A Sustainable Heart | Sister True Dedication

The way we consume depends on how our heart is.

And we cannot hope to consume in an awakened way if our heart is not at peace.

And each one of us are agents of consumption.

That is one of our biggest actions in relation to the Earth, how we are consuming,

and when we can fulfill ourselves with dwelling happily in the present moment,

when we can fulfill ourselves with healthy relationships,

when we can fulfill ourselves with our own compassion for ourself,

we don't need to be excessive consumers.

There's no need.

So already, to cultivate the energy of mindfulness, we can calm the craving and the consuming.

And when we can cultivate peace in ourself, it's much easier to create peace

with our friends and with our colleagues.

And in any actions we would like to undertake to help protect the Earth.

So there is a foundation in our mindfulness practice for good relationships.

And if we are angry, if we are competitive, if we are resentful and blaming when we are trying to protect the Earth,

and we have already ourselves become a toxin on the Earth with the energy of anger or hatred or blaming.

So somehow the mindfulness practices of deep listening, loving speech, openness, inclusiveness, patience,

deep looking and understanding that we cultivate on a retreat all of these qualities we bring to our actions to protect the Earth,

whether they are political actions, economic actions,

nurturing actions, new projects to plant trees or forests or to

to develop any kind of project to take care of the Earth.

It needs to have these elements of compassion, understanding and fellowship of brotherhood and sisterhood.

There is something about Plum village, that's about sustainability,

we do not burn ourselves out trying to protect the Earth,

and we are part of the Earth and taking care of the Earth,

we also need to take care of ourselves.

So here in Plum Village, we offer a community that is a refuge to take care of ourselves,

so we can have a kind of deep, profound well-being inside, taking care of our despair, taking care of our fear,

taking care of our anger, frustration, our feeling of powerlessness.

And when we are balanced, spacious and fearless inside,

then we have an incredible resource of energy to be able to make good choices about how to act,

what to do and what not to do,

individually and collectively, in order to really help.