– I –
In gratitude, I bow to all generations of ancestors in my blood family.
(Bell)
(All touch the earth)
(Read slowly, with a pause after each paragraph to allow for reflection)
I see my mother and father, whose blood, flesh, and vitality are circulating in my own veins and nourishing every cell in me. Through them, I see my four grandparents. I see my roots in my father, mother, grandfathers, grandmothers, and all my ancestors. I know I am only the continuation of this ancestral lineage. Their expectations, experiences, and wisdom have been transmitted from so many generations of ancestors.
I carry in me the life, blood, experience, wisdom, happiness, and sorrow of all generations. I open my heart, flesh, and bones to receive the energy of insight, love, and experience transmitted to me by all my ancestors. Please support, protect, and transmit to me your energy. The suffering and all the elements that need to be transformed, I am practicing to transform.
I know wherever children and grandchildren are, ancestors are there, also. I see my parents when they were children, young and innocent, fresh to this world and free from hurt. I see their innocence and feel love, compassion and sorrow for their hurts.
I know that parents always love and support their children and grandchildren, although they are not always able to express it skillfully because of difficulties they themselves encountered. I see that my ancestors tried to build a way of life based on gratitude, joy, confidence, respect, and loving-kindness. As a continuation of my ancestors, I bow deeply and allow their energy to flow through me. I ask my ancestors for their support, protection, and strength.
(Pause for about 10 breaths)
(Bell)
(All stand up)
– II –
In gratitude, I bow to all generations of ancestors in my spiritual family.
(Bell)
(All touch the earth)
I see in myself my teachers, the ones who show me the way of love and understanding, the way to breathe, smile, forgive, and live deeply in the present moment. I see through my teachers all teachers over many generations and traditions, going back to the ones who began my spiritual family thousands of years ago.
I see the Buddha and the Bodhisattvas; Jesus and Mary Immaculate; Moses and Abraham; Mohammed and the Sufi Masters; Krishna; and the many wise and courageous women and men who have shown us the way. I see them all as my spiritual ancestors. Their energy has deeply transformed the world. Their energy has entered me and is creating peace, joy, understanding, and loving-kindness.
Without the Buddha and all these spiritual ancestors, I would not know the way to practice to bring peace and happiness into my life and into the lives of my family and society. I open my heart and my body to receive the energy of understanding, loving-kindness, and protection from the Awakened Ones.
I know that I am the continuation of their teachings, and of the community of practice over many generations. I ask these spiritual ancestors to transmit to me their infinite source of energy, peace, stability, understanding, and love. I vow to use this energy to practice so that I can transform suffering in myself and in the world, and to transmit their energy to future generations of practitioners.
(Pause for about 10 breaths)
(Bell)
(All stand up)
– III –
In gratitude, I bow to this land and all of the ancestors who made it available.
(Bell)
(All touch the earth)
I see that I am whole, protected, and nourished by this land and by the living beings who have made life easy and possible for me through all their efforts. I see all those who have made this country a refuge for people of so many origins and colors, by their open minds, talent, perseverance, and love — those who have worked hard to build schools, hospitals, bridges, and roads, to protect human rights, to develop science and technology, and to fight for freedom and social justice.
I see myself touching my Native American ancestors who have lived on this land and knew the ways to live in peace and harmony with nature, living in balance with the mountains, forests, animals, vegetation, and minerals of this land. I feel the energy of this land penetrating my body and soul, supporting and accepting me.
I vow to cultivate and maintain this energy and return it to support and protect the land, air, streams and oceans and animals. I will work to transmit this understanding to future generations. I vow to contribute my part in transforming the violence, hatred, ignorance and delusion that still lie deep in the collective consciousness of this society so that future generations will have more safety, joy, and peace. I ask this land for its protection and support and gratefully accept its wisdom
(Pause for about 10 breaths)
(Bell)
(All stand up)
– IV –
In gratitude and compassion, I bow down and transmit my energy to those I love.
(Bell)
(All touch the earth)
All the energy I have received I now want to transmit to my father, my mother, everyone I love, and all who have suffered and worried because of me, and for me.
I know I have not been mindful enough in my daily life. I also know that those who love me have had their own difficulties. I see that they have suffered because they were not lucky enough to have an environment that encouraged their full development, and I feel compassion for their suffering. I transmit my energy to my beloved ones: my mother, my father, my brothers, my sisters, my husband, my partner, my wife, my daughter, my son; to the family of friends I have created around me; and to the husband, wife, partner, and children I may have in the future.
I transmit my energy so that their pain will be relieved, so they can smile and feel the joy of being alive. I want all of them to be healthy and joyful. I know that when they are happy, I will also be happy. I no longer feel resentment towards any of them. I pray that all ancestors in my blood and spiritual families will focus their energies toward each of them, to protect and support them. I know that I am not separate from them. I am one with those I love.
(Pause for about 10 breaths)
(Bell)
(All stand up)
– V –
In understanding and compassion, I bow down to reconcile myself with all those who have made me suffer.
(Bell)
(All touch the earth)
I open my heart and send forth my energy of love and understanding to everyone who has made me suffer, to those who have destroyed much of my life and the lives of those I love.
I know now that these people have themselves undergone a lot of suffering and that their hearts are tight with pain, anger, and hatred. I touch that pain and feel its sorrow and see that anyone who suffers that much will make those around him or her suffer. I know they may have been unlucky, never having the chance to be cared for and loved. Life and society have dealt them so many hardships. They have been wronged and abused. They have not been guided in the path of mindful living. They have been stripped of the innocence and joy of life. They have accumulated wrong perceptions about life, about me, and about us. They have wronged us and the people we love.
I pray to my ancestors in my blood and spiritual families to channel to these persons who have made us suffer the energy of love and protection, so that their hearts will be able to open and receive the nectar of love and blossom like a flower. I pray that they can transform to experience the joy of living, so that they will not continue to make themselves and others suffer.
I see their suffering and do not want to hold any feelings of hatred or anger in myself toward them. I do not want them to suffer. I channel my energy of love and understanding to them and ask all my ancestors to help them to transform and to help me to forgive.
(Pause for about 10 breaths)
(Bell)
(All stand up)
(Bell to conclude the Touchings of the Earth.)
(Invite everyone to return to their places and form a circle for the discussion.)
This version of The Five Touchings of the Earth was adapted from the Plum Village Chanting and Recitation Book. Revised January 23, 2002, by the Still Water Mindfulness Practice Center.
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