Touching the Earth with Gratitude and Forgiveness: Lammas

     The sun is in Leo and nature is at its peak. You can feel, see and even taste what has ripened on the vine for you. Today August 1st, the harvest celebrations begin. The ancients call this time Lammas, the first of three harvest celebrations. It is a time of gratitude where we appreciate the fruits of our labors. When we slow down and notice all we have created, nurtured and protected.

      This time is also about forgiving what we have worked for and lost since the new year. The time and efforts spent in foreseeing, planting, taking care of and protecting our creations makes it easy to be attached to what could have been. Letting go and doing so with love keeps our heart soft so new seeds can take shape for the next cycle.

      During these first days of August make some time to touch the earth. You can touch the dirt, grass or sand. Touch it and reflect on gratitude and forgiveness for all you have grown this year be it big or small. Seeing with thankful rather than resentful eyes is a pure and deep emotional state. One that is free from ego. These are the eyes that can witness when the harvest's magic appears.

      On a personal note I find August 1st's ancient Lammas sentiment of reflecting on gratitude and forgiveness to be perfectly synchronistic with the birthday wishes of my Father in Law's Guru, Dada J. P. Vaswani from the Sadhu Vaswani Mission in Pune, India. Dada is celebrating 99 years of life on August 2nd. His birthday wish is at 2 pm wherever you are to take 2 minutes to forgive and experience the calmness within. To read more about A Moment of Calm please visit www.momentofcalm.org


"Hearts at peace will create world peace."  -J. P. Vaswani