To increase compassion around the world, Jerome Freedman, a member of Thich Nhat Hanh’s Order of Interbeing and the founder of the online Mountain Sangha, offers a “Declaration of Interdependence.“
This declaration asserts that “people, animals, plants, and minerals inter-are and share a single dwelling place on Planet Earth.” Freedman is encouraging people to add their names to the declaration and commit to making it a part of their daily practice.
If we recognize our nature of interbeing, we will appreciate that we have everything we need to be happy in the present moment. We can develop loving kindness and compassion towards ourselves and eliminate our fear of scarcity…
Starting with ourselves, continuing with our loved once, all the way down to our planet we can use the following blessings. While they refer to ourselves, we can easily substitute someone or many other people or planet earth as the subject.
May I be at peace.
May my heart remain open.
May I know the beauty and the radiance of my own true nature.
May I be healthy.
May I be free of suffering.
May I be happy, truly happy.In honor of the Declaration of Interdependence, we commit to make this a part of our daily meditation practices.
The full text of the Declaration is here, and everyone is invited to sign the Declaration of Interdependence by visiting that page and commenting with your name or any other message you’d like to share.