Truth Mandala
adapted from the wisdom of Joanna Macy
Joanna Macy has long been a teacher of mine. She is a great heart, and her lifelong teaching seeks to hospice out our collapsing world and midwife in the next. Some years ago, during a week with her, I started to call her “Grandmother,” in gratitude and respect for her wisdom and teaching, and she allowed it. This Easter Sunday, I want to pass on a gift that Grandmother shared with me, ritual from from her wisdom teachings.
Grandmother teaches that there is work for us to do to reconnect us amidst the broken pieces. This work begins with gratitude for we will need to remember and lean into our gratitude when the work gets hard. The work then call us to recognize the present moment, to breathe in and out slowly and as many times as you need becoming present to
what is happening, to where you are, and who you are now. Then, the work
invites us to honor our pain for the world.
In this time of pandemic, my beloveds here in Southern Arizona, I wish we were not enduring pain, suffering, discomfort... but we are. And let’s be honest: this pain has long been a part of this collapsing world for many, many of us today, it is only amplified. Amplified so that it grips very part of the planet, here in our borderland communities, here within each of us, you and me.
Before we can continue on with Grandmother’s work that reconnects, to see through new eyes, and go forth in a new spirit, we must pause, and be present now. We must witness our pain for the world. Grandmother teaches a simple ritual for this part of the work that I have adapted and am going to share with you, hoping that you too will gather the materials and practice it yourselves. This ritual is called the Truth Mandala.
In her book, Coming Back to Life, Grandmother says, “Truth-telling is like oxygen: it enlivens us. Without it we grow confused and numb. It is also a homecoming, bringing us back to powerful connection and basic authority.”
And yet, this truth-telling all too often frightens adults. Instead of claiming our connection and authority we carefully avoid and distance ourselves from pain. Children, on the other hand, tell what they see with full and open hearts. Their boldness and bravery are the example of how to practice the truth mandala, to breathe deeply and witness pain. The pain of what is happening globally, the pain here among us, and the pain within each of us,
right now.
First, gather a stone, dried leaves or dried grass, a stick, and an empty bowl. Rev. Samantha, Rev. Bethany, Rev. Tina and I offer the items we have collected with words by songwriter Gretchen Sleicher:
Rev. Samantha: Silent stone is the fear that grips us
Fear of the future, fear for our lives
Speaks to the courage it takes
To face the suffering with an open heart
Rev. Bethany: Dried grass speaks of our pain and sorrow
Tears for the losses deeply mourned
Beneath them lie our caring
For we can only mourn what we truly love
Rev. Tina: Stick of wood cries out our anger
Fiery rage with all who are wronged
Burns with a passion for justice
Moves us to keep on keeping on
Rev. Matthew: Empty bowl is our confusion
Hollow place of uncertainty
Opens the space for new creation
Lightness that can set us free
Grandmother teaches that there is work for us to do to reconnect us amidst the broken pieces. This work begins with gratitude for we will need to remember and lean into our gratitude when the work gets hard. The work then call us to recognize the present moment, to breathe in and out slowly and as many times as you need becoming present to
what is happening, to where you are, and who you are now. Then, the work
invites us to honor our pain for the world.
In this time of pandemic, my beloveds here in Southern Arizona, I wish we were not enduring pain, suffering, discomfort... but we are. And let’s be honest: this pain has long been a part of this collapsing world for many, many of us today, it is only amplified. Amplified so that it grips very part of the planet, here in our borderland communities, here within each of us, you and me.
Before we can continue on with Grandmother’s work that reconnects, to see through new eyes, and go forth in a new spirit, we must pause, and be present now. We must witness our pain for the world. Grandmother teaches a simple ritual for this part of the work that I have adapted and am going to share with you, hoping that you too will gather the materials and practice it yourselves. This ritual is called the Truth Mandala.
In her book, Coming Back to Life, Grandmother says, “Truth-telling is like oxygen: it enlivens us. Without it we grow confused and numb. It is also a homecoming, bringing us back to powerful connection and basic authority.”
