In its oldest form, prayer consists simply in speaking to the world, rather than solely about the world. We should recognize that it is lousy etiquette to speak only about the other animals, only about the mountain forest and the black bears and the storms, since by doing so we treat such entities as…objects, able to be comprehended and represented by us, rather than as enigmatic powers with whom our lives are entwined and to whom we are beholden.
~ David Abram
Garden of the Gods, CO – photo by Mr. Klein, bigstockphoto.com
Daily Inspiration
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Inherent in the very essence of life and the multiple patterns of its arising. Sacredness is the radiant expansion of the heart, the devotion to life that rises in contemplation of the inexhaustible mystery that is unity in diversity, the One manifesting through the whole of creation.
~ Eleanor O’Hanlon
Sacred Space – photo by a_lisa, bigstockphoto.com
The answers we seek lie in nature—nature is always sharing her teachings with us. The answers also lie in our own inner wisdom. We must shift the focus of our energy from our heads to our hearts, where we can listen to this wisdom.
~ Sandra Ingerman
Rockland Lake, NY – photo by Devadana Sanctuary
On its own, a tree cannot establish a consistent local climate. It is at the mercy of wind and weather. But together, many trees create an ecosystem that moderates extremes of heat and cold, stores a great deal of water, and generates a great deal of humidity. And, in this protected environment, trees can live to be very old.
~ Peter Wohlleben
Autumn Forest – photo by sozeimel, bigstockphoto.com
The whole aim of [Indigenous] cultures is to let the world know that they too belong to the same family and to start caring for the land, for the environment, for the mountains and waterways and the trees and every other living thing on this earth as brothers and sisters and family members. That’s our greatest dream and desire, to see that happen…
That’s the good part about it. We are not alone. The whole purpose of our living is to relate well to every other thing as family. Once we do that everything will be made right.
~ Uncle Bob Randall, Aboriginal Elder
Mooney Falls, Havasupai Canyon, AZ – photo by EarthCaptured, bigstockphoto.com
Each Other, “All my Relations” is a worldview shared by many indigenous cultures around the world, “particularly those of the North American continent,” that maintains “we are all family, bound to humanity as a whole as well as to the Earth, the plants and animals that share it with us, and to the stars and other heavenly bodies in the universe.” Although philosophical values differ from culture to culture, there is a common thread among many indigenous communities that the land is not owned—animals, rivers, oceans, and mountains are not an endless resource to be pillaged for personal gain. Instead, the Earth is seen as alive, and an entity to be in relationship with that does not exist outside the self.
~ Alexia Lassman
Grand Teton National Park – photo by Terra Tirapelli
People who feel more connected to nature also tend to hold more egalitarian views, according to new research published in the journal Environment and Behavior. The study provides some preliminary evidence that exposure to nature can reduce social dominance orientation, a measure of person’s acceptance of hierarchy and inequality among groups.
“Urban greening is often taken as a measure to fight climate change. We can see tons of reports quantifying the cost of climate change, and economic benefits of planting trees,” said study author Henry Kin Shing Ng of the University of Hong Kong. “To me, the psychological benefits of exposure to nature are just as important. The natural environment can be an effective, and relatively cheap, measure to enhance social and psychological well-being in people.”
~ Eric W. Dolan
Koko-en Garden, Himeji, Hyogo Prefecture, Japan – photo by mmovel, bigstockphoto.com
New research suggests a belief in oneness has broad implications for psychological functioning and compassion for those who are outside of our immediate circle.
~ Scott Barry Kaufman
Maldives – photo by Czamfir, bigstockphoto.com
Water is sacred. The air is sacred. Our DNA is made of the same DNA as the tree. The tree breathes what we exhale. When the tree exhales we need what the tree exhales, so we have a common destiny with the tree… We are all from the Earth…
~ Floyd Red Crow Westerman
Waterfalls, Jiuzhaigou National Park, China – photo by gnomeandi, bigstockphoto.com
There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.
~ Albert Einstein
Autumn Beauty – photo by silver-john, bigstockphoto.com
We are a part of the sacred and it is a part of us—it belongs to our real nature. It is only the disconnection of our culture, its fundamental forgetfulness, that has isolated us within our own individual ego self, seemingly separate, struggling, unsupported by this basic energy and power within creation. Once we have learned to walk in a sacred manner, our feet touching the earth, we honor this connection that links our soul to the world soul, our breath to the breath of the spirit, that reveals our individual story as a part of the Earth’s story.
~ Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee
Volcano Agung, Bali – photo by BaliPhotos, bigstockphoto.com
A morning when you become a pure vessel
For what wants to ascend from silence,
May your imagination know
The grace of perfect danger,
To reach beyond imitation,
And the wheel of repetition,
Deep into the call of all
The unfinished and unsolved
Until the veil of the unknown yields
And something original begins
To stir toward your senses
And grow stronger in your heart…
~ John O’Donohue
Autumn Beauty – photo by Leonid Tit, bigstockphoto.com
Seeing beyond our filters—our accumulated knowledge and beliefs—does not always come naturally. We have spent years growing attached to them in various degrees, and they feel safe. Whatever we become attached to can begin to shape our future experiences and limit our perception of what exists outside our vocabulary. Like blinders on a horse, our attached beliefs limit our vision, and this in turn limits our perceived direction in life. The stronger our level of attachment, the less we can see.
~ don Miguel Ruiz Jr
Red Sandstone Hoodoos, Bryce Canyon National Park, UT – photo by maximkabb, bigstockphoto.com
Moving forward will require us to recognize that abuse of nature is, at its core, part of a basic human drive to distinguish “in” groups from “out” groups. As long as non-human species are considered “other” and inferior, action to save them is unlikely. But in knowing this fact, there is hope — not only for how we treat other species but for how we treat other humans.
~ Mark W. Moffett
Forest Dweller – photo by Sergei 777, bigstockphoto.com
It appears consciousness can play a very important role in changing our planet. Just having these thoughts alone could contribute to the massive shift in consciousness that’s occurring. Find your inner peace, be peace, be love, acting and living your life from such a place plays a very important role in changing the world.
~ Arjun Walia
Stone and Tree People of Central Park – photo by Devadana Sanctuary
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