Perhaps it's apochryphll, but I like to tell this story anyway. It's reported when Sir Laurens van der Post* met the Bushmen of the Kalahari for the first time, they asked him, "Can you hear the music of the stars?'" Puzzled, the westernised man replied, "No, I cannot hear anything.'" The Bushmen shook their heads in consternation: "Then you must be very ill indeed!"
We are made from stardust, yet we are so disconnected from direct starlight (all city dwellers view the stars through reflected, artificial light) we cannot hear what Pythagorus called the Music of the Spheres: an ethereal harmony thought to be produced by the vibration of the celestial spheres.
Our senses are dulled by wearing shoes, so our feet rarely touch the earth; our eyes only see what they've been conditioned to see,; our ears hear to answer back, but rarely listen to receive the wisdom available to us; and the primal sense of touch has been overtly sexualised, so we either have sex to receive touch, or avoid touch altogether lest it leads to sex.
We sit indoors immersed in digital screens, with diminishing time spent outdoors in radiant sunlight, or drenched in soaking rains. When did you last plunge into nature for hours simply observing the birds building their nests, the bees collecting their pollen , the wind playfully caressing your skin?
Darwinism places humanity at the top of the evolution pyramid, with dominion over nature and all her creations. Since the dawn of patriarchy, we have retreated into our minds, forgotten to feel with our hearts, or listen to the whispers of our intuition.
‘Every worm, every insect, every animal is working for the ecological wellbeing of the planet.
Only we humans, who claim to be the most intelligent species here, are not doing that.’
~ Sadhguru~
The Age of the Individual has placed striving above thriving, leading to culture of extraction, separation and greed. We believe in the HIERARCHY OF THE PYRAMID, forgetting we are an integral part of a CIRCLE OF LIFE, interdependent and inseparable from everything else.
Our symbiotic relationship with the planet has been diminished and devalued, and as a result we're chopping down our breath-keepers, the forests, with gay abandon; poisoning our life-giving rivers and oceans with alacrity; and polluting the air with no thought to tomorrow. Humanity is exploiting the planet's natural resources at a rate faster than the earth's able to replenish them: a giant PONZI SCHEME where everybody loses, and future generations will have nothing left to sustain themselves.
Furthermore, the rate at which species are becoming extinct is terrifying. It's estimated 90% of the world's flora and fauna now consists of cereals and domestic / farm animals. Let's not even mention genetically modified foods.
Our busy-ness has kept us so distracted we're not even aware we're speeding headlong towards our own extinction, No: living on Mars is not the answer, and all the smart inventions in the world will not save us from ourselves. (Have you watched the Leonardo DiCaprio movie Look Up? )
So what will shake us out of our existential slumber? I have no idea. However, I sense our sanity will return with the collective maturation of masculine and feminine energies**, consciously embodied by humanity. When the mature masculine holds the deep feminine in unconditional loving presence, she is safe enough to feel EVERYTHING IN EXISTENCE. She opens like a lotus flower, to receive the felt intelligence of the BODY OF LIFE, allowing herself to be penetrated by the infinite depths of its mystery.
When we are consciously embodied, feeling everything, then we know without a doubt there is no separation. The carbon dioxide we exhale is inhaled by the trees, and the oxygen they exhale is inhaled by us.
Did you know the frequency of the earth is identical the frequency of our hearts? It would seem to me the body of the earth is the earth of our bodies. We are made up of the elements, and and our skin is the fabric of the cosmos.
EARTH MY BODY, WATER MY BLOOD. AIR MY BREATH, & FIRE MY SPIRIT
From a higher perspective, we are an integral part of the Cosmic Body, where the Sun governs our days, and the Moon seduces our nights. The moon not only influences oceanic tides, she also determines a woman's menstrual cycle, and holds the earth on her axis.
When we FEEL ourselves, we cannot help but feel everything and everyone. The Butterfly Effect says when a butterfly flaps its wings in one part of the world, the effect may experienced as a hurricane in one the other side of the world. We are an integral part of the web of life, and this Truth is inescapable, whether we know it or not. An injury to one is an injury to all.
While our heads may understand, our lives will only transform when we live from this truth. The implications are paradigm-shattering. Putting out a cigarette on the earth? That's abuse. The same way putting out a cigarette on a child's arm is abuse. Throwing excessive consumption into landfill? That's the same as eating junk food. Costa Rica has declared the planet a citizen with legal rights and protections. How cool is that?
When we nurture and replenish the earth, she nurtures and replenishes us. Uncommon sense. The interdependent connection works both ways. A drought of feeling is mirrored in droughts where lush vegetation used to thrive. Our tears joy, sadness and gratitude break the droughts, and restore fecundity to all living things.
A little understood fact about Gautama Buddha's awakening: it happened under a Bhodhi Tree - or Body Tree! Buddha needed to be touched by the reality of existence as the body of consciousness for him to realise himself.
Did you know in the 1900s very few women reached menopause? Now millions of women are in menopause. What's the key symptom of menopause? A drop in oestrogen levels leads to an increase in temperature, so women experience hot flashes. Perhaps this is why global warming is happening - as mentioned, THE BODY OF THE EARTH IS THE EARTH OF THE BODY.
The Coronavirus is shaped like a crown, corona is a derivative of the word crown. Women in menopause are known as crones. And crone is also a derivative of the word crown!
I BELIEVE CRONES ARE DRIVING THE PSYCHO-SEXUAL-SPIRITUAL REVOLUTION arising across the planet today.
When we embody consciousness, the truth is revealed. Everything is connected to everything else, and contrary to popular belief, THERE'S ONLY ONE OF US HERE.
When learning the Tantric Movement Meditation, CosmoForm ~ which aligns us with the consciousness of the cosmos ~ after seven days I noticed a subtle humming in my ears. it was not tinnitus, and I was puzzled. So I asked our Tantra Teacher what could itbe? He smiled broadly and said, 'Ah! You've become so still and so quiet, now you can hear the purring engine of the cosmos.'
‘When the known crumbles away
All that remains is your burning heart.
This burning is the only scripture
You’ll ever need
Even the stars will plead for
This teaching from you
There is nothing more alive than your open body
And nothing more sacred than your holy wildness
~ Matt Lianca
This is as God as it gets!
*Sir Laurens Jan van der Post, CBE was a 20th-century South African Afrikaner author, farmer, soldier, political adviser to British heads of government, close friend of Prince Charles, godfather of Prince William, educator, journalist, humanitarian, philosopher, explorer and conservationist (Wikipedia)
** Masculine and Feminine is not male and female - they are the universal energies within us all, regardless of gender or sexual orientation