April 22, 2020
“That Hatred Never Ceases by Hatred, But By Love Alone is Healed.”
Today is Earth Day! A few days ago, I was fortunate enough to hear a pre-Earth Day dharma talk by Heidi Schuttenberg, one of the mentors in Jonathan Foust’s “Year of Living Mindfully” program – something I’ve been enrolled in since October. Heidi was kind enough to allow me to excerpt the ending from that wonderful talk:
If you haven’t been able to block it out, you know that humanity isn’t doing so well in our stewardship of the planet. We’re facing unprecedented challenges in terms of the rate of species extinction, changes in our climate, and pollution – particularly in our oceans.
And it’s hard to hear and engage about this loss without feeling sad, angry, disappointed, or scared. These are feelings that need to be felt. And in my work in nature conservation, my mindfulness practice is the main way I work to honor and process these feelings.
What I’ve found for myself, though, is that I don’t do my best work from anger or grief. I do my best work conserving marine biodiversity when I’m really connected to how much I love the ocean, the amazing animals and plants that live in it, and the people who live their lives working and connected to it.
The Buddha said (allegedly), “That hatred never ceases by hatred, but by love alone is healed.” Our practice, the practices we learn in our “Year of Living Mindfully” program, empower us to respond to the current, serious situation from a place of fearless compassion.
So this Wednesday, on the 50th anniversary of Earth Day, I invite you to spend some time centering yourself, to open your heart to your own personal connection with nature, and to consider: “What might wise action look like for you?”
– Maybe it’s to celebrate and reconnect with nature.
– Maybe to make a shift in your personal habits: to shift your energy provider to one who uses more solar or wind generation, to bring greater attention to your recycling, or to focus more on whether your grocery and clothes purchases are supporting practices that are helpful to the planet and safe for the people producing them.
– Or maybe it’s to take an influencing action with those in your social circle, with an elected representative, or by donating to an environmental NGO.As you reflect and as we transition to our sharing, I want to offer you one of my favorite sayings, “You are not a drop in the ocean, but the ocean in a drop.” Namaste.
I’m ready to take up Heidi’s invitation to explore my own personal connection with nature. If it rains today, I will dance in that rain. If not, I will dance outside anyway. I will take more than a few minutes to really pay attention to what is happening outside my door. To listen, to smell, to observe. And since I’m currently in a state of “employment pause,” I’m ready to step up my efforts to try to keep this planet as pollution-free as it’s gotten the past few weeks…