On the 31st August Kynan Sutherland will be giving a dharma talk to the Melbourne Zen Group as part of their regular zazenkai (Day of Zen Practice) program.
Kynan writes:
On my altar at home sits a wooden statue of Shakyamuni Buddha touching the earth. The image is commonly called, "Shakyamuni calling the earth to witness". It expresses the fact that we are woken up by the earth and verified by this awakening. At a time when the planet is so vulnerable, perhaps it's worth exploring this image in reverse. Sitting on our cushions with aching hearts, can we admit that, "the earth is calling me to witness"?
An aching heart is where it starts. I'd like to explore how grief, fear and confusion about our world might actually clarify our practice and bring us into deeper accord with what is happening. The climate tragedy isn't remotely seperate from who and what we are. Instead, it's a call on every one of us to wake up to our buddha nature and respond with creativity and wisdom to this call.
We cannot avoid or solve this crisis. But we can touch it, which is already an act of profound transformation.
For more information visit the Melbourne Zen Group website www.mzg.org.au