The nature we see around us is intensely alive and sacred, whether we are aware of it or not. The weather, the plants, the animals, are all manifestations of this sacred aliveness. As are we.
How to get the most out of these Wisdom Quotes:
Put aside everything you think you already know.
Open your mind and heart to receive something new.
Take your time going through each point.
Return to any points that particularly touch you.
In the coming days, listen carefully to the wisdom within you.
1. Connecting With Nature Through the "Don't Know" Mind
We begin this week by going on a Morning Walk with Byron Katie. She guides us into a fresh way of connecting with nature, by looking at everything as though seeing it for the first time.
Nature has much to teach us, but only if we are open and attentive. As soon as you get the opportunity, take a walk and experience nature with a "don't know" mind.
2. Connecting With Yourself Through Nature
"Now, the most important thing about this is the realisation that you do not live in a world that is dead, but vitally alive. Humans are so disconnected with nature that nature is not perceived as intensely alive, let alone sacred, because humans are trapped in the conceptualised mind and this deadens everything.
You cannot even sense your own aliveness because you have a mental concept of who you are and that gives you your sense of identity. That’s a terrible disconnection.
The disconnection from nature cannot be separate with your own deeper nature. So, humans are disconnected from nature because they are disconnected with their own nature - who or what they are in their essence.
To give more attention to nature can also help you to awaken the connectedness with your own nature because everything is pervaded with spirit. There’s only one consciousness manifesting as life forms in this world. Especially at the present time, it’s vitally important for you to connect with nature and deepen your connectedness with nature.
You do not need your conceptualising mind when you’re in nature. Let go of that. Use this opportunity to be present and then nature can heal you on every level.
Become aware of the aliveness in your body. That’s also nature and that’s always there. That’s a vital thing on the spiritual path, to sense the aliveness within."
~Eckhart Tolle, from the video: How to Connect With the Aliveness of Nature (Part 1)
COACHING NOTES:
"The disconnection from nature cannot be separate with your own deeper nature." Have you ever considered that being connected to the nature we see outside of us and being connected to our own, deeper nature, actually go together?
I must confess, I have spent most of my life in my conceptual mind, feeling cut off from nature - not noticing the aliveness that is present all around me because I was lost in my thoughts. However, in recent years, as I have connected more deeply with myself, my connection with nature has completely transformed, to where I sense the oneness whenever I become truly present. What has your relationship with nature been like?
The nature we see around us is intensely alive and sacred, whether we are aware of it or not. The weather, the plants, the animals, are all manifestations of this sacred aliveness. As are we.
3. Being One With the Whole
Perhaps the most valuable lesson we can learn from observing nature is what is revealed in this video.
Do you see how we have learned to split ourselves in two? It is this apparent separation which is the cause of all the world's problems.
Try as we might to create laws and put systems in place for the benefit and well-being of our planet and population, nothing can be as effective as an awareness of our direct connection with all of nature. Oneness is not a romantic idea and ideal, nor is it a far off goal only attained by spiritual giants. It is the deepest truth and is waiting to become our experiential reality in our ordinary, daily life.
Notice your relationship with nature. Allow it to transform and become deeper. This doesn't require any effort. It's more of a relaxing out of the illusion of separation and into an awareness of the oneness.
4. The Wisdom of Trees
"I am present everywhere, protecting, nurturing, sustaining all life - a protective cloak over our earth mother. In some places, I may appear small - in gardens, lining streets, circling parks. And in other places you find me in my mighty glory, my family, tens of thousands strong, towering into the sky, a home for many species for much of life on our earth.
I allow you to breathe. I provide shade and I enable the survival, the flourishing of all life on earth.
I show you how one should live. I give of myself freely to one and all. I welcome all to enjoy my shade, my fruits, the wood that I produce. I sarifice for the benefit of all beings, never asking or needing anything in return. To give is the expression of my love for you.
I exist as part of an interconnected family. Whilst, on the surface, we trees appear separate, in fact, we are a multigenerational family, actively communicating and caring for each other. Mycorrhiza fungi weave in and around our roots, connecting the roots of one of us to the next, forming a rich web. We silently speak, exchange nutrients, water, and even signal to each other when there are threats.
Our co-operation models to all life what it means to live in unity and harmony. In our rich diversity we know we are really one.
If you wish to access your inner peace, the love that you are, we are here to support you. We are the ultimate bearers of silence. We radiate silence whilst absorbing all sound. You can feel the presence of God when silence reigns.
Just come and sit with me, speak to me, meditate under me, be in my presence and you will find you can access your own wisdom and peace. Open your hearts and minds and you'll observe the many lessons that we are here to teach. You will realise that I am a majestic, divine being, just as you are."
~From the video: Trees, by Sri Sathya Sai International Organization
COACHING NOTES:
Come back to sections of this quote and allow it to bring you into a deeper appreciation of the trees on our planet.
The next time you see a tree, let it remind you of some of the ways it provides for life on earth while being part of a vast network of interconnectedness. Listen to its sweet invitation to open and receive - whether it be shade, fruit, beauty or the silence of divinity.
5. The Lesson of Transformation
"If you ask the cloud, "How old are you? Can you give me your date of birth?" you can listen deeply and you may hear a reply.
You can imagine the cloud being born. Before being born it was the water on the ocean's surface. Or it was in the river and then it became vapor. It was also the sun because the sun makes the vapor. The wind is there too, helping the water to become a cloud.
The cloud does not come from nothing; there has been only a change in form. It is not a birth of something out of nothing.
Sooner or later, the cloud will change into rain or snow or ice. If you look deeply into the rain, you can see the cloud. The cloud is not lost; it is transformed into rain, and the rain is transformed into grass and the grass into cows and then to milk and then into the ice cream you eat.
Today if you eat an ice cream, give yourself time to look at the ice cream and say: "Hello, cloud! I recognize you.”
~Thich Nhat Hanh, No Death, No Fear
COACHING NOTES:
Look around you - what else can you recognize? Do you see the rain in the wooden table? The cloud in your clothes? What about the sun in your tea and coffee?
Consider the journey of transformation for all these objects, and what this points to concerning our physical form.
6. Learning the Lesson of Letting Go
“In The Power of Now, I mentioned my observation that after two ducks get into a fight, which never lasts long, they will separate and float off in opposite directions. Then each duck will flap its wings vigorously a few times, thus releasing the surplus energy that built up during the fight. After they flap their wings, they float on peacefully, as if nothing had ever happened.
If the duck had a human mind, it would keep the fight alive by thinking, by story-making. This would probably be the duck’s story:
“I don’t believe what he just did. He came to within five inches of me. He thinks he owns this pond. He has no consideration for my private space. I’ll never trust him again. Next time he’ll try something else just to annoy me. I’m sure he’s plotting something already. But I’m not going to stand for this. I’ll teach him a lesson he won’t forget.”
And on and on the mind spins its tales, still thinking and talking about it days, months, or years later. As far as the body is concerned, the fight is still continuing, and the energy it generates in response to all those thoughts is emotion, which in turn generates more thinking.
This becomes the emotional thinking of the ego. You can see how problematic the duck’s life would become if it had a human mind. But this is how most humans live all the time. No situation or event is ever really finished. The mind and the mind-made “me and my story” keep it going.”
~Eckhart Tolle, A New Earth
COACHING NOTES:
What situation or event are you still holding onto and keeping alive?
Are you ready to finally let it go?
7. Song
Sit back and enjoy listening to Sarah McLachlan's beautiful song, Ordinary Miracle, while watching the wonder of nature on our planet.