Meditations 3.15

[Tisa]

Ibelieve our great estrangement from nature is the foundational cause for global warming. And the antidote to any estrangement is intimacy. Mindfulness, or awareness, is one of the greatest vehicles for this because it opens us up to the truth of interconnection. And nature offers boundless lessons in our interbeing, as Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh calls it. Emptiness, or oneness, is said to be the womb of compassion. Once we wake up to our oneness with all, compassionate action is the natural effect. And the Earth has never needed us to wake up to our interconnection with it more.

On the Spirit Rock land, we did simple things like a walking practice where we noticed the ground beneath our feet and how the earth supports us. We paired up with partners and took turns closing our eyes while the other person guided our hands to a flower or a tree to silently explore. There was an intimacy with the land that was astonishing. One scorching day, we sat on a green hillside facing the glorious blue sky and opened our eyes to the vast blue that surrounded us. We moved through the different meditations, sensing the elements of earth, sun, water, and air. On the sweet green land that held our seated bodies, we experienced the solidity of and our interconnection with the ground beneath us. We experienced the sun beating down on us, sweat pouring over our skin, and we recognized the sun and water elements inside and outside out bodies. The air element was in every breath that we took in from the grasses and trees all around us. Looking out into the vast sky that holds Earth, humans, and all the other beings, we opened to the sky-like nature of the mind.

The great spiritual teachers, including the natural world, teach us that from the smallest blade of grass to the stars, we are one. In a world of fast food, Twitter, and global warming, our inner Wyoming is our true home.

Sara Overton is an artist in New York City. She conceived of AWE, an art project to bring mindfulness in nature to city parks, green spaces, and everywhere. She and Mark Coleman are collaborating on the project.

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Kadampa Buddhist Teacher Janice met Kadampa Buddhism 19 years ago and has been studying and practicing under the guidance of Venerable Geshe Kelsang Gyatso Rinpoche and his senior diciples ever since. She has taught and guided many meditations for over a decade and her approach to guiding meditations and explaining Buddha's teachings is light-hearted, easily applicable, and relevant to modern daily lives.

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