compete with one another for

limited resources – whether we are a noxious weed or a prehistoric human – there is a strong

survival instinct within every living thing on the planet. This competitive nature, especially

over resources necessary for survival, however, has led to much of our ingenious

technological advances. Water treatment itself – the actual technology to provide abundant,

clean drinking water – is a result of our competitive nature’s desire to survive. However, at

the same time, these technological advances also came about through a sense of cooperation.

The Romans would not have thrived as they did without their aqueducts; those aqueducts

could not have been built without cooperative human thinking and action. From the Romans

to today, technology has led to much of our misuse and abuse of water; however, it is that

very technology that could potentially save our water supply.

28 I will not get into how many billions of gallons of water are irrevocably poisoned and destroyed during the process of manufacturing toilet paper...that is for another paper!29 Hayward, Jeremy. “Ecology and the Experience of Sacredness.” Dharma Gaia: A Harvest of Essays in

Buddhism and Ecology. Ed. Allan Hunt Badiner. Berkely, California: Parallax Press, 1990. Pp 72-73.



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… beer is cheaper than water! $1.10 for a beer, $4.90 for 12 ounces of water!

Speaking of money, some guy offered me $10 for my shower token today…an

American, of course!


If we try to change the mindset of most Americans towards one of non-self and

interbeing to change their attitude towards water use, we will fail: America’s consumerist

mindset is too deeply ingrained. But these same Buddhist concepts can successfully be put to

use to change our view and usage of water, albeit in a more artful manner. Appealing to the

idea of saving money as one saves water could be successful

30

– showing people how the use

of technology (low-flow shower heads, low-flow toilets) can reduce their personal costs is one

good idea. Through public-service announcements and appeals to the wallet, we can begin to

slowly change the mindset of America to one that at least considers water as approaching the

precious nature that Buddhists and Australians alike share. Ironically, however, grey-water

recycling31, a very “low tech” technological advance, one that could greatly reduce our abuse

of drinking water, is actually illegal in many parts of the country – water that falls from the

sky (rain) is often legally considered the “property” of the local water authority. To

encourage the installation and use of grey-water recycling, we will also have to change the

mindset of local utility companies, politicians, and the public at large, which tends to view

grey-water recycling as “gross.32” Grey-water recycling is already used in some parts of the

30 In Colorado Springs, the utility company is raising the cost of water and sewer service for most of its

customers by about $6.00 per month this year. As a (surprisingly effective) “public relations” ploy, many of their advertisements emphasize that this cost will be used to reduce future costs for the public, along withincreasing usable water supplies.31 Grey water recycling is a systematic approach of reusing water as much as possible before treating/re-treatingit for human consumption. Typical systems reuse shower and sink water in toilets, dish and clothes washingmachine waters in gardens. Some use roof gutter water to flush toilets or store water for gardening purposes.32 Shortly after I bought my house in 1999, I remodeled my bathroom. Along with an ultra-low-flow toilet andshower head, I installed a grey-water recycling system that uses a combination of sink and bathtub runoff toflush the toilet. Every single one of my friends reacted to this system with the word “gross.” Logical appeals – “yes, it’s water from my shower, but I’m just urinating in it, so what does it matter” simply didn’t work to



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world by municipal water suppliers, even in the United States, but overall its usage is very

small, especially compared to the amount of water misused.

The adoption and use of water conservation technology – especially drip-irrigation

systems – must be strongly encouraged to the agricultural industry, which uses up to 70% of

all drinkable water, according to the EPA33. Many agricultural companies are loath to

upgrade their irrigation systems, usually using the argument that it would make their costs too

high (consumers don’t want to pay a penny or two more for their vegetables). This argument

can be countered by pointing out that using less water would reduce costs, and create a

positive public-relations situation for companies that choose to do so.

Using the concept of interdependence, we can change some attitudes towards water

usage. Show ducks dying from drinking pond water poisoned by the runoff of a local car

wash can effectively point out our responsibility for that animal’s life, at the same time

shaming that car wash owner into more responsible disposal of its poisoned runoff. Take it a

step further, and perhaps that same car wash owner can be persuaded to change to an

ecologically safer soap and wax, or even the concept of recycling the water it uses. Slowly

but surely, however, we can alter the American mindset to be more aware of our water use

and reduce our abuse.

