Nonduality and Earth Holding

Nonduality and Earth Holding
Members of the Care-Taking Councils of the Earth Holder
Community, the Abrazadores de la Tierra (Spanish-speaking
EHC) and the Gardien.nes de la Terre (French EHC) share their
experiences of nonduality in their daily mindful activism.
M A ÍR A F ERN AN DES DE M ELO (BR A Z I L ,
E HC/A BRAZADO RES D E L A T I ER R A )
I was in my graduate studies and had been attending the Sangha in Rio for a few months. One day, I
was having lunch in the university canteen, which
was operated by a multinational food company
that my dualistic mind would definitely label as
“bad.” I had been diligently practicing eating meditation, and eating by myself in that context made
me realize I was interconnected not only to the sun
and the sky, but also to the “greedy” landowners
involved in feeding me in that very moment. I can
tell you that this was a hard insight for a beginner.
Eight years later, this past season, I was blessed
with the opportunity to go to the Rains Retreat
in New Hamlet, Plum Village, France. Among
many moments of deep practice and shared joy,
being able to breathe the same air as our beloved
teacher, Sister Chân Không (True Emptiness), was
of course the best. On one lazy Monday, she offered
us a surprise: an unscheduled session of touching
the earth! When I got to the big hall, almost all the
long-term retreatants were already there, but
aware of my deep devotion to her, my friends had
left the mat closest to Sister Chân Không open for
me. So there I was, honoring the French land ancestors as she guided us through the connection
with everything around us: “I see that I am the blue
sky above me; I am the air being polluted and the
one that pollutes it; I am the leaves, the caterpillar, and the bird; I am one with the food from our
Happy Farm and also the food from other farms,
and I am the pesticide …” – Wait, what??? I don’t
remember this part from the Plum Village App version—I AM THE PESTICIDE?
In the previous year, pesticide use had been a
frequent topic in my activism; Brazil had started
using hundreds of new synthetic agrotoxins that
were forbidden in Europe and the United States.
So, eight years after I experienced my “Sodexo
insight,” every day more and more aware of what
I was eating in my own quest to compassionately
defund those I may have perceived as “greedy
landowners that steal people’s lands and poison the
Earth,” I received a new teaching on transcending
discrimination, a question directly from the voice
of Emptiness: How am I the landowner? How am
I the pesticide? Many times in the agroindustry,
pesticides are euphemistically called “defensives.”
So for me it’s interesting to observe the situations
when—with the excuse of defending myself and
Maíra planting coffee

others—I can be the poison itself, through my actions of body, speech, and especially mind. This
kind of deep looking encourages me to be more
diligent in my practice of loving the Earth and all of
her beings with less discrimination, if not complete
nondiscrimination.
DAN IEL A SIMM (G ER M A NY,
A BRAZADO RES D E L A T I ER R A )
Loving all beings on this precious planet with no
discrimination allows me to see how interwoven
all of our problems are. We cannot separate war
and conflict from exploitation of natural resources
and destruction of ecosystems. We cannot separate social injustice between the Global South and
the Global North and within our countries from the
effects and root causes of climate change. The understanding of this interrelationship helps me to
be motivated and engaged wholeheartedly in all
aspects of what I do or don’t do in my life. We will
make a change only when weaving our efforts together as a Mahasangha of all beliefs, all religions,
and all aspirations.
I have learned that for me to be a wholeheartedly present and aware person, I must remember
that all aspects of and in my life are interrelated.
Being a mother, a spouse, an employee of a humanitarian organization, or a person sitting on
the bus, doing housework, or going grocery shopping—these things are not separated from my
Sangha, Earth holding, and activist life. It is not
only the interrelationship between my little self
and all of what is on this precious Earth that matters; I also have to be a coherent and inter-person.
When preparing a climate-change-related
“medit-action” for a German audience, I have to
keep in mind the horrible conflicts in the Global
South, such as the many people displaced, killed,
and suffering gender-based violence in countries such as the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Knowing that conflicts around resources enable
the beautiful and easy life of many people in the
Global North, as well as the lives of the privileged in
the Global South. Additionally, we should consider
enabling the participation of a colleague from a
partner organization in the Democratic Republic
of Congo in our activities in Europe, exchanging
knowledge with them so that their topics are heard
and interpreted according to what we can digest
and understand as Europeans.
Walking meditation with XR Buddhists and Bridge
of Faith members, April 2023 Berlin, photo by Anne
Albrecht/Bridge of Faith

