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Touching the Earth page

Corona and Climate Change – Discussion with Minister Isabella Lövin and Prof. Ottmar Edenhofer, facilitated by Christoph Schönherr

UNA Germany (DGVN) and the Swedish Embassy in Germany jointly hosted a virtual discussion on the connections between climate change and the Corona Pandemic on 24 September 2020 with – the Swedish Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for the Environment and Climate Isabella Lövin.

Here is the recording of the event that Christoph Schönherr had the honor of moderating a few weeks ago. The full recording lasts one hour.

Click here to view the recording.

The most interesting parts are Prof. Edenhofer’s responses at the following times:
15:55 min
35:00 min
45:40 min
54:15 min

Great progress!!

 

 

 

The Touching the Earth Collective Celebrates the Spring Equinox / Nyida Day–RECORDING!!

Join us for this special Sunday Gathering featuring a celebration of the spring equinox (Nyida Day), and an opportunity to connect with the cycles of the seasons.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What better way to welcome spring than celebrating the arts and the elements! 

There will be dance, music, words and brilliant colors…

With Acharya Arawana Hayashi, Barbara Bash, and other special guests!
Orchestrated by Sarah Cox


When human beings live in harmony with the principles of heaven and earth, then the four seasons and the elements of the world will also work together harmoniously.”
– Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche.

 

Waking up in the Climate Crisis: From Despair to Engagement — Two Study Sessions on the Seven Insights, on July 26 and Aug 23

Please join us for two study sessions to explore the Seven Questions/Insights, which Renée presented in her talk of May 24.

1) First Study Session:
Already took place on Sunday, July 26.
We discussed Insights 1 to 4. Here is the recording below.


2) Second Study session
Sunday, August 23, from 1 pm to 3 pm (Eastern)—Insights 5 to 7
FREE

If you wish to attend, please email us to confirm your presence and receive the Zoom link. <[email protected]>

In preparation, we suggest you listen to the first talk (below) and the follow-up study group (below), and if you have more time, you could look at her book, Environmental Melancholia.

Dr. Renée Lertzman is a researcher, educator and engagement strategist who uses psychological insights to unlock action on global climate and environmental crises.
It’s normal to feel anxious or overwhelmed by climate change. Can we turn those feelings into something productive?

Below is the recording of Renée’s talk of May 24, entitled “Waking up to the Climate Crisis: From Despair to Engagement,” which was facilitated by Sara Demetry.

You may also enjoy watching Renée’s TED talk: (https://www.ted.com/talks/renee_lertzman_how_to_turn_climate_anxiety_into_action)

Here is the recording of the follow-up event on Zoom, facilitated by Sara Demetry (Sunday, June 7th)

Holding Grief with an Open Heart: A Facilitated Zoom Group

 

We are collectively feeling grief associated with climate disruption, species extinction, forest fires, water and food shortages, pandemic, and the disproportionate impact on marginalized populations at this time. Join together in community for a twice a month online group which will create a safe space to explore themes such as gratitude, grieving, activism, resilience and building capacity for staying present and awake in this time which portends both crisis and opportunity.


“The work of the mature person is to carry grief in one hand and gratitude in the other and to be stretched large by them. How much sorrow can I hold? That’s how much gratitude I can give. If I carry only grief, I’ll bend toward cynicism and despair. If I have only gratitude, I’ll become saccharine and won’t develop much compassion for other peoples’ suffering. Grief keeps the heart fluid and soft, which helps make compassion possible.”  Francis Weller

No ongoing commitment is required. The basis of the group will be contemplation, space for listening, sharing and discussion.

This will be a drop in facilitated zoom group the first and third Sunday evening of each month from 7:00 – 8:30 pm EDT beginning in April, the 5th and 19th. If you are interested in attending, please email [email protected] to receive the zoom link. 

Sara Demetry has been a member of the Shambhala community since 1998 and lives in Barnet VT with her husband and cats. She keeps a psychotherapy private practice and works primarily with trauma and healing. She has been interested in “Inner Transition” work for many years and in the need for communal approaches to griefwork.

 

Death Salon

With Deborah Luscomb and Jacquie Bell              
A virtual, bi-weekly, open gathering to talk, listen, share, contemplate our mortality…. and all of the various reactions that arise… fear, grief, delight… together.


Mondays: July 6th & Aug 3rd at 11:00 am (Atlantic)
Wednesdays: June 17th, July 22nd & Aug 19th at 8 pm (Atlantic) 

This event will be hosted by long-time practitioners and death awareness educators, Jacquie Bell and Deborah Luscomb.

No commitment, no fees are necessary. 

Please email Deborah for the Zoom link and more info.
[email protected]

A Poem in honor of Earth Day

An Ecodharma Prayer of Earth

 

From the realm of boundless emptiness,

The spacious horizon of sky, sun and moon,

We call upon primordial perfection,

The unborn womb of suchness called Buddha,

Please grant us the unconditional openness

To rest in timeless wisdom with all life, decay, and death,

To see the patient perfection without beginning or end.

From the realm of compassionate sadness,

The vulnerable living skin of leaf, shell, and feather,

We call upon immeasurable compassion,

The inconceivable, endless vow of all Bodhisattvas,

Please grant us the brave heart of awakening,

To grieve for all that we are losing,

To lovingly protect all that calls to be protected.

From the realm of interdependent relationship,

The four elements, greenery, crawling, swimming, and soaring ones,

We call upon the interwoven web of causality,

The selfless insight called Dharma,

Please grant us the humility beyond human-centricity,

To mindfully stay with the suffering of this very place,

To take one small step towards restoring this very biome.

From the realm of precious human birth,

The farms, villages, cities, and systems of our society,

We call upon the community of all life,

The skillful means known as Sangha,

Please grant us the path of compassionate responsivity,

To fearlessly gather together without limit,

To act in skillful insurgencies, with reverence for all sentient beings.

From the realm coalescing the serene and the lively,

The luminous display of teaching that is our only planet earth,

We call upon this very time and place,

The Vajra continuum of Buddha Nature,

Please grant us this impossible challenge,

To rediscover the awakened nature of all,

To flourish in a beautiful liberated world, the inseparable life of all.

-Composed spontaneously near a red cardinal in western Pennsylvania on the occasion of the 50th Anniversary of Earth Day, amidst a global pandemic, rising temperatures, melting ice, and mass extinction, April 2020, by Acharya Adam Lobel

This is the Moment We Have Been Training For—Recording Now Available!

A Creative Conversation, in honor of Earth Day, with Acharya Judith Simmer-Brown and Jeff Wagner.

Co-sponsored by the Boulder Shambhala Center, the Touching the Earth Collective and Shambhala Online

As we celebrate the 50th anniversary of Earth Day this month, Buddhist teacher and scholar, Acharya Judith Simmer-Brown, and environmental educator and author Jeff Wagner, will engage in an exploratory and friendly conversation on these timely questions.  Drawing on decades of practicing and teaching the Shambhala Buddhist dharma, Acharya Judith will discuss with Jeff, who brings many years of hands-on experience living and teaching in non-Western cultures, how we can open effectively and collectively to this moment of profound change.

Here is the live event’s recording!

With special thanks to Emily Takahashi, Touching the Earth Collective and The Active Hope Green Team!