By Miriam Thomas “Ecology and economy are not two different things.” This is what Jim Tolstrup (Director of the High Plains Environmental Center and former SMC Land Steward) told us in a recent discussion with Shambhala Mountain Center Staff.  As I reflected on Jim’s words, I realized that ecology and economy indeed evoke the same truth:  everything exists in relation to everything else.  The dictionary defines ecology as “the relationship between living things and their environment” and economy as “a system of interaction and exchange”.  Both terms, however, simply describe the dynamic exchanges that constitute our interconnected existence. Photo by Molly Stetson As Buddhists, we like to talk about mandalas.  Essentially an organizational chart, a mandala provides another way of framing our relationship to our environment.  The center of a mandala represents our chief motivating principle while the layers that radiate outwards illustrate how this principle is reflected in every facet of our lives and in our every relationship.  We can look to our mandala to see how our attitudes and our interactions are impacting …