There’s such a wealth of conversation around spiritual ecology and ecodharma these days. It’s exciting that there is a movement to return outdoors and work with nature. The cool thing about the connecting with living world on a full-hearted level is if we’re left outside long enough, we’re guided by our environment. No elaborate ritual gear or sadhanas are necessary.
For instance, I love blowing mantras onto seeds and letting them float away so that the good wishes scatter around. It’s a small, meaningful practice passed down from teachers, and now I can hardly pass by any kind of milkweed or dandelion fluff without stopping to blow a mantra onto it. What a wonderful thing to have been taught that the living world is full of blessings waiting for us to release them.
Sometimes when I spend time outside it feels like the teachings and metaphors I’ve heard in more formal settings appear in very casual, spontaneous ways. One morning last October I went for a walk and found that spiders had left an unusual number of webs between the grasses. When I looked closely I could see dew drops hanging on the threads like beads. It was breathtaking and surprising, and made me think on Indra’s net, where where each vertex of the web contains a jewel, and each jewel reflects every other jewel.
May all beings find solace in our great connection!
