Nature

Nature

Longing

❝ If you look at all our wisdom traditions and our literary and artistic heritages, across the world, across the centuries, they have been teaching all this time that the bittersweet side of existence is a way to creativity, it’s a way to connection, it’s a way to transcendence.❞~Susan Cain Several core themes in Rich Roll’s conversation with Susan Cain (RRP #699) landed as bull’s-eyes for me, stirring something that’s both beautiful and painful. The bittersweet essence of quiet aching gripped me early in this life. As a child, introverted sensitivity was evident as I shun assemblage and found solace

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Is It True

❝ Many of our ideas and beliefs about ourself and the world are so deeply ingrained that we are unaware that they are beliefs and we take them, without questioning, for the absolute truth.❞ ~Rupert Spira Why not investigate these thoughts and beliefs? Why not look closely at the experience of them? Why not enquire into the consciousness of those experiences? Why not become aware of the consciousness? Why not find out who is investigating, looking, enquiring and being aware? Allow me to explain. Perhaps it’s my rebel nature or an undying curiosity that beckons like an enduring echo. But

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How

❝ How you do anything is how you do everything.❞ I first heard this quote in a Rich Roll podcast with Buddhist monk Wu De (#RRP 151). The underlying teaching is that if one is sloppy or living without integrity in one area of life it bleeds over into how one is in the rest of life. I’ll provide the context below and then muse on it. ❝ You can tell a lot about a person by the way they treat their shoes. Whatever you think defines you, the fact of the matter is that at the end of your

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Already Home

It’s become a bit clearer of late. What I seek, what I’ve always sought, so much closer than ever imagined. Throughout my life there’s been a sense of something, an undercurrent that I couldn’t quite put my finger on—a constant, “What is that?”, like an apparition always in the periphery. Occasionally there’d be glimpses. I’d feel respite, then the doing and striving would start up again, the dreamed character leaving home to find home. A habit pattern entrenched so deeply. Peace, happiness and quiet—endlessly longed for—always just out of reach. Slowly dawn arises. The true message in the moments behind

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Sense of Being

Sitting quietly, where is the focus? Listening to Life or to thoughts? The mind is a miraculous tool, no doubt. But it’s also a random noise generator. It weaves fantastical dances that mesmerise and entrance. It distracts the senses, instating its machinations as truth. Beliefs laid overtop of Reality lead to searching, not Being. Pausing, listening, feeling, Life’s ongoing artwork becomes evident—a continuous creation of colours, scents, touch, tastes and sounds, ever-present in an endless array of magnificence. ∙ The sound of rain drizzling as a background canvas for varying pitches in birdsong.∙ The scent of flowers and trees, so intense

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No Separation – No Opposition

We humans divide existence into things, feelings, and ideas. We then separate them from each other by believing them to be independent parts. What we misunderstand or, more precisely, misrepresent in this process, is that there is no inherent separation. It is a mental projection that leads to discontent and internal noise. We believe in ‘I’ and ‘You’ and we fiercely protect that which we deem to be ours for fear of loss. In non-separation there is silence because we know that all is one and regard all equally. “All things, all bodies, all organisms, are from the same source

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Open Questions

The quote at the bottom of this post resonates directly with one of the most important aspects of living a human life: awareness of the space in-between. In my late teens and early twenties, I showed clear evidence of an innate curiosity—an interest, or pull, to investigate the subtler aspects of existence unfazed by time. Unfortunately, the outward manifestation of pliant thoughtfulness was unmistakably absent. It wasn’t until after divorce, depression and recovery that the notion of “open questioning” became evident: (a concept my ex, now my best friend, tried for years to engage with me). As if a veil

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Sanctuary

Nothing about the spot in front of this fireplace ever gets old. It’s certainly a safe place for me, but what else? While talking with my coach about movement patterns I shared that “I get wound up easily.” To counter this, I need to be as conscious as possible to move in exactly the opposite way, chill. I’ve spent my life investigating what this means. At first I thought it was about how I ‘acted’. It became painfully evident that there was more to it—something much deeper inviting, calling and guiding. It was a bit like seeing an object out

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Health

Several years ago I battled with depression. It was hell. Thanks only to a dear friend who actually heard me, and realised the severity of my state, did things turn around. I’m happy and healthy now. But just as in addiction recovery, I have to make a conscious choice every day to shun the melancholic vortex and choose healthier paths. This takes energy. Physical exercise takes energy as well. As an endurance athlete, I spend many hours each week in training: yoga, swimming, biking, running, strength workouts and more. I do it because I love moving my body, being fit

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Light

Here and Now

I recently had a very long travel day that provided an opportunity to spend time continuously listening to chanting and reading, interrupted occasionally by game playing. The many hours of idle musing laid a fertile bed for a simple question, one posed by a beautiful friend the morning after my arrival, “How does it feel to be there?” This modest, loving query quickly took root, giving rise to prodigious introspection. Among the gamut of impressions sprouting in response was a sense of lifelessness and disconnection from nature. Wanting to get some oxygen in the body and morning light in the

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Connection

I’ve found myself deeply gripped by sadness lately. As with most things, the causes are multiple, but the underlying theme appears to be the same—connection, or the lack thereof. In this hollow void, I’m referring to both myself and the world at large. Do you also notice that when a topic becomes particularly entrenched in your consciousness that it appears repeatedly throughout your life, from multiple sources, and in varying hues? The matter of connection is bombarding me in the contexts of forest ecology, nature exposure, friendship, vulnerability, global air quality, climate crisis, pain of silence, patience, wellbeing and wealth,

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Something

Something has changed. Breadth in discovery. Obvious shift, indeed. Abaft, door closes gently. Portal ahead. Wide landscape, invites. Opportunities birth. Much to learn. Everything, to forget. Patiently earnest. Its nature unknown. Already, familiar. Tutored by trees. Adapting and being. Steadfastly flexible, in communion. Curious essence. Mental, emotional, physical. All, and none. Daemons not quite vacated. Retiring in peace. Less sticky, withdrawn. Embracing the adjustment. Vulnerability the theme. Whatever, this is. Something is changing. Peaceful venue. Living, in breath. ❝ People underestimate the power of Self-awareness. It is the purest and most potent force in the universe and yet few human

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Space

I often marvel at Nature’s beauty and process, the interweave of all living beings. I shake my head with a smile at how fortunate I am to own a cabin in this magnificent theatre. Even still, I almost sold the place last week. I became overwhelmed at the enormity of the necessary repairs and my desired improvements. What’s more, I’ll be by myself through most of it. Questioning my interest in spending every free moment with renovations, and with the mounting depth and breadth of every single step, I began to feel that it was better to ‘get out while

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Source

Sitting outside in the early sun and cool air, listening to the birds sing and chirp, I was reminded to notice the space between when sound ends and quiet begins. That space is silence. It is Source. Observation of the infinite pause is possible with any intermittent sound, i.e. interruptions in an… abnormally… slowly spoken… sentence, or even periodic construction sounds. You may notice that it’s also a span where thoughts pause. There may even be a hint of rest in the mind and body. For me, daily meditation provides opportunity to experience this recess, the nothing that is everything.

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Who am I?

The Experience

The seer is not separate from that which is seen.That which is seen is both the seer and the seeing. ❝ Because you imagine that you are the seer separate from the experience, this difference arises.Experience shows that your being is the same all through.❞~Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi, “Talks with Sri Ramana Maharshi” Namaste,✌️ ∙ 🌱 ∙ 🙏

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Keystones to Health

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