The most valuable communication or news consists of hints and suggestions.

"I am interested in an indistinct prospect, a distant view, a mere suggestion often, revealing an almost wholly new world to me . . . The most valuable communication or news consists of hints and suggestions.  When a truth comes to be known and accepted, it begins to be bad taste to repeat it.  Every individual constitution is a probe employed in a NEW direction, and a wise person will attend to each one's report."

Henry David Thoreau

Photo: Hallett Peak and a Limber Pine, Emerald Lake, Rocky Mountain National Park, CO; October 27, 2012

Beauty always exists at some border or terminus of the world.

"Beauty always exists at some border or terminus of the world . . . Its natural place is at the edge of the great lack, the great precipice of the world . . . The beautiful can exist at the edge precisely because it has nothing to lose and everything to give away."

Frederick Turner,
"Beauty: The Value of Values"

Photo: Poplar trees and a hillside just after a snowstorm; Big Thompson Canyon, CO; October 26, 2012

What is religion? That which is never spoken.

"Last evening one of our neighbors, who has just completed a costly house and front yard, the most showy in the village, illuminated it.  I read in great letters before the house entrance 'Glory to God in the highest.'  But it seemed to me that that was not a sentiment to be illuminated, but to keep dark about.  A simple and genuine sentiment of reverence would not emblazon these words as on a signboard in the streets.  They were exploding countless crackers beneath it, and gay company, passing in and out, made it a kind of housewarming.  I felt a kind of shame for it, and was inclined to pass quickly by, the ideas of indecent exposure and cant being suggested.  What is religion?  That which is never spoken."

Henry David  Thoreau

Photo: Mist and snow, Rocky Mountain National Park, CO 

Beauty is the harmonizing of the contrasts of life.

In photography, I - like so many - tend to view beauty as a "harmony of contrasting things."  In this case, I was drawn to the contrast between the wintry blowing snow in the background, and the Wild Geranium leaf (a leftover from summer and autumn) protruding out of the snow in the foreground.  Of course, the challenge here was to get the leaf to remain still enough (for just a split second) while the wind was circulating vigorously a little ways in front of me.  There is also a harmony of contrasts here between the austerity of the crag in the background and the intimacy of the leaf in the foreground.  And, of course, between the colors of blue, white and red that make their appearance within this mountain setting.

For me, this definition of beauty applies as well to other realms of life.  For example, we often find a person most attractive when he or she combines seemingly opposing traits - like tranquility and a rebellious spirit, earthiness and spirituality, humility and self-confidence, or innate goodness and a playful sort of "badness."

As a student of world religions, I value the diversity of theological views that run across our amazing world.  Is Buddhism correct in taking a non-personal view of Ultimate Reality, or is the Judeo-Christian tradition correct in viewing It in terms of a personal God?  I enjoy seeing these two opposites as different aspects of the Whole, and I love working to see how such contrasts might fit together.  Or, we might think of the Eastern traditions' tendency to view this world as an illusion, versus the Western way of seeing it as quite real.  Again, do these have to be seen as mutually exclusive opposites? Perhaps the more we view phenomena as illusory (like an echo), the more they are suddenly able to shapeshift and manifest themselves as real and solid.  This happens all the time when seemingly solid objects appear suddenly out of the vastness of transparent, spacious awareness, and then disappear back into this vastness once again, revealing their true identity (speaking mythologically) as seemingly-real echoes with no original sounds.

I wonder why we can't take the same sort of approach with politics?  Rather than seeing "our" side as all good, and the "other" side as all bad, what if we began to realize that there is a mixture of good and bad on BOTH sides?  And what if we understood that each side needs the other to help keep it from becoming unbalanced?  Would we then have the opportunity to truly LEARN from one another, and to take a more humble stance toward our own position?

Photo: Gem Lake Trail, Rocky Mountain National Park, CO; October 26, 2012

A true friend is both a mirror and a window

A true friend is able to see clear through the difficult aspects of our personality, and focus instead on the beauty and goodness welling up from the core of our being.  A friend also challenges us to live by our own words, and in so doing, mirrors back to us who we really are. But a friend is also more than a mirror.  He or she is a transparent window, enabling us to contact the Divine in new and fresh ways.  When each of us embodies some unique aspect of God or Mother Earth for another person, we actualize the Divine Presence in the world, thereby fulfilling our highest calling.

