The Dharma Gaia Mantra: A Short History

The "Dharma Gaia Mantra" is a ten-breath guided meditation that has become the centerpiece of my practice, and the seed of the Dharma Gaia Circle I hope, in the coming year, to create. Divided into three parts, here it is:

1. Reclaiming the Present Moment:  Breathe, Observe, Let Go.

2. Reclaiming the Day: Be Well, Do Good Work, Keep in Touch. [with gratitude to Garrison Keillor]

3. Reaffirming our Life Agenda:  Learn Gaia, Teach Gaia, Heal Gaia, Create Gaia.

So where and how did this formula for practice originate?

Some time around 1997-1999 (I forget exactly when), after I had become a disciple of the Vietnamese Buddhist master Thich Nhat Hanh, and had read many of his books and immersed myself in his wise and practical distillation of Buddhist teachings, I started mulling over ways I could impart his wisdom to my students at Hampton University, a historically black institution in southeastern Virginia.  The vast majority of my students were devout Christians, along with a few Muslims, who might be quickly alienated if I introduced them explicitly to Buddhist teachings. So I started developing techniques to teach Buddhism without the "B" word--that is to translate the wise and practical teachings of Thich Nhat Hanh into a language free of religious or cultural references to Buddhism. And so I started working on a set of "axioms for clearing the mind" as a sort of digest of Thich Nhat Hanh's teachings. After several tries, here are the axioms I came up with:

1. The present is all there is; the past is gone, and the future hasn't happened yet.[An essential teaching, often revisited by Thich Nhat Hanh]

2. That that is, is. [originally, a parodic line from Shakespeare's Twelfth Night that encourages us to accept what we cannot change and to let go of the past subjunctive]

3. Nothing you've done, suffered, or failed to do in the past has any necessary effect on what you choose to do in the present moment. [This helps to overcome self-doubt, which often plagues young people in college classes]

4. There are only two states of mind: mindful and distracted.

5. Therefore, there are only two ways of doing anything: mindfully ("doing it in order to do it") or distractedly ("doing it in order to get it done").

6. Everyone gets distracted, all the time.

7. Therefore we all need some useful techniques for moving from distraction to mindfulness.

8. Here is one such technique. Try it to see if it works. If not, improvise.

My "technique," of course, is the Mantra, which I then explicated in brief on a handout I gave them at the start of every semester, entitled "Axioms for Clearing the Mind," and aimed toward college students.

This handout was so popular that some students even slid it into the transparent envelope on the front of their three-ring notebooks, so they could refer to it as needed. And no one knew or cared that these teachings were "Buddhist."

Since then, this mantra has repeatedly demonstrated its worth in my own practice. As I explored its implications, I came to see how it reflected all the essential Buddhist teachings, as I elaborate in my "Dharma Gaia Manifesto" posted here entitled "Dharma Gaia: Spiritual Practice for a Finite Planet."

As time has passed, I have developed a variety of techniques for using the Mantra in my practice. These include the following short and long variants:

I. The Three-breath Practice: On three long breaths, combine the following injunctions:

Inbreath="Breathe, Observe, Let Go."

Pause="Be well, Do Good Work, Keep in Touch

Outbreath="Learn, Teach, Heal, Create"

Pause: "Abide..."

II. The Thirty-Breath Practice:

1. Contemplate (the importance of)...breathing, observing, letting go...

2. Practice (in the present moment)...breathing, observing, letting go...

3. Vow (for the rest of your life)...to breathe, ...to observe, ...to let go...

III. The 108-breath practice (best used with a Mala). For this one, you add the injunction "abide" to the first two triads--e.g. "Breathe... Observe...Let Go...Abide... and you associate these with the four Brahma-Viharas or immeasurables: Benevolence, Compassion, Joy, Equanimity. So rather than 10 breaths, you have a total of 12 breaths for each repetition of the mantra. These, repeated 9 times, equal 108--the number of beads on the mala, and a sacred number in Hindu and Buddhist traditions.

I have personally found this mantra to be immensely useful at stabilizing my mind and clarifying my purpose in life, whenever I slip into any kind of "blue funk." I hope that anyone who reads this will likewise find it useful. But remember: mantras are like training wheels. They can be discarded when you no longer need them to support your practice.

