Feeling Hot
As I write this, the temperatures in New York City have reached 103 Fahrenheit, 40 Celsius. A heat wave like this is usually attributed to a seasonal freak, and doesn’t represent an actual consequence of global warming. But what it does do, especially to all the pedestrians who are drenched in sweat on 5th Avenue and elsewhere, is remind us just how dependent we all are on the forces of nature.
Though we can find escape in air conditioned offices and cars, the extreme conditions of summer, and on the other side, winter, tap us on the shoulder to say: we are connected.
The contemporary Vietnamese Zen master Thich Nhat Hanh gave a simple example of this connectedness, or what he termed interdependence, in a slim book entitled
Peace is Every Step.
Everything Is Connected
He began by calling our attention to the very page we were holding and reading. Beyond seeing the words of ink on the page, we should notice the tree that made the paper. In the paper we should also see the sun that gave energy and life to the tree, and the clouds that dropped rain to nourish the tree. We should see the worms that broke up the soil, allowing the roots of the tree to spread further. We should notice, in the page we read, the workers at the pulp mill who processed the wood chips into paper, and the driver who drove the logs to the mill, and the one who drove the paper to the stores.
The point of his contemplation was to suggest that in any given object we can find an innumerable number of factors, both animate and inanimate, which lead to its being in our possession.
When you take a moment to consider just what makes up anything you may hold in your hand, from a cellphone to a raisin, the whole world emerges. Literally.
When you consider a person like yourself, you find there are so many things that make up you - things you never imagined would be part of your “self”. Just like the piece of paper which includes the worms in the ground, an infinite number of things contribute to our very existence and well-being.
Zen master Dogen, who founded the Soto school of Zen in Japan in the 12th century, wrote a poetic treatise entitled “
Mountains and Rivers Sutra.”
He emphasized the unity of nature and the human being, which was for him not only a physical reality but a spiritual one as well.
It is not a coincidence that spiritual seekers from all traditions and ages have been magnetically drawn to mountains, and that most monastic environments are located in secluded natural settings.
The Power Of Nature
Of course, getting away from the bustle of the city is conducive to meditation and contemplation, but Dogen was not rhapsodizing about nature as a form of escape from human civilization and its woes. He understood nature as a true expression of the enlightened way.
This insight is not a mystical one – it is a realization most people feel in their blood and bones when they step off the concrete sheets of the city and onto the crumbling dirt paths of parks or nature reserves.
We are not just relaxed or invigorated by nature when we expose ourselves to it, but we feel we are touching and being touched by something true and priceless. It is as if life itself is pouring more of its essence into our hearts.
Walking in nature is to walk on the enlightened Path, as Dogen said, “mountains and waters right now are the actualization of the ancient Buddha Way.”
Natural environments invite our full presence and it is simply easier to be more fully present in nature than in the pressured city. While I am gazing out at the undulating sea I am not thinking how the mountain would be better. Of course this pattern of thought may arise, but the nature before me pulls my attention back, like a kind mindfulness teacher.
Nature For City Dwellers
Most of us, however, do not have mountains and rivers at our doorstep, but rather busy streets, bus routes, and skylines of hard sharp contours. However there are options which can be utilized in order to access a greater sense of unity with the enlightened way of nature.
First, we can leave our constructed environments and seek out natural ones more. Go for more hikes and swims. Second, we can notice and appreciate the nature that exists in our urban midst, from the flowers on the windowsill, the trees lining the street, the ladybugs on the sidewalk, to the blades of grass that persist to poke out of the sidewalk cracks.
Each instance of attention to these manifestations of nature in our midst offer bells of mindfulness to our lives. Lastly, and perhaps most important, is understanding that we never leave nature, no matter high up in the skyscraper our office may be.
Take moments to contemplate just how connected to the world of nature and all other beings your laptop is, your coffee cup, your pen, and your own breath at every moment. Then mountains and rivers are arising and flowing wherever you are.
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