GAIA MANDALA

The First Annual Summoned by the Earth Gaia Mandala Convergence

Reflections offered by Rasul Bravo with Cynthia Jurs

The First Annual Summoned by the Earth Gaia Mandala Convergence took place on the traditional and unceded, sacred lands of the Tewa People. Human vessels and Earth Treasure Vases, gathered with the more than human world in the Galisteo Basin in the state of New Mexico, at the southern end of the Rocky Mountains between the Sangre de Cristo and the Jemez Mountains. This first, in-person Convergence of the Earth Treasure Vase Global Community was deliberately chosen to occur near the Los Alamos National Laboratory at the center of the Earth Treasure Vase Mandala, to extend healing energies from the same area where humanity entered a time of deadly destruction through the creation of the first atomic bombs.

Our gathering was carefully co-created by the core team of facilitators and teachers within the Gaia Mandala; Cynthia Jurs, Elizabeth Christine, Nikole Rosaria, Rasul Bravo and Rick Jansen, in a spirit of collaborative leadership that is emerging through the work of de-colonization we are committed to embodying as an organization. There was a conscious honoring of the various wisdom streams that have influenced the evolutionary nature of the Earth Treasure Vase practice. The loving care offered by the hosts at the Chi Center was a supportive blessing.

We held a steady vision: to attune to the intelligence of “The Hive”, welcoming a healing ground by engaging the awakened heart-mind within each member in our collective field and anchoring life-renewing forces in Gaia’s precious body, through the power of awareness, the visualization of light, and the healing nature of sound and music. Drawing on all these, and emanating our intentions throughout the Earth Treasure Vase Mandala to encircle the entirety of Mother Earth.

Rooted in this vision, attendees entered the Tewa World mindfully to weave hearts and minds together and recognize the living threads that compose each of us in relation to the land, air and water, in an ancestral tapestry of Gaia’s dreaming. Honoring this precious wholeness, we stepped into authentic relationship with the Tewa World, and the collective vessel of our Convergence.

Recognizing how our perception of reality is shaped by the greed and entitlement of colonialism, the invitation was to take a vital step in collective awakening by learning to embody respectful ways of entering a new territory; uniting with the people indigenous to the land we would sit with in ceremony, over the care for the elements within all of creation, so they may care for us.

In preparation for the gathering, and inspired by the Land Acknowledgement that was written through the stewardship of the British Columbia Earth Treasure Vase,  sacred relationship was strengthened with Tewa Elder, Santa Clara Pueblo traditional potter, visionary, and guide in the crafting of the third generation Earth Treasure Vases, Marian Naranjo, who steered the writing of this Territorial Reconciliation:

Territorial Reconciliation

Written by Marian Naranjo, Elizabeth Christine, and Rasul Bravo

We respectfully acknowledge the spirit of the Tewa People on whose ancestral and unceded territory we are gathered. In our acknowledgement of the spirit of the Tewa People, we acknowledge the spirit of Tewa Lands.  

With humility, we commit to becoming ever more conscious of our role in systems of colonization, to understand its conditioning and how it lives within us. With courage we engage in truth and reconciliation which opens the way for true friendship with all living relations. Establishing love and trust through person to person relationships, will allow the flow of resources needed for First Nations to thrive and all life to flourish.

All human beings have an indigenous root. In the beginning, Creator gave instructions to everyone on how to live in right relationship with Creation. We give thanks to the Tewa People for reminding us to love, respect, and care for one another so things will go well.

On the first evening of the convergence, guiding teacher and founder of the Gaia Mandala Global Healing Community, Cynthia Jurs, called us together under the cottonwoods for Marian to offer her prayers and welcome all those who’d journeyed from near and far onto the land. Ten countries were represented by people and Earth Treasure Vases. Marian invited Elizabeth Christine, guiding member of the Gaia Mandala Sangha and co-author of the Territorial Reconciliation, to read the text to the group. Territories sang back and forth to each other as gifts of beauty and nourishment reflecting the land’s we had all come from, were offered to Marian—our beloved and honored Elder of the Tewa World.

