Touching the Earth
At times the world seems so chaotic, as though everything is spinning beyond our control.
These are the moments that invite us to settle more deeply into our practice and remember what truly brings stability.
It is not the things we spend so much of our lives accumulating. Not money. Not possessions. Not status. Not the endless hours devoted to work. These are all temporary, and when we cling to them, they become sources of attachment and suffering.
One of my teachers often reminded us:
Whatever begins must end. What is born must die. Whatever starts must eventually stop.
In Buddhism, we learn early in our practice that impermanence is the nature of all things.
Far from being a pessimistic teaching, it is one that awakens us to the preciousness of this life. When we understand that everything changes, we begin to loosen our grip. We discover that practicing non-attachment is not about caring less—it is about loving more freely, without trying to possess what can never truly be held.
It is our understanding of impermanence that deepens our respect for life, our relationships, our loved ones, our experiences, the natural world, and every ordinary moment we are given.
This is what we mean when we say that everything becomes the practice.
Recognizing the fleeting nature of all things allows us to appreciate them more fully. Every sunrise. Every conversation. Every season. Every breath becomes a gift rather than an expectation.
As this understanding deepens, our aspiration naturally expands beyond ourselves. We begin to wish for the end of suffering in all its forms—for ourselves, for those we love, for those we struggle to understand, and for all beings. Without judgment. Without preconception. Simply with an open heart.
This becomes the dedication of our practice.
Mother Earth offers this teaching every day. The changing seasons remind us that life is an endless cycle of beginnings and endings, growth and release, birth and decay. Nothing remains unchanged, yet life continually renews itself.
To touch the earth is to remember our place within that rhythm.
It is to bow to life exactly as it is.
To stand in gratitude for this fleeting moment.
To appreciate each day we are given.
And to return, again and again, to the ground beneath our feet.
Fusatsu, Apriel JessupSearcy