Mountain Spirits
Mountains, valleys and canyons have always been a source of inspiration to me. Nature Spirits whisper in my ears when I sleep at night (visiting the sacred canyon lands) offering rejuvenation, enfoldment, self-empowerment, and remembrance. They support me on the hike, encourage on the ascent, impress when I create, guide as I write, emanate great strength, echo nature’s voice-- the One voice of Source, imparting beauty, while sharing wisdom seeds of truth.
Thomas Merton expressed, “We are already one. But we imagine that we are not, and what we have to recover is our original unity. What we have to be is what we are.”
So, I jumped off a mountain in the Grand Teton Range on August 8th, 2008 at 8:00 am in the morning, paragliding, soaring freely, unencumbered, coming in for a landing....surrendering to Thee. The majesty of the Grand Teton reflected in the lake symbolically represents our higher nature (soul – the mountain) and lower nature (personality, mirror reflection in the lake). Use this image as a creative visualization practice to embody and synthesize the triangular shape of the ‘spiritual mountain’ and it’s reflection in the ‘lake of peace’ (your spiritual nature and human nature) integrating the higher with the lower, the inside with the outside, the masculine and feminine principles -- the two become as one at the mid-point of balance, the heart center--blends and weaves a heightened sense of awareness. As we commune with the Nature of All Things, we become empowered with the truth of our being and why we are here. We begin to realize our purpose, the role we play in the Big Picture, recognizing the Oneness of Life.
Brother Wayne Teasdale shares in The Mystic Heart .... “about symbolism and how it operates, nature tells us a story about being. It reveals certain metaphysical and spiritual truths, principles, and insights just by being. In this sense, the nature world is revelational and sacramental. It is always unfolding the meaning of existence literally before our eyes, could we but see. And to see, we have only to really look.”
I propose we deepen into our daily life by being present, awake and aware, while experiencing a sense of empowerment. May we begin to really notice what we notice and embody all aspects of self. Take time in nature and open our self up to the pureness of the moment and our connection to the Source and Nature of All Things. In this simple measure the subtle universe answers. Listen within, pay attention. Then – we begin to reach out to others with clarity of self and share in service to the world – hand to hand, heart to heart, mind to mind, soul to soul.
Step out in Nature and be inspired to listen to the natural rhythm and stream of life within you ...... the authentic impulse for you to be ‘all that you are and have always been from the beginning of time’. The essence of the mountain spirits, the valleys, oceans, lakes, and meadows guide all of us to the creative impulse flowing in us all. This awesome essence is the presence of Divine Creative Expression.
To Contemplate: “As there is Silence beyond sound to which the sound is meant to lead us ... As there is a Stillness beyond movement, which the dance is meant to hold ... So there is a Worship beyond temples, beyond mountains, a worship in Spirit and in Truth.”(Puthanangady, Communicatio in Sacris, India ’88)