Like everything else in life, the spiritual path has a trick to it that they never tell you about. They tell you how you should think and feel: “Accept all things evenly, as coming fromGod”; “Desire nothing, cling to nothing”; “Let the world be as ashes in your mouth.” What they don’t tell you is that this state is impossible to achieve in a real, meaningful way by one’s self. We need a guru or an embodied spiritual agent acting upon us to truly transform ourselves. Not even Jesus or Gautama Buddha did it by themselves: they were receiving lots of guidance and support from the spirit side; the Buddha even used a tree spirit to get enlightened. People are using tree spirits all the time. Any time you have sat under a tree to read, or write, or relax, you have followed your true feelings to find a proper tree spirit, and then you’ve plugged your feelings into it. Your mind, your concepts, may be saying, “Oh, how lovely! Pretty day, blue sky – let’s go sit under a tree.” And you just sit there and don’t know what is happening; but your body knows it. Your body goes there because it needs it; and it knows exactly where to go, what to do there, and when to leave. In actual practice, it is most effective to resort to the same tree spirit or spirits every day – or better yet, every night, after you’ve already had a few hours sleep – for weeks or months at a time, rather than to go to different trees all the time (unless you have some specific need, such as a healing). This is because the effect of a tree spirit is incremental, and almost imperceptible at first. Only after you’ve resorted to the same tree daily for a long time will you begin to consciously feel what that tree is doing to you; although here and there you run into a tree who really socks it to you. When you first go to a tree that you’ve never met before, touch it very lightly. Say hello, introduce yourself, stroke the tree, and show it respect and affection. Ask what it can teach you or do for you, because every tree has its own special knowledge to share. Then thank the tree, kiss it goodbye, and leave. Stay at a tree until you feel it’s time to go. Your first visits to a tree will probably be longer than subsequent visits, since once the tree knows you it doesn’t take it long to tune your feelings. It’s best to sleep at a tree; next best is to doze, or just turn off your mind and listen to sounds, or meditate. But even sitting there thinking or reading has its beneficial effect; it’s just that the tree can perform its work more easily if you have your mind turned off. You can bring a groundcloth, pillow, mosquito net, or whatever else you may need to make yourself comfortable. The tree is not going to be impressed that you are sitting in e.g. a lotus position, if that is not truly a comfortable position for you. The important thing is to just relax. Observe that you must not kill bugs, because trees regard that as a violation of their hospitality – one of their guests killing another – so if bugs bother you, shoo them away gently, or use insect repellant or netting. It’s worthwhile to search around a bit to locate your own special tree – and if you go looking for it, I guarantee you will find it, whether you can talk with trees or not. In all likelihood you know it already. Your special tree can tune all your fibers at once. Sleeping, dozing, or just sitting under your special tree relaxes you completely, removes all your cares, and soothes your inmost soul. You feel that you are at home, exactly where you belong. The warmth, joy, and complete acceptance which you feel at your special tree is enough to recharge your batteries for days. (excerpted from Bob Makransky’s book Thought Forms )
Posted on: Wed, 23 Apr 2014 21:08:49 +0000
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