Meditation With Nature

I’ve been trying to find references to support the writing of this thread for a while now with very little success.



A little back story, when I was in high school (more than a few years back), my class had a Cree elder come to speak on a long camping trip. He explained how the people in the area lived with the earth and everything came from the creator (in a very different sense than the Judeo-Christian idea). He explained the deep connection with the animals and plants and specifically how plants where used as medicine and food. The trees were particularly important. He explained how the Grandmother and Grandfather trees were very important to the people and were seen as elders of the area. If you had a problem you couldn’t find a solution to you would ask the elders; if the elders were not able to provide you with a sufficient answer they would send you out into the woods to ask the Grandmothers and Grandfathers.


He explained how to approach a tree you felt could help you, make an offering of tobacco and sit with your back on the Grandmother/father's trunk and contemplate the situation or problem(s). He compared it to tuning in with a radio; the tree was your transmitter/receiver. More often than not, he relayed, you would come to a solution through the wisdom of the forest.

I know some of you may meditate in nature. Try meditating with nature. In my own practice, I’ve taken the elders advice and I ‘connect‘ on an irregular basis (maybe twice a year as the winters are very long here). I’ve replaced tobacco with a few moments of gratitude and introspection. And I sit. I am amazed at how fast I feel like I am growing roots and branching out. Making that connection to the feeling of the area around you is a profound thing. I could only compare it to the original description of being in the presence of a wise grandparent. 

To be a good student you have you be an astute listener. Just like everyday life you have to pay attention and take every opportunity to learn. Life lessons are not in a book, though they may be very well described. Pay attention to what your world is saying to you and learn. I’m not saying the trees speak to me, but I definitely come to solutions, or creative ideas I would have never come up with on my own. These are definitely impressed upon me through some manner I can’t even begin to understand.


In my own opinion, the major problem people have in connecting with nature is a language barrier. They hear a story like I’ve told and believe they can go out and ask a question and expect results in their own tongue. The same goes for behavior. If you behave ignorantly or in a manner that may be disrespectful, then you are more than likely to be shut out from any wisdom that may come your way. You must learn how to ‘listen’ and behave in a respectful, even reverent, manner before you may receive any wisdom. 
Many who are well practiced in meditation and know how to open their hearts and minds (or at least have the intention to) may find they have immediate wonderful success. Others may have to come to a proper frame of mind over years of practice before they are able to receive information.



I guess I would be remiss to not include a description of grandmother trees in this thread. Trees are seen as male or female in a different way than normal botanical sexing. Trees that are quite tall and slender with mainly downward pointing branches are seen as grandfather trees (phallic). Trees that branch out and have branches mainly out or upward are female (yonic). Conifers (ie spruce) tend to be male while Deciduous (ie aspen, poplars) tend to be female. A notable exception to the general rule is tamarack (larch), these are often either male or female. Older trees are usually the wisest. 



If any of you have experience the radio feeling with a grandmother or grandfather tree please share.



Opinions?


You just put my mind in a very good place. Synchronicity anyone? This really got my night off to a good start. I am ready to pull the all-nighter since I just woke up from a 9 hour day nap. When you have the schedule and time to do this kind of sleeping pattern, you get used to it.

Anyway, back to the OP. This thread really resonates with me, because I have already had quite a few experiences with trees and even entire forests.

Okay, I had this one experience where I communicated with a special tree from my youth. This happened a couple months ago. I went and visited home after living on my own for a while, and one of the first things I did was go climb my favorite tree. This tree has always been my friend since my youth, and the tree was very good to us and my siblings.

One time, I invited a friend over, who was white, and I asked him to climb the tree with me. So we climbed up my tree, and he said he was getting really bad vibes from it. There were also birds that were trying to peck my friend. My theory behind this is that that tree is my family's and my property, and the tree was protecting us from this "intruder."

I have also been on the opposite side of this spectrum. Driving on the country road at night in a forest with thousands of trees looking at me as I drive by. I was in an unfamiliar area at the time, and it was like I was intruding into their forest.