Being an Abrazadora de la Tierra enables
me to interrelate my Earth-holding activities in
Germany with a wider Spanish-speaking Sangha
whose people are rooted in other cultural backgrounds and who thereby may reflect on the roots
of our global systems in another way so that I may
transmit these realities to my siblings in Germany.
LE ÏLA DEN IS
(FR A NCE, GARDIEN.NES D E L A T ER R E)
One practice that helps me contemplate nonduality is a practice with impermanence received from
Sister Giác Nghiêm during a weekend at La Maison
de l’Inspir. It’s about becoming aware of impermanence in all the little actions of everyday life. I’ve
incorporated it into my morning practice. When I
get to the door of the room where I’m meditating,
I stop and say to myself: “My feet were shod, now
they’re bare: impermanence. The door was closed,
now it’s open: impermanence. The room was dark,
now it’s lit: impermanence.” With each step toward
the window, it’s impermanence that keeps me
walking. And it’s impermanence that every morning offers me the gift of fresh air, new sunshine,
birdsong emerging from silence, a bud, or a quiver
in the branches. Sister Giác Nghiêm suggested we
simply practice this every day for at least three
weeks. No thought, no concept. Just a practical experience and profound observation: everything is
woven of impermanence. Impermanence reveals
to me its shimmer, the infinite flowering of its gifts.
I tame death and loss. I learn to open my hand.
With Gardien.nes de la Terre, this teaching unfolds. Sometimes one of us is tired or less available.
Their investment becomes less present. But does
that mean they have disappeared? No. Nothing is
lost, nothing is created, everything is transformed.
We are a great body that continues its life through
a thousand little deaths. My action is beautiful because it’s part of this stream of continuation. Who
knows which ancestor is rejoicing with us right
now? Who knows which distant descendant will sit
in peace thanks to our combined actions? And who
knows how all these movements currently at work
around the planet are connected, feeding and
healing each other without even thinking about it?
CARO L I N A L EÓ N RO LÓ N (ARG E N T I N A,
AB R AZ AD O R E S D E L A T I E R R A)
Each day as a teacher, I have the opportunity to
listen to the bell of awakening in the form of interactions with my secondary school students
and colleagues. The dominant, inherited dualistic
views and hierarchical narratives that condition
schools need to be transformed as part of the
systemic change necessary for us humans as a
collective to continue our existence as beings of
Mother Earth.
Every being of the Earth and of the Cosmos
contributes to the nourishment of many other beings indiscriminately. How can we inter-be in the
classroom like beings inter-are in the jungle, up
in the mountains, deep in the wide ocean, along
the mighty rivers, or across the Milky Way? How
can the classroom be an environment where the
vitality of the collective is a testimony of flourishing diversity? All the above are variations of one
question that lies deep in my practice and ignites
it: How can the classroom be a community where
one can take refuge and enjoy inner freedom,
happiness, and peace?
I imagine the answer that Thầy might give me
if I had the opportunity to ask him how to escape
the inherent dynamics of our educational systems:
“The classroom of the future is already in the present moment.” That is why I can be certain that I
don’t have to wait for an external transformation.
Every group of students incarnates the opportunity to build a community where our actions are
moved by understanding, compassion, solidarity,
and love. It takes time; our old inherited habits are
deeply rooted, even if we are children. But gradually, as a group, we begin to feel it is acceptable
and preferable to be relaxed during the class, to
remember we do not have to rush to do a lot of
tasks, and that real joy and friendship emerge
in cooperation rather than in competition—it is
beautiful to be ourselves, and our nuances can be
recognized and celebrated as nourishing to the
collective. It takes time and requires patience; as
with any other skill we learn, we have to renew
our practice with every in-breath and every
out-breath.

