By Eckhart Tolle
We need nature to show us the way home, the way out of the prison of our mind. We depend on nature, not only for our physical survival.
We have lost ourselves in doing, in thinking, in remembering, in anticipating, we are lost in a complex labyrinth, in a world of problems.
We have forgotten what rocks, plants and animals already know. We have forgotten to be, to be ourselves, to be silent, to be where life is... Here and Now.
Bringing your attention to a stone, a tree or an animal does not mean thinking about them, but simply perceiving them, becoming aware of them. By becoming aware of them, you too enter a place of deep rest within yourself. Then they transmit something of their essence to you. You feel how deeply it rests in the
Being, completely unified with what "Is" and with "where it is".
When you walk or rest in nature, honor that realm by fully abiding there. Calm down… look… listen… observe how each plant and animal is completely itself. Unlike humans, they are not divided in two. They don't live through mental images of themselves and therefore don't have to worry about protecting and enhancing those images.
All natural things, in addition to being at one with themselves, are at one with the whole. They have not departed from the fabric of the whole claiming a separate existence... SELF, the great conflict maker.
You did not create your body and you are not able to control bodily functions. An intelligence greater than the human mind operates in your body. It is the same intelligence that sustains everything in nature. To get as close as possible to that intelligence, be aware of your own internal energy field, feel life, the presence that animates the body.
When you perceive nature only through the mind, through thought, you cannot feel its fullness of life, its Being. You only see the form and you are not aware of the life that animates it... of the sacred mystery. Thought reduces nature to a consumer good, a means of gaining profit, knowledge, or some other practical purpose.
Observe, feel an animal... a flower... a tree... and see how they rest in the Being.
It is a harmony, a sacredness that, in addition to permeating the totality of nature, is also within you. Each of them is himself. They have an enormous dignity, innocence, holiness.
The moment you look beyond the mental labels, you feel the ineffable dimension of nature, which cannot be understood by thought.
Breathing is natural. The air you breathe is natural, like the process of breathing itself.
Bring your attention to your breath and realize that it is not you who is breathing.
Connect with nature in the most intimate and internal way by perceiving your own breath and learning to keep your attention on it. This is a very healing and energizing practice.
It produces a change of consciousness that allows you to pass from the conceptual world of thought, to the branch of unconditioned consciousness.
You need nature to teach you and help you reconnect with your Being.
You are not separate from nature. We are all part of the One Life that manifests itself in countless forms throughout the universe, forms that are all completely interconnected.
When you recognize the holiness, the beauty, the incredible stillness and dignity in which a flower or a tree exists… you add something to that flower or that tree.
Thinking is a stage in the evolution of life. Nature exists in an innocent stillness that is prior to the appearance of thought. When human beings become still, they go beyond thought. The stillness that is beyond thought contains an added dimension of knowing…of awareness.
Nature can take you to stillness… that is her gift to you.
Through you, nature becomes aware of itself.
When you perceive nature and join it in the field of stillness, it fills with your awareness… that is your gift to nature.
It is as if nature has been waiting for you for millions of years to do it.