In my spiritual practice I felt an absence of clarity around the every-day ethics of living in harmony with Mother Earth. So, I re-wrote the ancient Buddhist precepts into up-to-date Climate Justice Mindfulness Trainings, guidelines I can chew on again and again in meditation.

It’s worth noting, I am a student of the venerable Vietnamese monk Thich Nhat Hanh, so my formatting and approach is not unlike his; I am his continuation. But with these Trainings I paint for myself a world view that dissolves the illusion of separateness from nature and honors the wisdom and healing power of the living universe.

Below is the first of five Climate Justice Mindfulness Training: Protecting Life. You may want to hold this in awareness during your meditation today. Perhaps it will illuminate a gap between your values and your behaviors, a bit of room for growth.

Look for the other Trainings to follow in the days ahead. With a bow–H

Protecting Life
Aware of pain caused by the extinction of human and non-human communities, I will protect and dwell in harmony with Great Earth’s ecosystems so that all species may live and thrive in complex patterns of interbeing. I will respect the integrity of ecological systems and not manicure nature to my own end.