Nature Mysticism
Quotes Bibliography Links Notes
By Michael P. Garofalo
The road enters green mountains near evening's dark;
Beneath the white cherry trees, a Buddhist temple
Whose priest doesn't know what regret for spring's passing means-
Each stroke of his bell startles more blossoms into falling.
- Keijo
Shurin
Experiencing the present purely is
being empty and hollow;
you catch grace as a man fills his cup under a waterfall.
- Annie Dillard
When we touch this domain, we are
filled with the cosmic force
of life itself, we sink our roots deep into the black soil and draw
power and being up into ourselves. We know the energy of the
numen and are saturated with power and being. We feel grounded,
centered, in touch with the ancient and eternal rhythms of life.
Power and passion well up like an artesian spring and
creativity dances in celebration of life.
- David N. Elkins
The
Sacred as Source of Personal Passion and Power
Zen Poetry: Quotations, Links, Notes, Bibliography
There are sacred moments in life when we
experience in rational and
very direct ways that separation, the boundary between ourselves
and other people and between ourselves and Nature, is illusion.
Oneness is reality. We can experience that stasis is illusory and
that reality is continual flux and change on very subtle and also
on gross levels of perception.
- Charlene Spretnak
And every stone and every star a
tongue,
And every gale of wind a curious song.
The Heavens were an oracle, and spoke
Divinity: the Earth did undertake
The office of a priest; and I being dumb
(Nothing besides was dumb) all things did come
With voices and instructions...
- Thomas Traherne, Dumbness, 17th Century
Poems by Michael Garofalo that are inspired by Zen, Taoist, and mystical literature.
If not ignored, nature will cultivate
in the gardener a sense of
well-being and peace. The gardener may find deeper meaning
in life by paying attention to the parables of the garden. Nature
teaches quiet lessons to the gardener who chooses
to live within the paradigm of the garden.
- Norman H. Hansen
The Worth of Gardening
These blessed
mountains are so compactly filled with God's beauty,
no petty personal hope or experience has room to be . . . . the whole
body seems to feel beauty when exposed to it as it feels the campfire
or sunshine, entering not by the eyes alone, but equally through all
one's flesh like radiant heat, making a passionate ecstatic pleasure
glow not explainable. One's body then seems homogeneous
throughout, sound as a crystal.
- John Muir
"A monk asked Zhaozhou, "What is the living meaning of
Zen?."
Zhaozhou said, "The oak tree in the courtyard."
- Case 37 from the Mumonkan (Wumenguan) Collection of Zen Koans
The Oak Tree in the Courtyard
Beyond its practical aspects, gardening -
be it of the soil or soul - can lead us on a
philosophical and spiritual exploration that is nothing less than a journey into the
depths of our own sacredness and the sacredness of all beings. After all, there must
be something more mystical beyond the garden gate, something that
satisfies the soul's attraction to beauty, peace, solace, and celebration.
- Christopher and Tricia McDowell, The Sanctuary Garden,
1998, p.13
Cortesia Sanctuary
and Center
Religion - Quotes for Gardeners and Lovers of the Green Way
When I would re-create myself, I seek
the darkest wood, the thickest and most
interminable and to the citizen, most dismal, swamp. I enter as a sacred place,
a Sanctum sanctorum.
There is the strength, the marrow, of Nature.
- Henry David Thoreau, Walking, 1851
We invent nothing, truly. We borrow
and re-create. We uncover
and discover. All has been given, as the mystics say. We have
only to open our eyes and hearts, to become one with that which is.
- Henry Miller
God does not die on that day
when we cease to believe in a personal
deity, but we die when our lives cease to be illuminated by the steady
radiance, renewed daily, of a wonder, the source of which is beyond
all reasoning. ... When the sense of the earth unites with the
sense
of one's body, one becomes earth of the earth, a plant among plants,
an animal born from the soil and fertilizing it. In this union, the
body
is confirmed in its pantheism.
- Dag Hammarskjold
(1905-1961)
Spirituality - Quotes and Poems for Gardeners and Lovers of the Green Way
Of course the Dharma-body of the
Buddha was the hedge
at the bottom of the garden. At the same time, and no less
obviously, it was these flowers, it was anything that I - or
rather the blessed Not-I - cared to look at.
- Aldous Huxley
We will endeavour to shew how the
aire and genious of Gardens operat upon
humane spirits towards virtue and sancitie, I meane in a remote, preparatory
and instrumentall working. How Caves, Grotts, Mounts, and irregular
ornaments of Gardens do contribute to contemplative and philosophicall
Enthusiasms; how Elysium, Antrum, Nemus, Paradysus, Hortus, Lucus, &c.,
signifie all of them rem sacram et divinam; for these expedients do
influence
the soule and spirits of man, and prepare them for converse with good
Angells; besides which, they contribute to the lesse abstracted pleasures,
phylosophy naturall and longevitie.