 

My Legacy

 Recently, an internet acquaintance sent out a very gloomy and depressing YouTube presentation he had compiled, which features the eminent climate journalist Robert Hunziker giving us a tour of places all over the planet that are in various states of ecological collapse due to the climate crisis. The general theme of this presentation, as with many other recent articles I have read, is that it is too late--that we have already passed the tipping point, beyond which the excess atmospheric CO2, compounded by methane from melting permafrost and by the loss of albedo due to melting ice caps, is causing a runaway feedback loop that will accelerate global heating to the point that living systems throughout the world will collapse before too much longer, dooming all of humanity and most other vertebrates to a ghastly fate of mass starvation and extinction. His message was essentially that of Dante's Inferno:  "Abandon all hope, ye who enter here..."

He may well be right, of course. The vast amount of data from all over the planet pointing toward imminent global ecological collapse is hard to refute.  That may be that. And in theory, I shouldn't worry since, at 71, I'll most likely be dead and gone (or not...), before everyone else shares my fate. 

But I refuse, categorically, to give up hope. Instead, I have vowed, till my very last breath, to propagate Gaian consciousness, in theory and practice alike, in whatever ways I can, in the hope that, against all odds, we may arrest this catastrophic juggernaut before it is far too late, and thereby catalyze the spontaneous remission of the cancer of the Earth.

We cannot do this from the top down. The current systems that organize our global civilization--governments and corporations alike--all have an enormous vested interest in Glomart--the (entirely artificial and maximizing) order of money.  But Glomart, as I have often said, is fundamentally incompatible with Gaia. A maximizing economic system that depends on endless growth of population, production, and consumption cannot long endure on a finite, optimizing biosphere that is not getting any bigger.

But we can--in principle--transform our global civilization from the ground up--that is, from our personal lives to our families, communities, farms, and forests, to our city, county, and state governments, thence to the federal government and the international community. We can all transform our parasitic relationship with Gaia into a symbiotic one.   But how?

"Cultivate Virtue in yourself, and Virtue will be real."  So says Lao Tzu in his own prescription for social regeneration (verse 54). But how?  There are, of course, an infinite number of recommendations for how to do this, so our best bet is to find one that works for us. But the point is, personal regeneration is the indispensable first step to social and ecological regeneration, or--failing that--to acceptance of mortality, whether our own or that of our entire civilization and biosphere.

Hence my legacy. This is what I hope--and intend--to instill within all those whom I am able to reach, of whatever age but especially the youth, before I die.   It is my own interpretation of the universal Dharma, which the Dalai Lama aptly characterized as simultaneously a principle, a precept, and a practice. Here is my formulation of these: 

Principle: "We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly."  --Martin Luther King, Jr.

Precept: Therefore, let us strive to "take care of everyone and abandon no one; to take care of everything and abandon nothing." (Lao Tzu).

Practice: Breathe, Observe, Let Go;  Be Well, Do Good Work, Keep in Touch; Learn Gaia, Teach Gaia, Heal Gaia, Create Gaia."

How might this work?  Imagine...

--a Dharma Gaia circle, an ecumenical meditation group that meets bimonthly on lunar holidays and for outings (Gaia Walks) on solar holidays, beginning each meditation by reciting the Principle and the Precept, and then "launching" their sitting meditation by using the Practice as a guided meditation on the breath. This could grow into other community-building activities, such as potlucks, book club, etc. Once established with a standard protocol (based on the Principle, Precept, and Practice), one such group could "bud off" into others, propagating itself through the Web...leading to

--Dharma Gaia Practice Centers established in various localities, both urban and rural, to model Permaculture design and to practice and promulgate self- and community-regeneration through the three basic disciplines of meditation, satyagraha, and permaculture, leading to...

--incorporation of Permaculture, regenerative design, ecological awareness, and other Gaian principles and practices into educational systems, K-12, and into public policy as well...

--creating, in turn, irresistible political pressure and economic incentives on policymakers and businesses to abandon fossil fuels and to build a renewable energy infrastructure, as well as taking care of everyone and abandoning no one (Earth Care, People Care, Fair Share)...

--massively cutting CO2 emissions worldwide, while investing in large-scale landscape regeneration (incorporating permaculture principles) to rebuild topsoil and sequester as much carbon as possible, while simultaneously diversifying and relocalizing food and other economies everywhere...

