---
ai_generation_date: '2026-07-30'
ai_model: gemini-3-pro-preview
audiodharma:
  talks:
    - date: '2022-04-22'
      mp3_url: https://audiodharma.us-east-1.linodeobjects.com/talks/16162/20220422-Nikki_Mirghafori-IMC-happy_hour_mother_earth_and_its_denizens.mp3
      speakers:
        - speaker_name: Nikki Mirghafori
          speaker_url: https://www.audiodharma.org/speakers/229
      talk_start_time_seconds: 0
      title: 'Happy Hour:  Mother Earth and Its Denizens'
      url: https://www.audiodharma.org/talks/16162
      video_unavailable: false
location_city: Redwood City, CA
video_unavailable: false
youtube:
  id: CoD5zw6rnCU
  imprecise_upload_date: '2022-05-04'
  title: 'Happy Hour:  Mother Earth and Its Denizens'
  upload_date: null
  uploader_str: Insight Meditation Center
  uploader_url: https://www.youtube.com/@InsightMeditationCenter
youtube_url: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CoD5zw6rnCU
---

# Happy Hour: Mother Earth and Its Denizens - [Nikki Mirghafori](https://www.audiodharma.org/speakers/229)

_This is an AI-generated transcript from auto-generated subtitles for the video above. It likely contains inaccuracies, especially with speaker attribution if there are multiple speakers._

## [Happy Hour: Mother Earth and Its Denizens](https://www.audiodharma.org/talks/16162)

## Introduction

Hello, and welcome to Happy Hour. I am delighted to be together again, wherever you are in the world on this planet Earth, the only livable planet we have.

Today being Earth Day, I would like to invite us to cultivate a practice to turn towards mental friendliness, loving-kindness, appreciation, and gratitude—all these different flavors—with respect to Mother Earth. This amazing blue planet of ours, as well as all the beings who live on it, including ourselves. Including this being here! Oh yes, I am a human being, I live on this Earth. This is my home. It's not "them" they're talking about, it's me. It's this Earth, my home, as I walk on the Earth, as I sit on the Earth, as I eat my food from the Earth.

Those are the reflections I like to bring in today and play around with in our guided meditation. To honor Mother Earth with care, appreciation, and at times maybe sorrow or sadness might come up. Knowing how challenging the state of global warming and climate change is, sorrow can come up. We will bring the practice of compassion, meeting our own sorrow and sadness with compassion and care. We will weave many different practices into tonight: appreciation, joy, _metta_[^1], compassion, and equanimity. We will go to many different places.

Are we ready to explore together, dear earthly explorers?

## Guided Meditation

With that, I would like to invite you to sit comfortably so that you can sit easily for the next 30 minutes or so. If you need to lie down, it's perfectly fine; this body needs to lie down. As long as you don't fall asleep, it's important for your back to be straight and upright.

Let's begin landing in this body. Arriving. Landing here. I'm here on this Earth. Feeling our feet on the Earth. It might be on the floor, but in lieu of the Earth, or our sit bones connected to the chair or the cushion, again, in lieu of the Earth. Connected, well-rooted, as the earthly beings that we are.

Arriving in these bodies and turning our attention, our awareness, inward. There may be many thoughts, entanglements, and it's okay. There is nothing wrong with thinking. But for the sake of this practice, we release the thoughts right now. We'll return to them later. Right now, for the sake of this cultivation, with friendliness, with a smile from our heart, we say, "Thank you, not now. Come back later, please." And we release. Trusting that if they're important enough, they'll come back.

We also release the weight of our bodies. Releasing onto the chair, the cushion, the Earth. Supporting us, always supporting us. Offering our weight to gravity. Notice how your muscles, your body, can feel opened up when you release onto gravity. "I don't need to hold this up, hold up the tension, the tightness."

Allowing the breath. Just the right mixture of oxygen and nitrogen on this Earth of ours, to enter this body, to be received in the belly. This body knows how to breathe. It knows how to receive the breath. Let it receive the breath naturally, appreciatively. A gift offered.

