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This morning while going for a walk in the woods I was again enchanted by the voice of the forest. A storm is coming in from the south with the warm breeze causing the trees to do their dance. All the subtle sounds from leaves falling, the song in the Redwood and Douglas fir nettles as the wind races by, the sound of the creek, a tree frog singing in the grass along the creek, letting me know that this will not be a heavy storm, and all the other wonders of the natural world just being Itself, move the spirit more than all the music mankind has created. In the awareness of this ever-changing flow of Life, we realize we are the same sound, the movement, the smells and tastes of all that is living and all that seems dead.
The forest doesn't think, "Oh, I think I will do this dance or make that sound. Maybe I will shed some leaves." It just is, and so are we. Humans think all their actions are by choice; they are in control. Then when things don't go our way we are stressed and suffer for it. We dream we are separate from the wholeness of Nature, then fight with the dream, and try to control the Life force around us.
I could stand in the forest and tell it all of my problems and it will never be moved by any of it. "Well, trees can't think." you say. We don't know what trees can do. Have you not been so clear in mind that there seems to be an opening to a deeper level of insight that brings with it clarity and understanding even while the mind is quiet? Have you not felt something by intuition that turns out to be true? Who knows what level of insight, perception, and awareness Nature is capable of? The forest knows no 'me'. It is what it Is and in that Isness is pure awareness. Or I should say that Isness is Awareness. It is complete and whole always.
We, too, are moved by the same forces as all the rest of Nature. Instead of flowing with, It we deny our true being and think we are in charge. We try to control the natural forces to do our bidding, but Nature will always win in the end. Not because of some willingness to control but just by its very nature. It will always return to balance, to poise, to perfect symmetry.
If we will awaken from the nonsense of ego and return to that flow of Life, we will live complete and whole lives. We will know what it means to truly love and compassion will be our constant state of heart/mind.
You are not in control. You will never be in control. You have to go. You are just an idea of someone living in some flesh and bones body. You know deep down that you are a fake. This troubles you but you can't face it openly. You are too afraid to look at it directly. You fear it means your death. Trees in the forest do not fear any loss. Personal loss has no meaning to the awakened. We are the forests; we are the Earth, the Sky, and all that fills this wondrous Universe. The ego can die, we cannot. When we hear a bird singing deep in the forest, the bird, the song and the forest are all us, it is what we are as Life Itself. When the body dies and decays that Awareness is still Aware. It cannot end. So, let go. Who is holding on, and why? Become the voice of the forest, the sound of the surf, the warmth of the sun, the love of children's laughter, and all the infinite wonders that make up the real world. Drop your silly dream of ego and find yourself what you already are: Life.
Melvyn Wartella |
