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This being human is a guest house. Every morning is a new arrival. A joy, a depression, a meanness, some momentary awareness comes as an unexpected visitor…Welcome and entertain them all. Treat each guest honorably. The dark thought, the shame, the malice, meet them at the door laughing, and invite them in. Be grateful for whoever comes, because each has been sent as a guide from beyond.
~ Rumi
Photo by Zastrozzi Dh Photography, used with permission
At the deepest level of ecological awareness you are talking about spiritual awareness. Spiritual awareness is an understanding of being imbedded in a larger whole, a cosmic whole, of belonging to the universe.
~ Fritjof Capra
Moonset, Canyonlands National Park, Utah – photo by Gary Hart Photography, used with permission
How strange is the lot of us mortals! Each of us is here for a brief sojourn; for what purpose he knows not, though he senses it. But without deeper reflection one knows from daily life that one exists for other people – first of all for those upon whose smiles and well-being our own happiness is wholly dependent, and then for the many, unknown to us, to whose destinies are bound by the ties of sympathy.
~ Albert Einstein
Paradise River, Mt. Rainier National Park, KR Backwoods Photography, used with permission
In the universe, there are things that are known, and things that are unknown, and in between, there are doors.
~ William Blake
Shoot the Moon – photo by Gary Hart Photography, used with permission
If Earth has a mind, the keepers of the sacred places have a very important part to play in aiding the stability and vitality of humanitys consciousness, as well as the Earths and their own.
~ James A. Swan, “Sacred Places”
Photo by Don Smith Photography, used with permission
What a marvelous cooperative arrangement – plants and animals each inhaling each other’s exhalations, a kind of planet-wide mutual mouth-to-stoma resuscitation, the entire elegant cycle powered by a star 150 million kilometers away.
~ Carl Sagan
Gorton Creek, OR – photo by Chris Williams Exploration Photography, used with permission
We are all the leaves of one tree;
we are all the waves of one sea
~ Thich Nhat Hanh
Garapatta State Beach, Big Sur – photo by Don Smith Photography, used with permission
If we surrendered to earth’s intelligence we could rise up rooted, like trees.
~ Rainer Maria Rilke
Staircase – Olympic National Park, photo by KR Backwoods Photography, used with permission
When we stop to assist a helpless beetle with a twig so it can turn over off its back and resume life, the entire universe knows it and responds.
~ Dr. David R Hawkins
Juvenile Downy Woodpecker – photo by KR Backwoods Photography, used with permission
A few minutes ago every tree was excited, bowing to the roaring storm, waving, swirling, tossing their branches in glorious enthusiasm like worship. But though to the outer ear these trees are now silent, their songs never cease.
~ John Muir
Photo by Zastrozzi Dh Photography, used with permission
It is especially important in this discussion to recognize the unity of the total process, from that first unimaginable moment of cosmic emergence through all its subsequent forms of expression until the present. This unbreakable bond of relatedness that makes of the whole a universe becomes increasingly apparent to scientific observation, although this bond ultimately escapes scientific formulation or understanding. In virtue of this relatedness, everything is intimately present to everything else in the universe. Nothing is completely itself without everything else. This relatedness is both spatial and temporal. However distant in space or time, the bond of unity is functionally there. The universe is a communion and a community. We ourselves are that communion become conscious of itself.
~ Thomas Berry
Kilauea, Hawaii – photo by Gary Hart Photography, used with permission
if you do know what is taught by plants and weather, you are in on the gossip and can feel truly at home. The sum of a field’s forces [become] what we call very loosely the ‘spirit of the place.’ To know the spirit of a place is to realize that you are a part of a part and that the whole is made or parts, each of which in a whole. You start with the part you are whole in.
~ Gary Snyder
Photo by Zastrozzi Dh Photography, used with permission
We are not these social and cultural roles we imagine ourselves to be. We are Life, in human form. Ancestors of the stars and galaxies. Creative expressions of Nature, as much a part of this planet as the rivers, trees, mountains and butterflies.
~ Christopher Chase
Tipsoo Lake, Mt. Rainier National Park – photo by KR Backwoods Photography, used with permission
“If you could really see that tree over there,” Merlin said, “you would be so astounded that you’d fall over.”
Really? But why? asked Arthur. “It’s just a tree.”
No, Merlin said, “It’s just a tree in your mind. To another mind it is an expression of infinite spirit and beauty. In God’s mind it is a dear child, sweeter than anything you can imagine.”
~ Deepak Chopra, “The Way of the Wizard”
Tree People of Central Park, photo by Devadana Sanctuary
What you encounter, recognize or discover depends to a large degree on the quality of your approach. Many of the ancient cultures practiced careful rituals of approach. An encounter of depth and spirit was preceded by careful preparation.
When we approach with reverence, great things decide to approach us. Our real life comes to the surface and its light awakens the concealed beauty in things. When we walk on the earth with reverence, beauty will decide to trust us. The rushed heart and arrogant mind lack the gentleness and patience to enter that embrace.
~ John ODonohue, “Beauty: The Invisible Embrace”
Rocks at Sunset, Garrapata Beach, CA – photo by Gary Hart Photography, used with permission
