You carry Mother Earth within you. Mother Earth is not just your environment. In that insight of inter-being, it is possible to have real communication, with the Earth, which is the highest form of prayer.
Thich Nhat Hanh https://www.brainyquote.com/topics/mother-earth-quotes
Raining and snowing out there at the same time :0 Winter and Autumn are competing over whose turn it is. In my part of the world, Winter usually wins this time of the year, no matter if the calendar tells us that Autunn doesn't technically end until mid- December.
We have had a surprisingly mild and snow free Autumn so far and that is nice, I suppose, but at the same time it is a little worrisome. We are observing first hand the subtle evidence of climate change. I seen a butterfly the other day and my mind chirped, "That isn't right." I observed a bunch of robins flocking on a tree and my heart sunk a bit. "You guys should be down south." I found a little relief realizing, by the way they were flocking and the very subtle differences in their plumage, that they were likely northern robins making their way south but still I found it unusual to see then this far into the season. The dogs and I discovered some bear business on the trail a few days ago...and I found that a little disquieting. The bears may be seasonally confused because there is no snow and still lots of food around but when winter hits here, it hits hard. Will they be able to prepare for hibernation quickly enough? And the horses in the field are still there, growing their winter coats and grazing at the same time. I was even able to feed them apples from my tree...in November!!! Though they likely are enjoying the extended pasturing to being stalled...it is unusual! It is just evident that even in this part of the world we are being affected by climate change. Sure it is a lot more subtle than it is on the other coastline with all the flash flooding and fires...but it is still here. We cannot close our eyes to it and pretend that it is only happening somewhere else so we can go on treating the planet the way we have been treating her, can we?
Hmm. Brother Phap Dung and Brother Spirit from Plum Village remind us that the wounds of Mother Earth are in us and we are feeling them no matter how much we deny, avoid, supress or repress them. Burying those feelings will not help the world. Beating ourselves up for what our race has done, or intensely and busily setting about "fixing" it and "solving it" will not help any of us either, if we do not first take care of ourselves and reconnect with her. We need to stop being so darned busy. Rest if only for a short period a day and reconnect to the earth. Don't just think about her...feel her! Feel your feet on her;feel her air filling your lungs; feel her gravity holding you in place. Know that you are just an extension of her...you have breathed her in; you have been noursished by her; and her water makes up 70 % of your form. You are earth.
I think the more we realize our connection to her and everything and everyone, the more good we will do.
Sigh!
Just rambling.
All is well!
Plum Village ( November, 2021) Plum Village at TED Countdown/ #COP26) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S1ElqrKDx_0
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