The Russell and Wendy Weiner Prize for Undergraduate Research on Buddhist Practice, given in honor of Gelek Rimpoche, provides funding for summer research for an undergraduate student studying Buddhist practice in an Asian context. This award went to Alex Hutchins '19, major in Asian and Religious Studies, for his project proposal, “Praxis of Forest Management and Conservation in Japanese Buddhist Temples.”
This summer, Alex plans to examine the conservation and management of forests as Buddhist praxis at multiple sites, including temples in mountainous areas of Kamakura and the Shikoku henro pilgrimage route, urban temples in Tokyo, as well as geologically-separate forest holdings. In brief, this project will explore a major intersection within the study of Buddhism (and other religious traditions); that is, of space and praxis. Praxis will be examined with regards to aesthetic space, sacred space, and that which lies in the realm of the non-human. Each informs the other in particular ways and for specific reasons. Alex will examine how temples’ respective ecological engagement interacts with modern pressures and limitations to forest management, creating the spectrum of practices that we see today. One central question posed in his research is, “In what ways does Buddhist praxis engage with a particular land ethic?” This project will peruse the question of to what extent current Buddhist practice results in interactions with the environment -- and right motivations and intent -- that move beyond the realm of the aesthetic and into that of active ecological conservation.
