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Portal to Multidimensional Living

Devadana Sanctuary

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It has always been the business of the great seers (known to India as ‘rishis,’ in biblical terms as “prophets,” to primitive folk as ‘shamans,’ and in our own day as ‘poets’ and ‘artists’) to perform the work of the first and second functions of a mythology by recognizing through the veil of nature, as viewed in the science of their times, the radiance, terrible yet gentle, of the dark, unspeakable light beyond, and through their words and images to reveal the sense of the vast silence that is the ground of us all and of all beings.

~ Joseph Campbell

Quinault Rainforest – photo by Bob Stevens, Northsound Gallery – used with permission

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…everything has power, including the most inanimate, inconsequential things. Stones have power. A blade of grass has power. Trees and clouds and all our relatives in the insect and animal world have power. We believe we must respect that power by acknowledging its presence. By honoring the power of the spirits in that way, it becomes our power as well. It protects us.

~ Russell Means

Eagle – photo by TAO Photography, used with permission

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When we recognise the virtues, the talent, the beauty of Mother Earth, something is born in us, some kind of connection, love is born. We want to be connected. That is the meaning of love, to be at one. When you love someone you want to say I need you, I take refuge in you. You do anything for the benefit of the Earth and the Earth will do anything for your well-being.

~ Thich Nhat Hanh

Myrtle Creek, Mt. Rainier – Photo by TAO Photography, used with permission

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There is something infinitely healing in the repeated refrains of nature, the assurance that dawn comes after night, and spring after the winter. Those who dwell…among the beauties and mysteries of the earth are never alone or weary of life. The more clearly we can focus our attention on the wonders and realities of the universe about us, the less taste we shall have for destruction.

~ Rachel Carson

Antelope Canyon, photo by KR Backwoods Photography, used with permission

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… the ecological problem of our times demands a radical reevaluation of how we see the entire world; it demands a different interpretation of matter and the world, a new attitude of humankind toward nature, and a new understanding of how we acquire and make use of our material goods.

~ His All Holiness, Bartholomew I

Castles Made of Sand, photo by Chris Williams Exploration Photography, used with permission

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We are not here on Earth to be alone, but to be a part of a living community, a web of life in which all is sacred. Like the cells of our body, all of life is in constant communication, as science is just beginning to understand. No bird sings in isolation, no bud breaks open alone. And the most central note that is present in life is its sacred nature, something we need to each rediscover and honor anew. We need to learn once again how to walk and breathe in a sacred universe, to feel this heartbeat of life. Hearing its presence speak to us, we feel this great bond of life that supports and nourishes us all. Today’s world may still at times make us feel lonely, but we can then remember what every animal, every insect, every plant knows–and only we have forgotten: the living sacred whole.

~ Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee

Photo by KR Backwoods Photography, used with permission

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Beyond our ideas of right-doing and wrong-doing,
there is a field. I’ll meet you there.
When the soul lies down in that grass,
the world is too full to talk about.
Ideas, language, even the phrase ‘each other’
doesn’t make sense any more.

~ Rumi

Mt. St. Helens and Flowers – KR Backwoods Photography, used with permission

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The true nature of mountains is that they are mountains. They practice both stillness holding their place and moving with change. Men and women can be reborn through mountains. Ancestors abide in mountains. And mountains disappear the closer you are to them. As Dogen wrote in the Shobogenzo: “They passed aeons living alone in the mountains and forests; only then did they unite with the Way and use mountains and rivers for words, raise the wind and rain for a tongue, and explain the great void.”

Realizing fully the true nature of place is to talk its language and hold its silence.

~ Joan Halifax

Photo by Miguel A. Monjas

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May your body be blessed.
May you realize that your body is a faithful and beautiful friend of your soul and may you be peaceful and joyful and recognize that your senses are sacred thresholds.
May you realize that holiness is mindful, gazing, feeling, hearing, and touching.
May your senses gather you and bring you home.
May your senses always enable you to celebrate the universe and the mystery and possibilities in your presence here.
May the eros of the earth bless you.

~ John O’Donohue

Old Growth Douglas First – KR Backwoods Photography, used with permission

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The central purpose of the Work that Reconnects is to help people uncover and experience their innate connections with each other and with the systemic, self-healing powers of the web of life, so that they may be enlivened and motivated to play their part in creating a sustainable civilization.

~ Joanna Macy

Vance Creek Ponds – KR Backwoods Photography, used with permission

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Rather than projecting…science fiction images of aliens or galactic travel, I would begin with the microcosmic understanding of what it means to us individually to step outside of the isolated sense we have of our own separate self, and instead embrace and live from a consciousness of oneness in which we KNOW how we are part of an interconnected whole.

~ Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee

Bryce Canyon, KR Backwoods Photography, used with permission

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