It seems to me that just about every moment in my life of an "Aha!" nature --the germs of those of my writings that have felt most energized and meaningful-- has been one of seeing a Whole where before I'd seen only pieces.
The piece was inspired by a moment of "Wow," which occurred when I saw, as spring was coming across the valley below my house on a ridge in Virginia, that something had changed during my years there. I saw, upon the mountain across from our ridge, and growing up from the land surrounding our place, that the forest --which human activity had assaulted over the past couple of centuries-- was making a comeback.
"The forest is coming!" That's what I said to myself after that initial "Wow!"
In that moment, I saw
"what it is that the earth is up to."
The earth here wants to create a great forest, and laid out before me was the evidence of how substantially the earth has progressed in this vital endeavor.
It was not just the trees I saw, as the saying would have it, but beyond that the FOREST:
In the flush of the spring, I could see --I could feel-- the forest growing toward us, rising around us. What a beautiful and mighty living thing I saw, reclaiming its domain.
It was that "beautiful and mighty living thing" that blew me away, that created the "Wow!." "Thing"-- singular.
It's hard for me to capture in words such a grasp of that unity --the forest-- of which the trees were the expression. Even harder to capture that sense of a Whole of which the forest itself was a component-- --and indeed, in the piece I did not attempt it, except in that glancing locution about how "The earth here wants to create a great forest..."
"The earth wants"-- implies a good deal about a larger wholeness in nature. It's an idea of wholeness that some have developed in an intriguing and, in my view, in important ways valid concept called "The Gaia Hypothesis." Originating with James Lovelock,
The Gaia hypothesis [it says in the wikipedia article] is an ecological hypothesis that proposes that living and nonliving parts of the earth are viewed as a complex interacting system that can be thought of as a single organism. Named after the Greek earth goddess, this hypothesis postulates that all living things have a regulatory effect on the Earth's environment that promotes life overall.
Whether or not one takes the ecological insight into the interconnectedness among living creatures on earth to that far point, the science of ecology has provided many glimpses of the inter-dependencies and harmonies that obtain among the components of what is called "the biosphere."
This may be one of the most important aspects of Wholeness for us human beings, at this point in history, to perceive and to connect with, intellectually and emotionally and spiritually.
I invite you to contribute any images of such interconnectedness in natural systems, and any other thoughts you may have about this aspect of "seeing things Whole."
Andrew Bard Schmookler's website www.nonesoblind.org is devoted to understanding the roots of America's present moral crisis and the means by which the urgent challenge of this dangerous moment can be met. Dr. Schmookler is also the author of such books as The Parable of the Tribes: The Problem of Power in Social Evolution (SUNY Press) and Debating the Good Society: A Quest to Bridge America's Moral Divide (M.I.T. Press). He also conducts regular talk-radio conversations in both red and blue states.
I personally at times apprehend the unity of everything
existing through great music, what ancient knowledge calls, "objective music". It has happened with Bach and perhaps with de Hartmann/Gurdjieff music and Chaitanya Hari Deuter. If one is in the right state, it may even happen with a simple melodie such as Eric Satie's "Gymopedie No. 1", that someone happens to be playing on my piano right now. It seems to touch what that same knowledge calls the "higher emotions" in man.
Sydney, Australia
by
Robert Hoogenboom (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 168 comments)
on Friday, February 8, 2008 at 4:05:10 AM
Right now I'm in a small warm apt. in Fairbanks, Alaska, where the temp outside is 43 below zero and I don't feel all that connected to nature at the moment or for all this dreary winter. Ah, well, I'm no Eskimo, am I? But I rememeber as if it was yeterday a very special night on the ocean off the Puna coast near Hilo on the Big Island of Hawaii...
We launched our fishing boat in the afternoon as usual, in search of the elusive Ahi, the yellow-fin tuna, plying our trade as night fishermen in the semi-old way Ika Shibe, handlining. We were drift-anchored within an hour about about 3 miles offshore under the great volcanic mountain, Mauna Loa, and the erupting Kilauea volcano. Our home was in Volcano Village, just above the erupting vent, Pu'u O'o.
As the full moon rose over the calm and glassy sea, we watched in awe as the great fire Goddess Pele put on an impressive show erupting over 1,000 ft. into the night sky and sending little fingers of destruction toward the ocean, burning the forest and a few houses in Her way. Once in a while a propane tank would explode sending up a blue flash agaisnt the jungle background.
After jigging for squid (Ika) we floated gently and sent down our live squid baits waiting for the tuna to come. The fragrant breeze wafted out to us with hints of tropical flowers and that distinct jungle smell so familiar, mixing with the salty air around us and as i looked around me at the moon on the Ocean, the violent eruption, and the teeming life and death struggle in the waters below, the darting hungry Ika chasing the flashing small fish, the smaller particles of life floating beneath...i was overcome with such a feeling of Oneness with Nature, the Earth and the Universe...it filled me with a profound sense of harmony., mystery and longing all at once...and when I looked at the smile and bright eyes of my partner, my brother, Capt. Phil Meeker, i felt a wave of compassion for him and all beings on the planet.
Later when things got crazy with the snap of string, the furious sound of the lines on the railing and the struggle of wills between man and big tuna with blood and adrenaline pumping the feeling faded but we caught a few and made some money and fed a lot of people. But that feeling of Oneness and compassion has always stayed in my soul and memory. I'll never forget that wondrous night.
Next month I'll be migrating South to the Oregon Coast and I'll be back near the Ocean I love so much. 6 years in Alaska is enough, as beautiful as it can be in Summer, the winters here are dreary and dark and freaking COLD!
by
Papawhale (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 61 comments)
on Friday, February 8, 2008 at 1:25:13 PM
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