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By Thich Nhat Nanh
Breathing in I know I am in love with this beautiful, bounteous, life-giving
planet we call Mother Earth
Breathing out I know each one of us carries the Earth within every cell of our
bodies
In Love with Mother Earth
Earth is within every cell of our bodies
Breathing in, I realise that the Earth is not just our environment. The Earth
is not something outside of me
Breathing out, I know that the Earth and I are one
Earth is not something outside of me
The Earth and I are one
Breathing in with mindfulness, I contemplate my body and realise that I am
the Earth
Breathing out, I know my consciousness is also the consciousness of the
Earth
Realise that I am the Earth
My consciousness is also the consciousness of the Earth
Breathing in, I know that cherishing Mother Earth is not an obligation
Breathing out, I know it is a matter of personal and collective happiness and
survival for me and all beings
Cherishing Mother Earth is not an obligation
A matter of personal and collective happiness and survival for all beings
Breathing in, I see that all that is needed for global healing is present
within me and all around me
Breathing out, I feel immense gratitude for this miraculous power of
transformation
All that is needed for global healing is present within me
Feeling gratitude for this power of transformation present within me
By Br Phap Linh
This is a guided meditation to help us get in touch with the energy of spring and to nourish joy.You may like to find a comfortable position either seated or lying down, just whatever position that allows your back to be straight and relaxed,allows the breath to flow freely in and out.
With each line, we have a line for the in-breath and a line for the out-breath, and a keyword that we can use to guide our in-breath and a keyword for the out-breath. If, at any point, we notice our thoughts carrying us away into our projects or into our anxieties or regrets or just dreaming, the moment we notice is a wonderful moment. That is a moment of mindfulness when we can very gently… smile and bring our attention back to the natural flow of the in-breath and out-breath.
As I breathe in, I am aware that this is an in-breath.
As I breathe out,
I am aware that this is an out-breath.
In-breath,
out-breath.
As i breathe in, I follow the full length of my in-breath from the beginning
to
the end.
As I breathe out, I follow the full length of my out-breath from the beginning
to the end.
Full length of the in-breath,
Full length of the out-breath.
Breathing in, my breath grows deep.
Breathing out, my breath grows slow.
Deep,
Slow.
Breathing in, I become aware of my whole body.
Breathing out, I relax my whole body.
Aware of whole body;
Relaxing.
Breathing in, I know I am alive.
Breathing out, I smile to life.
In, alive;
Out, smiling.
Breathing in, I’m aware of my eyes allowing me to see all the many colors of
spring.
Breathing out, I feel so grateful to the wonders which are my eyes.
In, aware of my eyes;
Out, feeling grateful to my eyes.
Breathing in, I’m aware of my two ears allowing me to enjoy the birdsong at
dawn.
Breathing out, I feel grateful to the miracle of my ears.
In, aware of my ears;
Out, grateful.
Breathing in, I’m aware of my mouth which allows me to speak, to sing, to
eat.
Breathing out, I smile and relax my mouth.
In, aware of my mouth;
Out, I smile.
Breathing in, I’m aware of all the cells in my whole body
made up of countless trillions of atoms.
Breathing out, I smile in gratitude to the whole cosmos
which has given rise to these atoms
born in distant stars which brought together
through the movement of galaxies and planets.
Breathing in, aware of all the atoms in my body;
Breathing out, smiling in gratitude to the cosmos.
Breathing in, I feel peace inside me.
Breathing out, I enjoy peace all around me.
In, peace in me; Out, peace all around.
Breathing in, I dwell peacefully in the present moment.
Breathing out, I know that this is a wonderful moment.
Present moment;
Wonderful moment.
By T. Ambrose Desmond
Touching the Earth, I open myself to this beautiful planet and all of the life that is here.
[BELL]
[ALL TOUCH THE EARTH]
With heart and mind open, I see that there is no separation between my body and the body of the Earth. Every mineral in this flesh and bone has been stone and soil and it will be again. Looking into one calcium molecule in my bone, I can see that it used to be part of the body of a green leaf. Before that, it was part of the living soil in a garden. Long before that, it was a shell in the sea. I see the continuation of this calcium molecule in so many forms and now in my bone. I can see that the Earth element in me will return to the soil and manifest as other forms of life in the future.
I know that every drop of my blood has been the rain, rivers, and ocean, and it will be again. I can see the life of a water molecule in my blood extending back to before the non-beginning. I can see the water I drink becoming part of my body. Looking back further, I can see that water has been part of every river and every ocean since the beginning of the Earth. I can see that the hydrogen and oxygen that make up this water have been in existence long before the Earth formed. Although my blood feels so much like a part of “me,” I know it will continue in many forms forever.