Water conservation is not just about sustainability and habitat protection for water-

dependent animals, it is also about energy conservation. A significant amount of electrical

energy is used to treat, supply, and dispose of water. To extend the availability of the gas,

convince any of them that this was a superior system to the flush-my-drinking-water system at the time. Sevenyears later, I am still teased about my “weird” toilet…however, five of my friends have asked my help ininstalling their own systems.33 EPA: Environmental Protection Agency. “How to Conserve Water and Use It Effectively.”http://www.epa.gov/ow/you/chap3.html



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coal, and oil used to provide us with electricity, reducing the energy consumption of water

providing industries must be addressed. We must do so. The future of our future is at risk.

We cannot live without each other and we cannot live without water. We – water and

virtually every single other living thing on the planet – are absolutely dependent upon each

other for survival. This is not to say that water can’t survive without humans – it most

definitely can – but at our current rates of consumption and pollution, water cannot continue

to survive with humans. The future life of water is absolutely dependent upon humans

changing their mindset and actions as regards water. If we do not change our attitudes – our

mindset – about water, we are not only “capable of suffering with our world,” we are destined

to suffer with our world.34

34 Macy, p. 57



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Works Cited

Abram, David. “Perceptual Implications of Gaia.” Dharma Gaia: A Harvest of Essays in Buddhism and Ecology. Ed. Allan Hunt Badiner. Berkely, California: Parallax Press,1990. Pp 76-77.

Abraham, Ralph. “Orphism: The Ancient Roots of Green Buddhism.” Dharma Gaia: A Harvest of Essays in Buddhism and Ecology. Ed. Allan Hunt Badiner. Berkely,California: Parallax Press, 1990. Pp 39-49.

Christian Science Monitor. “Backstory: Tapping the World.” Online edition of the March 22,2006 article found at http://www.csmonitor.com.

DeSilva, Padmasiri. “Buddhist Environmental Ethics.” Dharma Gaia: A Harvest of Essays in Buddhism and Ecology. Ed. Allan Hunt Badiner. Berkely, California: Parallax Press,1990. P 17.

EPA: Environmental Protection Agency. “How to Conserve Water and Use It Effectively.”http://www.epa.gov/ow/you/chap3.html

Halifax, Joan. “The Third Body.” Dharma Gaia: A Harvest of Essays in Buddhism and

Ecology. Ed. Allan Hunt Badiner. Berkely, California: Parallax Press, 1990. P 25.Hanh, Thich Nhat. The Heart of Buddha’s Teachings: Transforming Suffering into Peace, Joyand Liberation. New York: Broadway Books, 1999. Pp. 236-140.

Harderwijk, Rudy. A View on Buddhism. http://buddhism.kalachakranet.org. Stupas can besmall, to sit on a desk, or very large, as when an entire temple is built in the form of astupa. Stupas represent “the enlightened mind of the Buddha.”

Hayward, Jeremy. “Ecology and the Experience of Sacredness.” Dharma Gaia: A Harvest of Essays in Buddhism and Ecology. Ed. Allan Hunt Badiner. Berkely, California:Parallax Press, 1990. Pp 72-73.

Kabilsingh, Chatsumarn. “Early Buddhist Views on Nature.” Dharma Gaia: A Harvest of Essays in Buddhism and Ecology. Ed. Allan Hunt Badiner. Berkely, California:Parallax Press, 1990.

Kumar, Nitin. “The Lotus in Buddhism.” Exotic India Arts. Reprinted at ReligionFacts.com.http://www.religionfacts.com/buddhism/symbols/lotus.htm

Levitt, Peter. “An Intimate View.” Dharma Gaia: A Harvest of Essays in Buddhism and Ecology. Ed. Allan Hunt Badiner. Berkely, California: Parallax Press, 1990. Pp 93-96.

Macy, Joanna. “The Greening of the Self.” Dharma Gaia: A Harvest of Essays in Buddhismand Ecology. Ed. Allan Hunt Badiner. Berkely, California: Parallax Press, 1990. P 57.

Olson, Carl. Original Buddhist Sources: A Reader. 2005. Rutgers University Press: NewBrunswick, New Jersey, and London.

United States Geological Survey. Water Level Changes in the High Plains Aquifer, Predevelopment to 1994. USGS, 4 March 1996.

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