By Russell Rodgers

One of the key commitments in vajrayana Buddhism is to experience the world as sacred. Sacred in this context doesn’t mean that some deity proclaimed it so; it just is, primordially, in the present moment of fresh, pristine awareness. In our business, however, we live in our thoughts and concepts about the world rather than the world itself, and we lose touch with its sacredness and basic goodness. Our concepts can be so subtle and pervasive that we don’t even realize that they are there. We just feel deadened and disconnected from the magical, living quality in our surroundings. At the same time, we feel haunted by the feeling that something is missing.

In 2009, we did a retreat called “Touching the Earth”, which explored our connection with the natural world in dharmic terms. This summer I thought we could dig deeper into the aspect of pure perception and self existing, natural ordinary magic. We’ll use meditation and contemplation to dissolve barriers to direct, non-conceptual experience. We’ll do a lot of awakened heart practice to connect to our fellow sentient beings in the forest and in the world at large. We’ll use the Mahayana teachings on empty/fullness to explore our perceptions and establish an authentic relationship to our surroundings. Based on our meditation practice, we’ll look into drala, the naturally existing power of places that wakes us up into sacredness.

At this time in our history, we humans have extraordinary power over nature, and at the same time, we have become more disconnected from it. Over the past many years of doing outdoor meditation retreats at Senge Ling, I have been impressed with the power of practicing in the forest to restore my connections. The meditation pavilion, screened but open on all sides to the forest makes this possible. This summer, I think the time is ripe to use the wisdom of our tradition to deepen our relationship with the world more fully. Ultimately, our place in nature must be realized from the inside if we are to make a difference to the planet. This journey is not particularly political: it’s simply a profound and deep appreciation of what we have.

Here is a message from King Gesar to his subjects in the land of Ling in the 11th century in Tibet. I think it applies today:

The world is healed or harmed each instant
In the stillness of our hearts.
Whether we struggle or rejoice, this is so.
People of Ling, this is our power and the power of all.
We must open the true kingdom in our hearts.

For more information please see our program listing for the 2011 Public Weekthün.

Last spring Russell Rodgers, author of Essays on the Shambhala Buddhist Chants (PDF), taught a five-week Earth Dharma course at the Kootenay Shambhala Centre. He has revised the syllabus and is willing to share it with anyone interested.

The course is outlined below. It is designed around a basic buddhadharma understanding of mind, and much of the material could be applied to any social issue.

If you are interested, contact Russell Rodgers at nelsonbuddha@gmail.com.

EARTH DHARMA COURSE OUTLINE

Class I: Duality, the Source of the Problem
The foundation of our ecological problems begins with the human mind. Conventionally, our ecological problems are ascribed the human proclivity for grasping, aggression and ignorance. In this class we’ll take a deeper view: the nature of the mind and how these tendencies come about.

Class II: Sacred World
If we do not view the world as sacred and basically good, there will be consequences to our relationship with nature. In this class we’ll look at our monotheistic cultural background, and its division of the world into the material and the spiritual. We’ll look at theism’s successor, science, and its view of the world as mechanical, dead matter. Then we’ll look at polytheistic cultures and their view of the earth’s sacredness, and finally the non-theistic attitudes to the earth according to the Buddhist views of basic goodness, ultimate purity, and non-theistic sacredness.

Class III: Practices for Interbeing
We will work with Thich Nhat Hanh’s concept of interbeing, or interdependence, from the point of view of how the nature of our conceptual thinking functions to isolate us from the cosmos. We’ll also look at how thoughts can lead us back into a sense of being connected. We will work with the notion of soft spots where the world can touch us and the practice of tonglen to explore our inter-connectedness on an emotional level.

Class IV: Presence and Drala: The World Speaks
In this class we will look at how the world speaks to us. We’ll look at drala from the point of view of depth of perception and from the point of view of drala as unseen presences. We’ll look at the gods and nature spirits of other cultures and how we can relate to them non-theistically.

Class V: Buddhist Activism
In this class we will look at Buddhist responses to environmental problems and at how one can engage in movements to help the planet without experiencing reaction, anger, frustration and burnout. We will introduce some lojong slogans as a guide to compassionate action.

Each class will have a contemplation question for the week preceding the class. The classes will begin with participants splitting into dyads to discuss the question. The meditation period before the class will also have contemplation questions and meditation exercises in order to stimulate students to look at their experience during meditation.

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The Kootenay Shambhala Centre is pleased to present Earth Dharma, a five-class course with Russell Rodgers, on Thursday evenings, from May 20th to June 17th.

We will explore our relationship with the earth, our present ecological predicament, and how meditation and other practices can help.