Photo: Two Bighorn Sheep rams, Big Thompson Canyon, CO; October 26,2012

Solitude brings balance in a world of constant connection through social media, cellphones and email.

"In proportion as our inward life fails, we go more constantly and desperately to the post-office.  You may depend on it, that the poor fellow who walks away with the greatest number of letters, proud of his extensive correspondence, has not heard from himself this long while."

Henry David Thoreau, 1863

What would Thoreau think of OUR reliance upon cellphones, email and social media?

An Associated Press article in today's paper entitled "Can True Solitude be Found in a Wired World" highlights the need for alone time in a society of constant connectedness through cell phones, email and social media.  At one point, the article quotes Camille Preston, a tech and communication consultant based in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Referring to a lifestyle of non-stop interaction through communication devices, she argues: "What might have felt like an obligation at first has become an addiction. It's almost as if we don't know how to be alone, or we are afraid of what we'll find when we are alone with ourselves. It's easier to keep doing, than it is to be in stillness."

The article goes on to speak of groups like "Sabbath Manifesto" that call on people "to unplug one day a week to find solitude - or to simply take a day of rest with family and friends."

In our time, we sometimes drift into a state of mind where we define happiness according to the number of "Likes" we've accumulated on Facebook, the frequency with which we receive emails or cell phone text messages, or the number of people who offer us positive comments on a blogpost. This dependence on the responses of others produces a passive attitude - and a mild depression -  where we forget that our primary calling in this life is to be creative, and to give the indwelling Divine a fresh and unique awareness of Life's goodness and beauty.

To this end, I've thus far refused to buy a laptop or tablet, since I know how tempted I would be to use them when I'm away from my desk. I also engage in minimal texting.  Solitary time spent in the natural world puts me in touch with a multitude of symbols embodied in plants, animals, geological features and weather systems, each of which mirrors some aspect of my inner life - or my relationship with God and Mother Earth.  This in turn stimulates my creative imagination, making me feel more alive and fulfilled.  For me, this sort of disciplined approach works well and helps maintain a sense that I have some measure of control in my life.

Social media, emails and cell phones are an important aspect of our lives.  But I think we would all agree that we need quality time spent away from these - and some measure of solitude - to help us remain in touch with our true inner self - and with the Divine Presence, however we are led to conceive of that Presence.

Photo: Limber Pine roots and Hallett Peak on misty, snowy day; Emerald Lake, Rocky Mountain National Park, CO; October 27, 2012

The Rockies seem like an impossible beauty, like a boy's first sight of an undressed girl.

"On the Western horizon, under a clear sky sixty miles away crowned with snow, was a magical vision, a legend come true: the front range of the Rocky Mountains. An impossible beauty, like a boy's first sight of an undressed girl, the image of those mountains struck a fundamental chord in my imagination that has sounded ever since." 

Edward Abbey

Photo: Sunset on the Front Range, Rocky Mountain National Park, CO; October 27, 2012

Whoso would be a human being must be a nonconformist.

"Whoso would be a human being must be a nonconformist."

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Photo: Rock formations along the Gem Lake Trail; Rocky Mountain National Park, CO; October 26, 2012

One of the most challenging issues facing the human species is the conflict between those who like mystery - painted in various shades of "grey" - and those who prefer clearcut, black-and-white beliefs and solutions.

One of the most challenging issues facing the human species is the conflict between those who like mystery - painted in various shades of "grey" - and those who prefer clearcut, black-and-white beliefs and solutions.  Mystery emphasizes creativity, imagination and play, while clearcut distinctions bring a sense of security.  Of course, each of us exist as a combination of BOTH traits: a spirit of exploration and a sense of security.  But some people are more attracted to the former, while some need the latter.  These two sides persistently battle one another for the upper hand. I wonder if we as a species can discover innovative ways to bring both of these traits together?

Photo: Limber Pine root and Hallett Peak appearing through mist and swirling snow; Emerald Lake, Rocky Mountain National Park, CO; October 27, 2012

Mystery and ambiguity make life endlessly fascinating.

