Standing Beneath Pine Trees

I have found that peacefullness in watching the fluffy white clouds or feeling the breeze blowing my hair. The smell of flowers or someone cooking dinner. Listening to the birds or a tree frog. I guess you could say that is "taking time to smell the roses".

All i can say is i love that feeling.

Yes :^)

Nature is beautiful and pure :)

Buddha did most of his early meditating alone, surrounded by trees. I wonder sometimes if they may have been essential teachers for him. :^)

Yes, thank you *everyone* for sharing your thoughts. :^)

Thanks so much for sharing this!

Yes, wiseoldowl, water has a powerful effect over us. I guess it is because it is one of the basic elements of life. I always feel that same awe and peacefulness when at a lake, river, waterfall, the ocean (my personal favorite - the tide going in and out). There are so many amazing things about our world, mother earth.

Dee67, I've only seen pictures of the Rockies but I know what you mean. I'm not far from the second largest waterfall in the southern hemisphere, that does it for me. I find any moving water relaxing.

Wow. To be close to the ground, to feel grounded. Humbled. I love "...to sit or lie upon the ground is to be able to think more deeply and to feel more keenly..."



I love to camp and hike as well. To get back to nature and feel that connection. I live close to the Rocky Mountains, and the power they exude never ceases to amaze me. I literally feel like I am touching God when I am in their presence.

Exactly. We are a part of Nature, animals walking around with clothes on, who've developed a more complex culture, but still we are extensions of life, the world. Sisters and brothers to all things. I think the Native Americans got a handle on that view pretty well.



There is a road in the hearts of all of us, hidden and seldom traveled,

which leads to an unkown, secret place.

The old people came literally to love the soil,

and they sat or reclined on the ground with a feeling of

being close to a mothering power.

Their teepees were built upon the earth

and their altars were made of earth.

The soul was soothing, strengthening, cleansing and healing.

That is why the old Indian still sits upon the earth instead of

propping himself up and away from its life giving forces.

For him, to sit or lie upon the ground is to be able to think more deeply

and to feel more keenly. He can see more clearly into the mysteries of

life and come closer in kinship to other lives about him.

~Chief Luther Standing Bear

i would say that i feel closest to nature when i am an active participant in the life/death cycle of nature. i truly enjoy hunting and fishing as someone said earlier we ARE part of nature so technically anything we do anything we build then becomes part of nature don't you think?

I know....you were having one the day we arrived : )....the friend who we were staying with was very appologetic, saying isn't wasn't usually like this.....and it wasn't!

We even had 3 days of raining solidly and got soaked through when we camped.....but even so.....

Ah well the Spring flowers are blooming here in spite of it all!

Rick, that's what we are talking about.



Lost, we do get our cold days.

I know that really owl ;-) .... I am just looking forward to going out and not getting hailed on! I had a lovely walk along the river the other day even though I was knee deep in mud....and I AM a bit of a chilly mortal! (I coped quite well with Australia's heat when we were privileged enough to be able to visit some years ago)

ok sorry i'm not a big believer in being one with nature BUT i do enjoy nature. i like camping and sitting by a campfire at night listening to the sounds of the forest. also when i catch myself thinking how much this world sucks i like to listen to Louis Armstrongs song What A Wonderful World

Lost, even with 3 inches of snow on the ground, out of the hustle and bustle of city life, you will feel natures warmth.



I think when we are in a busy environment we clam up somewhat. In a peaceful environment we are more relaxed and open up more, even to ourselves.

I just wish Mum would warm up a bit soon! lol I need her warm arms around me! : )

Yeah. NATURE is like the ultimate Healing force. We are all a part of her, all the time, even when in our minds we think we are separated. Try to cut yourself off from Nature, and you realize how she holds us in her arms. Every breathe you take, every glass of water, is a precious gift keeping us alive. Its like those early months in our mothers' wombs we depended on her totally, then we came into the world, and now depend on Nature, directly...



((Good Old Mom)))

I have found when new people come into my life I get to know them deeper when enjoying the outdoors rather than meeting in a coffee shop or restaurant. We tend to talk about inner feelings instead of work or other day to day things.

I was thinking about that when I woke up this morning, the physical as spiritual...this pillow, so soft and comfy, is just another expression of the Oneness I feel inside.



I am beginning to find more and more of these moments. Life is so wonderful! I wish everyone could experience this. Actually, I know everyone 'can', it is just a matter of searching and finding...

Right! This is what Zen gets to, in a nutshell. I think Taoism too. The wall between self and Nature is only in our heads. We are Nature, experiencing herself as people, you might say. Eyes of the World, of the Universe. That's your primary identity, most fundamental identity, in a physical sense. We can use other terms to convey our spiritual nature (souls, spirits, particles of love, etc). But even without any kind of spiritual explanation, if you just look at all these atoms, molecules and biological forms, there is a way of viewing even that, the physical as spiritual. Everything is interconnected...



"Our usual understanding of life is dualistic: you and I, this and that, good and bad. But actually these discriminations are themselves the awareness of the universal existance. "You" means to be aware of the universe in the form of you, and "I" means to be aware of it in the form of I. You and I are just swinging doors.." ~Shunryu Suzuki, Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind.

So beautiful, MP. It reminds me of something I read the other day in the book I'm currently reading...



"In Zen, such a glimpse [of what is possible, what is already within] is called satori. Satori is a moment of Presence, a brief stepping out of the voice in your head, the thought processes, and their reflection in the body as emotion. It is the arising of inner spaciousness where before there was the clutter of thought and the turmoil of emotion. ...In the stillness of Presence, you can sense the formless essence in yourself and in the other as one. Knowing the oneness of yourself and the other is true love, true care, true compassion."



Eckhart Tolle



The "other" here can be a person you are with, or a flower, tree, sunset, swan, butterfly, beautiful scenery, all that has captivated you.



These moments, such as the one you describe, are satori, a glimpse of "the formless essence in yourself and in the other as one". A glimpse of heaven.

right!



you know..



I'll save that thought...



*smiles*

Same *LiFE*... The Great Flow of L!FE..... ((I saw a guy write it that way once, with the exclamation point))).....

beating and breathing.. same rythym ..same flow

:^) .... In moments like that, where do *you* end, and Nature begin? It's like there is no difference, we are all just this ONE thing, expressing herself, as all things....

The Creek.. "you know",,,,, ((deep sigh))

Nature is always there. Our original face, as they say in Zen Buddhism. The Great Mother, of all *Life*

I had similar feelings down by the river the other day ....I need it again right now....badly.