We think mother earth/nature is out there for us to save but, infact, it is in us. We are water, earth, fire and air. ..Mother Earth is fine. It is the humans we need to actually care for ourselves and when we care for ourselves, we are with ourselves and we don't need the material things. We do not need to consume. So, our happiness will be more aligned with who we really are which is mother earth.
Brother Phap Dung
I was watching a lovely video today from two Plum Village monks I have listened to before. Such wonderful teachers, they are. They were speaking about taking care of our planet by taking care of our minds, by connecting and becoming more in tune with the earth, seeing it not as something seperate from us but a part of us. We come from the earth. Earth, elements...the earth itself, fire, water, air and space are in us. We, therefore, are earth; flower, mountain, lake and sky.
Most of us spend a great deal of our time looking away from the evidence that we, as members of the human race, in our believing we were the superior species, have done a great deal of damage to the earth and our felllow beings. This damage may be irreversible. Brother Spirit goes on to tell us that when we get in touch with how we truely feel about what humans are still doing to our planet, it can activate a great deal of anxiety and rage. These feelings are so overwhelming we may close down or act on them in less than skillful ways. We need to look deeply into those feelings, accept them, embrace them and let them go before we jump into solving and fixing the earth's so called problems. It really is our minds that need to be fixed first. The human mind (individual and collective) needs to be calmed, tamed, healed..so we can stay with these feelings that arise when we see the destruction and then learn to help heal all in wholesome and skillful ways.
They hinvited this singer, singing this song, on to the stage and his lyrics speak to this in such an eloquent way. I did my best to listen and capture them here. ( I am hoping it isn't some type of copyright infringement to do so??? ) Please listen...he has an amazing voice and the music is very touching.
A Prayer of My Own
By Nick Mulvey
Somehow my love; somehow my love
keep me an open heart in hell.
Give me the courage to feel it all,
the beauty of the fall
when I want to run away,
when I wish to run away.
Oh Lord, help me stay.
I look around; I look away
hey hey
it is too much to take.
I fool my heart each day.
I fool my heart each time I say
that it don't know how to pray,
that I am better off this way.
Come on Lord, help me stay.
Somehow my love; somehow my love,
can we bear the unbearable,
how to bear the unbearable?
Find in the colour of my rage,
giving that rage a blaze ,
oh the beast has a face,
with a grimace and such grace,
an open heart in hell
whoa whoa,
the courage to feel it all.
Hold us; keep us still
when we want to run away.
Come on Lord, help us stay.
And we do it for our own:
our little girls, our little boys.
And we do it for our home
if we do it for the world.
So let it out and let it in,
Get to know the beast within.
Give him love
and bring him in,
No, not an enemy
but a friend.
In the fury of the fire,
that timeless fire,
I find my ancient friend,
Lord, come to help me once again
so let it out and let it in.
Get to know the beast within.
Give him love and
bring him in.
No, not an enemy
but a friend.
In the fury of that fire,
oh that timeless fire,
I find my ancient friend,
Lord, come to help me once again.
Wah a who ho
Yaaa Ya Yeah
Ooooh oh hoo
Ah nan na eh.
All is well.
Climate Hub/New York Times (November, 2021) Returning to the Heartwood [with Brother Phap Dung and Brother Spirit]https://climatehub.nytimes.com/session/721901/returning-to-the-heartwood
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