- John Evelyn in a letter to Sir Thomas Browne, 1657
Flower in the crannied wall
I pluck you out of the crannies
I hold you here, root and all, in my hand.
Little flower, but if I could understand,
What you are, root and all, and all in all,
I should know what God and man is.
- Alred Tennyson, Flower in the Crannied Wall
What I know in my bones is
that I forgot to take time to remember
what I know. The world is holy. We are holy. All life is holy.
Daily
prayers are delivered on the lips of breaking waves, the
whisperings of grasses, the shimmering of leaves.
- Terry Tempest
Williams
The Tao exists in the crickets ... in
the grasses ...
in tiles and bricks ... and in shit and piss.
- Chuang-tzu
The Roaring
Stream: A New Zen Reader, p. 117
In the assemblies of the enlightened ones there have been many
cases of mastering
the Way bringing forth the heart of plants and trees; this is what
awakening the mind
for enlightenment is like. The fifth patriarch of Zen was once a pine-planting
wayfarer;
Rinzai worked on planting cedars and pines on Mount Obaku.
... Working with
plants, trees, fences and walls, if they practice sincerely they will attain
enlightenment.
- Dogen Zenji, Japanese Zen Buddhist Grand Master
Awakening the Unsurpassed Mind, #31
A callused palm and dirty fingernails
precede a Green Thumb.
Complexity is closer to the Truth.
Sitting in a garden and doing nothing is high art everywhere.
Does a plum tree with no fruit have Buddha Nature? Whack!!
The only Zen you'll find flowering in the garden is the Zen you bring there each
day.
Dearly respect the lifestyle of worms.
All enlightened beings are enchanted by water.
Becoming invisible to oneself is one pure act of gardening.
Priapus,
lively and naughty, aroused and outlandish, is the Duende
de el Jardin.
Inside the gardener is the spirit of the garden outside.
Gardening is a kind of deadheading - keeping us from going to seed.
The joyful gardener is evidence of an incarnation.
One purpose of a garden is to stop time.
Leafing is the practice of seeds.
- Michael P. Garofalo
Pulling Onions: Quips and Observations of a
Gardener
I, the fiery life of divine
essence, am aflame beyond the beauty
of the meadows, I gleam in the waters, and I burn in the sun,
moon, and stars .... I awaken everything to life.
- Hildergard of Bingen
There
came to me a delicate, but at the same time a deep, strong and
sensuous enjoyment of the beautiful green earth, the beautiful sky and
sun; I felt them, they gave me inexpressible delight, as if they embraced
and poured out their love upon me. It was I who loved them, for my
heart
was broader than the earth; it is broader now than even then, more thirsty
and desirous. After the sensuous enjoyment always come the thought, the
desire: That I might be like this; that I might have the inner meaning of
the
sun, the light, the earth, the trees and grass, translated into some
growth
of excellence in myself, both of the body and of mind; greater perfection
of physique, greater perfection of mind and soul; that I might be
higher in myself.
- Richard Jefferies, The Story of My Heart
"And I have felt
A presence that disturbs me with the joy of elevated thoughts;
a sense sublime
Of something far more deeply interfused,
Whose dwelling is the light of setting suns,
And the round ocean, and the living air,
And the blue sky, and in the Mind of man;
A motion and a spirit, that impels
All thinking things, all objects of all thought,
And rolls through all things."
- William Wordsworth, Tintern Abbey
The best remedy for
those who are afraid, lonely or unhappy is to go outside,
somewhere where they can be quiet, alone with the heavens, nature and God.
Because only then does one feel that all is as it should be and that God
wishes
to see people happy, amidst the simple beauty of nature. As long as this
exists,
and it certainly always will, I know that then there will always be comfort
for
every sorrow, whatever the circumstances may be. And I firmly believe that
nature brings solace in all troubles.
- Diary of Anne Frank
The first act of awe, when
man was struck with the beauty
or wonder of Nature, was the first spiritual experience.
- Henryk Skolimowski
Whenever learners or those beyond learning awaken the mind, for the
first time they plant one buddha-nature. Working with the four elements and five
clusters, if they practice sincerely they attain enlightenment. Working with plants,
trees, fences and walls, if they practice sincerely they will attain enlightenment.
This is because the four elements and five clusters and plants, trees, fences and walls
are fellow students; because they are of the same essence, because they are the same mind
and the same life, because they are the same body and the same mechanism.
- Dogen Zenji, Japanese Zen Buddhist Grand Master
Awakening the Unsurpassed Mind, #31
Translated by Thomas Cleary, Rational Zen: The Mind of Dogen Zenji
I circle around God, the primordial
tower,
and I circle ten thousand years long;
and I still don't know if I'm a falcon, a storm,
or an unfinished song.
