PROGRAM

BEARING WITNESS TO MOTHER EARTH

11-02-2025

We invite our guests to join us in singing as we await

the beginning of the ceremony

(see song sheet)

INVITATION OF THE BELL 3 X

OPENING REMARKS: Becky Lockman

*

BLESSING OF MOTHER EARTH: Kapua Ching

*

WALKING MEDITATION: David Lockman

The practice of mindful walking is a profound way to deepen our connection with our body and the earth

The earth is sacred and we touch her with each step. We should be very respectful, because we are walking on our Mother. If we walk like that, then every step will be grounding, every step will be nourishing. 

Would Everyone Please Rise, turn so that we are all going in the same direction.  

Let us now silently, gently, and with great mindfulness,

walk, going as a river.

Let the movement of the gentle walking deepen your connection to the Earth

At conclusion of Walking Meditation

INVITATION OF THE BELL

*

READER #1: Kavita

Dear Mother Earth.  

Whereever there is soil, water, rock, or air, you are there, nourishing me and
giving me life. You are present in every cell of my body. 

My physical body is your physical body, and just as the Sun and stars are present in you, they are also present in me. You are not outside of me, and I am not outside of you. You are more than just my environment. You are nothing less than myself.

I promise to keep the awareness alive that you are always in me, and I am always in you. I promise to be aware that your health and well being is my own health and well being.

 I know I need to keep this awareness alive in me for us both to be peaceful, happy, healthy, and strong. 

It is your fresh air that we breathe, your clear water that we drink, your nourishing food that we eat, and your medicinal herbs that heal us when we are sick. Who among us has love as immense as your own, embracing all beings without discrimination?

 It is my deep wish, dear Mother, to live in such a way that I 

am awake to each of your wonders, and nourished by your beauty. I cherish your precious creativity, and I smile to this gift of life.


INVITATION OF THE BELL

MUSIC

*

READER #2: Javad Anjum 

DEAR MOTHER, 

Every time I step upon the Earth,

 I will train myself to see that I am walking on you, 

my Mother. 

Every time I place my feet on the Earth I have a chance to be in touch with you and all your wonders. 

With every step I can touch the fact that you are not just beneath me, but you are also within me. 

Each mindful and gentle step can nourish me, heal me, and bring me into contact with myself and with you in the present moment. Walking in mindfulness I can express my love, respect, and care for you, our precious Earth. You are not only matter, you are also mind, you are also consciousness. 

Dear Mother Earth, our nature is your nature, 

which is also the nature of the cosmos. It is my deep wish to walk gently, with steps of love and with great respect.

Dear Mother, I know it is your wish that we live with more awareness and gratitude, and we can do this by generating the energies of mindfulness, peace, stability, and compassion in our daily lives. I promise today that every step I take on you will be filled with love and tenderness. I will train myself to see the truth that I am you, I am the Earth, and as I walk, I am walking not merely on matter, but on spirit.

Dear Mother Earth,  

 You have immeasurable patience and endurance. 

You love, protect and nurture all of us without discrimination.

I take refuge in you, Mother Earth. I do not have to go anywhere to find you: you are already in me and I am already in you.

INVITATION OF THE BELL

MUSIC

Guided Sitting Meditation: Kavita

*

Reader # 3 Sandy Magnani


Dear Mother, even before forming the atmosphere, 

you endured a collision with a great heavenly body, almost the size of Mars. Part of the impacting planet became you; 

the rest of it, along with some of your mantle and crust, became the Moon. 

Dear Mother, the Moon is a part of you.

 She is a kind sister to you, always following you, helping you slow down and keep your balance, and creating tidal rhythms on your body.
Our entire solar system is one family, revolving around Father Sun 

in a joyful and harmonious dance. 

 I can see you, Mother Earth, are the most precious flower in our solar

 system, a true jewel of the cosmos.

Dear Mother Earth,
We vow to see you as our body, and the Sun as our heart.

