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Paper short abstract

This ethnographic fieldwork examines how Buddhist principles of interconnectedness translate into practical recognition of plant subjectivity. Research explores how monastic communities develop responsive relationships through attentive cultivation practices.

Paper long abstract

This paper explores how Buddhist monastic communities recognize and engage with plant agency through daily practices that challenge instrumental views of plant-human relationships. Drawing from ethnographic research in two European Buddhist monasteries, it examines how practitioners develop communicative relationships with plants through attentive cultivation and narrative engagement. The research documents systematic recognition of plant subjectivity in monastic gardening practices. The garden philosophy of creating space “for all beings” involves consulting plant preferences rather than imposing human designs, such as tomatoes placed according to their observed needs, tall grass left for butterfly hibernation, and individual plants given names and personalized attention. These practices extend to recognizing plants as teachers within Buddhist spiritual development. The compost heap is described as a “sacred place of transformation” where plant decomposition and regeneration demonstrate impermanence and interconnectedness. Monastics report that hands-on garden work helps visitors “see the earth with different eyes” and understand food and life cycles as expressions of interdependence rather than mere resource extraction, thus creating practices of attentiveness to overlooked beings similar to Anna Tsing’s “arts of noticing”. The findings show how Buddhist principles of interconnectedness create practical frameworks for recognizing plant agency and developing responsive relationships with plant communities in correspondence with naturalistic environmental ethics. Rather than treating plants as passive recipients of human care, monastics engage in what could be defined as learning from plant responses and adapting human practices accordingly. This research contributes to understanding how contemplative traditions offer resources for more reciprocal, attentive relationships with plant life.