- Rainer Maria Rilke
In wilderness people can
find the silence and the solitude
and the noncivilized surroundings that can connect them
once again to their evolutionary heritage, and through an
experience of the eternal mystery, can give them a sense
of the sacredness of all creation.
- Sigurd Olson
(1899-1982)
Man becomes aware of the Sacred
because it manifests itself, shows itself,
as something wholly different from the Profane ... In his encounters with
the Sacred, man experiences a reality that does not belong to our world
yet is encountered in and through objects or events
that are part of the world.
- Mircea Eliade
Emptiness in Full Bloom: Flowers in the Sky (Dogen)
The deeper we look into
nature, the more we recognize that it is
full of life, and the more profoundly we know that all life is a secret
and that we are united with all life that is in nature. Man can no
longer live his life for himself alone. We realize that all life is
valuable and that we are united to all this life. From this
knowledge comes our spiritual relationship with the universe.
- Albert Schweitzer
(1875-1965)
The ears were made, not for such trivial uses as men
are wont to suppose, but to hear celestial sounds.
The eyes were not made for such grovelling uses as
they are now put to and worn out by, but to behold
beauty now invisible. May we not see God? . . .
When the common man looks into the sky, which
he has not so much profaned, he thinks it less gross
than the earth, and with reverence speaks o f "the
heavens," but the seer will in the same sense speak of
"the Earths," and his Father who is in them.
- Henry David Thoreau
A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers
A few minutes
ago every tree was excited, bowing to the roaring storm, waving,
swirling, tossing their branches in glorious enthusiasm like worship. But
though
to the outer ear these trees are now silent, their songs never cease. Every
hidden
cell is throbbing with music and life, every fiber thrilling like harp strings,
while
incense is ever flowing from the balsam bells and leaves. No wonder the hills
and
groves were God's first temples, and the more they are cut down and hewn
into
cathedrals and churches, the farther off and dimmer seems the Lord himself.
- John Muir
Common Characteristics of Extrovertive
Mystical States
From Mysticism and Philosophy, W. T. Stace (Jeremy P.
Tarcher, Inc., 1960), p. 79
"1. The unifying vision, expressed
abstractly by the formula "All is One." The One is, in
extrovertive
mysticism, perceived through the physical senses, in or through the multiciplicity
of objects.
2. The more concrete apprehension of the One as being an inner
subjectivity in all things, described
variously as life, or consciousness, or a living Presence. The discovery
that nothing is "really" dead.
3. Sense of objectivity or reality.
4. Feeling of blessedness, joy, happiness, satisfaction, etc.
5. Feeling that what is apprehended is holy, or sacred, or divine.
This is the quality that gives rise
to the interpretation of the experience as being an experience of
"God." It is the specifically religious
element in the experience. It is closely intertwined with, but not
identical with, the previously listed
characteristic of blessedness and joy.
6. Paradoxicality.
7. Alleged by mystics to be ineffable, incapable of being described in
words, etc."
Crape myrtle, brilliant red, bursting forth;
Hiding the garden.
Some days, only the Garden, entire, serene;
Yet, hiding from sight, shy, single plants.
Seeing Both, seldom, but as One:
Sweat poured from my startled brow,
Dripping on the dry earth,
And all became Sunshine
And shadows of surprise unraveling.
- Michael P. Garofalo, Above the Fog
An
Integral Theory of Consciousness By Ken Wilbur.
81K+.
A summary of the "the four quadrants' of existence: intentional,
behavioural,
cultural and social."
Corpus
Epochalis: Mysticism, Body, and History By
Calin Mihailescu.
A historical review of the role of the body in Western mystical, religious, and
philosophical writings. 79k+.
The Green Wizard: Links, Bibliography, Quotes. By Michael Garofalo. 100Kb.
Life and Works of Richard Jefferies (1848-1887) Biography, Quotations, Links
Mysticism
in World Religions "Mysticism is concerned with
the nature
of reality, the individual's struggle to attain a clear vision of reality, and
the
transformation of consciousness that accompanies such vision. This web site
site explores the mystical traditions of six religions by comparing and
contrasting
quotations drawn from their respective literatures." Provides a
good phenomeno-
logical approach to mysticism by organizing quotes under the following
topics:
"Distinguishing ego from true self, understanding the nature of desire,
becoming
unattached, forgetting about preferences, not working for personal gain,
letting
go of thoughts, redirecting your attention, being devoted, being humble,
invoking
that reality, and surrendering." A well organized, broad minded, and
content
rich web site produced by Deb Platt.
The Mysticism of Annie Dillard's "Pilgrim at Tinker Creek." 35K
Mysticism Resources Page
A meta-guide of links and references to
philosophers and religious mystics. Pointers to web sites and an excellent
list of tools for scholarship in the subject. Informative annotations
for
selected links. Excellent resource!! Prepared by Gene R.
