by Tyler Fowler
PA IPL network is a mosaic of some of the most insightful, thoughtful and compassionate communities and individuals Pennsylvania has to offer, all working towards a vision of a cleaner and more just world. In the woods of central PA, there is a Buddhist temple and community that has committed itself to bringing a native presence to the Zendo’s campus, a space typically reserved for expressions of Buddhist and Asian culture and tradition.
michele chernega was a self declared “night-stand Buddhist” for over 25 years before she committed herself to her practice at O An Zendo, with Meido Barbara Anderson as her guiding teacher. Meido is the founder and primary guiding teacher of O An Zendo. She is a fully transmitted priestess in the Soto Zen tradition and has been practicing for over 40 years. She previously taught sustainable design and founded the Center for Sustainability at Penn State in 1995.
I had a conversation with Meido and michele of O An Zendo to explore their inspiration, thought process, values and experience as they ventured deeper into the world of native
How do the teachings of the tradition, the physical space, and the activities in that space intersect? How is this particular to the Buddhist tradition?
Meido: “The Zendo was intentionally built in the forest to connect us with what we regard as our Sangha, which is our community of life, not just human community. The Zendo has a north facing window wall so that when we practice together, we can feel the trees, listen to the birds, and see the sun coming in and out of the clouds. That way we get the sense that we are practicing with all beings; that we are embedded in the forest. Our place, the woods, the gardens, it is all alive: This is our practice. Our practice isn’t limited to a building or a specific space. We are connected to everything.”
O An Zendo embraces the five circle model of Shared Stewardship, a collaborative approach to the work of the Zendo. One of these five circles is outreach, which at O An Zendo include prison outreach, a Dharma recovery program, and supporting foodbanks and homeless shelters.
What inspired you to take on tree planting? Please share how it came about, where the idea came from, and how it all played out.
michele: “Well I’d gotten plants for my property and ran out of room. I knew your organization was interfaith, so I thought, “Ah! Well this should be somewhere I go! It’s a Buddhist center, it’s a Zendo!” So I started requesting them for that, and it was such a perfect fit because Meido has put so much thoughtful care and beauty into the space for us.”
Meido: “Yeah, and really committing ourselves to native plants was really important. In the garden here we have a lot of bamboo. It is certainly in the tradition of Asian culture and landscape, but I really wanted the native presence here in our practice so that we were connected with native species. I’ve been moving in that direction very consciously and deliberately in choosing native plants.”
Were you always passionate about native planting?
michele: “I knew nothing about gardens. In fact I planted a Norway Maple in my front yard for my daughters lemonade stand and it grew fast because those things can grow in the shade but they are invasive and non-native. I actually paid a lot of money to take it down because it was putting seedlings everywhere. So I eventually learned and started my own efforts.”
Meido: “My orientation for the most part has been around beauty. Designing gardens and planting trees that are beautiful and useful. I think michele has had a profound influence on me. She always reminds me of things like disturbing the ecology below the leaves, and she has introduced me to the importance of native plants. I definitely had some experience with [native plants], but in my own gardens beauty came first and ecology came second. Now it is kind of the reverse. I still haven’t lost that need to plant beautiful things, but my commitment to native plants has definitely grown over the years.”
You ordered trees through the PA Plants Native! Program over the course of at least 3 seasons. What has the process been like? Why has it been such a long-term process?
michele: “We had a gigantic evergreen come down and crush one of the red buds I carefully chose a spot for, so there are natural reasons, such as windfall. Also, through the years of working with [PA IPL] I’ve learned what I liked and what worked well, so we didn’t end up trying to do it all at once because we knew better i guess!”
Meido: “Finding PA IPL and being able to get plants freely is a real help because we have lost a lot through damage in different forms. The woods were not healthy for a while, so there were always opportunities to plant more trees. Plus there are lots of deers that tend to nibble away at saplings. They seem to enjoy the baby trees, so we need to replace them. I have to keep reminding myself that the deer live there too, and that even though there are deer resistant plants and trees, it seems that if the deer are really hungry they will eat anything and particularly young plants.”
What has it been like to learn how to maintain and care for the trees?
