August 10, 2022
I have been blessed to spend some time in the Redwoods, in Humboldt County.
Wow. Just W-O-W!
I’ve been in stunning redwood forests before, but this tree-scape never fails to produce jaw drops, and profoundly humbling states of reverence.
I am reminded of the realization I had when studying the Hasidic master Rebbe Nachman of Bratzlav. Nature is our best and most authentic teacher. When in doubt, when confused, look to the natural world. Her rhythms and living lessons point the way to something real and important. These relevant “templates” are transferable to our lives in wondrous ways.
As I walked through the forest, so many psycho-spiritual truths revealed themselves. Most are obvious when you think about them, intellectually. But then, when you actually see them, touch them, up close and personal, it’s a whole different matter.
The most striking truth that kept coming through was that of unity. So many of the giant redwoods, whose girthy trunks appear as one tree at the bottom, reveal, as the eye travels upward, that they split into two or more separate trees. They are one. They are two. They are many. They are one. They are many originating from one. Ah yes. All of creation is multiplicity originating from the Source of All.
As we think of all the ways we feel separate from each other, or on the outs with another, or on the “other” side of the divide, the Giant Redwoods teach us that there is a common source which connects us. When we feel that separation, let us find our way back to some common ground, the unifying thread that is the foundation of all. May we remember and know that even when we see division and separation in our world, Oneness is the connective tissue that holds everything together.
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