So if you treat trees with respect, they will respect you back. If you are out there driving at an odd time of night in a forest, you are disturbing the trees as they try and enjoy their quiet and sacred night.

Hi Grimur! I'm one of those people who talk to trees and everything else in nature that will spend time with me. I think the key is to come to nature with proper respect and gratitude first, then with a sense of love of and empathy. Next, you have to be able to clear your mind as in any meditation. After that you never know what messages you might recieve but I know one thing - they are unique messages with meaning that is specific to you.
One practice I will do is to sit down with a plant, rock, whatever and try to project myself into that thing. See what it's life is like from day to day, how things look and feel from it's perspective. I could tell you many messages I have recieved but it would diminish their value to me and probably not mean much to others anyway. Do the same with yours, they were messages just for you, for your life and situation. Respect them by keeping them close to your heart. When you disrespect either the message or the messenger the windows will close.

Let's not forget the American Chestnut, the staple food source in Oak forests -- it's making a comeback through a hybrid with the Asian Chestnut which caused the blight in the early 20th C. The American Chestnut makes an oak forest explode with growth -- providing food, fuel, building supply, and wildlife habitat.

You can get the seeds and seedlings from

www.badgersett.com...

www.acf.org...

Im going to start meditating soon! Going to practice in my room first however... Then I will move into nature!

I also hope to start meditating in the future once i find the time and ive a a simular experince with the tree i grew from a seed i have a unquie bond with this 4 year old citrus tree (not to sure what kind) that is quite errie.

interesting, i'm not THAT fimiliar with the natural meditations and what not of the native american's but i do know for fact alot about the mountain monks of japan, they lived in the mountains totally secluded from everyone and everything and their spiritual practice was to face their fears, such as going alone into the middle of the mountain woods at night to meditate in the dark (scarier than sounds) they would tie themselves to hang horizontally off cliffs, their spiritually was the essence of destroying personal fears, and with it they gained insight that still cannot be matched, i've mentioned them before here on ats, they eventually had to intervene with the world when the fudal lords came to take their land and food and money, with their intervention they became known as the shinobi no mono, the ninja, most people think ninjutsu is just a martial art or fighting style, but it is actually much much closer to being similiar to the spiritualism you described in your post

Check out Alastair McIntosh's Tree House radical activist family:

www.youtube.com...

Originally posted by Freq Of Nature
Im going to start meditating soon! Going to practice in my room first however... Then I will move into nature!

Try going out to a quiet park and looking up through the trees while you meditate, you may not connect with them but you might just feel like you've sprouted roots or are sinking in "like a seed"

reply to post by indigothefish


yes, I've been reading the Tao te Ching lately. Regardless of the location or discipline, whether it be the austerities of the Hindu monks, the the Shin-obi, Native Americans, Aztec, Inca, Egyptian; Its all a different means to the same end. I did not realize that ninjitsu was that spiritually involved, I will have to look into them some more.

reply to post by SolarE-Souljah


Thats pretty much sums up every experience I've had with the trees I've come in contact with. Its info for you and you alone. I'm glad you've had these experiences, they are truly magical aren't they?

reply to post by Grimur


The trees are so much wiser than humans in my opinion.

I believe this thread needs more attention. It conveys a positive message.

reply to post by Grimur


hell yeah, ninjutsu (the art of invisibility) was profoundly bigger than anyone can imagine, if you are interested try checking out stephen hayes, he was accepted by grandmaster hatsumi as the first western student to the way of ninpo, there are alot of fakes and phonies out there like ashida kim... stephen hayes is a very reliable source and his western background makes it easier to understand concepts that are singular to oriental thought pattern... try looking for his 6 or so volume book collection it's got everything from the ninja understanding of the universe, taijutsu (unarmed combat), weapons jutsu's, meditation techniques for differnt outcomes and he even goes over some other things that many would consider great secrets of the ninja

in fact anyone reading this thread should check them out because the basis of all ninjutsu training and being was harmony with nature, and the forces that govern the universe, it was the perfection of this threads conversation!