Our Greatest Asset

I was on a walk yesterday afternoon to clear my head. I had been having a heavy day and needed to immerse myself in nature so I could expand back into an easy access of Consciousness. Before I left, I grabbed my camera-something that I never do- and then went out.

I am very, very fortunate in that I can step outside of my house and walk into immediate beauty. The lush surroundings have become my haven in the most challenging times when it "feels" like I am on an uphill battle releasing reactions to contracting thoughts and emotions.

Even in the worst of times I have been able to experience an eternally peaceful Presence just behind the curtain of mind chatter when I am in nature. I always remember my dear Guru saying 'We need to nurture Nature as Nature nurturers us...without Nature this world is plastic, it has no rasa (no juicy-ness).

While I was walking I could feel the silence of nature surrounding me, cradling me in it's vast arms of love and intelligence. As I passed by huge trees, I was reminded that they have seen a lot of life. They have stood steady through out myriads of dramas, comings and goings, life and death, and still they grow and expand and dance in the ever-changing winds through all seasons.

When I reached a cloister I often walk through that is filled with delicate gardens, I sat down. In front of me were exquisite carved stone pillars and arches that opened into the center garden and more pillars and arches were mirrored on the other side and even still another smaller arched window in a stone wall opened out into a vast array of trees outside of the cloister.

As I stared through these sets and sets of arches, I noticed I was being pulled inward as well. It was as if I was walking through the inner doorways of my own Consciousness. I was hypnotized with the beauty and soon closed my eyes and listened to the songs and humming of life surrounding me.

"How can I nurture nature?" I thought. "Is offering my love, adoration, and full attention to Nature nurturing? Is taking pictures of the beauty I see around me and sharing that with others nurturing to Nature?" These questions swirled through my awareness as I sat there.

Hope filled my heart as I thought "If the perfect forms of beauty surrounding me are forms of Supreme Consciousness, then surely they can feel my gratitude". As it was time to go, I bowed to the plants and trees in Namaste.

Walking back home I continued to thank Nature for sustaining me in deep and mysterious ways.