 We will train ourselves to recognize you 

and the Sun in every cell of our body. We will find you both, Mother Earth and Father Sun, in each tender leaf, in each flash of lightning, 

in each drop of water. Diligently, we will practice 

to see the ultimate and realize our own true nature. We will practice to see that 

we have never been born and we will never die.

We know we are one with you and with the whole cosmos. We touch the ultimate in the very here and now.

INVITATION OF THE BELL: 2X

MUSIC

*

THE MOTHER SPEAKS

Written and Recited by Elizabeth Hanson:

 The earth lies waiting

 like a lonely heart.

 Come to me

 return to me

 join with me

 I must give you 

 a blessing or a curse.

 You silly men dreaming

 of technicolor power

 convincing yourselves 

 in surround sound.

 You are as helpless

 as a baby bird fallen

 from the nest. Misguided

 as a blind cave lizard,

 you set your course knowing

 only the hollow cave.

 I would gather you 

 and shelter you 

 beneath my heart

 beneath my bosom

 beneath my warm body.

 I must bless you with plenty

 or curse you with need.

 I have no other options.

 You are my children grown

 willful and stubborn.

 I can love you forever

 only if

 you will love me now.

*

Reader #4: DAVID KEY

Dear Father Sun,


Your Infinite Light is the nourishing source of all species.

You are our source of limitless light and life. Your light shines upon Mother Earth offering us warmth and beauty, helping Mother Earth to nourish us and make life possible for all species.  

You are not just outside of this tiny body of ours,

 you are within every cell of our body, and the body of Mother Earth. 

If you were to disappear, then our life, as well as that of Mother Earth, 

would also end. I aspire to look deeply to see you, Father Sun, as my heart, the interbeing nature between Father Sun, Mother Earth, myself and all beings. I aspire to practice to love
Mother Earth, Father Sun and to love one another in order

 to help us transcend ALL kinds of discrimination, 

Dear Mother Earth,
because of our ignorance and suffering, we your human children have acted with cruelty, meanness, and violence. 

But we also have the ability, with spiritual practice, to be compassionate and helpful toward 

not only our own species but other species.

 All humans

 have the potential to become awakened beings able to protect you, our Mother, and preserve your beauty.

 We humans are no longer naive in thinking ourselves the masters of the universe. 

Dear Mother Earth,
the human species is but one of your many children. Unfortunately, many of us have been blinded by greed, pride, and delusion, and only a few of us have been able to recognize you as our Mother. 

Not realizing this, we have done you great harm, compromising both your health and your beauty. 

 When greed and pride overtake our basic survival needs, the result is always violence and unnecessary devastation.  

We have learned that when we perpetrate violence toward our own and other species, we are violent toward ourselves. 

When we know how to protect all beings, we are protecting ourselves. It is our deep wish to protect you and restore balance, so that you can continue for a long time in this beautiful and precious form.

We have the deep conviction that by generating wholesome energies, we will help reduce the suffering on Earth, and contribute to alleviating 

the suffering caused by violence, war, hunger, and illness. 

In alleviating our suffering, 

we alleviate yours.

INVITATION OF THE BELL

*

MUSIC

*

CLOSING REMARKS---Jasey

Before bringing our ceremony to a close, I want to thank everyone for taking the time to be a part of tonight’s Bearing Witness to Mother Earth. Now, I invite you (if you are so inclined) to take the following vows. We will then close our ceremony with the singing of Ho’Oponopono.

 (Please Rise)

I vow to cultivate peace within myself.

I vow to be open to new ideas.

I vow to heal myself and Mother Earth

through my speech and my actions.

I vow not to blame or criticize others.

I vow to be Oneness

I vow to be diversity

I vow to be harmony

*

INVITATION OF THE BELL X2 

SONG: HO’OPONOPONO

(TRANSLATES: TO MAKE THINGS RIGHT)

Chorus: Ho’oponopono

I love you, I’m sorry, please forgive me

I am grateful.

© Thich Nhat Hanh | Excerpted from Love Letter to the Earth (2013) | courtesy Plum Village International Practice Centers | plumvillage.org | earthholder.org
If you are interested in reading the full text, the book, Love Letter to the Earth can be ordered from Parallax Press or Amazon.