Earlier this year, senior dharma teachers received a petition requesting some teachings on how to be with climate change and the environmental challenges we face right now. The response was Earth Care Week, when teachers from around the country speak on the topic.

I found this subject particularly challenging.  I realized I have my own reactions ranging from a sense of helplessness, anger, frustration and not a little self-judgment as I've recognized how much I've personally managed to ignore the topic.

I found some relief in looking at the topic through the lens of the four essential insights of Buddhist psychology and that's the structure of this week's talk.  Given the fact that climate change is real, that there is a cause for it, there is also some possibility that we can turn it around if we wake up and take action.

This week's blurb:

This is "Earth Care Week" and Vipassana teachers around the country are speaking on the topic of mindfulness of climate change.

Given the enormity of challenges, it's easy to get overwhelmed, angry and filled with helplessness.

I've found it most helpful to view our relationship to our environment through the lens of the Four Noble Truths.  In facing the reality of our global condition, there may be some hope for a deep awakening of consciousness.

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