Meido: “One of the things I have learned, the major thing, is that we need to protect the trees. There are materials that [PA IPL] provides that protect them. Particularly during the winter, I really have to be vigilant about putting screens around the trees so that the deer don’t eat them. It’s a matter of just taking care of them, protecting them, and pruning them. It is always such a learning experience. I always try to look up the trees, their care needs, and some of the history. It’s an educational experience for me to learn about these trees, bushes and shrubs.”
Given all of the work it sounds like you have put into the property, could you share any changes you have observed both in the physical space and spiritual experience of the environment, before and after these different projects.
Meido: “I know people who started out here practicing, suspended their practice for a while and then came back. They marvel at how the place has changed and how it is so much more diverse and seemingly rich. When we started we didn’t have a developed garden or developed woodland surrounding it.
“From my point of view, I think there has been a [growing] sense that one has to care for the environment without necessarily interfering too much. For example, if a tree is dead it is not necessary to cut it down immediately. Or if a tree has lost its limbs and there is a pile of twigs, leaves, and branches, that does not have to be immediately cleaned up. That it can become a habitat for wildlife. So there is this slow understanding about how a human being can both participate in caring for the land, while respecting and honoring its life.”
michele: “[The Zendo] is the first place I ever heard a whippoorwill, and the first time I ever saw a scarlet tanager. A whippoorwill needs a very specific environment and Meido has a section that is cleared, not quite an old growth forest.”
I feel like this is the acknowledgement that beauty is not just about the way something looks, but also how something feels. I think one of the best feelings in the world for something that can feel, something that is alive, is to be around life. Whether that is plants, or animals, or other people.
Meido: “That is a very interesting point of reflection back on my own perception of what beauty is. We learn that a rose is the most beautiful thing and that a wild flower is not as beautiful as the rose. We grow up with a lot of those preconceptions about what beauty is. Part of what has been my education has been to see the real beauty in things that we would typically ignore, and that is true of so many native species. You are not educated to honor their beauty, until you begin planting the native species, and become intimate with them, living with them day in and day out. For example, we grow up not thinking vegetables are not as wonderful as an ice cream cone, but then you begin to taste the real sweetness of a carrot, or you see the real beauty of a ninebark flower, or the ninebark leaves that you’ve never noticed before. So I think the whole notion of what is beautiful, and what people want to have on their properties, I think that changes as you get more familiar with native plants.”
Can you reflect on how you see the tree work you are doing connects to your outreach and justice work.
Meido: “The environment [in the prison] is so diminished. Even in the chapel where I teach all the plants are plastic, and there is incredible fear that the inmates are going to use something as a weapon or in some illegal way. So you could say everything is dead there. Here and there, where it doesn’t seem to be too dangerous, like walk-ways, there are flowers.
“I can imagine that life would be very different for the inmates if there were some living things, some natural landscapes, that they could find comfort in. I do hear from the inmates that they miss being out in nature. They are human beings, biological beings, and I know that it would be so enlivening and enriching for them to have trees, and shrubs, where they reside. So they are being punished in many ways. Not just by being incarcerated, but by not having access to the natural world.”
Thank you for that reflection. Do you have any advice to give to other individuals or communities considering planting?
Meido: “I think these days it is always about attention. People’s attention is a real precious commodity because there is so much that we can pay attention to that somehow environmental issues are no longer front of mind for people, and they forget how important they are. Doom and gloom is not the way, so somehow we must make [this work] exciting, joyful, meaningful. We should do this work in a way that would bring happiness, meaning, life, and a sense of purpose to the people who are possibly interested in joining and planting trees and shrubs. I think it is all in some sense about how you advocate and how you present the work that you are doing.”
Speaking with Meido and michele, it became clear to me that there is a deep and profound connection between the Buddhist tradition and the environmental work we engage in every day. People often believe that chaos is evil, and order is good, but this fails to account for the dependent relationship between the two. People tend not to be averse to the idea of native plants, but the idea of native ecosystems, and the lack of control which comes with them; the chaos.
As we continue to commit ourselves to this work, and to creating and imagining greener and more just futures, I believe we have much to learn about our role in creating, repairing, and maintaining balance.
Meido shares, “We are very grateful for [PA IPL’s] existence. It is really good work you do, and not just repopulating the forest and the homes with native species, but also the educational value that you provide. I just think that this work is so important and that our Sangha is becoming more and more aware of it.”