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Dharma Talk at Camp Swig
Today we learn about the Three Earth Touchings, a wonderful Dharma door that can create a great transformation within 3 months. The first touching of the earth is symbolized by a vertical line, standing on the dimension of time to look deeply into the presence of ancestors, parents, and descendants within us. Every cell in the body contains the entire heritage, insight, and suffering of previous generations, manifesting the principle that the one contains the all. We practice the emptiness of the three wheels to see that the three elements of transmission, though three, are one:
- The transmitter.
- The object of transmission.
- The receiver of the transmission.
The second touching of the earth is symbolized by a horizontal line, standing on the dimension of space to see the nature of interbeing between us and all species in the present moment. We touch the solid energy of the Great Beings, the Bodhisattvas, while opening our hearts of compassion to living beings who are suffering and even those who create unwholesome karma. We see ourselves as both the frog being eaten and the snake searching for food, or as both the starving child and the arms manufacturer, so that we can love without discrimination and nourish true happiness.
The third touching of the earth is symbolized by a circle, helping the practitioner practice letting go of the idea of the body and life span to transcend birth and death. Based on the Diamond Sutra, we need to look deeply to remove the four notions:
- Self.
- Man (Human Being).
- Living beings.
- Life span.