Abstract
The MORININARU Movement proposes planting trees instead of tombstones as memorials, to sustain the global environment for our descendants. This movement is expected to present concrete measures against environmental damage, and attempts help members and the wider community to regain connection with each other and the earth. It offers an alternative community to replace traditional ties to the land and through blood, diminished or lost after World War II. Also, it can be described as a spiritual movement, imparting a new framework for individual consciousness and religious thought, through its practices. MORININARU is also a practical philosophy seeking a new synthesis beyond the binary opposition of dualism. That is, it is an attempt to integrate ancient Eastern and modern Western ways of being. It offers a synthesis of the Western way of being, characterized by putting human beings at the top of a command and control hierarchy over nature seen in terms of resources, and the ancient oriental way of being, which is to worship heaven and earth and be subject to nature. For the individual leaving this life, that passing away itself becomes the opportunity to create a beautiful harmony with the natural environment. Thus, the MORININARU movement will not only promote the practice of peaceful coexistence with nature, but can be expected to promote self-awareness and self-transcendence, to inspire a spirit of altruism, and a virtuous way of life.