Even though I lived as a conservative fundamentalist for the first twenty years of my life, I never made a good one.  I guess I love mystery and ambiguity too much.  Black and white distinctions have always bored me.  I'm endlessly fascinated instead by a God who is infinitely beyond all things, yet who dwells intimately within the core of the human self. A cosmos where every creature is the echo of a love-word of the Divine, a word that never had a chance to be spoken, yet whose echoes appear anyway.  A world in which every being mirrors every other being, where there exist an endless number of creatures appearing as mirror-images, but no originals.  A philosophy in which absolutely EVERY spiritual path and theological position - including our own - has both its positive and negative elements.  A life where seeming opposites - masculine and feminine, spiritual and worldly, transcendent and immanent, to give just a few examples - are continually shapeshifting into one another.  How amazing and mysterious this world is!  How could one ever be satisfied with a belief system containing answers that are black and white and unchanging? Such a world view feels like spiritual suicide to me!  I like to explore and discover new things.  Indeed, each of us is meant to be a sort of  Lewis-and-Clark of the spirit.  For mystery is our true nourishment.

Photo: Limber Pine snag and spires above Emerald Lake on a blustery day; Rocky Mountain National Park, CO; October 27, 2012

Be happy. It's one way of being wise.

"Be happy.  It's one way of being wise."

Sidonie Gabrielle Colette

Photo: Willow leaf on a rock covered with vivid-colored lichens; Red Mountain Open Space, Larimer County, CO; October 19, 2012

"Good men and good women have fire in the belly. We are fierce."

Sam Keen

Photo:  Today, these two bighorn sheep rams were really going at it.  I could hardly believe the force with which they hit each other with their horns.  In this sort of combat, they decide who will get to mate with the ewes.  Big Thompson Canyon, CO; October 26, 2012

Things are "saved' by our simple gasping at their loveliness.

"Phenomena need not be saved by grace or faith or all-embracing theory . . . They are saved by our simple gasping at their imaginal loveliness.  The AHH of wonder, of recognition.  The aesthetic response SAVES the phenomenon, the phenomenon which is the face of the world . . . So we seek lovers and mentors and friends that we may be seen, and blessed."

James Hillman

Photo: A Chokecherry leaf glows in last light, as though it were being seen and admired by the Sun; Lory State Park, CO; October 22, 2012

Solitude strips away the surface self and puts us in touch with the deep self grounded in God.

Solitude strips away the surface self and puts us in touch with the deep self grounded in God.  It is then that we discover our deepest, most heartfelt longings and learn to pay attention to what they have to say.

Photo: A Fremont Cottonwood leaf graces a large root; Horsetooth Reservoir, Fort Collins, CO; October 22, 2012

Nature is not a place to visit. It is home.

"Nature is not a place to visit.  It is home."

Gary Snyder

Photo: The view from my front yard.  That's Greyrock on the horizon.  Larimer County, CO; October 23, 2012
ture

We love to see any part of the earth tinged with blue.

"A fine, freshening air, a little hazy,  bathes and washes everything . . . Walked to the hills . . . First vista
. . . looking west down a valley, with . . . the blue hills and the horizon beyond . . . We love to see any part of the earth tinged with blue, cerulean, the color of the sky, the celestial color . . . [a] vista where you have the near green horizon contrasted with the blue one, terrestrial with celestial earth.  The prospect of a vast horizon must be accessible in our neighborhood.. . . , [w]here people of enlarged views may be educated."

Henry David Thoreau

Photo: Smoke from the Fern Lake Fire in Rocky Mountain National Park makes our foothills look like the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina; Bingham Hill, near Bellvue, October 23, 2012.

Our feeblest contemplations of the Cosmos stir us and elicit a tingling of the spine.

"Our feeblest contemplations of the Cosmos stir us - there is a tingling in the spine, a catch in the voice, a faint sensation, as if a distant memory, of falling from a height.  We know we are approaching the greatest of mysteries."

Carl Sagan  

Photo: Redstone spine and Fremont Cottonwood trees; Lory State Park, CO; October 16, 2012

God is the radiance of each and every creature.

