Twelve Paths

Listen within - instead of thinking about nature, try to feel connected within it.

There’s a touching awareness that happens in the movie “Contact,” in which Jodi Foster’s character is searching for some confirmation that her amazing and unbelievable journey into deep space actually occurred, that is wasn’t just some figment of her imagination. As she’s looking up to the sky, sitting on a cliff’s edge, she grabs a handful of soil and then brushes the dirt from her hands, leaving just a few specks of dirt glistening like a constellation of stars. The shape of the constellation that appears on the palm of her hand is the same as the one she was shown by the alien life forms who briefly met with her during her deep space experience. It wasn’t proof that her odyssey really happened, but that was the point being made in that scene. Somewhere between faith and science lies the truth—like the whispering wind that dances and speaks through the leaves of a tree.

Similarly, the false solidity of our ego-constructed psyche, when we finally awaken to the universal expanse of our Being, must look like a speck of dust, or a grain of sand, or a blinking distant star among trillions, infinite darkened in the vastness of the universe. Small doesn’t mean insignificant. Love the dust speck as it glints and floats. Love the grainy bit of sand, like a giant rock to an atom. And the star too.

Flow - Nature is in flow. How can we learn to be more like it. The mountain in its stillness holds the snow cap, then lets it run down its back, first as a quiet stream and then a raging river. The river flows over and around the rocks & trees & soil. In doing so, it helps to purify the water for the creatures who drink it & bathe in it & live in it. Our human lives are like this simple essence of being. Living in flow is about listening to nature’s wisdom & adapting it to our own rhythm.

Trust your dharma - the universe is benevolent & embraces our awakening. Open to it. Embrace it back. Let it in. Be one with it.

Share your stuckness/struggles with others - Part of what we learn from nature is strength in community. Don’t hike alone. Don’t solo climb that mountain face. Choose people who want to be with you on your path, on your journey. Choose people you can trust to share openly your issues & failings & doubts. I noticed Canadian geese honking to each other on my nature walk the other day. One little honk from the leader and the rest slowly waddled jnto the lake to follow. If geese can communicate with a simple honk, we should be capable of so much more with all that we have to offer each other. We need others near us who will hear it and understand.