Redwoods

 

Peace is your natural state. It is the mind that obstructs the natural state.  ~~Ramana Maharshi


Tinkling, bubbling water tickles at my eardrums, lightly playing with my subtle sound sense.  It dances in my eyes with slips and slides, drips and drops cascading down nature's mossy steps toward the mass of ocean I know is just beyond the thick of trees, a cliff's drop away.  Bugs move nervously in spasmodic short spurts over my arm hairs and toes.  The wind's cool licks caress my neck, a goddess blowing lightly on my skin.  So much movement. 

Nonetheless, there is a sense of stillness here where the redwoods tower perfectly erect. Making no efforts to minimize there grandiose nature, they poise  ever-present with a dignified air of dominance that can only come from being utterly peaceful, balanced, and centered.

The redwood is the tallest tree in the world and I am a dwarf in a forest of them.  Along with spirits, foxes, bears and the furry spiders, I am minuscule among the giants growing perfectly straight and tall.



I am trying with intense effort to keep my being present in one of the most awe-inspiring environments I've ever seen.  The condition of a busy mind keeps my thoughts slipping and sliding to the past and future like the bubbling stream I crouch next to.

A teacher told me it doesn't matter where you go or what you seek because the journey is within.  I watch this labyrinth of my mind, as dense and tangled as the forest, searching for the undercurrent of stillness.

We camp below waterfalls, under the canopy of treetops, beneath a blanket of glowing embers in the sky. 


The root of suffering is found in our constant wanting and craving...'They are always seeking something. What are they seeking?  The whites always want something.  They are always uneasy and restless.  We don't know what they want.  We think they are mad.' - Eckhart Tolle The Power of Now. Quote from a Native American chief.


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