Welcome to Emergence Magazine's podcast. I'm Emanuel Vaughn Lee, executive editor of Emergence

Magazine, located on the unseated ancestral lands of the Coast Mewalk people of present-day

Marin County. Each week, we feature a new interview, narrated essay, or story, exploring the threads connecting

ecology, culture, and spirituality.

The Vietnamese Buddhist monk and Zen master, Tithna Han, died on January 22nd, 22nd, in the Tu Hui Temple in

Huy, Vietnam, the place where he was ordained nearly 80 years ago as a teenager.

He was 95 years old.

Teethnaan was globally revered as a peace activist and poet, and is widely credited with bringing the Buddhist practice of mindfulness to the West.

He was also a pioneer in the field of spiritual ecology, applying ancient Buddhist texts and philosophy to his decades-long efforts

to come to the aid of a planet in crisis. In honor of his passing, we recently republished

his 10 love letters to the Earth, a series of meditations that engage us in intimate conversation with our earth.

I wanted to read these letters for the Emergence Podcast,

not only because they are deeply beautiful, profound, and inspiring,

but also because they were composed as a living dialogue,

and have an added potency when recited.

I invite you to try reading them aloud yourself, joining your voice with Tickna

Hahn's invitation for us to fall in love with the earth again.

One, beloved mother of all things.

Dear Mother Earth, I bow my head before you as I look deeply and recognize that you

are present in me and that I'm a part of you.

I was born from you and you are always present, offering me everything I need for my nourishment

and growth.

...