The air that gives life to every cell in my body has lived in trees and other animals and in the vast sky, and it will again. I see the air element in me—the air that I can feel going in and out of my lungs and the air that is carried throughout my body, keeping me alive. I know this air is part of the vast ocean of the atmosphere moving in and out of all people, animals, plants, and microorganisms. I see we are all breathing together.
The warmth of my body is the warmth of the sun. I see the sun’s warmth radiating through space to the Earth and connecting with a green leaf. That leaf miraculously transforms the energy into sugar. As I take that leaf into my body, I transform the sugar back into warmth. I can see that the sun is alive in me.
I can see clearly that the Earth is not my environment. It is my body and there is no separation.
[THREE BREATHS]
[BELL]
[ALL STAND UP]
Touching the Earth, I open myself to all of the suffering that is present in the Earth.
[BELL]
[ALL TOUCH THE EARTH]
With heart and mind open, I see clearly that the Earth and I are one body. With tenderness and love, I bring my awareness to the suffering that is present in this collective body. I see the mineral element that is stone becoming soil, becoming vegetation, becoming flesh and bone, becoming soil again. I also see the suffering that is present in the mineral element. I see the toxins we have made creating sickness and cancer in living beings, and the pesticides and fertilizers poisoning the soil. I know that the suffering of the mineral element is my suffering. I embrace this suffering with tenderness and love.
I see the water element. I see the ocean becoming cloud, becoming rain, becoming drinking water, becoming blood, and returning. I also see the suffering in the water element. I see thousands of children without clean water to drink, and the toxins we have allowed to be released in streams, aquifers and oceans, and all of the suffering they cause. I know the suffering of the water element is my suffering. I embrace this suffering with tenderness and love.
I see the air element. I see the one ocean of air circulating through all life and through the vast sky. I also see the suffering in the air element. I see pollution in the air and the sickness it causes. I know the suffering of the air element is my suffering. I embrace this suffering with tenderness and love.
I see the fire element. I see the energy of the sun warming the Earth, turning into sugars when it touches green leaves, and those leaves becoming my body. I see that the heat in my body is the heat of the sun. I also see the suffering in the fire element. I see the ocean levels rising, the polar ice caps melting, and all of the destruction caused by global climate change. I know the suffering of the fire element is my suffering. I embrace this suffering with tenderness and love.
[THREE BREATHS]
[BELL]
[ALL STAND UP]
Touching the Earth, I open myself to the enormous capacity for healing that is present in the ancestors and in the Earth.
[BELL]
[ALL TOUCH THE EARTH]
With heart and mind open, I see the Earth herself as a living body. I see her capacity to adapt and heal herself. I know that she is strong and that she has a miraculous capacity to transform a toxin into a resource in the same way I can transform suffering into compassion.
I can see the Earth billions of years ago, when she was covered with single-celled organisms that could breathe only carbon dioxide. These single-celled organisms produced oxygen as a waste, and the increasing amount of oxygen in the atmosphere threatened to end life on Earth. I see that in that moment, the Earth began to manifest new single-celled organisms that breathed oxygen and restored the balance in the atmosphere.
I see that this creativity is still alive in the Earth and in human beings. I know all of the solutions to our environmental problems already exist. I know my ancestors have discovered ways of harnessing the power of the wind and sun and water to provide for all of our needs. I see intentional communities, permaculture food forests, electric trains, and compassionate conflict resolution. I also see my own capacity to embrace suffering with mindfulness and love, transforming it into compassion.
Looking deeply, I see that all that is needed for global healing is present within me and all around me. I feel immense gratitude for this miraculous power of transformation.
