Tag: Nature

Walking in the woods this morning

Karl Duffy2 Comments

P1000210Masters of stillness, masters of light,
who, when cut by something
falling, go nowhere and heal,
teach me this nowhere,

who, when falling themselves,
simply wait to root in another direction,
teach me this falling.

Four hundred year old trees,
who draw aliveness from the earth
like smoke from the heart of God,
we come, not knowing you will hush our little want
to be big;

we come, not knowing
that all the work is so much
busyness of mind; all
the worry, so much
busyness of heart.

As the sun warms anything near,
being warms everything still
and the great still things
that outlast us

make us crack like leaves of laurel
releasing a fragrance
that has always been.

Mark Nepo, In Muir Woods

Patient waiting

Karl Duffy1 Comment

The first snow of the winter fell here this morning, covering the garden and making life harder for the birds as they search for feed.  It will accelerate the movement towards Nature’s resting and waiting,  which this year has been postponed due to the mild autumn. We can learn from this cyclical process, which reminds us of necessary elements in our lives also, especially when we pass through moments of difficulty or transition. Sometimes resting and not knowing is natural and waiting is the wisest thing  we can do.

I am a book of snow,
a spacious hand, an open meadow,
a circle that waits,
I belong to the earth and its winter.

Paolo Neruda

Sunday Quote: What is here

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I discovered the secret of the sea
in meditation upon the dew drop.

Kahil Gibran

…is direct knowing

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The years to come — this is a promise — will grant you ample time

to try the difficult steps in the empire of thought where you seek for the shining proofs you think you must have.

But nothing you ever understand will be sweeter, or more binding,
than this deep affinity between your eyes and the world.

Mary Oliver,  Terns

Glancing around constantly

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We did not survive in nature by ignoring incoming stimuli, and like birds or chipmunks are more accustomed to glancing around constantly, attentive to both threat and opportunity. But we are no longer crouching in a hostile, natural environment and the states to which our mind restlessly turns…are generally internally constructed threats and imaginary opportunities.

The cultivation of mental focus, the consistent return to a primary object, and the settling into ever greater states of tranquility has the effect of gradually reigning in the mind’s random wandering and settles it down in a way that gathers and consolidates the power of awareness. Awareness is the primary currency of the human condition, and as such it is inherently of immense value and deserves to be spent carefully. Merely sitting in a serene environment, letting go of the various petty disturbances that roil and diminish consciousness and experiencing as fully as possible the poignancy of the fleeting moment – this is an enterprise of deep intrinsic value, and aesthetic experience beyond words.

Andrew Olendzki, Unlimiting Mind

Walking in nature these days

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Walk around feeling like a leaf
know you could tumble at any second.

Then decide what to do with your time.

Naomi Shihab Nye