Abstract

This talk examines the entanglement of religion and environment on the Tibetan Plateau, where Indigenous and Buddhist traditions articulate a relational worldview that links land, covenant, and cosmos. In contrast to modern environmental governance, which treats nature as a resource to be managed, Plateau practices emphasize reciprocity and accountability with the more-than-human world. Rituals such as the la btse (mountain cairn offerings) and chusang (water purification rites) function as systems of ecological governance, enacting covenants with deities, spirits, and landscapes. Yet these relational systems are increasingly displaced by transactional, technocratic approaches, a process I describe as “the great erasure.” By revisiting Indigenous and Buddhist ecological wisdom, this talk proposes a relational approach to planetary health, one that frames the environment not as a resource but as kin, and religion as a living practice of ecological repair.

Bio

Tenzin Jinba is a scholar at the National University of Singapore whose work bridges sociology and anthropology. He draws on social theory, medical humanities, and environmental studies to investigate the complex entanglements between human and non-human worlds. His research reveals how these relationships fundamentally shape lived experience, offering new ways to understand the world around us.