We'll spend a few minutes, as always, just resting with the sensations of the body. Releasing, relaxing, letting go. Receiving the breath to calm and soothe the mind. Settle the mind, settle the heart. Here.

If thoughts arise, it is not a problem. "Thank you, not now." Smilingly turning the attention inward. It's so peaceful and delicious inward. We keep mixing it up, stirring it up, so we can let go and begin again. Every moment is a new beginning, every moment a new arrival. Let yourself enjoy the breath, the movement of the breath. How the out-breath relaxes the body. Each moment we're receiving a gift of this breath. Can we receive it appreciatively? This breath, a gift from the mother of us all, Mother Earth.

This air we breathe is not to be taken for granted. In California, during the fire season, the air was so polluted, rich with smoke, it was hard to breathe. Not to take clear, clean air for granted. Can there be just a little bit of gratitude?

Now I'd like to invite you, continuing to feel embodied, rooted in the body, feeling yourself grounded and stable, connected to the Earth. Let there be appreciation, both for yourself first of all. Each of us, this being who is me, this earthly being. Appreciating, "Oh, this is my home. This is the only home I've ever known, and will ever know."

Can we extend this sense of appreciation, mental friendliness, and kindness to all the beings on this Earth? All our siblings, whether human, four-legged, whether they have wings, swim in the sea, or they crawl or slither or hop. All the beings, together with me. All of us interconnected in calling this planet our home.

Inviting you for a moment, perhaps, to take on an astronaut's vision. Many astronauts have said it changes them to see this blue planet from afar. How vulnerable, how complex, how beautiful. Can we take on that vision? We've all seen images of planet Earth, our home. The home of all of us. Can there be a sense of _metta_, kindness, goodwill? This is what we're doing here, cultivating our heart. Not in thinking about it, but in tapping into an appreciation, a sense of care for all the beings. Starting with all the beings, including ourselves, who call this planet home. A sense of tenderness, kindness, goodwill.

And all the beings in the future, those who were born or are yet to be born, the unborn who will call this planet home, whether human or other species. It is said we do not inherit the Earth from our ancestors; we borrow it from our children. All the children of all species from whom we're borrowing this Earth.

Feeling our interconnectedness and opening our heart to feel the tenderness. Maybe some sadness arises, and that's okay. Let us sit with the sadness. Let's not avoid it by thinking or getting caught up in stories. Let's feel. Let's be open to feeling the feelings. Whether it's the sense of amazement of the interconnection we all have, or whether it is sadness, sorrow for the damage to Mother Earth. Let there be kindness, tenderness. If emotions arise, can we be kind? Can we allow? Can we love? Let there be openness. Let it move through, not fighting, not resisting, not intellectualizing. Can there be a raw, soft animal of this body, and a tender heart?

Appreciation for all the beings and for Mother Earth as if it were a being. A living, breathing, sacred entity that shows up its varieties, and it sings with joy through spring. With leaves everywhere, it regenerates. Nature rejuvenating, regenerating, healing the complex, amazing ecosystems. Very complex, just as we are an ecosystem, this being who is me. With bacteria in the microbiome, different neurons, so many complex chemical processes creating this being who is me. Nature, this Earth too, is so complex, sublime.

As in indigenous cultures, it's recognized as Gaia. This earthly being, nature as a force, as a mysterious, magnificent entity. Can we have love? Can we love Mother Earth? Not in an extractive way, but in a way of loving, devoting, caring. The way we would care for children, for tender leaves, for tender beings.

Loving nature, our Mother Earth, along with all the beings, all the ecosystems, and the beings who live in the ecosystems. The ice worms that live in the tundra! Who knew? Such richness, magnificence. Opening our hearts with awe, with love. Can we care? How can we serve? How can we protect what we love, what we value, feel devoted to? Not thinking right now about what letters you can write. No, not later. But right now, just tapping into a space of the heart. It's not a space of thinking, it is the space of the heart. Let it be tender. It's not a space of planning, not now. With each breath, just connecting to nature right here, right now. This breath, this body too, is nature. It is connected to the Earth. It is Earth. It is nature.