I wrote a paragraph to inspire myself
when oblivion approaches, to train myself as a
schoolteacher:
Aware of the suffering caused by a teaching
practice that is in any way discriminatory,
self-centered, not understanding,
apathetic, indifferent, destructive, or
violent, I am committed to promoting
mindful interactions with and among
my students. I am committed to looking
deeply to recognize the suffering that lies
in any violent behavior, listening deeply to
recognize the true volition and necessities
of my students, and speaking with truth
and love to nourish with joy the capacity
for wonder, learning, and creativity of
my students. I am committed to training
myself to come back to the present
moment to recognize the conditions for
happiness that surround us and can
contribute to building a classroom where
teaching and learning can occur in an
atmosphere of solidarity, compassion,
and peace and where we can learn
from Mother Earth, our teacher of loving
kindness, how to inter-be in order to
flourish beautifully as a diverse collective
in the present moment for a happier
future.
(F RAN CE, GAR D I EN.NES D E L A T ER R E)
In my personal practice, nonduality means I no
longer let myself get caught up in my judgments.
I see them as such, and therefore as misperceptions, and I clear the space through mindful
breathing to open my consciousness. I see that
it’s my fears, those of others, and those of the collective consciousness that inhabit me. So I take
care of my fear by welcoming it until it fades and is
transformed into trust. Sometimes this practice is
fragile, and I have to come back to it several times.
I’m more and more aware of nonduality: what
this person does or says offends me. This person
isn’t just that one thing; as I look deeper, I see their
suffering, and my compassion is born. I am aware
that our cultures, histories, personalities, and sensitivities can cause us to mishandle, shock, and
misunderstand each other. As soon as I touch this
perception, I look at it and let it teach me about
myself and about the other, and open once again:
there is welcoming, kindness, space, inclusion,
and liberation.
As a result of this practice, at sixty-eight
years old I’m more at peace than ever. The historical dimension certainly exists. But the ultimate
dimension is also in my present moment, and I
can let all the disturbances of history melt away
in that moment.
Feeling grief and showing respect and love to trees to
be cut for highway extension during a walking meditation organized by Bridge of Faith in March 2024.

(FR A NCE, GARDIEN .NES D E L A T ER R E)
I hear the rustling insects and wake up to the
warmth of a spring morning. Insects are the most
numerous and diverse creatures on our planet.
We are currently witnessing a global decline in
the number, density, and diversity of their populations. Without the insects, the world as we know
it today would not exist; their ecological functions
within ecosystems are countless—from pollination to recycling waste and nutrients. If there were
no insects to pollinate them, most flowering plants
would die out.
This observation arouses in me a sense of
concern and fear about the future of our planet as
well as feelings of injustice and horror at the suffering created by the appropriation and unbridled
exploitation of animate and inanimate beings. All
of this is associated with the illusion that we, as
human beings, are separated from other species
and from the Earth itself. On the other hand, I
also know that connecting with these marvelous
beings in the joy of observing them, vibrating with
them, and interbeing with them is a source of balance and openness in my heart.
This experience of nonduality invites me to
practice doing no harm, not killing, and actively
protecting Mother Earth. It supports my commitments and my practices of caring for all living
things in and around me, together with Gardien.
nes de la Terre.
LAUR È N E GIRIN
(FR A NCE, GARDIEN.NES D E L A T ER R E)
In my personal practice, I try to see life and every
living being as a wonder, with the curiosity of
discovery.
I try to see and live every situation as an opportunity to learn, and to learn playfully with the
joy of discovery.
For more information about the Earth Holder
Communities, visit earthholder.training, gardiensdelaterre.earth, and Abrazadores de la Tierra at facebook.
com/groups/3002998039961021 or youtube.com/@
abrazadoresdelatierra1584.

