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The practice of Touching the Earth is to return to the Earth, to our roots, to our ancestors, and to recognize that we are not alone but connected to a whole stream of spiritual and blood ancestors. We are their continuation and with them, will continue into the future generations. We touch the earth to let go of the idea that we are separate and to remind us that we are the Earth and part of Life.
When we touch the Earth we become small, with the humility and simplicity of a young child. When we touch the Earth we become great, like an ancient tree sending her roots deep into the earth, drinking from the source of all waters. When we touch the Earth, we breathe in all the strength and stability of the Earth, and breathe out our suffering- our feelings of anger, hatred, fear, inadequacy and grief.
Our hands join to form a lotus bud and we gently lower ourselves to the ground so that all four limbs and our forehead are resting comfortably on the floor. While we are Touching the Earth we turn our palms face up, showing our openness to the three jewels, the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha. After one or two times practicing Touching the Earth (Three Touchings or Five Touchings), we can already release a lot of our suffering and feeling of alienation and reconcile with our ancestors, parents, children, or friends.
How To Do Prostrations
We hold both palms together, leaving space in between the palms, imagining you have a wish fulfilling jewel inside there. This is why they aren’t held completely together.
Then put the palms to the crown of the head. From the wish fulfilling jewel imagine various offering substances as rays of light. This is an offering to all of the Buddha's pure enlightened body from the wish fulfilling jewels. Imagine the wish fulfilling jewel emanating light as the offering substances. The blessing of this offering is that all of the karma and obscuration of the body of self and sentient beings is purified. From this, you get thirty excellent marks of the Buddha.
Second, put the palm to the throat, making an offering to the Buddha’s pure speech. Offering the rays of light from the wish fulfilling jewels, imagine this sound offering is offered to the Buddha's speech. All karma and obscuration of self and others is purified. Imagine that, from this offering, your speech arises as the sixty melodious speeches from the Buddha.
Third, put the palms to the heart, making offerings to the Buddha’s pure mind. The light from the hands transforms into pure devotion, pure thoughts, and positive qualities of thoughts offered to the Buddha’s mind. The blessing of this offering is that all obscuration of the mind of self and all sentient beings are purified. From this offering, you get the sixty-one blessings of the Buddha’s mind.
Finally, prostrate by bringing the palms, head, and knees to the ground. This represents your karma and obscuration of the five poisons being purified. Imagine that you get all positive qualities of the Buddhas.
Then get up and circle both arms out with palms facing up, bringing palms back together, standing straight up with feet together. Do this three times. You can recite the prayer of the pure land when you do this.
The antidote to anger which is the the purification process of confession, is the next topic. According to the purification process of confession in the Pure Realm prayer, there are three divisions.
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