And again, if at any point sadness arises with respect to nature, Mother Earth, can we meet it with compassion? Holding the sorrow, the frustration which is ours. Can we hold it with care the way we would hold a crying baby? With a lot of patience. "There, there. Here, I'm here for you. I'm patient, resilient, loving. And here as long as I'm needed."

Knowing that our time on this Earth is limited. This being who is me, we are born and we will die. How can we care? How can we leave this Earth a better place? A safer place, a more nourishing place for others? And again, not to start thinking and planning, but drop this question into your body as a _koan_[^2], as an aspiration.

For the last moments of this practice period, holding yourself with compassion, with care. This earthly form that each of us is. For whatever arose or did not arise during this practice, maybe your mind was completely distracted, there was not a moment's peace—it's okay. Can you be kind to yourself? Let go. You tried, you showed up, you did your best. Can you have groundedness and _metta_, love, acceptance, openness? In this second, forget about the last 30 minutes, can you have it in this moment? Just this moment, to accept yourself just as you are.

And to extend this kindness to all beings, to all beings in this community. All beings everywhere, humans and all species. All of us living together on this planet. And may our planet be healthy, be well. May it be free from the ills, from the pollution, from the challenges. May all beings everywhere, our planet, ourselves, have ease. May all beings be free.

Thank you everyone, thank you for your practice.

## Q&A and Reflections

So, Earth Day. Appreciating the Earth and its denizens. I'm going to change the setting so that you can type in chat, either to me or to the group. If you type it to everyone, I'll read your name and your reflection. If you just type it to me, it'll be private.

Bill, I see your hand is up, please.

**Bill:** Hi Nikki. When you stated what the meditation is going to be about, I felt a lot of aversion in the form of anger, and underneath that, fear, because this is an anxiety-producing subject for me. I tried to stay with it, but it was just hard for me to stay on track. But I can see the value of it. Maybe more so because I don't want to do it, maybe that's a little more reason to do it. I'm not sure where I'm going with this. I don't think I have a question, I was just expressing myself. So thank you.

**Nikki:** Thank you, Bill. Hold on, don't mute yourself just yet. Thank you so much for sharing and expressing that. A lot of anger, and underneath that fear. It's great that you have the clarity to know that. Just this pain of, "I don't want to do this, I don't want to do this," and yet realizing that actually, that's a sign that maybe you need to stay with this. Maybe there's something here to open my heart to the pain, because there's a lot of pain.

A lot of times when something is painful or traumatic, we are afraid or scared or angry, and we push it away. We don't even turn to it. When there's even news on the radio about the Earth, it's like, "I just turn it off, I can't go there, it's just too hard, it's just too painful." And we can't even do anything about it because we're just blocking it off. Whereas, by slowly attending to your own suffering, to your own pain—like, "This is hard, this is painful"—and increasing your capacity to care, you can have equanimity. By being overwhelmed, you're not helping anyone. You're not helping yourself, you're not helping the causes you can support or the awareness you can have.

So I am appreciating the wisdom of knowing that, "Oh yeah, actually I feel like I need to hang out here longer, even if it may be hard." And Bill, you've been doing this long enough, my friend, that I think you are ready to gently explore this territory with compassion. Thank you so much.

Other reflections? I see a couple of private messages. "Can you complete the mantra, 'I cannot solve your problems for you'?"

It's not a mantra, first of all, it's a compassion phrase. There are a lot of compassion phrases, though tonight I didn't offer any formal ones. The compassion phrase is: "I care for you, but I cannot solve your problems for you. I can't make them go away."

Another reflection: "Recently I too find myself avoiding experiences, certain radio shows, podcasts, calls, people, because I fear adding to my sadness, grief, or anxiety. I wonder if you can comment on how to counter this tendency which limits one."

I think what supports the balancing of that is the practice of equanimity. First is the practice of compassion. And again, we don't go for the hundred-pound weight! Start with the ten-pound weight. What's easy? Maybe in your daily practice you just bring a little bit of something that brings you sadness about the Earth or something else, and hold it with care, with love. Again, with this vision of holding your child that is hurting—which is you, your own emotions—with love, with care. It's okay. Patience, patience. Through that patience, it can open up to equanimity, because you can be here. There's a sense of stability, a sense of equipoise that is built through the practice of compassion.

