A meditation by Thich Nhat Than, a Vietnamese Buddhist monk and a peace activist. The meditation is taken from his book “Call Me By My True Names: page 197-199. As I do not have access to the original text I have made a free translation of the book in Dutch.
Part 1
- Here are the roots of a tree. Here is an empty and quiet space. Here is small pillow to sit on. Here is the cool, green grass. Why don’t you sit down here my child?
- Sit upright. Sit with confidence. Sit in peace. Let not your thoughts lift you up into the air. Sit in such a way that you can touch the Earth and be one with her. Might be you smile my child. The Earth will give you her firmness, her peace and her joy.
- By your conscious breathing, your peaceful smile you support the Mudra of grounding.
- There were times that you could not do this so easily. Your sitting on the Earth was like drifting in the air, you who are used to wander in the cycle of life and death, tossed away and absorbed in the ocean of wrong perceptions.
- But the Earth is always patient and all heart. She still is waiting for you, because she waited already for the last trillion of years. She will always welcome you, always green and fresh like that first time because love never says: “this is the last time”. Because the Earth is a living mother. She will wait for you and never give up.
- Return to her, my child. you will be like that tree. The leaves , the branches and the flowers of your soul will be fresh and green once you enter the Mudra of grounding!
I vow solemly that from now on I will see the Earth as my solid foundation, each time when I meditate and sit on the Earth or walk the Earth.
I will touch the Earth and stay with her. I will entrust myself to her..
To be continued…
