The Poetic Heart: Connecting Humanity
January 2008
Banner photo: ©Natural Selection Craig Tuttle/Design Pics/Corbis
Farmers: Growing With the Earth
Yasumi Nishi (right)
[©Seikyo Shimbun]
Yasumi Nishi is a mandarin farmer in Wakayama Prefecture, Japan. After taking over the family farm, he spent more than 10 years in painstaking experimentation with soil improvement. This has enabled him to produce mandarins with a consistently high sugar content that are now prized throughout Japan.
Mauro Traini has an organic farm in Tuscany, Italy, where he produces wine, olive oil and grappa. He also cultivates ancient fruits, saffron and legumes. Out of concern for the environment, he no longer transports his produce to other parts of Italy but only sells it locally.
Mauro Traini
What aspect of the farming lifestyle gives you the most joy?
Mauro: There are so many joys to being a farmer. Besides working in the open air and sharing the rhythms of nature, the greatest pleasure is being conscious of doing something that benefits both oneself and others--producing healthy food that is not contaminated with pesticides and attempting to maintain a healthy environment.
Jean-Jacques Rousseau called agriculture the most useful and noble of all professions. I agree with this, and it has inspired me to continue in this job in spite of the many difficulties. Another pleasant aspect of this job is one's relationships with other farmers, especially the older ones, who have a lot of wisdom, not only about agriculture but about life in general.
Yasumi: What gives me the most joy is bringing the fruits that I grew with such care to the market and seeing people there really appreciating them. It is also very satisfying that my livelihood is sustained by people who are happy to buy our products. Over the past 20 years, I've studied how to produce a special orange with a rich, sweet and juicy taste. I pour my love and affection onto each tree, each leaf and each fruit.
Also, to experience the changes of the four seasons in my body as I work makes me feel as though my own life is growing. It gives me a sense of joy and appreciation, a sense of fulfillment.
What are the greatest challenges you face as a farmer?
Yasumi: The greatest challenge is when the crops, which we have poured so much effort and care into, are destroyed or damaged by bad weather or other kinds of incidents. It's also very challenging when our products don't get a fair evaluation at market.
Mauro: There are many difficulties. The financial rewards do not compare well with other economic sectors. In recent years, however, climate change is the greatest problem confronting us. I worry about this because, despite all the farmer's efforts, the risk of crop failure is very high.
Also, we have to fight against this pervasive vision of agriculture being the preserve of the big multinational companies with their agrochemicals and genetic modifications.
How do you see the mission of farmers in society?
Mauro: Agriculture has always been about supplying food for humanity. Today it must provide for a remarkable number of people; the difficulty is to fulfill this mission without excessive exploitation and chemical pollution of the land.
We have to produce food that is full of the vital energy that supports the lives of human beings. More often, modern agricultural produce is full of residual chemicals and deprived of the subtle and more vital nutritional elements that deeply nourish the human body. If human beings are what they eat, given humanity's present situation, agriculture bears a great responsibility.
Yasumi: SGI President Ikeda has encouraged farmers to become beacons within our communities. I completely agree with him. I believe we have a role to play in creating harmony within society, and I have been exerting myself toward that end.
How does your Buddhist practice influence your approach to your work?
Yasumi: I have changed a lot through my Buddhist practice and through the influence of the writings of President Ikeda; I have a deeper appreciation of the value of life. I have also been able to develop a challenging spirit not to be defeated by difficulties and to squarely confront each problem I face. I feel grateful that I can continue to improve myself.
Mauro: Through the process of my own personal development inspired by my Buddhist practice, I've come to understand the necessity of making improvements in my work. I've stopped using chemical products and begun to farm organically, and I've also discovered the importance of maintaining and recovering traditional farming practices.
I've also begun to conserve and reproduce endangered varieties of cereals, legumes, vines and fruits. When I learn about a strain which is in danger of becoming extinct, I feel very emotional at the thought of being able to protect it and pass it on to my children and future generations.
Many people live in cities and have little contact with nature. Does this concern you?
Yasumi: I think this is the result of excessive emphasis placed on the pursuit of profit. One thing that concerns me is that if people lose contact with nature, they are likely to lose their gentleness.
Mauro: I always find it is strange that there are people who do not produce at least some of what they consume. It would be great if, in the future, many buildings in cities, instead of having only parking lots, would also have vegetable gardens.
What do you feel you have learned about the rhythms and laws of nature from your work?
Mauro: I think farmers develop a natural grasp of the Buddhist outlook on life. You find that the simple wisdom that farmers possess is the same as what Buddhism expresses in more detailed terms--wisdom about life and death, impermanence, the interdependence of all phenomena, and the inseparability of self and the environment.
Farmers know that our lives are closely linked with plants and the land, and studies are now demonstrating they can influence each other. This link between plants, the soil and human beings can influence the quality of the harvest. I believe in the positive effect on plants of dialogue, and I would like to experiment with other ideas, such as the effect of music in cultivation.
From this perspective, I feel hopeful. A positive change in human beings will be reflected in the environment. We will be able to stop our destruction of the natural environment.
Yasumi: Although the crops we grow cannot speak, I think they probably know their mission.
What I mean is, seeds know when to sprout, and they endure numerous hardships to bloom and bear fruit, progressing with all their might toward the flourishing of their own progeny. We see how plants are able to soothe a person's heart, bringing enjoyment and courage to others through their own existence. If we give them our attentive care, they never fail to respond. I think this is precisely what is taught in Buddhism.
