Via The Tricycle Community \\ Three Teachings: Connecting with Nature

 

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April 24, 2025 The Wisdom of the Natural World   As the world continues to change at what feels like a rapid clip and concern about the future continues to mount for many, the resilience of the natural world can provide inspiration and relief. Simply being outside, observing flowers in bloom or the wind on our faces, can put the truths of impermanence and interdependence in stark relief. Listening to birds chirping reminds us that life carries on, without us at the center, and looking up at the trees, or even down at the roots, can help us connect with the vastness of it all. Whether you can bring your practice outside, use nature as a point of contemplation, or both, the natural world is a powerful teacher, in troubled times or not.  This week’s Three Teachings celebrates the wisdom of the natural world, encouraging you to practice with or in nature.  For more contemplations around the environment, join us for the final day of Tricycle’s fourth annual Buddhism and Ecology Summit. Register for free to hear from Dekila Chungyalpa, Sharon Salzberg with Susan Bauer-Wu, and Paul Hawken with Peter Coyote today, and to receive recordings of earlier events.  Forward today's teachings to a friend » Tree Root Practice By Jack Kornfield Pointing to how important trees are in Buddhist teachings, meditation teacher Jack Kornfield offers a practice for sitting like a tree. Read more » A Practice for Connecting with the Four Elements That Can Be Done Anywhere By Juliana Sloane When we can’t be outside, we can still appreciate and learn from the natural world. Here, mindfulness teacher Juliana Sloane offers a meditation on elements to cultivate deeper embodiment and connection with impermanence and interdependence. Read more » Planting the Spirit By Nikiko Masumoto For a fourth-generation farmer, tending the earth and responding to the many uncertainties of farming are practices of resilience. Read more »