The moment is ‘NOW’.
Beginner’s Mind: Nature’s Tree
by meditative - February 13th, 2012.Filed under: Attending Meditation Exercises, Mindfulness for Parents & Children.
Inspired by Mark Coleman’s “Seven Meditations for Connecting with Nature”
Reconnecting with nature opens us to the raw simplicity and contentment of our being as we realize we need so very little to be happy in its presence. Nature has a profound way of reinvigorating our sense of curiosity & wonder no matter what our age. Make the time to routinely embrace nature for all that it has to offer your mind, body & spirit. Spend some time in a quiet place in nature to experience silence and a sense of space for you to simply rest in awareness.
You might start by taking a walk and let yourself be called to a particular tree. As best you can, stay with the tree awhile to explore, examine, feel, smell, and sense it. Listen to it as wind rustles its branches. Bask in its shade in the midday sun. Get to know it at different times of the day and in different seasons. How is it connected with life around it? How do you get to know it, and which senses do you use?
Feel the difference between your idea of the tree and the rich textural experience of it. Notice any impulse you may have to move on because of impatience, resistance, or boredom. When you feel you “know it,” what does that do to the sense of curiosity and mystery? Can you maintain interest even when you think you have reached the end of your exploration? Is it possible to fully know what a tree really is? You might start to bring this curious attention to all that you meet.
With a beginner’s mind, we sustain a sense of open curiosity for all that we experience as ‘fresh’ and ‘new’… with a fullness of awareness, we invite in the world with the intent to learn and better understand the nature of how things are as they are. At first glance, a tree may seem rather mundane and ordinary, but how we see, look, and attend to it can actually change how we sense, perceive, and relate to it. Take the time to experience this for yourself…
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