Cynthia Jurs is a Tibetan Buddhist lama and a Dharmacharya in the Order of Interbeing of Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh whose source of refuge and spiritual inspiration is Mother Earth; Gaia. In 1990, she made a life-changing pilgrimage to meet the hermit and meditation master, Kushok Mangden Charok Rinpoche, a 106-year-old lama living in a remote cave in Nepal from whom she received the practice of the Earth Treasure Vases when she asked him, “What can we do to bring healing and protection to the Earth?”
For thirty years, Cynthia has been building a global community committed to planetary healing and collective awakening in partnership with elders and activists around the world. Cynthia teaches an innovative blend of engaged Buddhism and sacred activism through the Earth Treasure Vase Global Healing Project, the Open Way Sangha in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and the international Gaia Mandala Community. Through her nonprofit, Alliance for the Earth, Cynthia has worked with former combatants and the women who stopped a war in Liberia, West Africa, to build peace, teaching mindfulness and co-founding the Peace Hut Alliance for Conflict Transformation. Cynthia’s book, Summoned by the Earth, is forthcoming.
New website - GaiaMandala.net - the home for our global healing community with many practices, calls, courses and more ways to get involved in our work of global healing and collective awakening.
Old Website: EarthTreasureVase.org
Join the monthly Full Moon Earth Treasure Vase Global Healing Meditation here. This is a free call via Zoom. A recording is automatically sent out to registered participants.
Monday Mindfulness Meditation, a weekly gathering via Zoom at 4 pm Pacific // 5 pm Mountain // 7 pm Eastern. As we shelter at home, we can meet this moment of collective crisis and opportunity with calm and clarity by cultivating a practice of calm abiding in mindfulness. In this weekly 1.5-hour practice group, we will sit, walk and sit again—entering into the quiet space within and stopping to catch our breath, to center ourselves, to let go of worry and fear and reconnect with our true source of Being. At the end of our practice, there will be an opportunity for mindful sharing around the circle. Click here if you are interested in participating.
Discussion of this interview in the BatGap Community Facebook Group.
Transcript of this interview.
Interview recorded March 28, 2020
Video and audio below. Audio also available as a Podcast.
YouTube Video Chapters:
00:00:00 - Introduction to Buddha at the Gas Pump
00:04:45 - The Wisdom and Suffering of the Virus
00:09:00 - The Trim Tab Effect on Climate Change
00:12:38 - The Wisdom of the Dogon Elder
00:16:53 - Meeting the 106-year-old Lama
00:20:07 - Healing and Protection for the Earth
00:24:50 - The Power of Earth Treasure Vases
00:28:49 - The Power of Offering and Alchemy
00:33:32 - Becoming a Vessel for Healing and Protection
00:37:34 - Getting Out of Our Own Way
00:41:11 - Women's Peace Movement in Liberia
00:45:30 - The Ceremony and Burial
00:49:24 - From Soldier to Peace Builder in Liberia
00:53:10 - The Urgency of Addressing the Crisis in Congo
00:57:39 - A Symbolic Wedding: The Burial Ceremony
01:01:39 - The Power of Clay Pots and Tree Planting
01:04:57 - Distributing Treasure Vases to Sacred Places
01:09:31 - The Balance Between Masculine and Feminine Energies
01:14:24 - Healing Cultural Disruption and Oppression
01:19:44 - The Liberating Power of Reframing the Story of the Buddha
01:24:14 - A Blessing From the Wise Woman in the Cave
01:27:46 - The Earth as my Greatest Teacher
01:31:25 - Awakening to a New Evolutionary Turn
01:35:58 - Making Offerings and Establishing Relationships
01:41:21 - The Importance of Balance and Service
01:45:16 - The Practice of Service
01:48:21 - The Possibility of Something Different
01:52:06 - Stewarding the Vases
