Nature protects us
During Sally's retreat I brought with me Joseph Campbell's classic book "The Hero with a Thousand Faces." I've never read it so I dove in during our free time and at night. Sally has talked about this book often and mentioned it on the first day of our retreat, so it felt quite auspicious. There is a lot in it to be shared but for now, here is an Apache story that Campbell quotes which reminded me so much of Big Sur and Esalen:
"The plants, rocks, fire, water, all are alive. They watch us and see our needs. They see when we have nothing to protect us. And it is then that they reveal themselves and speak to us."
From Esalen to Los Angeles is quite a drastic change. And yet today as I drove back from my private I happened to look up past my dirty windshield to see a flock of birds playfully flying to and fro, as if reminding me that life is a play of consciousness emerging and submerging back into the ground of being.
I have been feeling a little sad after the retreat- kind of a post-retreat blues, which is totally understandable as I was in the most sublime setting with my favorite teacher. And yet here it is: Nature in the form of birds protecting me, revealing the layers of bliss that lie underneath each and every emotion.
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