A major goal of spiritual practice is to become transparent to a wider, vaster Reality.  One form of doing this is to allow ourselves be TRANSLUCENT to a Divine Light that goes beyond the individual self.  However - paradoxically - because our Source is blissfully self-emptying, this Light is focused not on itself, but on revealing the glory and beauty of each being - of each of US - in a fresh and unique way.

Another way to put this is to say that the humble God is less a noun, and more an adjective modifying the noun which each of us is at our core.  Thus, the Divine is not so much a "Light" (i.e., a noun), but the radiant QUALITY (an adjective) of each and every being.  How amazing!

We might imagine that God  - in theory - is originally a noun.  However, he has forever emptied himself out and taken on the humble form of an adjective. This self-emptying - this kenosis - is one of the great mysteries of spirituality, especially in its Christian mystical version. Here, because of God's enlightening power, each being is thereby able to reveal its traits in a totally unique way. As St. Irenaeus - a second century church father - famously said: "The glory of God is a human being fully alive!"

However, this kind of vision does not lead to a narcissistic preoccupation with the individual's quest for happiness. Instead, our fulfillment - and God's - arises when the light of each of these radiant beings becomes connected to EVERY OTHER being on the planet, and to the ENDLESS number of radiant beings yet to come. Together, all of us unite to become the infinite "glory" of God!

Photo: The sun backlights a Three-leafed Sumac leaf.  In the middleground are several groves of Wild Plum.  Lory State Park, CO; October 15, 2012

All things light up, even though the Light of God has eternally disappeared!

This autumn, I've been fascinated by the translucent quality of colored leaves when they are backlit by the sun, especially just before sunset.  For me, they are an embodiment of the translucent quality of a transformed seeker who glows with a divine Light welling up from deep within their being.

In the Christian tradition, there is the story of the transfiguration, where Jesus went up on a mountain with several of his disciples, and suddenly began to glow with spiritual light.  A mystical interpretation understands that Jesus - at that moment - became translucent to the light of Wisdom - Logos - dwelling within the core of his being.

Traditional theology views God as an independent Light that dwells in the heavenly realms, far beyond all worldly things.  That light then enters into transformed human beings and makes them glow from within.  However, a contemplative understanding of God as kenotic - that is, as blissfully self-emptying - realizes that there actually is NO divine light present unless there are earthly creatures to reveal it within their own particular radiance.  In other words, God can't be revealed except through his embodiment in the world; that is, through incarnation.

With backlit autumn leaves, we realize that there really IS a sun - shining from close to the horizon - making them glow in all of their glory. However, in the spiritual realm, the self-emptying nature of a blissful God means that his light has eternally disappeared from view.  Nevertheless, all things somehow manage to light up - from within - in his love-Light.  How amazing! All things glow from a Light that has disappeared for all eternity! There is no visible Light, and yet all things nevertheless become translucent, light up, and glow from within! Such is the nature of a supremely humble - and mysterious - God.

Photo: Narrowleaf Cottonwood leaves glow in last light; Red Mountain Open Space, Larimer County, CO; October 20, 2012

A hard, insensible person whom we liken to a rock is indeed much harder than rock, whose heart is comparatively soft.

"After having some business dealings with men, I am occasionally chagrined, and feel as if I had done some wrong, and it is hard to forget the ugly circumstance.  I see that such intercourse, long continued, would make one thoroughly . . . hard and course.  But the longest intercourse with Nature, though in her rudest moods, does not thus harden and make coarse.  A hard, insensible person whom we liken to a rock is indeed much harder than a rock.  From hard, coarse, insensible people with whom I have no sympathy, I go to commune with the rocks, whose hearts are comparatively soft."

Henry David Thoreau

Photo: Ruddy rock at Red Mountain Open Space, Larimer County, CO; October 20, 2012

May I gird myself to be a hunter of the beautiful, that nothing escape me!

"My life partakes of infinity.  The air is as deep as our nature . . . I go forth to make new demands on life.  I wish to begin this season well; to do something in it worthy of it and of me; to transcend my daily routine and that of my townsmen; to have my immortality now, that it be in the quality of my daily life . . . May I dare as I have never done!  May I persevere as I have never done!  May I purify myself anew as with fire and water, soul and body! . . . May I gird myself to be a hunter of the beautiful, that nothing escape me!  May I attain to a youth never attained!  I am eager to report the glory of the universe; may I be worthy to do it; to be finished with regarding human values, so as not to be distracted from regarding divine values."

