Fear and nature

In human and animal and natural nature so much is promoted and reinforced in fear through judgements and biases and marketing and stereotyping.

What is the true nature and how best to connect with that? Do we build up barriers or follow our hearts to where the joy is real?

Over the years I've seen people assuming based on others' looks, or even possessions, and it's a shallow perspective. In turn those so judged bend their natural behaviour to suit the treatment they're receiving. I've also seen the same happen to animals, plants, whole environments, whole races of people and species of plant or animal. We turn that which is beautiful into enemies, obstacles or a means to an end. 

But the key is the same that Eckhart Tolle promotes in his book A New Earth
 - if one is making an enemy, an obstacle, or a means to an end of a person, thing or situation that is ego at work. Ego meets ego, pain body meets pain body, fear promotes fear and separation, rather than oneness and joy. 

If you are in a state of acceptance, enjoyment or enthusiasm one will not make these judgements and will be more in harmony with 'what is' rather than any expectations one might hold. 

I have a funny story that unfolded while I was deep off the beaten track in the Australian bush being absolutely at one with all of life. I was on a 'freedom machine' adventure and had been reading Dream-time stories of Gundungurra country (Blue Mountains) and combining recently acquired understanding from Tolle's books and my own crazy adventures in life.

 I was returning to a gorgeous part of the country that I had been blessed to work within many years ago. If I possibly can whenever I'm in Sydney I escape to the mountains, throw off many of 'civilised' societies cares and 'go bush', merging into the landscape with nature in all its gory/glory.

The area that I go wandering into is incredibly sacred and has the feel of a lay-line where past present and future all blend as if untouched by the movement of time. A tourist attraction has sprung up around limestone caves in an ancient prehistoric environment. 

I usually go there for rejuvenation in the natural, and yes very wild, bush. I tend to forget the separations in nature, I become one with the environment and the landscape and the creatures that inhabit it graciously accept my presence. 

After cooling my bare feet in a beautifully tumbling rocky stream I stepped out and onto a stinging nettle, piercing my tender skin with its burning juice. I immediately found the neighboring clump of dock leaves, plunged my feet into them squeezing their healing juices onto the burning stings.

I stayed in the scrub near the stream, all my senses delighting in the sounds, smells, sights and feeling of all being one. I began writing a postcard to a friend about the local Gundungurra dream-time story of a man-tiger chasing a native cat-fish through the valley and banging his club on the ground and therefore creating the water holes and the streams and creeks that flow into the amazingly blue lake that is adjacent to the tourist area.

With my head in and at one with this wonderland of two-species creatures in mind, body and spirit, I happened to look down at my feet that were still part poking into the clump of dock leaves, relieving any residual sting.

I noticed a creature had settled on one of them and it was a curious creature indeed.

I started to describe it to my friend on the postcard - head and front of its body like a grasshopper, it's eyes and face and legs and shoulders, but the 'body' of the creature more scaly and black, disappearing into the bush so I couldn't see the all of it. It had two spots of a different hue of black near the start of the black body bit - I couldn't see the whole of it because it was covered by the rest of the foliage I'd stuck my feet into.

I mused to my friend that I'd found a new two-species creature of the area - the hopper-snake.... as I wrote this and brought my mind out of the dream-time I realised it was a hopper-snake in progress. It was a red bellied black snake eating a grasshopper...on my foot!!

We have a lot of deadly species of snakes over here, so I sort of gasped! Then giggled at my predicament. I had, at one with this magnificent whole eco-system done everything 'wrong' - barefoot, alone, far from the tourist tracks, no one even knew I was there, fear could have had a field day!! 

Instead I kept writing to my friend (logically, if it bit me and I died at least folks would know what happened if they ever found me ; )

I concentrated on what was real and made no enemy of any of it - real yes - yes the snake was a deadly one, yes it was sitting on my foot BUT!! it had an only half eaten grasshopper in its mouth. I giggled and wrote to my friend - maybe it wants to share it's dinner with me. "Hey Jen, do you like raw grasshopper? Want to share mine?'

I slowly withdrew my foot so as not to scare it and wandered a little way away to sit on a rock near a waterfall and continue writing. 

A butterfly flew around me, then landed on my knee and stayed there as happy and as calm as the snake had been eating its dinner on my foot. 

A lizard came out of its home to say hello.

I can't explain the bliss of this oneness without judgement.

Of course my friend called me an idiot when he got the postcard, to which I could only agree and giggle. 


(c)J.Cooper 2010