Maíra Fernandes de Melo, Engaged Serenity of the Heart
(pronouns she/it), is a Brazilian journalist, scholar, poet,
activist, and Order of Interbeing aspirant. Born in the
lands of Tupinambás, Rio de Janeiro, surrounded by the
waters of the Atlantic Ocean and the mountains of the
Atlantic Forest, she has also lived in Argentina, land of
Guaraníes, where the dense stream of the Paraná River
embraced her body. She has Indigenous (Potiguara and
Puri) and European (Portuguese and Spanish) human
ancestors and is a daughter of Oxóssi, Orisha of the
forests in Brazilian Candomblé.
Daniela Simm, Mindful Spring of the Heart (pronouns
she/her), started her engagement with social and Earth
justice in the area of agroecology and rural development
alongside rural and indigenous communities and
movements in Latin America, as well as humanitarian
assistance since 2007. Rooted in Catholic theology of
liberation, she embraced the Plum Village tradition in
2018. Dharanimdhara, the bodhisattva of Earth holding,
is her motivation: building bridges and weaving networks
of understanding, compassion, love, and trust between
all peoples and beings on this precious Mother Earth.
Leïla Denis, Authentic Presence of the Heart (pronouns
she/her), met Thầy when she was nineteen, reading his
book La sérénité de l’instant. Trying to take care of the
simple actions or non-actions of daily life seemed to
her a very beautiful way of living her life. Thirty years
later, she feels very grateful to have met two beautiful
Sanghas: Le Jardin de l’Instant, and les Gardien.nes de
la Terre, with which she learns to be and inter-be, act
and inter-act. She lives in the countryside near Paris with
her husband and their two teenage sons, and shares
embodiment and healing practices, as body intelligence
is her way to touch the miracle of life.
Carolina León Rolón, Peaceful River of the Heart
(pronouns she/her), is a thread of a colorful ancestral
tapestry from the Colombian Andes. She currently lives
near Buenos Aires, Argentina, in the ancestral land of the
Querandí people, where she participates in the weaving
of the Mahasangha in the pluricultural Latin America.
She trains herself to be a happier teacher for happier
students while she teaches linguistics and literature
with a social and Earth justice perspective in the Global
South. She smiles with amazement at the cosmic
elements present in her morning cup of hot chocolate.

Chantal Carrara, True Land of Concentration (pronouns
she/her), has been practicing meditation for forty years
and reading Thầy’s works since 1996. She has regularly
gone to Plum Village with her husband and daughter
since 2002, when her daughter was nine. Since then,
Chantal has been involved in the Sangha around the city
of Lyon, France. She became a member of the Order of
Interbeing in 2012 and is in harmony with her Sangha
body.
Isa Salinier, Marvelous Vitality of the Source (pronouns
iel/they), lives in the countryside of France, among
the oak trees of Quercy. Having dedicated themselves
professionally to social work, they are currently retired.
A feminist, they actively participate in an association
supporting women who are victims of violence within
the family, as well as ecological groups. They are a
member of L’île intérieure Sangha (the inner island)
and the Gardien.nes de la Terre Sangha. Through their
pictures of insects and birds, they testify to the beauty
and wonders of the living world.
Laurène Girin, Mindfulness Awakened from the Heart
(pronouns she/her), lives at the bottom of the French
Alps, near Grenoble. She is deeply grateful for having
met Thầy’s teachings in 2018 as she sees how they are
transforming her life toward more joy and happiness. She
dreams of a society that supports life and is a big fan of
Joanna Macy’s Work That Reconnects interactive group
process. She aspires to live fully and support all beings,
with simplicity. Every day since she was a child, she has
marveled at the beauties that life on beautiful planet Earth
offers. She enjoys arts (specifically theater, clowning,
drawing, and taking close pictures of tiny beauties such
as tree bark, plants, flowers, and small animals).

Text from Laurène Girin