“We take a handful of sand from the endless landscape of awareness around us and call that handful of sand the world.”
-Robert Pirsig, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry Into Values
There is SO much more to be aware of! Take a minute. Allow several long sweet breaths. Notice the depth that is possible in this moment. Be aware of the wonders – the possibilities – the connections – the expansion and the deepening….
Explore the endless landscape of awareness.
“The treasure that you are seeking, is inside you.
The beauty of the sound is that it opens doorways for you to go inside…
to make contact with that which you already have”.
~Tom Kenyon
“Who looks outside, dreams; who looks inside, awakes.”
-Carl Jung
…”Your still, quiet waters run deep. Go to the water. Ask. Listen. The advice you seek is in YOU.”
-Kris Carr
The inner world is a big, ever and all knowing universe. As huge as the expanding cosmos, a lifetime of exploration contained there. The vibration of atoms and quarks and bosons constantly moving and creating. As the movement of the Milky Way, constellations, star nebulas so the movement and vibrations of particles that make up everything. We are made of stardust!
“The cosmos is within us. We are made of star stuff. We are a way for the universe to know itself.”
-Carl Sagan
“The earth is the mother of all people, and all people should have equal rights upon it.”
-Chief Joseph
“Happy day to all those who mother- whether or not you have ever given birth. Some of the best mothering I have received has been from friends, some of whom do not have children. They have fed me, held me, listened to me (endlessly! ) & given me strength. I bow to all those who tend & befriend. And I bow to our shared Mother, the Earth- who supports & sustains us.”
-Oriah Mountain Dreamer
“What is art but a way of seeing?”
-Saul Bellow
“What I see in Nature is a magnificent structure that we can comprehend only very imperfectly, and that must fill a thinking person with a feeling of humility. This is a genuinely religious feeling that has nothing to do with mysticism.”
-Albert Einstein
“One attraction in coming to the woods to live was that I should have leisure and opportunity to see the Spring come in.”
-Henry David Thoreau
“Sit quietly, doing nothing, spring comes, and the grass grows by itself.”
-Zen Saying
“The force of Spring – mysterious, fecund, powerful beyond measure.”
-Michael Garofalo
Walking, rambling, wandering in nature, creates an absorbing meditative state. Interconnections are felt as a natural presence and awareness is sharp but relaxed and calm.
Cultivating a mindful state too while walking is restful and peaceful. A day begun in this way sets the energy for all that will follow.
In this calm, meditative state there is also stimulating brain benefits.
Your brain after a walk!
“Wildmind” provides resources for walking meditation. Learn the “how to do it” and the “whys” of walking meditation’s benefits by checking out the link below:
http://www.wildmind.org/walking/why
“In beauty may I walk.
All day long may I walk.
Through the returning seasons may I walk.Beautifully will I possess again.
Beautifully birds . . .
Beautifully joyful birdsOn the trail marked with pollen may I walk.
With grasshoppers about my feet may I walk.
With dew about my feet may I walk.With beauty may I walk.
With beauty before me, may I walk.
With beauty behind me, may I walk.
With beauty above me, may I walk.
With beauty below me, may I walk.
With beauty all around me, may I walk.In old age wandering on a trail of beauty, lively, may I walk.
In old age wandering on a trail of beauty, living again, may I walk.It is finished in beauty.
It is finished in beauty.”A Navajo Indian Prayer of the Second Day of the Night Chant (anonymous)
May you walk in beauty and calm attention today, breathing sweetness and wonder with every step.
“The secret of life is enjoying the passage of time.”
-James Taylor
The hurry sickness has left me. The ease of the morning to contemplate life, nature, the day, fulfills a longing to sit with the purity of being here now. Hearing those words, there is a knowing, a real knowledge, that being fully present, attentive, focused, and aware truly does bring peace. The gift of life is acknowledged in these moments – and these moments expand to hours and inform the days.
The house still needs to be cleaned, bills paid, the plants tended… with the awareness of the morning extended, these small tasks take on a sacred feeling. Every movement a prayer. This is not a constant state of course – for me. The periods of time though are extended more and more…. I need so much less to feel full. Less activity, less doing, more be-ing is a grace filled way.
“Life is what happens when you’re busy making other plans.”
-John Lennon
“Breathing in I Feel Gratitude…
Breathing out I Give Thanks…
Breathing in I Feel Joyful…
Breathing out I Celebrate…
Breathing in I Know Compassion…
Breathing out I Am Compassion…
Breathing in I Feel Loved
Breathing out I Offer Love…
Breathing in I Am Still…
Breathing out I Am At Peace…
Breathing in I am Enough… “-Aunty Nania, Molokai
Sweet breathing indeed!
*The photo at the top of this post is of Nanaistako, Chief Mountain, a most sacred place of the Blackfeet Nation. It radiates power and masculinity for miles and is quite beautiful in myriad ever changing light blessings and in every season. Love spending time with the Chief.
I have rocks everywhere. In the yard, found unearthed after the winter, stacked, lined up, appreciated where they are, in the house, on windowsills, the desk, tables, in my pockets… These stones in myriad colors and vibrations surround me with a feeling of sustaining nature. There is an embedded remembering of what has happened through time – and is continuing. Quartz crystals help to ensure calm and clarity, colored stones assist in healing, stones with holes in them bring protection… simply holding a stone in your hand can center and calm. Our original peoples consider the Stone People to be holders of history and energy.
When in tune with an environment a stone may come to your attention. Pick it up! It may help bring a calm centering or have a message for you. (*if you’re thinking this is too “woo-woo” nonsense, take a look at the research being done on “memory that will outlast civilization – dimensional memory in crystals”).
“The data is recorded via self-assembled nanostructures created in fused quartz, which is able to store vast quantities of data for over a million years.
The information encoding is realised in five dimensions: the size and orientation in addition to the three dimensional position of these nanostructures.
Fused quartz created from practically pure silica is used as the core component.”
http://www.zdnet.com/superman-crystal-memory-could-outlast-civilization-7000018310/
So here in northwest Montana, I’ll keep looking for and listening to the rocks, carrying them in pockets, and enjoying them around the house. Another of nature’s gifts to be thankful for and to be learned from!
“You will find something more in woods than in books. Trees and stones will teach you that which you can never learn from masters.”
-Saint Bernard of Clairvaux
“If the only prayer you ever say is, “thank you”,
it will be enough”.– Meister Eckhart“For all that has been, Thank you!
For all that is to come, Yes!”
-Dag Hammarskjold
