EARTH VISIONS

Copyright 2010, Melissa C. Reardon, on all text and images, all rights reserved.

In my own daily practice, I feel deep grief at the thought of never knowing what it is like to walk upon the warm scent of pine needles in a Ponderosa forest, to never feel the sand between my toes on a desolate beach with pungent salty air filling my nostrils or never smell the fresh earth beneath me as I plant vegetables. I am constantly aware of the many people in our world who don’t experience nature in this way--that are disconnected from the land that sustains them. I mourn the loss of wild places as they fold anonymously under layers of concrete and asphalt. I send out a prayer that humanity will see and acknowledge its Dharma before it’s too late. I also send out a prayer that opportunities will present themselves so that I may help others develop their own awareness of their connectivity with all of life.

Earthdharma is not about simply surviving. It is about living in balance with all beings, actively supporting our collective unfolding with mindfulness. It is accepting the truth that the choices our human community makes now directly affect the future. If we don’t want to die of thirst, pollution or starvation, how can we possibly wish that on any being that currently lives or is not yet born? It is our duty to live in this moment, so that we may see the effects of our consumptive practices and make changes while the opportunity is still available to us. We have the capacity to invent and implement action to promote healing and balance in our environment. To get to this place of awareness in action, we have work to do-work within ourselves, work within our communities, and work towards understanding humanity’s place in this living system we call Earth.

Dharma is the law, the truth shared by the Buddha. As Joanna Macy writes, “The Buddha offered the Dharma, not as a goal to be reached so much as a Way (magga). Each step of this way is of intrinsic value, the Dharma being ‘glorious in the beginning, glorious in the middle, glorious in the end.’ Value is intrinsic to each act because action, karma, is what we are and what we become. Although we are summoned to strive to transform our lives and our consciousness, we do so with the paradoxical knowledge that, though we may feel very far from where we want to be, there is no place to get to; for we are already there…the goals we pursue are not distant from us in time or space, but present realities, unfolding out of the core of our existence and capable of transforming in the moment.”

Dharma is also described as duty, and in respect to our planetary home, we must do what we can to honor the Earth as we travel on our Way because it is already here; it is inherently part of our Way. One important element of the Dharma is what the Buddha called paticca samuppada…dependent co-arising. We need only become aware of this state through the silence of meditation in order to take right action within it. When we practice awareness of ‘all is interconnected already’, we are able to think about the future of life on Earth with personal reverence, joy and compassion. We decide to leave nothing toxic behind us-energetically, emotionally or physically. We focus our efforts on taking good care of our own little corner of the world. We begin to cultivate respect for the sources that give us life, inspiration, hope and guidance.

And by taking these small but important steps we can move in a new direction. We can break from the past and walk with all living beings within the Dharma, in a place of centered mindfulness and a sense of peaceful belonging as we progress along the path of the Way.