Serenity of Trees

Just recently one very kind and considerate soul (yes, you Manny) sent me a copy of a poem by Cedric Wright. One particular passage reads:

A tree, a rock, has no pretense, only a real growth out of itself, in close communion with the

universal spirit.

A tree retains a deep serenity.

There is no shortage of mythological and religious resource that enriches our experience of trees. From Yaggdrasil to the bodhi tree to the entire Celtic calendar, trees have played an integral role in our conception of the universe. Our human experience has been enriched with sacred groves, trees of knowledge, and the trees of life. And for many of us, the personal experience is there, proving that this reverence is warranted.

And yet, as much as we impose our wondrous conception of trees upon them, “a tree retains a deep serenity” with “no pretense.” The tree is just being. The tree never strives to be anything other than a tree and this is it’s greatest lesson. As Thich Nhat Hanh calls it in his book "Being Peace", here are some excerpts: this is the lesson of “not talking, not teaching, just being.” And this is Dharmakaya, the teaching of Buddha that can be found within all things. The lesson is to be ourselves, to just be human, wherever it is that you are. For most of us, the hard part is to even recognize what that is. What does it mean to just be? For myself, it is to strip away the desires and endless mental stories of “what if” and “if only.” It entails a long exploration of what actions help me be happy and what actions are led by false concepts. It is discovering truth and living by it. And it is always to smile from that place of serenity. Even when my ego tells me it is better to not smile.

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We'd like to thank Indig Woodworks (Mat) for this beautiful blog post.

The exquisite photo "The Tree - A Memory", which accompanies Mat's post, is courtesy of Jude McConkey.

Thank you both very much!

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Wu Chi
Namaste- An Explanation of a Very Old Greeting