[THREE BREATHS]
[TWO BELLS]
[ALL STAND UP]
By Sister Annabel
Breathing in this is the in breath
Breathing out this is the out breath
In breath
Out breath
Breathing in I am aware of my whole body
Breathing out I relax my whole body
My body
Relax
Aware of the earth element in me, which is solid; nails, bones, teeth, I
breathe in
Smiling to the earth element in me
Earth element, solid
I smile
Feeling in this body the water element in everything that is fluid; saliva,
tears,blood, urine I breathe in
Smiling to the liquidity of the water element in my body
Water element, fluidity
I smile
Feeling the fire element in my body; the warmth made by the digestive juices,
the movements of the muscles, I breathe in
Smiling to the fire element and the warmth in my body, I breathe out
Fire element, warmth
I smile
Feeling the air element in my body, oxygen, carbon dioxide and other gases in
my lungs and elsewhere, I breathe in
Smiling to the air element in my body, I breathe out
Air element, oxygen
I smile
Aware of the earth element in nature around Me; the soil, the solidity in
plants, animals and minerals, I breathe in
Smiling to the element of earth in nature and all around me, I breathe
out
Earth element in nature
I smile
Seeing the water element, clouds, rain, dew, rivers oceans, and in plants and
animals, I breathe in
Smiling to the water element in nature I breathe out
Water element in nature
I smile
Seeing the fire element all around me in nature, the sunshine, fire, I
breathe in
Smiling to the fire element in nature, I breathe out
Fire element in nature
I smile
Aware of the air element all around me and in all things in nature; the
atmosphere, the wind, I breathe in
Aware of the air element in nature I smile
Air element in nature
I smile
Aware that the air element in my lungs and blood is not separate from the air
element around me in nature, I breathe in
Smiling to the oneness of the air element in me and around me, I breathe
out
Air element, within and without
Not separate, I smile
Aware of that the fire element within my body; warmth, fire and in nature; in
the universe and all around me are not separate, I breathe in
Smiling to the oneness of fire element in me and around me I breathe out
Fire element within and without
Not separate, I smile
Aware that the water element within me and around me are not separate, I
breathe in
Smiling to the oneness of the water element within me and around me I breathe
out
Water element, within and without
Not separate, I smile
Aware that the earth element in all that is solid in my body and in nature
and all around me are not separate, I breathe in
Smiling to the earth element within and around me I breathe out
Earth element within and without
Not separate, I smile
Breathing in, I enjoy the in breath
Breathing out, I enjoy the out breath
In, enjoying
Out, enjoying
By Joanna Macy and John Seed
What are you? What am I? Intersecting cycles of water, earth, air and fire—that’s what I am, that’s what you are.
WATER – blood, lymph, mucus, sweat, tears, inner oceans tugged by the moon, tides within and tides without. Streaming fluids floating our cells, washing and nourishing through endless riverways of gut and vein and capillary. Moisture pouring in and through and out of you, of me, in the vast poem of the hydrological cycle. You are that. I am that.
EARTH – Matter made from rock and soil. It too is pulled by the moon as the magma circulates through the planet heart and roots suck molecules into biology. Earth pours through us, replacing each cell in the body every seven years. Ashes to ashes, dust to dust, we ingest, incorporate and excrete the earth, are made from earth. I am that. You are that.
AIR – the gaseous realm, the atmosphere, the planet’s membrane. The inhale and the exhale. Breathing out carbon dioxide to the trees and breathing in their fresh exudations. Oxygen kissing each cell awake, atoms dancing in orderly metabolism, interpenetrating. That dance of the air cycle, breathing the universe in and out again, is what you are, is what I am.
FIRE – Fire from our sun that fuels all life, drawing up plants and raising the waters to the sky to fall again replenishing. The inner furnace of your metabolism burns with the fire that first sent matter-energy flaring out through space and time. And the same fire as the lightning that flashed into the primordial soup, catalyzing the birth of organic life.
You were there, I was there, for each cell of our bodies is descended in an unbroken chain from that event. Through the desire of atom for molecule, of molecule for cell, of cell for organism. In that spawning of forms, death was born, born simultaneously with sex, before we divided from the plant realm. So in our sexuality we can feel ancient stirrings that connect us with plant as well as animal life. We come from them, an unbroken chain– through fish learning to walk the land, scales turning to wings, through migrations in the ages of life.
We have been but recently in human form. If Earth’s whole history were compressed into twenty-four hours beginning at midnight, organic life would begin only at 5 pm… mammals emerge at 11:30… and from amongst them at only seconds to midnight, our species.
In our long planetary journey we have taken far more ancient forms than these we now wear. Some of these forms we remember in our mother’s womb, take on vestigial tails and gills, grow fins that turn to hands.
Countless times in that journey we died to old forms, let go of old ways, allowing new ones to emerge. But nothing is ever lost. Though forms pass, all returns. Each worn-out cell consumed, recycled… through mosses, leeches, birds of prey…
Think to your next death. Give your flesh and bones back into the cycle. Surrender. Love the plump worms you will become. Launder your weary being through the fountain of life.
Beholding you, I behold as well all the different creatures that compose you– the mitochondria in the cells, the intestinal bacteria, the life teeming on the surface of the skin. The great symbiosis that is you. The incredible coordination and cooperation of countless beings. You are that, too, just as your body is part of a much larger symbiosis, living in wider reciprocities. Be conscious of that give-and-take when you move among trees. Breathe your carbon dioxide to a leaf and sense it breathing fresh oxygen back to you.
Remember again and again the old cycles of partnership. Draw on them in this time of trouble. By your very nature and the journey you have made, there is in you deep knowing of belonging. Draw on it now in this time of fear. You have earth-bred wisdom of your interexistence with all that is. Take courage and power in it now, that we may help each other awaken in this time of peril.
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