Lama Cynthia Jurs is, to me—and clearly to thousands of others—the embodiment of feminine wisdom. The particular wisdom stream that flows through her is precisely the water we need to save and sustain life on earth. Her new book tells a magnificent story in fresh, accessible prose— not simply as one woman’s chronicles of her spiritual adventures, but as a light to guide our own steps as we stand up and speak out on behalf of this beautiful, broken world.

— Mirabai Starr, author of Wild Mercy 

In total dedication to her path, Jurs embarked on an epic journey of service for all living beings. Her trials, challenges, passion, healing and dedication are laid bare in what is truly a beautifully written offering. This remarkable book stands as a model for each of us to heed our innermost calling to serve the Earth, no matter the outcome.

— Dahr Jamail, co-editor of We Are the Middle of Forever: Indigenous Voices From Turtle Island on the Changing Earth and author of The End of Ice: Bearing Witness and Finding Meaning in the Path of Climate Disruption

This is the story of a remarkable adventure that is underway in our time, beginning with one woman's question. The question had ripened within her for a decade, since our times together facing nuclear weapons and the challenge they represent to all life on Earth. The response she receives ignites an adventure which, thanks to her courage, moves out across the planet, engaging countless people from all backgrounds. As I took part and watched it unfold, my initial incredulity turned to awe, my inner cynic silenced by tears. Whatever power the Earth Treasure Vases possess to heal our broken world, the real miracle for me is what they awaken and inspire in virtually everyone who accepts the call to fill them with prayer and place them within our larger body, the sacred living body of Earth.

— Joanna Macy, eco-philosopher and author of World as Lover, World as Self

Those of us who are enacting a new Dharma Gaia commonly draw inspiration from the late Vietnamese monk Thich Nhat Hanh (radiant in his fierce simplicity and boundless heart), or from the passionate American activist and bodhisattva Joanna Macy, or the great wilderness poet and Zen adept Gary Snyder. To their names we must now add that of the humble and vivacious Cynthia Jurs, who long ago pledged her life—body and soul—in service to the animate Earth. . .We greatly need the stalwart scientists who labor, day and night, to fathom what’s happening to our climate and oceans, as we hugely need the many valiant activists fighting for the well-being of other species and the continued flourishing of forests, rivers, and soils. Yet we also need fearless impresarios of magic faith like Cynthia Jurs, who work steadfastly to dissolve our collective callousness, and to replenish the mystery that binds the human heart to the heart of the world.  

—David Abram, author of The Spell of the Sensuous: Perception and Language in a More-Than-Human World and Becoming Animal: An Earthly Cosmology 

Let Lama Cynthia take you on an astonishing pilgrimage across the globe! In her timely book, deeply rooted in women’s ways of knowing and healing, Cynthia addresses the abuses of the patriarchy and offers her inspiring insights and spiritual illumination, all while planting prayers and sacred offering vases into the brilliant heart of Mother Earth. Through her devotion and perseverance, she trusted and followed her visions and intuition over and over again, taking on increasing challenges as she divined her way around the world, opening her heart to the powerful lessons of this mythic journey. This is an authentic spiritual book to be treasured. It is filled with profound healing, hard-won wisdom, and boundless love—a beacon and guide for us all!

— Trudy Goodman, founding teacher, InsightLA 

Summoned by the Earth is a spiritual adventure story of dedication and courage. I found it simply wonderous how the ritual of planting these small vases creates a magical communion and generates inspired blessings in communities across the world.

 — Jack Kornfield, author of A Path with Heart

This is a story about one of the most remarkable lives of service I have ever witnessed. It is a story of courage, of deep transformation, of mysticism and magic, of humility and right action on behalf of our struggling planet. Cynthia is one of those inspirational souls who answered a call and stepped into it with her whole being. Her story is a path laid generously for each of us to savour, consider and then hold as a torch in our own lives.

— Clare Dubois, founder of TreeSisters

Cynthia Jurs’ subtle, brave, nakedly written impassioned book Summoned by the Earth challenges us all to listen to the Earth crying and act urgently. Cynthia’s exploration of her own quest, inspired by an old Lama in Nepal, to place Earth Treasure Vases in sacred sites all over the world is original, poignant and profoundly inspiring. Seekers and sacred activists of all kinds will learn a great deal from this humble master of truth and from how she worked to honor her own unique assignment against extreme odds. Buy this book and give it to everyone you know. 

— Andrew Harvey, author of The Hope; A Guide to Sacred Activism 

This book is a prayer from Mother Earth. Cynthia Jurs leads us on a powerful and heart-opening journey of becoming an Earth Holder, an Earth Protector. Through her own experiences of spiritual transformation, she shows us how we can each heal our precious Earth and soothe the suffering of her inhabitants by quieting our minds and listening to the deepest guidance within each of us. When we follow this wisdom, collaborating with others in community, we fulfill our true purpose: to awaken and make our world whole.

