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A Forest Life Stance
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| Have you forgotten me? Yes, ye whose birthplace was under my trees!
You deceive my animals, so few do I see. Most of you flee to the
dark neuroses of big cities. There you hide where I cannot be. Why did
you run away from me? Did you feel uneasy? Is my wilderness a bliss
too scary? Was it when there was so much of me, overwhelmed
you felt your ego under siege? |
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Before you left, superstition was rife, you were unable to imbibe the
meaning of life. Falsehoods so many, an infantile repose, after
discovering science would truths be told. Yet as uneducated as you
were, you set on a path to assert your destiny sadly contorted by wrath.
Now look, how clever, yet twisted, you've become. Alas, in my
absence, we've both come undone!
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Alienation, so much abuse, as you take what is ours only for your use.
But, make no mistake, it's provided willingly for I know, one day, you
will return to me. After all, I have not forsaken thee. Though
ravaged, I fueled your juvenility. Now as independence becomes
responsibility, our separation, it seems, helped your sense of security.
And so I await your maturity, as I seek the unity of a universal creed. |
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So much of your knowledge came at the cost of estrangement that
now you study your new predicament. My prodigal child, you are so
many, yet can't you see that revelation lies here with me
where no truer a moral code can there be. Bring your brilliance to bear
upon this question : Isn't doing good your most sacred mission? So
come home with the gifts you acquired along the way and leave behind
the rifts of yesterday. I will try to put the animals at ease though one or
another may not be pleased since now there is much less of
me! Nonetheless, come, come that we may worship under the temple trees
and restore innocence lost to adversity.
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Here is a suggestion for how we can proceed to heal the wounds to our
spirituality. For your sake, for now, I shall divide into three: 1) a safe
worship zone to comfort thee, 2) a transition zone where we can
remain at ease, and 3) a vast wild zone that you must leave.
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Implementation:
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All existing forests, whether rainforests or arid lands, must be preserved
forthright.
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Some large forests, especially those within easy reach of large urban
population centres, should be partitioned into three contiguous forests
as follows :
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1) Worship Forest
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A comparatively small but significant portion of worship forest would be
fenced off from the main forest. The fence is needed to prevent the
entry of livestock and life threatening animals so that members of the general public may freely
worship in these forests without fear of being hurt. No fires can be
made nor meals consumed in this place and anything brought into the
forest must be taken out. No vehicles. Admittance to worship forests
would be monitored to keep them from becoming crowded except on
special occasions. Simple amenities would be provided along
pathways to prevent the spread of pollution into the forest. Forest
maintenance services would be provided by a dedicated team
assigned to the forest and paid for by the worship forest admittance
fee. Worship forests could range in size from several hundred to
several thousand acres.
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2) Transition Forest
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Bordering along the worship forest (between it and the wild forest
discussed below) would be a larger transition forest. Its borders are
clearly marked but without fencing. All the restrictions as in the worship
forest would apply. Amenities would not be offered. Forest
maintenance services would be provided by a dedicated team
assigned to the forest and paid for by the transition forest admittance
fee.
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3) Wild Forest
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This is the remaining and largest portion of the original forest to be set
aside and clearly demarcated as wild forest. It is entirely off limits to the
public (except those clearly engaged in
scientific research) and conserved under the full protection of the
government. Once so designated as wild forest, the government would
have no eminent domain rights to intrude upon the wild forest other
than to secure and maintain it.
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I
gaze
upon a
broadleaf smile
proposing a tour of a
gardener's aisle.
Who, on bended knee, planted
these trees in a ring betrothed
so engagingly?
Appeasing this passageway from
side to side, they sway gently while
smiling a century wide thankfully
escorting this passerby.
This tall grove's quizzical canopy calls
wistfully to all and now to me to join in
a wordless discussion over tea brewed from
their flowers' nectaries.
A sage, they say, arranged these not by happenstance
but most purposely, whose timeless verse is written
with trees each a stanza of poetry.
Pensive grins having travelled from then in search of
trunks and lofty limbs burst into cries of clairvoyant
delight whence my silhouette is seen loving these
trees of saplings whose vows renew faith each
spring at dawn's light.
Enjoy
a wink
in the
rhythm
of life,
a loving
embrace from
then unto us
all the time
evolving, growing, creating goodness from grace.
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Alive
This fresh, rousing morning pleases
as a cool breeze crosses my chest.
Birds sing songs, stirring passions strong
atop branches slowly swaying in rhythm to dawn.
Puffs of pollen from tufts of grass swirl adrift gentle drafts.
This chorus, these perfumes impregnate the air.
A bouquet of romance for whoso dreams aware.
Today the sun's rising heat teases this callow skin,
lighting patches of pleasure scurrying here and then there
as it peers through leafy trees bathing all that lies bare.
This birthright of innocence that beckons during youth
has me supinely entwined in the buff of nature's truth
'til when with my likeness fidelity's consort rings true.
I sit atop a moss covered rock abutting a soft curve in a creek
nestled among smooth stones as a clear current soothes my feet.
My hands are moist from a silky dew glistening on verdant leaves
from which arise purplish flowers enticing bees, butterflies and me.
The melodious tones of rushing water sing praises of flowing free.
Here at the water's edge my thoughts tumble fast asleep
and trouble no more as supple visions emerge in subtle relief.
A playful mist proposes a dance to which I agree, joyfully.
Then vanishes into a blanket of droplets altogether drenching me.
Wet from this baptismal embrace of water's blessed purity,
feelings of rapture congregate in the fullness of life's bounty
finally to grasp the very root of me filling senses to capacity.
Overflowing with emotion, a sweet respite delivers inner peace.
A vital tryst with Nature in a virgin wood known to the Muses and me.
Ha, Pan is but a fancy!
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Communion
Me, this heap of elements, of amino acids, can know what?
After banishing barbarity, hatred, cruelty and meanness.
Nature's body of Life assembled, existing for what?
After agreeing the unacceptability of revenge, abuse, exploitation and irresponsibility.
Each cell, a narrative of evolution, explains what?
After overcoming greed, waste, arrogance, and carelessness.
Day after day a dialogue of competition and compromise with what?
After disavowing apathy, idiocy, irrationality and obstinance.
Is this a forum?
After renouncing whoso takes advantage of ignorance, innocence, goodwill or power.
Where is a song to sing and a story to dance to celebrate being?
After admonishing selfishness, obsessiveness, vanity and attachment.
Who is the audience, is there a podium?
After affirming forgiveness, honesty, trust and love.
How do I participate?
After practicing empathy, caring, sincerity and goodness.
When do I get there?
After searching out meaning, purpose, fulfilment and salvation.
What will I find?
After contemplating thoughts conveyed in the absence of words, images, actions or memories/experiences.
Communion.
Clarity, the place of Life, a basis in zoeros, the reality of sacros.
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inspired by the forest |