Is that clear? The person who asked the question, you can send me a private chat if you want. [The person says, "Yes, clear, and appreciate the answer."] You're welcome.

Pat on YouTube asked, "Practice equanimity first?"

Yes, it could be either way, Pat. We could start with compassion because that's where pain is, and build and go towards equanimity. Or we can start with equanimity and then build towards compassion. It can work either way.

Ram, please. And if you could also turn on your camera that'd be lovely so we can actually see you.

**Ram:** My question was, when I used to practice _metta_, when I used to think of beings that were close to me, I was able to feel that love and kindness. But today when I was thinking about the Earth as a being, I was not able to resonate that feeling, even though I am deeply, deeply interested in conservation and all these topics. I was just thinking, where did I go wrong?

**Nikki:** You haven't gone wrong! There's not a problem. I'm so appreciative that you brought up this question. Sometimes when we practice _metta_, we have a feeling. There's a feeling of warmth and care, a connection. And sometimes we don't have that feeling, and it's okay. Don't think that you've done it wrong. Trust that you're still planting seeds. You're still planting seeds that might flower later. Later today or tomorrow, the next day, all of a sudden there might be a sense of tenderness. You might be walking and see trees and go, "Oh, Mother Earth, wow, this Earth." It might flower then. So it's okay. Don't expect results for your timetable, like, "Wait, I didn't feel the warmth, I didn't feel the connection, where is it?" Patience, patience, patience. And trust that you're planting seeds.

**Ram:** Great, thank you so much.

## Small Group Breakouts

All right dear friends. At Happy Hour we turn to small groups for six or seven minutes. It's where we meet other practitioners in this space. Please listen carefully to the instructions; this is a very formalized way of practicing. It's not just, "Go and talk amongst yourselves."

It will be a group of roughly size three. Each person is invited to share one nugget. If you have five or six nuggets, just share one! The next person will share one nugget, or they can say "Pass" and just hold kind, loving, patient space for others. Then the next person says something or says "Pass," and it comes to you again. So you go round and round in a spiral a few times. It's not a long monologue, it's just a brief thing you share so you can have interaction.

It's really not so much what you say. You're not saying anything to educate or impress others; you're showing up with your heart, with your care for yourself and for other practitioners. It's so precious, these small group meetings, to show up with care. How can you show up with your care for these fellow beings who share the Earth with you, your neighbors? This is the only Earth we have. So can we show up with that kind of sentiment for ourselves, for each other? You can share something about how this practice was for you tonight. Or again, you can say "Pass," just hold it very lightly with a lot of ease.

That's all I was going to say to set it up. Take care of yourself, take care of each other, be kind, be gentle. I'm going to open the rooms, and let's go reverse alphabetical order according to your first name. Enjoy!

## Closing Reflections

Okay, the rooms are closed. Maybe just a quick 30 seconds if there are any burning reflections or comments you want to share, something that came up in the group? You can raise your hand or type it. Going once... going twice...

Okay, I'll stay a minute extra afterwards. So thank you all. Thank you Earth citizens, denizens, for joining this edition of Happy Hour. Even though it might have been challenging, it's a good challenge. It's an important place in our hearts and minds to open up, to turn our attention to, so that we can hold it with compassion and with equanimity. So that we can stay. We can stay instead of running away from the challenges.

And also rejoice. We need to balance the sadness with joy, because there's still so much to love. It's not all lost. It's not all lost. So please enjoy the sunshine, enjoy the Earth, enjoy the greens, enjoy the fresh air, the birds. Please, please balance the sadness and the grief with the joy, with the delight, because what is precious is worth protecting.

Thank you all for your practice. May all of us everywhere, all beings everywhere, be free and well.

---

[^1]: **Metta:** A Pali word often translated as "loving-kindness," "friendliness," or "goodwill."

[^2]: **Koan:** A paradoxical anecdote or riddle used in Zen Buddhism to provoke enlightenment and demonstrate the inadequacy of logical reasoning.