The co-creation of the central altar of the Convergence was designed to anchor the wisdom of each individual, embodying an expression of the hive and giving a place to offer the nectar of our voices and gifts in service to life. From mud to lotus, compassion was cultivated, activating the Earth Treasure Vase Mandala. At the center, the Mother Vase, to be planted once all the vases settle into Gaia’s embrace. The sixteen Earth Treasure Vases brought to the Convergence, encircling her, resting on the colors of the five Buddha families shining forth from each petal where offerings could be made to empower them. Feathers of Eagle and Condor proclaimed the ongoing prophecy of these times in the union of North and the South, complementary polarities, the mind and the heart.

Saraswati, goddess of wisdom, music, art, and learning; Gaia, Greek goddess of Earth, Mother of all life; Simhamukha, lion-headed fierce wisdom dakini of the Vajrayana tradition; Green Tara, essence of awakened love and compassion, and the Rainbow Serpent, a great force of creation and protector of water within Australian Aboriginal culture, were pillars in this constellation of beauty. The four colors of corn, sacred to the four directions of the Tewa world, enhanced the meaning of our altar along with rose petals from Cynthia’s garden that formed a circle of fragrant holding.

A living and breathing altar, pulsing with the energy of devotion, as the Earth Treasure Vases were opened to receive prayers and offerings in a spontaneous and organic way throughout the bright Solstice Full Moon days of the gathering.

Enveloping, moving, and shaping all present, the days thrummed with the power of a steady moving river, met with delicate attunement by the facilitators and a generous receptivity by those present. Mornings were met with a mindfulness practice guided by Rick Jansen, one of the core weavers of the Gaia Mandala; seamlessly accompanied by the teachings of Qigong Master, Mingtong Gu, founder of The Chi Center. Offerings to the land were made daily by Elizabeth Christine in the spirit of Kanyini, the principle of connectedness through unconditional love and responsibility that underpins Aboriginal life, that had been taught to Gaia Mandala members while on pilgrimage in Australia by the late, Uncle Bob Randall, Elder from the Yankunytjatjara Aboriginal Nation and traditional custodian of the revered Uluru monolith.

After many years of dreaming about this gathering to activate the global mandala, guiding teacher, Cynthia Jurs, spoke to how the Gaia Mandala and our practice with the Earth Treasure Vases has evolved as more and more vases have been planted around the world. Cynthia gave valuable teachings as only she can do, on the intention of our global healing practice, enacted through our love and caring, and the sacred technology of breath and light to send the prayers within the Earth Treasure Vases around the Earth. This was a deeply fulfilling opportunity for her to illuminate some of the key teachings of Tibetan Buddhism at the root of the Earth Treasure Vase tradition.

Bringing the wisdom of Australian Aboriginal lore that has greatly impacted his life, and that of this luminous web of holy vessels, beloved Gaia Mandala Sangha member and sound healer, Julian Silburn, welcomed contemplation on the power of vibration as the creative spirit that animates all life, with the capacity for resonance to heal and harmonize; offering stories,  glimpses of the mysteries of The Dreamtime and of the Rainbow Serpent. Accompanied by the yidaki (didjeridu), flutes, percussion, gongs, and guitar, Julian also shared an immersive group sound healing journey as one of the great moments of the Convergence.

The key components of music and sound were integrated beautifully into the Convergence, led by Julian along with lead organizer, singer, drummer and masterful facilitator, Nikole Rosaria, who is also guiding the de-colonizing process for collective liberation at the center of the Gaia Mandala.

With loving and skillful articulation, Gaia Mandala co-weaver and facilitator, Rasul Bravo co-created group spaces alongside Rick and the team, with the intention to establish a ground for welcoming an integration of healing and awakening through art and movement, outdoor explorations and deep reflection. All those present moved through the fertile liminality of the times we are living in, acknowledging what is no longer serving, and affirming the evolutionary impulse to enact the beautiful dignity of collective liberation.