Henry David Thoreau

Photo: Narrowleaf Cottonwood leaves glowing in last light; Red Mountain Open Space, Larimer County, CO; October 20, 2012

Faith is the supreme lake.

"Faith liberates you from suffering and delivers you to the city of peace and happiness.  It is faith that removes the mental turbidity and makes your mind clear.  Faith is the supreme lake because you can easily traverse from one stage of the spiritual path to another."

The Dalai Lama

Photo: Red sumac, golden cottonwood, and Horsetooth Reservoir; near Fort Collins, CO; October 21, 2012

I am a tree, with roots in evangelical Christianity and a trunk steeped in contemplative Christian thought and practice. My branches, however, reach into many different religious traditions.

When people first discover that I teach spirituality and follow a spiritual discipline, they often ask me: "What ARE you?"  What they mean is: "Which religion do you follow?"

The response I usually give is this:

"I am a tree, with roots in evangelical Christianity and a trunk steeped in contemplative (or mystical) Christian thought and practice.  My branches, however, reach into many different traditions: Buddhism, Native American spirituality, North American Nature writing, Sufism, Hindu tantra, Taoism, mystical Judaism, Enneagram spirituality, and Jungian psychology, to name a few.  I am all three of these - roots, trunk and branches - simultaneously, at every moment of my life."

In this era of heightened awareness concerning the interconnectedness of all things, how can a person be just one thing? However, if I were to speak of a single, unifying factor that runs through all of these facets of my spiritual journey, that one thing would be Nature, and a passion for the natural imagery that permeates all of the various traditions that are meaningful to me.  Without Nature, my spiritual journey would cease to exist.

Photo: Fremont Cottonwood growing on the shore of Horsetooth Reservoir, near Fort Collins, CO; October 21, 2012

Every leaf speaks bliss to me, fluttering from the autumn tree.

Every leaf speaks bliss to me,
Fluttering from the autumn tree.

Emily Bronte
19th century writer

Photo: Fremont Cottonwood leaf, Red Mountain Open Space; Larimer County, CO; October 20, 2012

The changing and release of autumn leaves corresponds to movements in the inner life of the spiritual seeker.

In the autumn, new colors appear - yellows, golds, oranges and reds - because the green chlorophyll of summer has drained out of the leaves and gone back into the roots of the tree for the winter.  Spiritually, this process represents the movement of the seeker during special times of retreat toward greater interiority and contact with the center of one's being.  Just as this movement results in a display of enhanced color in the case of the trees, so the movement toward increased interiority and contemplative inwardness paradoxically manifests the beauty of the seeker in an enhanced way within the world of human society.  In other words, the more we live from the core of our being, the more beautiful we appear to others.

Autumn also is the time when these same leaves are eventually released from the tree and fall to the ground. These are, of course, the very leaves that produced nourishment for the tree during the warmer months, and which are therefore indispensible for the continued life of the tree. In the human seeker, this process corresponds to an ability to let go and release to God - to Mother Earth, to the Universe - the very things that nourish us the most, all in the faith that those same things, after a period of inner dormancy, will reappear in the springtime of our lives in a new and fresh way.  May all of us find the grace to trust in this cycle of inner seasons. Fall and winter WILL be followed by an inner Spring, despite all appearances to the contrary.

Photo: Narrowleaf Cottonwood trees at Red Mountain Open Space; Larimer County, CO; October 20, 2012

In meditation, let your thoughts be like jewelry decorating the vast space of the mind.

In meditation like space,
Clouds and haze are its pleasures:
Remain in its vastness without center or limit.

In meditation like the sun and moon,
Stars and planets are its jewelry:
Remain in their space, bright and clear.

In meditation like a mountain,
Plants and flowers are its finery:
Remain in their sphere unmoving, undisturbed.

In meditation like an ocean,
Waves and backwash are its movements:
Remain in their sphere deep and unfathomable.

In meditation on the unborn realm,
Thoughts and images are its manifestations:
Remain in their immensity, vast and lucid.

