Holding Mother Earth While She Sweats!

The Earth is not just the environment.
The Earth is us.
Everything depends on whether we have this insight or not.
~Thich Nhat Hanh, from Love Letter to the Earth

The object of our meditation is the Earth.
Smoke is on my eastern horizon,
from a California town burning
close to where another
town burned last summer.
July, 2016 was the warmest month observed, globally
in our period of records dating back to 1880.

What does this mean,
what can I do to feel necessary,
& not add more carbon
to our global green house?
July, 2016 was the warmest month observed, globally
in our period of records dating back to 1880.

Taking out frosty ice cubes
from the freezer into a water-glass
imagining my manta working;
breathing in hot, breathing out cool.
July, 2016 was the warmest month observed, globally
in our period of records dating back to 1880.

That it seems distressing
makes me want to tune it out.
Yet, others are loosing their housing
to fires around here, floods, elsewhere.
July, 2016 was the warmest month observed, globally
in our period of records dating back to 1880.

Mindful living necessitates accepting
what is really happening,
for whatever reason it’s happening.
On retreat, taking refuge with others
to stay, calm & compassionate.
The object of our meditation is the Earth.
July, 2016 was the warmest month observed, globally
in our period of records dating back to 1880.

May all find insight enjoying
this Earth Holder’s Retreat entitled,
For A Future to Be Possible.
These talks, I produced a couple of months back
are filled with cooling wisdom
for these ever-warming days.
Seems certain that whatever happens
with our changing climate,
we’re in this together.

in memory of Young Brother, Phap De (May 8, 1935 – August 4, 2016)