We celebrated the exaltation of the individual healing journey, as we answered Gaia’s summons in sovereign allegiance to “embodying awakened awareness on the path of healing in service to all beings” (to quote our community’s Opening Verses for practice). An awakened hive humming, through darkness and light, a new honeyed song to express the “Hiveolution”—a term cheekily coined by Little Shell Nation member and Earth Treasure Vase Steward, Laurelyn Baker.

The fullness, joy, and vitality of the Summer Solstice empowered these offerings leading up to the moon’s fullness, whose radiance magnified what unfolded on that day: the dedication of three Earth Treasure Vases and the handing off to their respective or temporary stewards; a vase dedicated to the Auschwitz Concentration Camp placed in the hands of Marita Sheeran (left); a vase dedicated to Spain placed in the hands of Andrea Herrera (above); and a vase dedicated to Palestine placed in the hands of Lara Tambacopoulou, accompanied by Rick Jansen (right) who is serving to make the connections for this vase possible.

Over the Full Moon in the sign of the Capricorn, a potent ceremony was then held to activate these newly dedicated Earth Treasure Vases, along with all the Vases present in our circle, and the entire Earth Treasure Vase Mandala. Cynthia’s dream was realized as we invoked the healing needed for these times by chanting the mantra of the Sublime Mother Gaia and sending it out upon a powerful bridge of sound composed of Julian’s yidaki, Nikole’s drum, and a new member of our sound healing team, Lorraine Weiss, who brought the added dimension of her saxophone to our practice! The group was transported into a timeless realm where Gaia’s dreaming unfolded through the hearts and minds of her beloved children, awakening into oneness.

A deep bow of gratitude: to the spirit of bee brought through by Nikole Rosaria to pollinate all, to the Waters from various lands welcoming blessings brought by Liza Jane Alexander and others, to the Elder Cottonwood Trees of the Chi Center for their magnificent presence, to Deer, Snake, and Mosquito, to all the  heartfelt offerings made into the Earth Treasure Vases with such devotion by everyone present, to the wonderful Chi Center staff for their kind hosting and exquisite nourishment, to Kat VanHammen for her generous collaboration with the gentle altar “flames” and the crafting of the altar petals, to Rick Jansen for capturing this precious time in pictures and sound, and to all seen and unseen allies that accompanied us on this First Annual Summoned by the Earth Gaia Mandala Convergence! A la la ho!

Photos and art featured in the article:

1. Convergence attendees with Marian Naranjo and Master Mingtong Gu, taken by Rick Jansen
2. Thunder Woman by Cynthia West
3. Landscape of the Galisteo Basin at the Chi Center, taken by Rasul Bravo
4. Elder Cottonwood Trees, taken by Leslie Meehan
5. Fragment of the central altar: Saraswati with rose petals at her feet, The Mother Vase in the background. Taken by Rick Jansen..
6. Altar, taken by Rasul Bravo
7. Center of altar, taken by Rasul Bravo
8. Cynthia Jurs sharing a teaching, taken by Rick Jansen
9. Julian Silburn playing Yidaki, taken by Rick Jansen
10. Julian Silburn on flute and Nikole Manieri on drum, accompanying Kat VanHammenin her presentation on the last night of our gathering celebrating creative expression. Taken by Rick Jansen
11. Andrea Herrera receiving the Earth Treasure Vase for Spain, taken by Rick Jansen
12. Marita Sheeran receiving the Earth Treasure Vase for Auschwitz Concentration Camp, taken by Rick Jansen
13. Lara Tambacopoulou receiving the Earth Treasure Vase for Palestine, accompanied by Rick Jansen. Taken by Rasul Bravo
14. Circle of attendees around the altar in Gaia House, taken by Master Mingtong Gu