{"id":3691,"date":"2015-02-14T14:49:18","date_gmt":"2015-02-14T19:49:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/?p=3691"},"modified":"2015-02-14T14:53:02","modified_gmt":"2015-02-14T19:53:02","slug":"finding-our-place-in-the-world","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/2015\/02\/finding-our-place-in-the-world.html","title":{"rendered":"Finding Our Place in the World"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"The<\/a>There is no such thing as “nature” if we are part of all things. To seek nature sets us apart from the natural world. In the Tao, there is no separation.<\/p>\n

Any separation we feel is conventional and not based upon a deep analysis of the how the material world is put together. Everything is\u00a0bound by forces, always in exchange. The fact that these forces and exchanges are invisible is irrelevant.<\/p>\n

Rilke had a suggestion in his Book of Hours, in the beautiful translation by Anita Barrows and Joanna Macy (2005, Riverhead Books)<\/a>. when he said:<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

If we surrendered
\nto earth’s intelligence
\nwe could rise up rooted, like trees<\/p>\n

Instead we entangle ourselves
\nin knots of our own making
\nand struggle, lonely and confused<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

We are part of the earth’s intelligence whether we realize it or not.<\/p>\n

This Rilke quote reminds me of my own encounter with a tree after a meditation retreat at the Insight Meditation Society (IMS). I knew it was alive. Not just a living thing in the way that plants are alive but part of the living fabric of all things.<\/p>\n

It had a presence, a dimensionality that I had not been able to see prior to a week of continuous silent meditation.<\/p>\n

To see the tree, I had to set aside my knots–the entanglements of my personal stories, narratives, and desires. The meditation retreat helped me to do that. When I could see the tree with a vastly diminished sense of separation, I felt more connected. I wasn’t lonely because my place amongst all things seemed just as evident as the tree. I didn’t have to prove anything to myself with excessive thinking. I just needed to co-exist with the tree. Each of us breathing in our way.<\/p>\n

I was no longer confused about my place in the world either.<\/p>\n

The retreat took place in December and I was back in the area in late February teaching at the Barre Center for Buddhist Studies that is next door to IMS and shares the trail system where my tree lives. I hiked through the snows to visit with the tree (pictured above). While it is an impressive looking tree, that is all that I saw–a tree. That dimensionality was gone now that I had re-entered the workaday life and spent more time in the default mode network of my brain than I did on retreat. I had lost my connection to the earth’s intelligence.<\/p>\n

I could feel a glimmer of connection to that unified way of perceiving and I know that I could reestablish that connection with enough intensive practice. The tree hadn’t changed, obviously. After my first meeting with the tree, I wrote these lines:<\/p>\n

Trees are born, grow old, and die.
\nSometimes they get sick.
\nSometimes a mean wind knocks them over.
\nCan trees know?
\nCan they know they are connected to everything else?
\nTo the earth and to each other?<\/p>\n

They abide without a sense of me
\ndistinct from the others.
\nThey swing with the breeze
\nPatiently breathing in the sky<\/p>\n

Like the trees, we are born, grow old, and die.
\nSometimes we get sick.
\nSometimes a mean circumstance knocks us over.
\nWe are conscious, a talent we often waste<\/p>\n

Yet, we are also fabricated.
\nNot of wood and chlorophyll
\nbut of story, memory, and anticipation.
\nWe complexify ourselves by drawing distinctions
\nthat the trees do not require.
\nWe don\u2019t see the roots that connect us
\nso we feel free to claim the ground as mine.<\/p>\n

We chase illusions, mistaking
\nappearances for the real
\nWe forget that a single moment
\nin this breathing body can realize
\nthat we are nothing more than mobile trees
\nWhen we go into silence
\nthis presence shows itself
\nand we can come to know what the trees know:<\/p>\n

Love.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

It seems like we are always engaged in the process of finding our way back to this love born of connectedness. Forgetting is an obstacle. Arrogance is an impediment. Fear is a tether that keeps us in story when the trees are breathing all around us. Mindfulness is the way back to this connected presence of love; the way out of loneliness and confusion.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

There is no such thing as “nature” if we are part of all things. To seek nature sets us apart from the natural world. In the Tao, there is no separation. Any separation we feel is conventional and not based upon a deep analysis of the how the material world is put together. Everything is\u00a0bound…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":268,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,8,13,10],"tags":[810,109,910,813,911,912],"class_list":["post-3691","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-metaphors-for-mindfulness","category-mindful-living","category-poetry","category-spider-mind-world-of-interconnections","tag-ims","tag-insight-meditation-society","tag-interconnectedness","tag-meditation-retreat","tag-nature","tag-taoism"],"yoast_head":"\nFinding Our Place in the World - Mindfulness Matters<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, nofollow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Finding Our Place in the World - Mindfulness Matters\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"There is no such thing as “nature” if we are part of all things. 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Dr. Kozak's ability to translate ancient healing traditions into pragmatic applications suitable for modern lifestyles through the use of metaphors have made him a strong voice in healthcare and business. Beginning with a journey to India in the 80\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s where he took the Bodhisattva vows from His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Arnie Dr. Kozak began his lifelong practice in mindfulness meditation. Intent on finding a way to bring the practical healing attributes of mindfulness he began incorporating these techniques in his private practice. In 2002 Dr. Kozak created Exquisite Mind in Burlington, Vermont as a vehicle that could expand his wisdom to larger audiences beyond individual psychotherapy to professionals and corporations, health care providers, public groups and, most recently with Exquisite Mind Golf, amateur and professional golfers. His award-winning new book, Wild Chickens and Petty Tyrants: 108 Metaphors for Mindfulness (Wisdom Publications, 2009) is a thoughtful, funny, and inspiring translation of mindfulness practice through the inventive use of metaphor applicable to our daily lives. In addition to his work with Exquisite Mind, Arnie Kozak, Ph.D., Licensed Psychologist\u00e2\u20ac\u201dDoctorate has been a Lecturer in Psychology at the University of Vermont and is a Clinical Instructor in Psychiatry and Medicine, University of Vermont College of Medicine. He has studied and practiced clinical psychology, meditation, and yoga for more than 25 years. He has studied with several meditation masters, including S. N. Goenka, Larry Rosenberg, Gurumayi Chidvilasananda, and His Holiness the Dalai Lama. After receiving his bachelors degree with honors from Tufts University, he was awarded a Presidential Fellowship to get his Ph.D. in clinical psychology from the University at Buffalo. He completed his training as a Psychological Fellow at the Harvard Medical School. Prior to founding the Exquisite Mind in 2002, Arnie worked ten years in the private sector for the PKC Corporation consulting on mental health content for this revolutionary software company.","sameAs":["http:\/\/exquisitemind.com"],"url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/author\/akozak"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3691","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/268"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3691"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3691\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3756,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3691\/revisions\/3756"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3691"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3691"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3691"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}