A yogi told me this story: “I was walking in the jungle with a companion when I tripped and accidentally gashed my leg very badly. Although we knew it would be dangerous to stay the night, I was unable to walk, and the situation looked bad. My companion, who had been trained as a healer, raised his hands and slowly began to turn in a circle. After some time he went to a tree, picked some leaves, and made a poultice. As soon as he applied it the bleeding stopped, and we were able to continue. He explained that he was unfamiliar with the herbs in that area and was asking the plants for help. The tree had offered its leaves and, if needed, would also have transferred its life-force to me.” The yogi (Swami Gyanananda) concluded by showing me a faint scar that looked as if it were many years old, although only two weeks had passed.
This story is both true and a metaphor for our relationship with nature. Our lives depend upon the other inhabitants of our planet. They give us the oxygen we breathe, the food we eat, and the medicines with which we heal. There are more microbes in a single teaspoon of soil than there are humans on the earth. Scientists have discovered that even our bodies are not only our own: they contain a microbiome with ten times as many cells from microbes as from human cells. Life is not possible without this symbiotic relationship.
There is also, beyond the merely physical, a connection of consciousness, which we can deepen if we choose. The great American botanist, George Washington Carver, said, “Everything in nature will speak to you, if you love it enough.” Among many others, J.C. Bose, the great Indian scientist, has demonstrated that awareness continues not only into the animal and plant worlds, but into the mineral as well. These subtle and profound connections form a great web of consciousness.
Studies show that hospital patients heal more quickly and need less medication if they have a window that looks out on nature. Even a photo or painting of a tree can ease pain, lower blood pressure, and quicken healing. Sociologists have shown also that increasing the number of trees in a city results in a lowering of crime. When we cooperate with nature, it cooperates with us. But too often nature is subjugated or destroyed due to man’s indifference or greed, and, in our isolation from the natural world, we end up breeding disease and unhappiness.
There is also a more spiritual dimension: When we feel a loving connection with the nonverbal world of plants, animals, and minerals, we open hidden recesses in our own consciousness. Communication with nature is best done in quietness of body and mind, through feelings or word pictures. This type of nonverbal stillness is also needed for deep meditation. Inner stillness comes when we calm the body and mind through the techniques of yoga or by withdrawing the life-force through pranayama. Only then, when we move beyond our incessant mental chatter and restlessness, can we become aware of the unmoving presence of God. Then we will know that we are part of all that is.
In divine friendship,
Nayaswami Jyotish
27 Comments
This rings true for me as well. Thank you for passing this so true story out.
Helen Gorman
Thank you
Thank you very much! Always waiting for
hearing something new from you.
Dear Ji
Thank you very much for sharing the True Story. Very Inspiring and Lift us to have a Blissful way of Life by connecting to Nature and God.
With Gratitude
R Sundararajan
Dear Jyotish & Devi!
Thank you for this inspiration story. Nature is the
place where divine mother show her face and
connect us with divine in our own nature. In
divine friendship.
Devotee from CROATIA
Yes, and this was also mentioned during talks this past week. It’s wonderful to understand these things. It makes me wonder, not for the first time, if humanity could survive on a different planet. I don’t see any awareness of this point in the articles about those who want to colonize Mars, for instance.
AUM, AUM, AUM
Pat
Very enlightening!
Thank you.
Jai Guru Swami ji .Swami ji thanks a lot for such an inspiring story. Swami ji your article always uplift us. Jai Guru.
A wonderful commentary, as usual.
I love your writings – especially when you relate a story, really inspires me.
Dear brother/sister,
Its true what you have expressed;Manifestatin of Supreeme being in every particle of the Planet Earth also other orbits.but conciousness is limited , we have to go deeper and enter into vibrtional dimention by tranceding.
I totally agree with you all and and respect divine Nature.
Thanks and Warm regards,
Dear Nayaswami Jyotish Ji,
Thank you for this beautiful article :). Yes, Living with Nature gives us a different perspective to life and we are able to think much more deeper. The health is in Good condition when are with the nature.
In Ananda Village pune , it was such an amazing and blissful experience to be one with the Nature. It helped my daily energisation exercises, Sadhana to do with more Joy :) .
Currently , I am reading the book by Joseph Cornell on ‘Sharing the Nature’. How amazing it is to be with the Nature and experience it.
Thank you..
Aum…Prem
Dear Nayaswami Jyotish,
Just reading “Why We Need Nature” is soothing and healing. Thank you for all these refreshing messages!
Quite possibly, if you haven’t read or seen Dr. Sam Osmanagich’s work on “The Greater Pyramids at Bosnia”, you, Brahmachari Jemal and many others would enjoy finding Dr. Osmanagich’s scientific and spiritual discoveries which perfectly line up with Truth as we see it.
Dear Jyotishji,
thanks so much for your words about the relationship between the nature and the people. Yoganandaji said that the Nature is The Divine Mother and i feel in the same way. I love a lot the plants, i talk with them and i know the plants understand me. The last April i went to Ottawa for one month and a half and the plants of my home didn’t bloom. When i arrived at the beginning of the June, the plants bloomed. I think they waited for me to bloom, because they love me as i love them.
In joy and divine friendship
Chiara
Blessings Jyotish,
Thank you for sharing this.
Our planet is ALIVE and we are not the only sentient beings on it.
You may enjoy reading the book “Plant-Spirit Medicine.”
~~~Peace, Josette
Beautiful! thank you!
I am most grateful for the reminder to be mindful and not forget our beloved Mother in all things.
Profound, beautiful and a much needed message for our times.
Thank you for such us deep article. I will take it with me and will transmit to my young students of the school.
I recommend you the book of Plant Spirit Medicine. You may contact the author who lives in Santa Barbara, Ca.
Adriana Lourido
Tepoztlan, Mexico
I am delighted with this beautifully put expose about our connection with nature and the unity of all things. I have been a backpacker for more than 40 years. Often when I tell people I am heading for the mountains by myself, they are aghast: “But what about bears?” “What about snakes?” “What if you get hurt?” I can appreciate their concern, but do not share it… I trust in God, and God manifests in all of the natural world in his greatest glory. I feel His presence everywhere, most potently, when out in the wilderness. The myriad creatures are my friends. I have never sustained an injury that jeopardizes my safety. I feel safe because I feel so connected, and so grateful for my experiences in nature. I think if all of humanity took the attitude that nature is not our adversary but rather our greatest friend, this world would be so much more beautiful, protected and cherished. Truly, by honoring all that is natural, we are showing our utmost reverence toward God.
Respected Nayaswami Jyotish Ji,
Namaskar,
Your article is so nice it give to us inspiration to get stillness ours self by just feeling nature’s blessing inside us
Thanks a lot for this beautiful post! We are part of nature so we just have to let us flow with it, I would say. Lots of love from Spain! Julia
This truth is so wonderful… It is like remembering…. It is like feeling of going home……. Thanks very much for reminding me.
Lots of love and warm greetings,
Juanita Violetta Bandiola
Many thanks, it is like remembering, like going home….
I was walking down the comments, to write my comments, and wondered to see so many good comments. every letter is so connecting, and goes deep into consciousness. Yesterday, I watched Paramhamsa Yogananda’s movie “Awake” – its available on demand through cable service, so you can directly watch it from your couch. Kriyananda ji has also contributed his small talk in this movie. Its really touching movie.
jai Guru ji
Thank you so much!
Always waiting for
hearing something new from you.
Thanks Guruji
shalini
I agree
If humanity understood how much we relay on nature then he would have much more respect for it and preserve it.
Many thanks for you constant posts.
John