Everyone is welcome. Online participation (through audio recordings and other resources) will be possible. For a full program description click here.

Jane DiGiacomo, a key member of the Kootenay Shambhala Centre’s environment working group, submitted this article.

By Jane DiGiacomo

The Kootenay Shamhbala Centre is taking part in the Transition Nelson Expo and Gathering at the Prestige Lakeside Resort and Convention Centre from May 14th to 16th, and I hope to see you all there!

Transition Nelson is a grass roots movement aiming to organize all sectors of the Nelson area community to plan for a community that can easily and joyfully meet the demands of a future world impacted by climate change and decreasing dependency on fossil fuels.

The Expo and Gathering weekend will include celebrations of Nelson’s progress in this process, reskilling workshops, booths hosted by individuals and organizations participating in the process, and most importantly, a professionally-facilitated community conversation to plan for this future.

The end result of the weekend will be an Energy Descent Action Plan, which will guide the Nelson area community in taking immediate and long-term steps towards a more sustainable and resilient future.

Our Centre is hosting a booth on Friday, May 14th. This will give Expo participants a chance to learn about who we are, what we offer, and how our offerings are relevant to Transition Nelson’s focus. Our upcoming Earth Dharma course, for example, may be of particular interest.

Stay tuned for more details about our participation.

Our upcoming Earth Dharma course is highlighted in the May issue of Kootenay Shambhala eNews.

You can subscribe to eNews in the “Email News Sign-Up” section on our home page or by contacting us at nelsonbuddha@gmail.com. (An unsubscribe link is included at the bottom of each message.)

The document linked here―Practices for the Earth (PDF)―contains an essay written by senior Kootenay Shambhala Centre teacher Russell Rodgers outlining the teachings he presented at last summer’s Kootenay Public Weekthun 2009: Touching the Earth meditation retreat, and describing the approach used to deliver the teachings.

He submitted the document for the possible benefit of Shambhala teachers, environmentalists and others.

Topics include:
• Container Principle
• The Root of Ecological Problems
• The Senses: Our Gateways to the Natural World
• Making a Heart Connection to All Living Beings
• The Eco-dharma of Emptiness
• Drala: Working with Presence
• Introduction to the Lhasang

An “Afterthoughts” section provides additional material.

You can offer feedback by leaving a reply below, or by emailing Russell Rodgers at info@nelsonbuddha.com.

Responding to climate change effectively requires understanding it deeply.

For a Buddhist view on the roots of climate change, read the excerpt from the new book A Buddhist Response to the Climate Emergency, featured in yesterday’s Shambhala Times post Buddhadharma and the Planetary Crisis. Also, see the other Shambhala Times articles tagged Buddhist Response to Climate Change.

If you’d like to join in the Kootenay Shambhala Centre’s efforts to bring this view down to earth through practical action, locally and beyond, contact Russell Rodgers or Jim Northcote at info@nelsonbuddha.com.

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The Kootenay Shambhala Centre is hosting a “Sounds of 350″ gathering in support of a binding climate change agreement at the December United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen.

The gathering will include time for silent contemplation, chanting practices designed to clear obstacles, and 350 recitations of a mantra from the Heart Sutra, which helps dispel fixed modes of thinking.

Everyone is welcome.

For more information go to 350.org/node/13088 or contact Jane DiGiacomo at info@nelsonbuddha.com.

The message below was posted on the worldwide Shambhala email announcement service earlier today.

For information about the Kootenay Shambhala Centre’s environmental activity, click on any of the related subject tags in the sidebar―e.g., protecting the earth―or contact Russell Rodgers, our Touching the Earth liaison, at info@nelsonbuddha.com.

Dear sangha,

A cheerful summer to you! This spring and summer have been exciting times for environmental action within the Shambhala sangha. The Sakyong, Jamgön Mipham Rinpoche offered his mindful instructions on Protecting the Earth in support of Earth Day 2009 and in July urged sangha members to sign the Buddhist Declaration on Climate Change.

Along with the Sakyong’s encouragement, the Touching the Earth working group launched the 2009 Shambhala Green Commitment initiative. We have been delighted so far at the positive actions centers are taking throughout the world and eagerly await responses from the remainder of the mandala. Read the rest of this entry »

Below is a selection of photos taken at Kootenay Public Weekthün 2009: Touching the Earth, this year’s annual public one-week meditation retreat at Senge Ling (our retreat land near Nelson), which ran from June 27th to July 5th. Many thanks to Tom Baker for sharing his work. More photos may be posted as they’re submitted.

Click on the images to enlarge them.