Connecting to the Healing Power of the Sacred Elements

To recognize the elements in the natural world, their beauty and interplay, to enter the sacred dance of the elements, is to inhabit a living world full of mystery and potential.” –Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche

According to ancient Tibetan spiritual traditions, our planet is alive and sacred. The five natural elements — earth, water, fire, air, and space — can be considered fundamental aspects of a living universe. All of our experiences, from the sensations of the physical body to the emotions to the most fleeting of thoughts, are said to be composed entirely of these five elements in interaction.

Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche will lead and support us in connecting with the elements to internalize their essential vital qualities. Through practices and meditation, we will be guided to retrieve and commune with the elemental essences to nourish and restore health and vitality. By bringing the five elements into balance, we contribute to our own well-being as well as the health of our planet.

According to shamanic teachings, on a physical level, the ongoing destruction and pollution of our global environment can be said to provoke the spirits of nature, causing wide-scale natural disasters, disease, energy disturbances, and mental obstacles. By harmonizing with the natural elements, we repair our relationship with these spirits.

According to tantric teachings, on an energetic level, the raw elements of nature represent subtler, more fundamental aspects of the primordial energy of existence. As such, the five elements play an essential role in emotional and psychological healing. For example, too much earth element can make us feel dull, drowsy, or lazy; but when earth is balanced in us, it supports us to feel connected, secure, and confident.

According to Dzogchen teachings, on the level of mind, retrieving and connecting with the elemental essences can support the practice of contemplative meditation. For example, the water element brings comfort and joy to experiences of open awareness; when fully developed in spiritual practice, it is mirror-like wisdom.

Join Rinpoche for a special opportunity for healing, revitalizing, and communing with the five natural elements.

Recommended Reading: Healing with Form, Energy and Light: The Five Elements in Tibetan Shamanism, Tantra, and Dzogchen by Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche