Summoned by the Earth

Book excerpt: In 1990, Cynthia Jurs climbed a path high in the Himalayas, to meet an “old wise man in a cave,” a highly venerated lama from Nepal, Charok Rinpoche. The question she carried with her was, "How can I bring healing and protection to Earth?" After hearing her question, Charok Rinpoche told Cynthia to procure sacred Earth Treasure Vases made of clay and potent medicines based on an ancient practice from Tibet, fill them with prayers and symbolic offerings, and plant them around the world to relieve suffering in troubled lands. Summoned by the Earth tells the story of Cynthia’s spirited Earth Treasure Vase pilgrimages, many of these told in gripping detail as she encounters the joys and anguish of the world’s diverse cultures from war-stricken Liberia to the mystical standing stones in Avebury; from the outback of Aboriginal Australia to the nuclear weapons laboratory in Los Alamos, New Mexico; and back to the cave in Nepal where it all began. In the process of bringing communities together to address their suffering and heal their lands, Cynthia is also forced to face what is calling to be healed within herself. When asked what is most needed to save our world, Cynthia’s teacher, Thich Nhat Hanh, replied, “We need to hear within us the sounds of the Earth crying.” Hearing that sound and heeding its call, Cynthia, and eventually many others who have joined her, have borne witness to the web of life in all its beauty and sorrow, ultimately seeing how Gaia—Mother Earth—is inviting us all to become vessels of sacred activism, global healing, and collective awakening. Responding to this summons from the Earth is the most pressing opportunity of our times.