 — Kaira Jewel Lingo, author of We Were Made For These Times and Healing Our Way Home 

Why do we ask questions? To invoke the powers of creation and to invite the union of our will with the Mysteries within creation. In this most remarkable saga, Cynthia Jurs inspires a way of knowing that comes from searching one’s heart for the questions that open doors between worlds. Summoned by the Earth guides our heart into believing the impossible, becoming certain again of the lost wisdom of Earth and remembering what we can do to recover what is lost in time, between the veil and our willingness to ask. The opportunity to treasure Earth allows us to be the vessel for the healing that results in this intimacy of heart and the inner life of Earth. We will remember that we are on both sides of the veil, asking and giving in the full cycle of life.

— Orland Bishop, author of The Seventh Shrine: Meditations on the African Spiritual Journey from the Middle Passage to the Mountaintop and founder of ShadeTree Multicultural Foundation

I have known Cynthia as my sister in the Dharma for nearly forty years. She was one of the first Western lay Dharma teachers to be ordained by Venerable Thich Nhat Hanh. In Summoned by the Earth, Cynthia shares her adventures following a simple quest to reconnect with Mother Earth and bring healing to our world. Thich Nhat Hanh’s teachings on building community and bringing the spiritual dimension into our actions reverberate throughout Cynthia's marvelous tale. As she continues her spiritual quest globally, we can all take inspiration from Cynthia and participate by practicing mindfulness and planting our pure intentions for Mother Earth by our way of living and relating with each other and all living beings. Thinking globally, acting locally, may all who read this book discover their heart’s mission and join in one great action of humanity to bring healing to our precious planet.

 — Sister Chân Không, True Emptiness, author of Learning True Love 

Buddhism, feminism, and earth spirituality converge in this highly engaging and moving tale of courage, healing, and redemption. Cynthia's path shows the way toward a more intimately sacred relationship between humanity and Earth.

 — Charles Eisenstein, author of The More Beautiful World Our Hearts Know is Possible and Climate: A New Story

I am filled with awe and inspiration after reading Summoned by Earth. Cynthia’s breathtaking devotion to Gaia brings forth a painful but crucial reckoning with the brutality of the patriarchal separation of spirit and matter, and the dire consequences of a spirituality that ignores the living, breathing source of us all, Gaia herself. Cynthia’s is a story about the immense collective healing potential that actualizes when one human heart awakens and commits her life to love, to Gaia and her sacred assignment. Following her journey as she reconnects with her ancient calling as Gaia's priestess, we are all invited in through the temple doors to retrieve our primordial belonging with our splendorous Mother. This book is a guiding light for those of us wishing to birth a new paradigm of the divine feminine as embodied wisdom in action. I bow a thousand times.

 — Chameli Gad Ardagh, Goddess Wisdom Keeper and Founder Awakening Women Institute

Human civilizations from ancient Greece to India and Tibet have honored the Earth through healing rituals. Cynthia Jurs’ work with the Earth Treasure Vases unites Buddhist wisdom with environmental activism in acknowledging our essential role as healers and protectors of Mother Earth, Gaia. Her book, Summoned by the Earth, reconnects us with our earthly origins while inspiring urgent, compassionate action on behalf of all of Nature.

            — Dr. Nida Chenagtsang, founder, medical director and principal teacher of the Sowa Rigpa Institute of Tibetan Medicine

This beautiful book by author and Buddhist teacher Cynthia Jurs is a powerful rendering of a life, a path, a vision, and a mission. Her practice with the vases is a rare ritual offering of feminine energy in our imperiled world. The story that Cynthia tells is a treasure vase itself.

 — Roshi Joan Halifax, Abbot, Upaya Zen Center

Cynthia Jurs has walked the talk of planetary service as few people have. Her epic book brings forth an extraordinary global family, including people from all continents, faiths, and political perspectives, united in their love and care for our Earth. Through her thirty-plus years of global pilgrimage, she has woven a magnificent planetary mandala of prayers, a living source of refuge we can all draw upon and align with. Cynthia has breathed new life into an ancient Tibetan Buddhist tradition by sharing it with reverence and freshness to cultures around the world. She has also made a major contribution by adapting traditional Tibetan Buddhist practices into a more Earth-centric approach that resonates strongly with the needs and concerns of our times. She is a living bodhisattva, and I’m honored to call her my friend.

 — David T. Nicol, author of Subtle Activism: The Inner Dimension of Social and Planetary Transformation

In an era of unprecedented, earthly change, Cynthia Jurs’ timely book brings spiritual insight to the necessary synthesis of human flourishing and environmental renewal. As both guardian and guide, she reveals a path of healing and regeneration that reveres time-honored traditions while forging a viable and visionary future.

— Ian A. Baker, PhD, author of The Heart of the World: A Journey to Tibet’s Lost Paradise

Summoned by the Earth is a treasure teaching for our time. It is rare to find a book that truly transforms you upon reading, and Summoned by the Earth is such an offering—an extraordinary living mandala of transmission and healing. The depth of Cynthia Jurs’ forty years of Buddhist practice is reflected in these pages, along with a deeply human and, in moments, heartbreakingly raw story. It is also a powerful revelation of the feminine face of Buddhism, true medicine as we collectively awaken to the urgency of reconnecting with our sacred path back to the wisdom of our precious Mother Earth. The dawn of a new era has come.

— Sarah Drew, author of Gaia Codex