In this talk we take up a story from the Nipata Sutta, which follows a group of monks looking for the perfect place to sit over the summer. Where is the perfect place to sit? And what happens when it turns out to be less perfect than we imagined? Instead of running away from such a place, the buddha says, why not turn towards it? Why not learn to be a good friend, even to those beings you don’t quite understand, like earth spirits? In a time of great change, with earth spirits crying out for our human attention, how might we become a true friend of the many beings and save them from neglect?