The letter below comes from our friends at Buddhists Across Traditions. We encourage you to attend their short sunrise and sunset meditations that they are putting together for Earth Day on the 22nd of April. They are also coordinating a film to showcase what all the Buddhist organisations are doing for the climate emergency and we will put something together on behalf of XR Buddhists. If you would like to contribute please contact info@xrbuddhists.com by the 27th of March. Please share this letter with your local Sanghas and Buddhist groups and encourage them to respond.
Dear Dharma Practitioners & Elders,
The earth is not just our environment. The earth is our mother.
(Dalai Lama XIV & Thich Nhat Hanh)
We hope this letter finds you safe, peaceful and happy.
The Earth and caring for the earth are fundamental to our Buddhist practice: the Buddha touched the earth on attaining enlightenment. You may be aware already how the destruction of nature and the resources of nature is impacting us all. Our respected teachers attribute this to ignorance, greed and separation from the earth and other living beings.
We are grateful for the numerous contributions Buddhists across all traditions and schools are making to address this. We write to you for us to collectively come together to show our commitment to our practice and the Earth- together we are one.
WE ARE THE EARTH – 22nd April, Earth Day
We invite you, along with your sangha practitioners, to come together on Earth Day to sit together and honour the Earth, generating the energy of healing, harmony and peace.
We are delighted to offer a communal online space at sunrise and sunset for practitioners across all traditions to sit together in harmony. Please join us with your sangha. We will be gathering to practice for 30 minutes at 0600 (sunrise) and 2000 (sunset) on Zoom. The zoom link for those meetings is here (https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83386645643). There will be an opportunity for members to practice in accordance with their tradition. Please find attached some images to promote the event to your membership/practitioners.
We ask that you also encourage your members to take the opportunity to commit to some action to mark the day. A list of possible actions is included here.
Honouring Buddhist Earth Action Achievements
For this day we would like to take the opportunity to gather and showcase the numerous projects and commitments Buddhist groups, organisations and networks have been doing around climate, environmental justice and caring for the earth.
We would like to invite you to showcase your achievements, please send us a short submission (statements/presentations/videos) outlining what you have done/are doing by the 30th March. We will then consolidate all submissions, which will then be shared on social media on the day and also sent to relevant outlets. We will also send you a completed version for your own use on social media or other fora.
We will be honoured to showcase you in this way. Please do not hesitate to contact us on buddhistsacrosstraditions@gmail.com, should you have any queries.
We look forward to future collaboration as we work across traditions to take care and raise awareness of the preciousness of our Earth. We will be in touch again to see how we may unite for upcoming milestone events like the G7 conference and the global climate change conference – COP26.
May all beings live in harmony with the earth and one another,
Kamlo, Mikey, Rehena
pp
Buddhists Across Traditions
www.buddhistsacrosstraditions.org
Who we are: Buddhists across Traditions is a UK BPOC/BAME-centered collective (with white allies and currently white-led organisations) uniting Buddhist and Mindfulness groups in service of racial healing, social equity and justice. We recognise that our practices can blossom a radically different society.