On October 28, 2025 Laszlo Zsolnai gave a lecture on “Steps to Ecological Civilization: The Contribution of Buddhism” at the Research Institute for Humanity and Nature in Kyoto.
In his presentation Zsolnai emphasized the role of the self in making actions. He argues that serving nature, society, and future generations economic agents should de-emphasize the self and develop compassion for the suffering all human and non-human beings. The noble ethos of Buddhism can help to develop such a mindset for individuals, groups, and organizations. Zsolnai presented working models of Buddhist economic and social models from the USA, Europe, and Asia that realize the non-self (“anatta”) and compassion (“karuna”) in their functioning.