And yet, this truth-telling all too often frightens adults. Instead of claiming our connection and authority we carefully avoid and distance ourselves from pain. Children, on the other hand, tell what they see with full and open hearts. Their boldness and bravery are the example of how to practice the truth mandala, to breathe deeply and witness pain. The pain of what is happening globally, the pain here among us, and the pain within each of us,
right now.
First, gather a stone, dried leaves or dried grass, a stick, and an empty bowl. Rev. Samantha, Rev. Bethany, Rev. Tina and I offer the items we have collected with words by songwriter Gretchen Sleicher:
Rev. Samantha: Silent stone is the fear that grips us
Fear of the future, fear for our lives
Speaks to the courage it takes
To face the suffering with an open heart
Rev. Bethany: Dried grass speaks of our pain and sorrow
Tears for the losses deeply mourned
Beneath them lie our caring
For we can only mourn what we truly love
Rev. Tina: Stick of wood cries out our anger
Fiery rage with all who are wronged
Burns with a passion for justice
Moves us to keep on keeping on
Rev. Matthew: Empty bowl is our confusion
Hollow place of uncertainty
Opens the space for new creation
Lightness that can set us free
Gretchen Sleicher, concludes,
“Each voice speaks for many others
Held in this net we’re not alone
Truth when told and heard and held
In loving confidence breathes us home”
Place your collected objects together and let them rest. Breathe and gather the emotions that they represent: Fear that makes our hearts a stone, grief and sorrow, the feel of dried leaves/grass, anger and rage that we can feel in our hands when we grip the stick, and the emptiness of the bowl. Breathe and witness their presence. Grandmother teaches, “All these feelings in various combinations and intensities are part of our pain for the world.”
When you are ready, pick up an item, that speaks to you and name its pain aloud. Be brief, there is strength in brevity. If there are those safely present or those listening through technology, hold the truth you hear and respond only with “We hear you.” If you are alone, know that there are many listening with our hearts, if not our ears: WE HEAR YOU!
And when you are done speaking, breathe and let the object rest again.
Know this: you can return to this ritual as you need to name and to witness your pain for our world.
Each time you pick up the stone and name your fears: Know that in your speaking this pain, you claim your courage. When you harvest dried grass and name loss after loss after loss you are speaking of what you love most dearly. When you grasp the stick feeling its weight in your hand and cry out your anger, it is justice you calling for. And when you lift a bowl, hollow and empty, and speak of your uncertainty, you hold in your hand the possibility for something new to be created.
Blessed are those who speak truth, and blessed are those who listen.
In the fear, grief, anger, and uncertainty shared there is courage, love, justice, and new possibilities being born.
“Each voice speaks for many others
Held in this net we’re not alone
Truth when told and heard and held
In loving confidence breathes us home”
Place your collected objects together and let them rest. Breathe and gather the emotions that they represent: Fear that makes our hearts a stone, grief and sorrow, the feel of dried leaves/grass, anger and rage that we can feel in our hands when we grip the stick, and the emptiness of the bowl. Breathe and witness their presence. Grandmother teaches, “All these feelings in various combinations and intensities are part of our pain for the world.”
When you are ready, pick up an item, that speaks to you and name its pain aloud. Be brief, there is strength in brevity. If there are those safely present or those listening through technology, hold the truth you hear and respond only with “We hear you.” If you are alone, know that there are many listening with our hearts, if not our ears: WE HEAR YOU!
And when you are done speaking, breathe and let the object rest again.
Know this: you can return to this ritual as you need to name and to witness your pain for our world.
Each time you pick up the stone and name your fears: Know that in your speaking this pain, you claim your courage. When you harvest dried grass and name loss after loss after loss you are speaking of what you love most dearly. When you grasp the stick feeling its weight in your hand and cry out your anger, it is justice you calling for. And when you lift a bowl, hollow and empty, and speak of your uncertainty, you hold in your hand the possibility for something new to be created.
Blessed are those who speak truth, and blessed are those who listen.
In the fear, grief, anger, and uncertainty shared there is courage, love, justice, and new possibilities being born.