Visiting Teacher: Lin Wang Gordon

What is the theme of your April 2026 dharma talk? The talk will be about how to connect with the natural world in our daily life in an urban setting. We often think of nature as outside of us, or as wilderness, when nature is us and around us all the time. The talk will help us be aware of and deepen this connection to Mother Earth in our daily routines. Whether it’s brushing our teeth, grocery shopping, or taking a stroll in a city park, we can connect to the elements and the natural world. By paying attention, we can see the interdependence of all things.

Tell us about your work in ecodharma and what role the Buddhist community can play. From my perspective, many of the illnesses afflicting our modern society arise from our disconnection from the natural world—and, from that, a lack of understanding of our profound interconnectedness. When we fail to see these connections, we make choices through a short-term lens rather than a long-term one. As my friend Sebene Selassie often says, “The ecological crisis is a spiritual crisis.”

Buddhist practice invites us to contemplate, inquire, and examine our actions and their consequences. It reminds us of our deep interconnection with all beings and with the Earth itself. As we confront the unfolding realities of the ecological crisis—now and in the years ahead—we are called to respond with clarity, compassion, wisdom, and equanimity, rather than becoming lost in fear, overwhelm, anger, or despair. Approaching the crisis in this way allows us to stay engaged without burning out.

I believe the Buddhist community has a vital role to play in supporting wise action and cultivating the resilience we will need as we face this challenge together.

What part of the teachings do your students struggle with the most? What my students grapple with most is the reality of aging, illness, death, and the contemplation of legacy. As roles and identities shift in midlife, this is often the central question we ask: How do we create a meaningful life with the precious time we have left? How do I die with fewer regrets?

Buddhist practices offer a powerful, supportive framework for exploring these questions with curiosity and vulnerability. In particular, the practices of the “Five Daily Contemplations” and the teaching of “nonself” are helpful tools for navigating this profound period and can be quite transformational.

What practices can we adopt to live more intentionally, despite all the chaos in the world? One aspect of Indigenous worldview and practice that I really love is the commitment to making decisions with the next seven generations in mind. While it’s easy to feel overwhelmed by the churn of daily news, zooming out to a long-term perspective can show us with much greater clarity what we should be doing—and what kind of world we want to build toward. And sometimes it takes generations to change the world.

Along with this worldview, we can add the practice of “letting go of the fruits of our actions.” We learn to live with the uncertainty of not knowing whether our efforts will bear fruit. We act not because outcomes are guaranteed but because the actions themselves are worthy—because they are the right thing to do, and because we believe they may benefit sentient beings for generations to come.

Tell us about your favorite non-Buddhist book or movie. Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind by Hayao Miyazaki. As a young teen watching this film in the early 1990s, I was completely mesmerized by the storytelling, beautiful imagery, and poignant musical score. Released in 1984, the movie was prescient in its exploration of environmental consciousness. Thirty years later, introducing it to my young son, I found its themes of ecological balance and conflict to be as relevant today as ever. The movie has a deeply pacifist view in a postapocalyptic world and embraces peaceful coexistence of all beings. The heroine also shows us how to confront anger with calmness and wisdom. To me, this is a non-Buddhist Buddhist film. In addition, one thing I always love about Miyazaki’s films is his creation of genuinely powerful and complex female protagonists who transcend conventional Asian stereotypes. It is incredibly refreshing even in today’s films.

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In April, watch Lin Wang Gordon’s dharma talk at tricycle.org/dharmatalks.