What I Learned From Trees

Herman Hesse is one of my most favorite authors. When I read his book Siddhartha, I got deeply connected with Siddhartha, Gautam Buddha. Siddhartha woke me up to be aware of the self-created and self-sustained suffering cycle and how to be free from suffering. It helped me to look within and examine the cause of suffering and how to liberate myself from the bondage of suffering. When I sit quietly and be still,I feel the presence of my awakened self, feel grounded and feel peaceful. I feel like being at home. This is my inward voyage to find myself and how come home.
Several years ago I attended a weekend retreat to explore significant questions like Who I am? Why am here? What is the meaning or purpose of life? How can I liberate? We were given two days of silence for exploring these questions.The last half of the day was designed to present and share our significant learning experiences with the whole group of twenty persons. We were given 15 minutes to be by ourselves to come up with creative ways tor sharing and discussing our signifiant learning experiences. I shared my significant learning experiences by requesting the group to do Mindfulness Meditation for 10 minutes. Then I showed them the picture I had drawn during the 15 minutes of my personal time.The picture was the Tree of Life. This picture represented my life: rootedness, growth, connectedness, aloneness still connected with myself and with others, swings of ups and downs, offering unselfish service, inner wealth, supporting and nourishing, the flow of life, a sense of home coming.
When I mindfully watch and quietly listen to the whisperings of trees, I get connected with the Tree of Life. I realize the truth of living. I see oneness in manyness, self-nurturing and nurturing others, giving gifts of love lovingly, voice of harmony and wholeness and holiness.
Let us hug the Tree of Life lovingly.
Namaste!