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Mary will facilitate Monday, November 15.
There is a lot in the news about climate change, the mountains of plastic in the oceans, an accelerated extinction of many species, and how much the planet Earth is suffering. If I look at the Earth as something separate from me, I could feel separate from her suffering. When I look more deeply, I see Mother Earth as the great mother to all that is animate as well as inanimate. I then feel connected to all ---not only other humans, but also all the animals, birds, insects, mountains, trees, flowers, rivers, streams, etc.
Thay has taught deep ecology for decades. He continues to inspire us, with the assistance of monastics, in his recent book, Zen and the Art of Saving the Planet:
“When you wake up and you see that the Earth is not just the environment, the Earth is us, you touch the nature of interbeing. And at that moment you can have real communication with the Earth….We have to wake up together. And if we wake up together, we have a chance. Our way of living our life and planning our future has led us into this situation. And now we need to look deeply to find a way out, not only as individuals but as a collective, a species.”
Covid 19 has brought us many challenges as well as opportunities to reflect on how we got to where we are today. When I look deeply at how our human species has contributed through its exploitation of natural resources and the resulting pollution, I see many causes of suffering to all other beings, both animate and inanimate.
Thay cautions in Love Letter to the Earth,
“Now we are putting so much strain on the Earth, by polluting the atmosphere, warming the planet, and poisoning the oceans, that she can’t heal on her own.
The Earth has lost her equilibrium…There is a revolution that needs to happen and it starts inside each of us. When we change the way we see the world, when we realize that we and the Earth are one and we begin to live with mindfulness, our own suffering will start to ease.
When we’re no longer overwhelmed by our own suffering, we will have the compassion and understanding to treat the Earth with love and respect. Restoring balance to ourselves, we can begin the work of restoring balance to the Earth.There is no difference between concern for the planet and concern for ourselves and our own well-being. There is no difference between healing the planet and healing ourselves.”
Some questions to consider before we meet:
How does your mindfulness practice contribute to bringing you back into balance?
What practices do you do to bring the Earth back into balance?
What actions do you take to heal yourself and heal the Earth?
I look forward to being with you on Monday night!
A lotus to each of you,
Mary