Furthermore, nature as wilderness provides an effective place for meditation, one where rapid progress can be made. In self-cultivation, harmony with nature involves the ability to find a place for practice where the natural energy is auspicious. Nature acts as a mirror for seeing the deep workings of our own body-minds. When we are alone in the wilderness, the distinctly human afflictions of others are absent, and so cannot reinforce our own afflictions. Imagine what would happen if we genetically engineered ourselves so that we could no longer resonate with the natural patterns of nature. These are not the kinds of concerns that can be laid to rest by any scientific data.

Biogenetic warfare is the most serious short-term threat of genetic engineering to human life. Because Buddhism is a fundamentally pacifist tradition, it should be gravely concerned with the use of genetic engineering in warfare as an efficient means for causing widespread suffering and death. International terror­ists have already begun seriously considering the deployment of genetically engineered viruses. This use is almost impossible to regulate because the same equipment and technology that are used commercially can easily be transferred to military application. During the late 1980s, the former Soviet Union had 60,000 people working on biowarfare, including genetically engineered pathogens. In one of their more frightening projects, they at­tempted to combine the smallpox virus with the Ebola virus. No one knows for sure where most of these scientists have gone or what they have taken with them.

In June, 1997, U.S. Secretary of Defense William Cohen warned about 'certain types of pathogens that would be ethnic specific so that they could eliminate certain ethnic groups.' Several countries have reportedly already been genetically engineering viruses that target specific ethnic groups.

Despite the benefits of genetic engineering trumpeted in the media—primarily to repair genetic flaws, cure disease, and in­crease food production—in the overwhelming number of cases, I believe the price is too high to pay. To insure mega profits for multinational corporations well into the next century, we will have to mortgage the biosphere, seriously compromise life on the planet, and maybe even harm our potential for enlightenment. Genetic engineering poses serious risks to human health and to the environment. It raises serious ethical questions about the right of human beings to alter life on the planet, both sentient and non-sentient, for the benefit of a few.

What makes genetic engineering special is both its power and its irreversibility. Its ability to harm human, animal, and plant life is a dramatic leap greater than most other technologies and does not leave room for mistakes. Results of flaws in this technology cannot be recalled and fixed, but become the negative heritage to count­less future generations.

If there are some areas of genetic engineering that can safely benefit humanity while respecting other forms of life, then efforts need to be redoubled not only in the area of scientific risk assessment and use of the precautionary principle, but also in developing broad ethical guidelines. Since the scientific establishment is acknowledging the need for public input, there is a window of opportunity for introducing the perspective of Buddhist ethics to current moral questions about proposed research in genetic engineering. It is also important for the public to demand scrutiny and regulation of the industry's revolving-door relations with academia and government.

Can we really have an influence? Even slowing the inexorable progress of the current trends will be extremely difficult. Yet there is hope. Fortunately, a vocal minority of well-trained scientists in the field, such as Prof. Stuart Newman of the Council for Responsible Genetics, Prof. Richard Strohmann of the University of California at Berkeley, Dr. MaeWan Ho of the Open University, Drs. Margaret Mellon and Jane Rissler of the Union of Concerned Scientists, to name just a few, see the dangers of what is occurring and are brave enough to voice their consciences.

Clearly the key is educating the public about what is happening. We need to have confidence that ordinary citizens working together can build a foundation of collective wisdom that can show us the way through the incredibly complicated maze of issues surrounding genetic engineering. Can we make the problems go away? Probably not. But successes are possible: The Third World Network, under the leadership of Prof. Vandana Shiva, has mobilized India and other underdeveloped nations to resist multinational corporations in search of genetic profit. In Europe, heightened public awareness of the dangers of genetically engineered foods has recently forced the major corporate players to back off from plans for their widespread introduction there. Here in the United States, the organic food lobby, the Mothers for Natural Law, and others have orchestrated a public education campaign about the dangers of such food, so that attempts to include genetically engineered food as organic under the National Organic Standards Rule have not succeeded.

From a Buddhist perspective, the problems with genetic engi­neering are no different in principle from most other problems we face in our daily life. They are all the result of afflictions—desire, anger, ignorance, and so forth. What makes the situation with genetic engineering unique is the difference in the degree of damage it can do to life on the planet and the irreversibility of its effect on us and on the environment. There is probably not a single answer to the question of what Buddhists should do about these problems. Some may decide to work actively with the many groups trying to raise public awareness and stop the most blatant dangers. Others may prefer to work directly on the mind ground and try to generate the wisdom and compassion that transforms the minds of all sen­tient beings toward awakening. Yet others will undoubtedly put their heads in the sand and let the karma fall where it may.

(The End)