Include the Earth

Dear Friends,

First, I urge everyone to try out Barbara Bonner's free community mindfulness group, which she holds every Sunday from 4 to 4:45 at LifeWorks studio, 50 Castle Street in Great Barrington. I was just there this last Sunday and loved the grace and depth behind the apparent simplicity of her offering: we just sit together. Barbara is an author and meditant who will be well known to many (but find out more at inspiringforgiveness.com). She has an extensive background in Buddhism; what she offers now is dogma-free. I hope to see you all there often.

Our central focus today will be Ukraine. The media necessarily show us burned out buildings and the human suffering of this monstrous war. And that is our mental image of the place. But Ukraine is a huge country, much bigger than France, and includes at least its share of wilderness, streams, mountains and wildlife and vast stretches of arable land (Ukraine is the "breadbasket of Europe"). Above is an image of Mount Hoverla, about 400 miles from Kyiv toward the West. Here in America we may not have a sense for the vastness and beauty of the region, a sense for the earth of it. (Do check it out on Google Earth, however, for instance right here.)

So today we will first evoke and enhance our individual presence, our full human selves. Next, we'll heighten the group energy. Then we will enlist the participation of the earth itself, which may not care about political and national boundaries. And we'll offer this invoked and blended energy for the sake of the best possible outcome for this heart-wrenching conflict.

with love,

Michael