Earth, Wind, & Space

Earth - Foundation

When I say “earth” what I mean is that I drop down from my head and come into my body. I come into the parts of my body that are connected to the ground – my feet, legs, and butt. I touch that earthiness of the body, that groundedness, stability, and stillness for as long as I can. Sometimes my felt experience of the breath may be strongest. Or even a sense perception, like a sound or smell. If that happens, I connect and ground myself into that sense experience. As my five senses and breath are part of this grounded bodily experience. 

This is also a good time to relax the body, and release any tension held in the body, if one notices any stress or tension in the body. Mindful of each part of the body, I can breath into any tightness allowing to naturally relax and release.

I practice in this way, until I can stay down with the body, and not popping up into my thoughts and stories. For me it is about coming down from the head and into the embodied experience of having a body. Thoughts are coming and going but I am able to stay down here in the body, grounded. We could also call this connecting with the Nirmanakaya.

Wind - Transformation

When I say “wind” I come up to the heart. I notice the movement of my body and mind. That vitality of being alive. I have a body. I have thoughts. I have movement. I have emotions. I have sensations. I just stay here in this recognition for as long as I can. Simply noticing the alive, vitality of movement without judging it or forming a story around it. 

I might do some loving kindness practice, some Quan Am, Cundi, or Tara practice, or some prayers here just really help touch that aliveness within me. It may manifest as feeling held in deep care, compassion, acceptance and warmth, beyond judgements. I relax into this experience, steeping in its loving energies, feeling its tender qualities, and letting them spaciously infuse my whole being.

And sometimes what shows up are pains, hurts, and unpleasant feelings. And when those show up, I accept and embrace them the very same way. Without turning them into a “thing” or wrapping them up into a story. I just hold them in my non-judgemental loving awareness.

Here the practice is about re-establishing my connection with myself. I engage in this relationship lovingly and unconditionally. I practice non-judgemental loving awareness. Allowing whatever comes up to come up. Letting it be as it is. This is creating an unconditional loving internal relationship with myself. And in turn, this allows me to be unconditionally loving to others. This helps keep me out of the "distressed mind" undoing all those conditioned patterns and self-grasping that keeps me so constricted, busy, and stressed. 

However it may manifest, I allow and accept these loving energies and qualities into my whole body and mind – into every part of my body, into every layer of feeling and emotion. Every part of me is loved in its very being. We could also call this connecting with the Sambhogakaya.

If I keep getting stuck or fixated around thoughts and stories, then I come back down to the body grounded on the earth and begin again.  

Space - Liberation

Next, when I say “space” I just send my awareness up, opening my gaze into the empty space of the room, or looking up at the sky depending on where I am. Slowly, slowly, I open my eyes, raise my gaze and awareness. I imagine my heart & mind opening and connect with that vast empty space all around me. I rest in that space. Any experience I had while practicing at the heart, I simply put down. I relax and put it all down. I have found that by being embraced by the love, warmth, and acceptance in the previous section, “wind”, it naturally helps me to relax and leave things as they are. This is also an opportunity for me to practice sky gazing if outside.

I try to have a relaxed but fixed gaze. I try not to move my gaze because as I've been practicing this I've noticed the more my gaze shifts –even very subtle shifts–  the more my thoughts move with it. My gaze and my thoughts move together. So I try to just try to have a relaxed open gaze for as long as I can. Just leaving everything as it is – total acceptance of what is. We could also call this connecting with the Dharmakaya.

Kuntuzangpo

For me guru yoga, staying connected with the lineage and tradition, can be as simple as just looking at a picture of Kuntuzangpo. A moment just to look, smile at Kuntuzangpo, and connect. I may not have time to do a more formal guru yoga practice with Kuntuzangpo above my head with all the red, white, and blue lights. But just taking a moment just to connect with Kuntuzangpo. To let Kuntuzangpo recharge me and re-energize me.

When I fall off, I just “rinse and repeat” starting the whole process over again, back at “earth.” Then when I am finished I dedicate the merit, bow, and go about my day.

When I get up from my cushion and go about my day, what's my practice?

Daily Life

Throughout my day, in each moment trying my best to stay with the heart – all the wholesome energies of love and compassion. Like I shared earlier in the practice of “wind,” staying connected with those qualities of the heart. Which is really just mindfulness of my intention and aspiration. Staying connected with “who do I want to be right now?” and “What are my heartfelt aspirations/intentions for this life? How do I want to be in this present moment? In this flow of life? In relationship to myself, to others, and to the planet?”

I want to be a loving person. I don't want to be a grump. I don't want to be lazy. I stay connected to knowing what is wholesome and what is unwholesome. Reminding myself what kind of person I want to be. And the result of this is a growing concern for the happiness and wellbeing of others, such as my children and wife. A growing sense of being that is not centered around me.

In order to help me stay connected, I can do the earth, wind, and space practice for many short moments throughout the day. I can do the same practice I do on the cushion, but in short sessions for just a minute or two throughout my day. By connecting through earth, wind, and space even for one minute each, it can help me stay connected to my heart’s aspiration through my body and mind.