Dear friends,
I’m not sure how you experienced January 1st this year. For me, it came and went all in a blur of uncertainty and unrest. This year, more than ever, I am so happy to have another chance-- to greet the Lunar New Year, the Year of the Ox, and to honor Thich Nhat Hanh and our many sangha members, friends and family across the world on this important holiday.
We will celebrate the New Year tonight by practicing the Five Touchings of the Earth together. This is a regular practice in Plum Village and a sacred way to express gratitude and generate joy. It’s an occasion that brings us into touch with the earth and its reality. It’s a time to reflect on the land we live on and all of the ancestors who made it available to us. It’s a time to begin anew, with fresh plans and renewed vigor. If you choose to do prostrations that allow your full body to be in touch with the ground/floor beneath you, you may prepare a space before sangha with a yoga mat or rug to support you. Alternate seated or half-prostrations will be demonstrated.
Thich Nhat Hanh shares his insight on how the ‘Earth Contains the Whole Cosmos’:
“If we think about the Earth as just the environment around us, we experience ourselves and the Earth as separate entities. We may see the planet only in terms of what it can do for us. We need to recognize that the planet and the people on it are ultimately one and the same. When we look deeply at the Earth, we see that she is a formation made up of non-Earth elements: the sun, the stars, and the whole universe. Certain elements such as carbon, silicon and iron formed long ago in the heart of far-off supernovas. Distant stars contributed their light.
When we look into a flower, we can see that it’s made of many different elements,
so we also call it a formation. A flower is made of many non-flower elements. The entire universe can be seen in a flower. If we look deeply, we can see the sun, the soil and the gardener. Similarly, when we look deeply into the Earth, we can see the presence of the whole cosmos.
A lot of our fear, hatred, anger and feeling of separation and alienation come from the idea that we are separate from the planet. We see ourselves as the center of the universe and are concerned primarily with our own personal survival. If we care about the health and well-being of the planet, we do so for our own sake. We want the air to be clean enough for us to breathe. We want the water to be clear enough so that we have something to drink. But we need to do more than use recycled products and donate money to environmental groups. We have to change our whole relationship to the Earth.
We tend to think of the Earth as inanimate matter because we've become alienated from it. We are even alienated from our own bodies. We spend many hours every day forgetting we even have a body. We get so caught up in our work and our problems that we forget we are more than just our minds. Many of us are sick because we forget to pay attention to our bodies. We’ve also forgotten the Earth--
That she is part of us and that we are part of her. Because we are not taking care of the Earth, we have both become sick.
...If we understand the Earth as a living, breathing organism, we can heal ourselves and heal the Earth as well. When our physical body is sick, we need to stop, rest, and pay attention to it. We have to stop our thinking, return to our in-breath and out-breath, and come home to our body. If we can see our body as a wonder, we also have the opportunity to see the Earth as a wonder, and healing can begin for the body of the Earth. When we go home and take care of ourselves, we heal not only our own bodies and minds, but we help heal the Earth as well.”
From Love Letter to the Earth (2013)
I invite you to join us Monday night to celebrate! Thanks to reflect on the following queries:
Can you visualize the Earth’s elements (water, minerals, fire, air, space) inside you?
Can you feel there is no separation between you and the Earth?
What steps might you imagine taking in this New Year to help heal yourself and heal the Earth?
I look forward to celebrating with you!
In gratitude,
Mary