Nature Is Being You And Me

Maybe the main reason I've always loved nature is that it's so genuine and authentic. That may seem like a strange statement but have you ever noticed that nature is just what it is? It's beautiful sometimes, stormy and violent at others. But always it just is.

Nature isn't trying to impress anyone. It has no pretenses. It doesn't try to impose anything on anyone or make something change. It's simply natural life happening, moment by moment. Where did it come from? What started it? Does it matter?

But nature isn't just the forests, the desert and the oceans. Life is nature. It just is and who knows why. Does it have a purpose? It appears not to need one. And where do we, as humans, fit into this scene? Clearly, we're also nature. We're not independent beings. Without some life force "we" don't exist. I was at the bedside when my late wife died, and later my dad. One moment there was life and the next moment no life. The same eyes were in those bodies but they could no longer see. Same body but no longer able to move. Even our language acknowledges that. After death we don't say, "Joan was moved." We say, "The body was moved." We know there's no "Joan" there.

But the fact is, there was never a "Joan" in that body. We assume because there's a body and thoughts that there's a person. But that's an idea we've made up. The body functions without a "me". So does the so-called mind. Thoughts appear all by themselves.

Clearly we're not separate from nature. Nature is being the trees in the forests, the rivers and ocean. And it's being a Joan or a Chuck as well. When we see that, we're home free. "We" have no control over life; it just happens. Like everything in life, we're being lived. Knowing that, we can just be -- not needing anything to change, not being upset because they should be different. Without our opinions, interpretations and judgments what's left? Just a quiet contentment with life as it is. It's called peace. That's our true nature.

Just Be And You're Happy

Do you remember times when you've been so engrossed in something that you've totally lost track of time, of yourself, and even of the world? You may have been mesmerized by a sunset. Or you've been deeply engaged in a fascinating project. In those times, for a few moments or even minutes, you're simply present, with no thought of yourself at all. In those moments "you" don't exist.

That's what being awake to life really is. You're not thinking of the past, you're not thinking of the future, you simply are. You're just being. That's full-on living because you're just being in that moment, the only time life exists. After all, there's no such thing as past or present except for a thought. They don't exist.

What exists -- the only thing that exists -- is this, right here and right now. Just is-ness. In being with what is there's total peace, total happiness, It's also total love, seeing life just as it is, without judgment, interpretation or opinion. When you don't want anything you feel at ease, relaxed, content. And isn't that what people are seeking with all that striving for more, bigger, better?

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Knowing Who You Are

To know who we really are we have to inquire and investigate in ways we're not used to. We've all been taught so many things and we're so conditioned over the years that we don't even think about it.

But am I really this "person" who's doing all these things? From the beginning there's been a sense of existence, a sense that we "are". That's never changed. But have you noticed that the thoughts about who you are change all the time? One minute we're on top of the world, feeling great about ourselves. The next minute we do or say something that isn't quite rational and we think, "How could I be so stupid?"

We emerge from childhood to teen years to adulthood and all along we think differently about ourselves. But that initial sense of "beingness - that sense that you "are" - hasn't changed has it? It's the one constant. Why? Because we are that "beingness", not the "smart... stupid... confident... unworthy" person we think we are, depending on the day and the moment. That idea of who we are is constantly changing. How could it be real? And if it's not real why not live in the "being" that you really are and simply witness life as it unfolds, enjoying the mystery.

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