Milarepa
12th century Tibetan Buddhist master

Photo: Rabbitbrush, Cottonwood, and foothills; near Bellvue, CO; October 16, 2012

Mind is self-luminous

"Mind is not 'a' mind; the mind is empty in essence.  Although empty, everything constantly arises in it . . .  Openness is the first essential quality of mind . . . Mind is not only open - it possesses a second essential quality, which is its clarity.  It is both the lucidity of mind's intelligence and the luminosity of experiences
. . . The open and luminous nature of mind is what we call the 'clear light'; it is an open clarity, self-luminous."

Kalu Rinpoche
Tibetan Buddhist spiritual master
"Luminous Mind"

Photo: Red chokecherry leaves, golden cottonwoods, and Arthur's Rock; Lory State Park, CO; October 16, 2012

The grandeur of Nature fires the imagination.

The grandeur of Nature fires the imagination.

Photo: A sprig of Mountain-mahogany springs back after a fire; Hewlett - High Park Burn, Poudre Canyon, CO; October 12, 2012

Relaxed and loose during meditation, the mind abides, transparent and luminous.

"Sitting comfortably, we let the mind rest in its natural state.  We relax ourselves, our tensions, and remain without strain, without any particular intention, without artifice.  We release our mind and allow it to be open, like space.  Spacious, the mind remains clear and lucid.  Relaxed, loose, the mind abides transparent and luminous."

Kalu Rinpoche
Tibetan Buddhist spiritual teacher
"Luminous Mind"

Photo:  Chokecherry leaves become luminous in last light, with Arthur's Rock in the background; Lory State Park, CO; October 16, 2012

I paint objects as I think them, not as I see them.

"I paint objects as I think them, not as I see them."

Pablo Picasso

Photo: Chokecherry leaf; Lory State Park, CO; October 13, 2012

God's Light at times seems to appear in front of our gaze only in order to BACKLIGHT all creatures in divine love.

Oftentimes, we act as though God - the Great Mystery - is a sort of object appearing in front of our gaze.  This approach is understandable, given the fact that this is the way we approach most of the other things we want to know.  In truth, however, God is more like a Light - a spiritual Sun - appearing BEHIND both us and all other creatures, shining the light of love on us in order to make us glow.  Ever humble, the divine Sun wants to draw attention not to himself, but to the divinity of each being who inhabits this amazing world.

But what about those times - especially during moments of revelation - when the divine Sun does indeed seem to appear in front of our gaze?  Then, surely, we are meant to see God as an OBJECT of awareness?  In truth, even during those times, we are not actually meant to focus our attention on an objectified God,  just as we are unable to gaze directly at the physical daystar when it appears in front of us on a sunny day. Instead, the purpose of the Great Mystery during these times when It seems to appear in front of us is to BACKLIGHT all other creatures, making them glow as never before.

As every photographer and artist knows, things appear more radiant when they are backlit than when the Sun is shining in front of them.  Similarly, God seems to take great delight in drawing our attention to the full glory of each and every one of his creatures, even when he seems - momentarily - to appear in front of our gaze, thus tempting us to treat him as an object of awareness.  During these times, his purpose is not to call attention to himself, but to backlight all things in the warmth of divine love, allowing them to reveal their divinity most fully. Such is the profound humility of God.

Photo: Wild Plum (pink), Three-leaved Sumac (orange) and Fremont Cottonwood (gold) appear - backlit - in all of their glory; Lory State Park, CO; October 15, 2012

We are translucent to divine light in the sky of spacious awareness.

Even though the divine Sun is mysteriously hidden for all eternity beneath the endless horizon of Being, when we rest  in the sky of spacious awareness, we suddenly become translucent and begin to glow in radiant love.  How can this be?  How can we glow when no Sun is present? This is the most profound mystery.

Photo: Chokecherry leaves and Cottonwood trees glow in last light with Arthur's Rock in the background; Lory State Park, CO; October 14, 2012

The human body is a miniature, burning Sun!

During my recent ramblings, I've made the happy discovery that forest fire roasts Douglas-fir cones a bright, fluorescent orange.  It's almost as though the cone - four months later - still contains the original flames, which come bursting out vigorously from the center. For me, this serves as a reminder that the human body - through the numerous plants we ingest - contains the fire of the Sun, so effective in driving the photosynthesis upon which all of life depends.  That fact makes each of us a miniature, burning Sun!

