Ha! Photographically, I don't much like these fences that the Park Service installed a few years ago to prevent the overpopulated elk from stripping the bark from the aspen trees. But at least I got ONE good photo out of the situation! Photo: Me pretending to climb an elk fence, Rocky Mountain National Park, CO, June 11, 2016. Photo by Joanne Hatch "My words are tied in one with the great mountains, with the great rocks, with the great trees, in one with my body and heart. All of you see me, one with this world." Yokuts Prayer Central California Currently there seems to be an epidemic in our culture of violent or profane language. In Buddhist terms, we have forgotten the virtue of "Right Speech." As the Buddha says in the Pali Canon (committed to writing in 29 BCE in Sri Lanka): "And what is right speech? Abstaining from lying, from divisive speech, from abusive speech, and from idle chatter: This is called right speech." Lately I've been pondering the case of a beloved family member, who for several years had a romantic partner that would regularly spew out the most degrading insults at her, and then act as though the whole incident never occurred. I'm guessing this pattern probably had a history in the partner's alcoholic family, where people would use abusive language while in a drunken stupor, and then fail to recall afterwards anything that had been said. The problem, of course, with behaving in this way is that we can't take back our words once they are released and that they therefore can end up doing quite a bit of damage (often subconsciously) in the minds and hearts of those to whom the words are aimed. One of the things that troubles me most about our culture's current pattern of violent speech is the almost continual use of the "f" word when someone is angry. A year ago, for example, as I sat meditating on a ridgetop, my quiet was suddenly disturbed by an argument that a couple hiking below was having, one in which the woman was using the f-word almost constantly. It was really jarring and I found myself feeling profoundly depressed afterwards. I think also of some of our politicians, who aim the most insulting speech at anyone they don't like or with whom they disagree. How have we gotten to this state of affairs?I know that much violent speech is the result of anger, and I also realize that much of our anger occurs when we feel we do not have a say in a situation. Perhaps, like the author of the Yokuts Prayer, we need to view both ourselves and our words as embodiments of the dignity of the landscapes we love: the mountains, the rocks, the trees, and the flowers. If we learned to merge ourselves on a regular basis with the strength and dignity of Something Larger than ourselves, would our anger become as explosive as it often is? I don't believe so. Photos: A quartzite rock in the Snowy Range, WY; Fresh Aspen growth in Rocky Mountain National Park, CO; Douglas-fir trees in Box Canyon, Ghost Ranch, NM; Alpine Forget-Me-Nots in the Snowy Range, WY For Spiritual Direction or Workshops, please visit: www.resourcesforspiritualgrowth.com/ "Don't abide in borrowed certainty. There is no real certainty until you burn; if you wish for this, sit down in the fire." Jalaluddin Rumi "Certainty" in spiritual matters comes from two types of fire: the flaming of the ego or small-self, which enables our identity to expand into the infinite, and a passionate love, which melts the opposites of life into ONE. Photo: Red Elderberry bush growing in the Fern Lake Burn, three years after the fire, Rocky Mountain National Park, CO, June 11, 2016 For Spiritual Direction or Workshops, please visit: www.resourcesforspiritualgrowth.com/ #earthwisdom #stephenhatch #wildernessmysticism #wisdomwanderer#wisdomwalker #heavenlyhiker #spiritsage #naturenurturer #worldwisdom#earthspirituality #magicalmountainmysterytour #unrulymystic#wildernesswisdom #earthwhisperer #mysticalmusings #beautiful#photooftheday #love #nature #wildernessculture #mountainsarecalling #rumi#forestfire #rockymountainnationalpark "Most people think that to do and build great things is what really counts, but the greatest and the only lasting privilege we have is that in spite of some of the things we think, say and do, the Powers and their Helpers are still willing to work through us. What could be greater than to be Wakan-Tanka's mind, eyes, ears, nose, mouth, arms, hands, legs, and feet here on earth?" Frank Fools Crow Lakota Spiritual Leader Photos: Columbine in Rocky Mountain National Park, CO; Indian Paintbrush at Vedauwoo, WY; Mt. Cumulus in Rocky Mountain National Park, CO; Frank Fools Crow For Spiritual Direction or Workshops, please visit: www.resourcesforspiritualgrowth.com/ #frankfoolscrow #Lakota #stephenhatch #wildernessmysticism “If you're really listening, if you're awake to the poignant beauty of the world, your heart breaks regularly. In fact, your heart is made to break; its purpose is to burst open again and again so that it can hold ever more wonders.” Andrew Harvey Spiritual Master who is also Gay Photo: Golden Banner, three years after the Fern Lake Fire, Rocky Mountain National Park, CO, June 11, 2016 For Spiritual Direction or Workshops, please visit: www.resourcesforspiritualgrowth.com/ |
AuthorStephen Hatch, M.A. is a spiritual teacher and photographer from Fort Collins, Colorado. His approach is contemplative, inter-spiritual, and Earth-based. Archives
June 2016
Categories |