THE LIFE OF TREES AND THE FOREST

Last Saturday in the “Devoir”[1], there was an article on current research by university students. One of them had discovered that the roots of a tree were tightly interlaced with those of other trees and even welded together and are thus, inextricably interdependent. They found that the trees whose roots were welded with other trees have a stronger growth than those who didn’t. Interesting! That shows that the trees do not have as individual a life as one could think by seeing them. Francoise

This comment from a reader reminds me of an experience with 2 trees in the forest close to my home. They played a trick on me as they had a task they needed doing.

Like most mornings I was praying by 2 huge yellow birch trees beside a small stream. At the end of my prayer after giving my offering to the water, in that magic moment when I look thoughtlessly upon nature, a strange phenomenon occurred. I became a tree. My 2 arms lifted towards the sky and I became just another tree in the forest. All trees were in communion and communication with all the other trees. They could feel the pain of a tree that was being cut down at the edge of the forest. They were aware of the birds, of the animals, of everything around them. But what was astounding was that we were all in fact but one being, one being with innumerable consciences. The profound harmony of that moment is beyond words. I experienced a unique moment of unity with nature.  It didn’t last long as when I took my next breath my chest expanded and the bark covering it, cracked. This feeling was so surprising that I suddenly came back to who I was. There, I looked around I saw these 2 large yellow birches who wanted me to spread some clay from the stream over exposed wood where the bark had been torn off by a cross-country vehicle riding through.

I understood in that moment that trees are always in communication with each and are also able to communicate with us.

We don’t hear them anymore. I remember the elders speaking of talking with the trees.  I took that as figurative speech that by looking at the trees one could understand many things. That also is true, but I now understand that we CAN hear them. This experience enabled me to truly feel that nature is alive as an immense entity with a million consciences which are all in harmony together. We have partly lost this connection, this communion, but sometimes in moments of clearness like this time with the birches, we relive the original unity. In truth and in reality, we belong to this world, to this harmony, we are of nature. Our natural sixth and other senses have been atrophied, but they can be reactivated.

Our technology cuts us off from communion with nature. Technology is ultimately useless. It’s a crutch, a prosthesis, substitutions for the direct contact with the divine nature of Man. I have neither the courage nor the words to explain this to you this morning, but I know it as truth, as I know that this hand is mine and that this foot belongs to me.

Mankind has lost its way. Its on a downward spiral which leads to the death of all life. Reliance and use of technology leads to death. This is easy to understand.  All machines and all technology are dead matter. It will always wear down, break, and need to be repaired or replaced.

Nature never breaks down. It continues without interruption for countless millennia to produce life in abundance. The forest does not need fertilizer to grow. It produces its own compost. When one sees the dry arid earth of industrial farms where hardly anything will grow unless you artificially fertilize it with chemical substances which burn and poison the earth one can only exclaim: what stupidity!  Man’s stupidity had become a standard, ignorance has spread like a virus in all civilized institutions and those which are trained in those institutions learn how to destroy nature in the name of progress. It is progress of the machine, of technology and its blinded sciences and not progress for Humanity.  Men are now only shadows of what they once were. His technology is very powerful, but his body is weak, the couples, families and communities are divided, his memory is dependent on his electronic tools and his spirituality is almost non-existent or under the control of dogmatic religions. He lives through life with many lies, half truths, stressed, diseased and without a true understanding of what Man’s life purpose is on our beautiful planet. Thus, he is destroying it with machines and their pollution. Every single piece of modern technology is costly to the planet, their manufacturing results in the death of thousands of plant and animal lives, with the end result that they wear down, break,  become useless and create even more pollution.

The trees never break down. Nature never needs to be repaired it repairs itself. When the tree becomes too big or too old to continue it feeds and sustains thousands of mushrooms, insects and animals and then becomes compost, giving life to other trees. And its descendants will continue to live, eternally.

Blue Eagle

[1] Daily newspaper based in Montreal. Article probably on the 16-06 2012

1 thought on “THE LIFE OF TREES AND THE FOREST”

  1. I have always felt exactly the same way and love trees. Many have been my friends. When I tell trees and bushes that I love and appreciate them, their growth speeds up and they flourish. Thanks for this writing.
    Beverly, Tmakwa, Beaver Woman

    Reply

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