There is now a single issue before us: survival. Not merely physical survival, but survival in a world of fulfillment, survival in a living world, where the violets bloom in the springtime, where the stars shine down in all their mystery, survival in a world of meaning.
~ Thomas Berry
Milky Way Over the Desert – photo by raphoto, bigstockphoto.com
Whenever you come upon Water in its natural state, you approach it with respect; you introduce yourself to it. Take time to pay respect to it. For Water gives life, we live inside Water for nine months in our mother’s womb. Then we follow the Water into this world. It is sacred, we depend on Water for the rest of our life. Water is Life…
Allow for a moment of gratitude the next time you take a drink of Water. Then, hope will flicker within – hope that allows us to envision a way, a path towards a more compassionate and caring society that heeds the consciousness that Water is Life.
~ Mona Polacca, Havasupai/Hopi/Tewa Nations, Arizona, International Council of Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers
Lake Elbsee, Bavarian Alps – photo by Leonid Tit, bigstockphoto.com
There are many things to be grateful “for” but, as I ripen with the seasons of life, the many reasons blend into a sacred mystery. And, most deeply, I realize that living gratefully is its own blessing.
~ Michael Mahoney
Sunrise, Volcano Agung, Bali – photo by BaliPhotos, bigstockphoto.com
… the sacred principles of life have never been written down: they belong to the heartbeat, to the rhythm of the breath and the flow of blood. They are alive like the rain and the rivers, the waxing and waning of the moon. If we learn to listen we will discover that life, the Great Mother, is speaking to us, telling us what we need to know.
~ Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee
Koko-en Garden, Jimeji, Japan – photo by mmovel, bigstockphoto.com
There is a soul force in the Universe, which if we permit it, will flow through us and produce miraculous results.
~ Mahatma Ghandi
Sunrise, Mesa Arch, Canyonlands National Park – photo by prochasson, bigstockphoto.com
Would that begin to heal the wound? If we were to see not just the half of the tree that towers above the ground but the half that lives beneath it. If we were to see that great complex of roots connected to all of the other trees in the woodland by networks of mycelium that act almost as a neural network, connecting up communities of living beings, sending and receiving signals. If we were to see this network, this community, as alive, as in some way aware. If we were to understand that when we tug on one leaf it is connected to everything else in the world.
If we saw trees as living, connected, aware—would we change our ways in relation to them, and would that change us?
~ Paul Kingsnorth
Beech Trees in Autumn – photo by Maren Winter, bigstockphoto.com
Subtle activism is distinguished by its emphasis on the potential of spiritual practice itself to constitute a subtle form of action in the sociopolitical sphere…This proposal in its strongest version, affirms the possibility that certain forms of spiritual practice might themselves subtly effect change in the social realm through the principles of nonlocal causality.
~ David Nicol, from “Subtle Activism: The Inner Dimension of Social and Planetary Transformation”
Sunset, African Savanna – photo by Oskanov, bigstockphoto.com
Ancient humans felt (and many indigenous people today feel) a burning responsibility to show their respect, honor, and gratitude to Nature, to the Universe, and to Mother Earth which gave them life. And so, they created rituals involving singing, dancing, lighting fires, and different types of prayer. These activities raised the vibration of the Earth and all life. Their actions, carried out with great love and gratitude in their hearts, reinforced and strengthened the forces of nature all around them. In turn, the Earth and the Universe protected and supported the humans, sharing with them the great abundance of existence.
~ Jocelyn Mercado, Pachamama Alliance
Sequoias, Mariposa Grove, Yosemite – photo by PapaBear, bigstockphoto.com
In a crystal we have the clear evidence of the existence of a formative life-principle, and though we cannot understand the life of a crystal, it is nonetheless a living being.
~Nikola Tesla
Living Crystals – photo by Andrushko Galyna, bigstockphoto.com
One of the most calming and powerful actions you can do to intervene in a stormy world is to stand up and show your soul. Soul on deck shines like gold in dark times. The light of the soul throws sparks, can send up flares, builds signal fires, causes proper matters to catch fire. To display the lantern of soul in shadowy times like these – to be fierce and to show mercy toward others; both are acts of immense bravery and greatest necessity.
Struggling souls catch light from other souls who are fully lit and willing to show it. If you would help to calm the tumult, this is one of the strongest things you can do.
~Clarissa Pinkola Estés
Sunrise, Totem Pole Rock Formation, Monument Valley, AZ – photo by Dean Fikar, bigstockphoto.com
People who believe in oneness — the idea that everything in the world is connected and interdependent — appear to have greater life satisfaction than those who don’t, regardless of whether they belong to a religion or don’t, according to new research.
While oneness scores did vary by religion (Muslims had the highest median score while atheists had the lowest), they were much better predictors of life satisfaction than religious beliefs.
~ American Psychological Association
Deer in the Forest – photo by Sergel 777, bigstockphoto.com
…all plants are intelligent…They are all self-aware. They all engage in highly interactive social transactions with their communities.
…when you look at the interconnected network of plant roots and micorrhizal mycelia in any discrete ecosystem, you are looking at a neural network much larger than any individual human has ever possessed.
~ Stephen Harrod Buhner, Plant Intelligence
Jungle Forest – photo by Engdao, bigstockphoto.com
Earth is not a platform for human life. It is a living being. We’re not on it but part of it. Its health is our health.
~ Thomas Moore
Sunset with Moonrise, Teton Mountains – photo by eric1513, bigstockphoto.com
We are all visitors to this time, this place. We are just passing through. Our purpose here is to observe, to learn, to grow, to love, and then we return home.
~ Aboriginal Australian Proverb
The Twelve Apostles, Australia, at Sunset – photo by kavram, bigstockphoto.com
“One important distinction between awe and other emotions (like inspiration or surprise) is that awe makes us feel small — or feel a sense of “self-diminishment” in science-speak. And that’s good for us”, [Jennifer] Stellar explains.
We spend a lot of our time thinking about what’s going on in our world and what’s affecting us directly. “Awe changes that, making us see ourselves as a small piece of something larger.”
Feeling small makes us feel humbled (thereby lessening selfish tendencies like entitlement, arrogance, and narcissism). And feeling small and humbled makes us want to engage with others and feel more connected to others, [Amie] Gordon adds.
“All of that is important for wellbeing,” she says.
~ Sarah DiGiulio, in an article, “Why Scientists Say Experiencing Awe Can Help You Live Your Best Life”
Lagoon Nebula – Photo from Hubble Telescope, NASA
