We Need a Revolution of Compassion

 

11.27.2020 WE NEED A REVOLUTION OF COMPASSION The January 2021 issue of Lion’s Roar magazine features His Holiness the Dalai Lama on the cover. Inside, you’ll find his call to action on the climate crisis, alongside an interview with His Holiness, conducted by journalist and activist Franz Alt. In both, His Holiness urges us to take action for the future of the earth.   “Simply meditating or praying for change is not enough,” he writes. “There has to be action.”   Below you’ll find words of wisdom on what we must do to combat the climate crisis from His Holiness, Thich Nhat Hanh, and Joanna Macy — all sources of great inspiration in these times. They each ask us to change our relationship with the earth for the benefit of all, opening our hearts and minds with great compassion along the way.

Thich Nhat Hanh’s Love Letter to the Earth The earth is you. You are the earth. When you realize there is no separation, says Thich Nhat Hanh, you fall completely in love with this beautiful planet. A lot of our fear, hatred, anger, and feelings of separation and alienation come from the idea that we are separate from the planet. We see ourselves as the center of the universe and are concerned primarily with our own personal survival. If we care about the health and well-being of the planet, we do so for our own sake. We want the air to be clean enough for us to breathe. We want the water to be clear enough so that we have something to drink. But we need to do more than use recycled products or donate money to environmental groups.   We have to change our whole relationship with the earth.

Why We Need the Great Turning It’s the movement of all those who want to create a life-sustaining society, writes Joanna Macy, and it’s even more important at a time when the future looks so bad. It is so great a privilege to be here on Earth at this time. I have had the good fortune to drink from three great streams of thought — the buddhadharma, systems thinking, and deep ecology. Each gives me another way to know Gaia and to know myself. Each helps me be less afraid of my fears. I have had the joy of helping others experience this too, of seeing them take the Work That Reconnects further, building our collective capacities and our trust in reciprocity. Being fully present to fear, to gratitude, to all that is — this is the practice of mutual belonging. As living members of the living body of Earth, we are grounded in that kind of belonging. We will find more ways to remember, celebrate, and affirm this deep knowing: we belong to each other, we belong to Earth.

We Need a Revolution of Compassion In this powerful statement on the climate crisis, the Dalai Lama calls on us to make this a century of compassion for the planet and all its inhabitants. This beautiful blue planet is our only home. It provides a habitat for unique and diverse communities. Taking care of our planet is to look after our own home. We can no longer keep exploiting the resources of this earth — the trees, the water, and the minerals — without any care for coming generations. It is common sense that we cannot survive if we keep working against nature. We must learn to live in harmony with nature.

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