Thursby, Ph.D.
Mysticism
Texts A fine collection of e-texts of important
mystical
writings in many religious traditions.
Nature
Mysticism An essay on the writings of Henry David
Thoreau. 56K.
Part VI of a longer essay presented by The Thoreau Society and Walden Woods.
Nature
Mysticism By Larry Gates. 31K.
Good basic introductory essay with
many good quotes.
Nature
Mysticism. An fine essay by Mike King. Nature
mysticsm in
the writings of Thomas Traherne, Walt Whitman, Richard Jefferies and
Krishnamurti. The essay provides an excellent overview of the thoughts
of Evelyn Underhill, Richard
Zaehner, William James, and others about
nature mysticism. A well researched and very insightful three part
essay.
Very good notes, references, and bibliographic work. 150K+.
Nature
Mysticism By Michael P. Garofalo. 52K+.
Quotations, poems,
sayings, links and bibliography.
The Nature Mysticism of John Muir A short article by Larry Gates. 10K
Nature Mysticism in Tradition, Scripture and the World Christian ecology. 20K.
Pantheist Association for Nature Definitons, bibliography, quotes, links.
Pilgrim at Tinker Creek By Anne Dillard.
Places of Peace and
Power The Sacred Site Pilgrimage of Martin Gray.
A very interesting Links section, outstanding bibliography,
and fine photographs.
Reading
to Uplift a Gardener's Spirits. The Spiritual and
Psychological
Aspects of Gardening. A Bibliography. By Michael P.
Garofalo. 66K+.
Religion
and Gardening By Michael P. Garofalo. 100K+.
Quotes,
sayings, poems, and many links.
The
Sacred Garden: Soil for Growing the Soul. By Patricia R.
Barrett.
Morehouse Publishing Company, 2000. 144 pages.
The Sanctuary
Garden: Creating a Place of Refuge in Your Yard or Garden
By
Christopher Forrest McDowell and Tricia Clark-McDowell. Line illustrations by Tricia
Clark-McDowell. Watercolors by Hanna Yoshimura. New York, Simon and Schuster,
A Fireside Book, 1998. 188 pages, suggested
readings. A beautiful, inspirational, and delightful book!
Silvan's Glade: Mysticism and Nature A variety of useful links.
Spinoza Spinoza's Writings Baruch Spinoza (1632--1677)
The
Spirit of Gardening Over 2,700 quotes, poems, quips and
sayings
for lovers of the gardening, gardens, and the Green Way. Arranged
by
over 130 topics. Over 6MB of text. Religion,
Spirituality, Time,
Trees.
The
Spiritual Naturalist An extensive website presented by
Larry Gates. Honoring
traditions that encourage a soulful relationship with nature.
Spirituality
and Gardening By Michael P. Garofalo. 120K+.
Quotes,
sayings, poems, and many links. Part
I (Quotes). Part
II (Quotes + Links).
Stages and States By Ken Wilbur. A long essay on mystical states of consciousness.
The Story of My
Heart By Richard
Jefferies. London, MacMillan
St Martin's Press, 1968. Originally published in 1883. (e-book
format)
Taoism Links, Bibliography, Resources, Quotes. By Michael Garofalo. 110Kb.
Three Mystical States Dr. H. 9K.
The
Woman at Otowi Crossing By Frank Waters.
Revised Edition. Athens,
Ohio, Swallow Press, Ohio University Press, 1966, 1987, 1997. Foreward
by
Barbara Waters. Introduction by Thomas J. Lyon. xvi, 314
pages.
ISBN: 0804008930.
Ms. Helen Chalmers operates a small restaurant at Otowi Crossing, near Los
Alamos,
New Mexico, during the 1940's and 1950's. She lives a simple life, works
hard, and is
profoundly influenced by her mystical experiences, visions, and
frightening premonitions.
Her day to day economic and social life is affected by the scientists and
support teams
working on secret nuclear research and the development of atomic
weapons at Los
Alamos. Her lifestyle is greatly influenced by the local native
Indians and their ancient
culture and beliefs, Hispanics, and the dramatic landscape of New Mexico.
Ultimately,
her mysical visions dramatically revise her sense of self, her values, and her
sense
of being in a sacred place. This novel is based some of the real life
experiences
of Edith
Warner.
Quotation Collection Themes
Cliches for Gardeners and Farmers
The
History of Gardening and Farming Timeline
From
Ancient Times to the 20th Century
Distributed on the Internet by Michael P. Garofalo
I Welcome Your Comments,
Ideas, Contributions, and Suggestions
A Short Biography of Michael P. Garofalo
First distributed on the Internet on January 1, 2002.
Haiku and Short Poems by Michael P. Garofalo
Haiku Poetry: Links, References, Guides