It may, of course, be too late for any of this to make a difference in the fate of our planet. But these values and goals are still worth pursuing, no matter what happens. As Gandhi often taught, the essential lesson from his own core spiritual tradition, the Baghavad Gita, is to "renounce the fruits of action"--that is, to let go of attachment to outcomes. Viewed from this perspective, it really does not matter whether or not we succeed in saving our planet or our future in the long run. All that matters, right now, is that we do what we know is right--for ourselves, our  loved ones, our communities, and our magnificent living planet. So let us all vow to Learn Gaia, Teach Gaia, Heal Gaia, and Create Gaia--right up to our last breath. 

Seeding Gaia

 December has come, the time of Winter Solstice--a time of new beginnings. Having mulled over my "seed" idea of launching a Dharma Gaia movement, integrating vertical (body-mind-spirit) and horizontal (self-community-planet) healing modalities, I am finally ready to let it germinate, push through the topsoil of my own private ruminations,  and out into the open air of public awareness. I am fully cognizant of the fact that, like most new seedlings, this will expose it to innumerable threats--of being trampled upon, consumed, dessicated, or poisoned before it even establishes a root system.  But since the viability of any seed is encoded in its genotype, I wish to lay out, for all to see, the "genotype" of the Gaian seed that I have conceived and nurtured over the years.  

This notion of "seed" ideas has parallels, of course, in historical culturally transformative movements, such as Buddhism, Christianity,  Islam, Communism, and even liberal democracy.  All of these are rooted in certain basic "seed" ideas that were viable enough to flourish and replicate under many different cultural conditions. Here are some of these "seeds:"

Buddhism: the Four Noble Truths (the inevitability of suffering; the root cause of suffering in attachment or craving; the possibility of letting go of craving and cessation of suffering; and the basic guidelines for achieving that possibility (i.e. the Eightfold Path) through cultivating wisdom and compassion.

Judaism: "Hear, O Israel: Thou shalt love the lord thy God with all thy heart, soul, and mind."

Christianity: "For God so loved the world that He gave his only begotten Son, so that whoso believeth on Him shall have eternal life."

Islam:  "There is no god but Allah, and Muhammed is His prophet."

Communism: "From each according to his abilities to each according to his needs."

Democracy: "We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal..."

So what are these Gaian seed ideas?  Here are a few:

1. Life creates and sustains the conditions that sustain and propagate life. (The essence of Gaia theory)

2. Humanity is a part of, not apart from, "nature" (or Gaia)

3. The Gaian categorical imperative: In everything we do, we must strive to promote the health, competence, and resilience of ourselves, our communities, and our living planet simultaneously.

4. The three core ethics of Permaculture: Earth Care, People Care, and Fair Share (i.e. reinvesting the surplus back into Earth Care and People Care).

5. The Dharma Gaia mantra (a generic blueprint for practice): 

Breathe, Observe, Let Go; [Reclaiming the present moment]

Be well, Do good work, Keep in touch; [A generic daily agenda]

Learn Gaia, Teach Gaia, Heal Gaia, Create Gaia. [A generic life agenda]

6. Three directives: Good Buy; Good Work; Good Will.

7. Three injunctions: Grow Gardens; Grow Community; Grow Awareness.

My plan of action:  This coming year, I intend to create a Dharma Gaia Circle, an ecumenical Sangha (community of practice) dedicated to practicing and propagating these seed ideas by cultivating the three essential disciplines of meditation, Satyagraha, and Permaculture.  We will meet twice a month in accordance with the Lunar calendar (new and full moon)--initially in virtual (Zoom) format but later, as possible, in person, for formal meditation, dharma discussion, and other activities such as reading groups and/or potlucks; and if this group coalesces, we will create a website and attempt to develop and propagate a basic protocol, so that others can create their own Dharma Gaia circles elsewhere.

On Solar holidays (equinoxes, solstices, and cross-quarter days) we will organize Gaia Walks in various parks and other beautiful places, combining walking meditation with mindful observation, and then sharing our impressions in a talking-stick circle. These can optionally be guided tours with a ranger naturalist, but the basic protocol will be to resist idle chatter, so we can be fully present with the beauty of Gaia wherever we are.

Other possibilities, of course, may evolve from this basic pattern of meeting on Lunar holidays for meditation and discussion, and on Solar holidays for Gaia Walks. One longer term goal I have is to purchase some land nearby--or even within the city of Salem--in order to create a prototypic "Dharma Gaia Practice Center" that provides educational offerings to the community in self-healing, social healing, and permaculture design, while establishing and managing a Permaculture Demonstration Site and supporting itself through a CSA.  This may not happen in my lifetime, but no matter...