Statistically, the probability of any one of us being here is so small that you’d think the mere fact of existing would keep us all in a contented dazzlement of surprise.
~ Lewis Thomas
Moonrise, Arches National Park, UT – photo by HS Digital, bigstockphoto.com
The accelerating ecological destruction wrought by contemporary humankind seems to stem not from any inherent meanness in our species but from a kind of perceptual obliviousness, an inability to actually notice anything outside the sphere of our human designs, a profound blindness and deafness to the more-than-human earth.
…it is only by waking the senses from their contemporary swoon, freeing our eyes and our ears and our skin to actively participate, once again, in the breathing cosmos of wind and rain and stone, of spider-weave and crow-swoop and also, yes, the humming song of the streetlamp pouring its pale light over the leaf-strewn pavement, that we may have a chance of renewing our vital reciprocity with the animate, many-voiced earth.
~ David Abrams
Erawan Waterfall and Elephant, Kanchanaburi, Thailand – photo by anekoho, bigstockphoto.com
What I know in my bones is that I forgot to take time to remember what I know. The world is holy. We are holy. All life is holy. Daily prayers are delivered on the lips of breaking waves, the whisperings of grasses, the shimmering of leaves.
~ Terry Tempest Williams
Sunrise from a Cave – photo by lovleah, bigstockphoto.com
Science can point out dangers, but science cannot turn the direction of minds and hearts. That is the province of spiritual powers within and without our very beginnings—powers that are the mysteries of life itself.
~ Oren Lyons
Grand Canyon Sunset – photo by fotoping, bigstockphoto.com
If we can have a holistic view of soil, soul and society, if we can understand the interdependence of all living beings, and understand that all living creatures—from trees to worms to humans—depend on each other, then we can live in harmony with ourselves, with other people and with nature.
~ Satish Kumar
Plitvice National Park,Croatia – photo by AnnaElizabeth photography, bigstockphoto.com
Sometimes I need
only to stand
wherever I am
to be blessed.
~ Mary Oliver
Black Sea at Sunset – photo by Mr. Smith, bigstockphoto.com
We think that the problems of the world and of ourselves can only be solved through “doing,” not realizing that it is this focus on ceaseless activity that has created much of our present imbalance. Rather than always asking, “What should I do?,” we can learn to reflect, “How should I be?”
~ Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee
Hoodoos, Bryce Canyon at Sunrise photo by lbryan, bigstockphoto.com
I think that responsible living in the biosphere means learning to see other species as beings like us, in that they have intentions, make decisions, and they know what they’re doing. They have points of view.
I think that responsible living in the biosphere means learning to take the interests of other species into consideration and allowing them room to live. And I think it means learning to relate to them and to think through the kinship we have with them…
~ Jeremy Narby
Indonesian Swallowtail Butterfly – photo by Andriyani Widyaningtyas, bigstockphoto.com
The way we see the world affects the way we treat it. If a mountain is a deity, not a pile of ore; if a river is one of the veins of the land, not potential irrigation water; if a forest is a sacred grove, not timber; if other species are biological kin, not resources; or if the planet is our mother, not an opportunity—then we will treat each other with greater respect. Thus is the challenge, to look at the world from a different perspective.
~ David Suzuki
Himalayan Mountains, Nepal – photo by 243510097, bigstockphoto.com
What if our religion was each other? If our practice was our life? If prayer, our words? What if the temple was the Earth? If forests were our church? If holy water, the rivers, lakes, and ocean? What if meditation was our relationships? If the teacher was life? If wisdom was self-knowledge? If love was the centre of our being?
~ Ganga White
Deep Forest and Sun’s Rays – photo by Virrage Images, bigstockphoto.com
It quickly becomes clear that in this mode of cognition [living from heart perception and intelligence], through this perception of Nature, all of Nature is one unified whole, all things are unremovable parts of one thing.
~ Stephen Buhner
Seljalandsfoss Waterfall, Iceland – photo by Fyletto, bigstockphoto.com
Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around.
~ Leo Buscaglia
Tropical Frangipani – photo by videowokart, bigstockphoto.com
Animism is the way humanity has been deeply connected to the land and its seasonal cycles for millennia, in rapport and conversation with the animals, plants, elements, Ancestors and earth spirits. The opposite of animism is the “cult of the individual” so celebrated in modern society, and the loss of the animist worldview is at the root of our spiritual disconnect and looming ecological crisis. Human beings are just one strand woven into the complex systems of Earth Community, and the animistic perspective is fundamental to the paradigm shift, and the recovery of our own ancestral wisdom.
~ Pegi Eyers
Nature’s Beauty – photo by Maria Marganingsh, bigstockphoto.com
For the Lakota, kinship with all creatures of the earth, sky and water was a real and active principle. In the animal and bird world there existed a brotherly feeling that kept the Lakota safe among them.
The animals had rights—the right of human protection, the right to live, the right to multiply, the right to freedom, and the right to our indebtedness—and in recognition of these rights the Lakota never enslaved an animal and spared all life that was not needed for food and clothing.
This concept of life and its relations was humanizing and gave to the Lakota an abiding love. It filled their being with the joy and mystery of living; it gave them reverence for all life; it made a place for all things in the scheme of existence with equal importance to all.
From Wakan Tanka, the Great Spirit, there came a great unifying life force that flowed in and through all things—the flowers of the plains, blowing winds, rocks, trees, birds, animals… Thus all things were kindred, and were brought together by the same Great Mystery.
~ Chief Luther Standing Bear
Arches National Park, Moab, UT – phoro by Radomir Rezny, bigstockphoto.com
If awareness is not the exclusive attribute of humankind—if, indeed, every aspect of the perceivable world is felt to be at least potentially alive, awake and aware — then there is an obvious need, in any human community, for individuals who are particularly adept at communicating with these other shapes of sensitivity and sentience. The shamans are precisely those persons who are especially sensitive and susceptible to the expressive calls, gestures and signs of the wider, more-than-human field of beings, and who are able to reply in kind.
~ David Abram
Scottish Red Deer, Glenfinnan, Scotland – photo by stroop, bigstockphoto.com
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