Photo: Hewlett - High Park Burn, Poudre Canyon, CO; October 12, 2012

A radiant personality invariably proves that there is an intense spiritual fire burning within.

"A radiant personality invariably proves that there is an intense spiritual fire burning within."

Yajur Veda

Photo: Thatchtop Mountain from Bierstadt Moraine; Rocky Mountain National Park, CO; September 30, 2012. Thatchtop has personal significance for me.  In 1991, I fell down a cliff while descending this mountain on a crosscountry route.  Now the mountain is decorated with a portion of two of my front teeth.

Appreciating the Sublime Beauty of a Forest Fire Burn

Even though I'd prefer not to have some of my favorite mountain landscapes burn - especially on the massive scale of the fires we had this past summer - I find myself drawn now to these areas in a new way.  In fact, I discover a stark, desolate kind of beauty that wasn't present before.  Some philosophers would call it "The Sublime."  On this particular day in my hike up Hewlett Gulch, I was stunned by the beauty I encountered there.  Here are some of the things that drew my attention:

Doug-fir cones roasted to a bright, fluorescent orange by the fire, as though they still contain some of the original flames bursting out from inside.

A whole meadow full of new Ball Cacti growing on top of the fire-scorched portion of the plants.  Imagine what that meadow will look like next Spring, when all of those cacti sport hot-pink blooms!

A sunflower blossoming against the backdrop of an entire hillside blackened and reduced to sticks.

Areas like the one in this photo, where the sky now seems even more intensely blue than before.

I am excited to hike into these areas next Spring, when crocus-like Pasqueflowers will cover some of the freshly-burned meadows with a carpet of purple-blue!

Photo: Hewlett - High Park Burn, Poudre Canyon, CO; October 12, 2012

The story of bird migration is the story of promise - a promise to return.

"The story of bird migration is the story of promise - a promise to return."

Narrator, the movie "Winged Migration"

Photo: Migrating Sandhill Cranes, Lory State Park, CO; October 15, 2012.  I love this quote, because it shows that the act of leaving is part of a cycle, one that leads to return.  This is especially important to remember in the realm of spirituality when it seems that the "Muse" of inspiration has left us.

These cranes were part of a flock of several hundred that momentarily circled around and around just above me, before continuing on their flight southward.

Most people guard against going into the fire, and so end up in it.

Most people guard against going into the fire,

and so end up in it . . .

If you are a friend of God, fire is your water.

You should wish to have

a hundred thousand sets of mothwings,

so you could burn them away, one set a night.

The moth sees light and goes into fire.

You should see fire and go toward light.

Fire is what of God is world-consuming.

Water, world-protecting.

Somehow each gives the appearance of the other.

To these eyes you have now what looks like water burns.

What looks like fire is a great relief to be inside.

Jelaluddin Rumi 

Photo: Golden Aster springs from the soil next to the root of a burned Douglas-fir; High Park Burn, Lory State Park, CO; October 13, 2012

Autumn colors mirror the beauty of the human soul.

The vivid colors of autumn mirror the beauty of a human self that - like the Fall - is poised on the border between life and death.  The winter that follows autumn ALWAYS gives way to Spring.  In the natural world, this shift happens but once a year.  In the soul, it occurs during each instant of our lives.

Photo: Prickly-pear cactus fruits, Wild Plum leaves, and Arthur's Rock; Lory State Park, CO; October 15, 2012

When we harness for God the energies of love, we will have discovered fire for a second time in the history of the world.

"Someday, after mastering the winds, the waves, the tides and gravity, we shall harness for God the energies of love, and then, for a second time in the history of the world, man will have discovered fire."

Teilhard de Chardin

Photo: Fire-roasted Douglas-fir cone against the backdrop of a burned tree; Hewlett Burn, Poudre Canyon, CO; October 12, 2012

Life arises out of death.

“Life rises out of death, death rises out of life; in being opposite they yearn to each other, they give birth to each other and are forever reborn. And with them, all is reborn, the flower of the apple tree, the light of the stars. In life is death. In death is rebirth. What then is life without death? Life unchanging, everlasting, eternal. What is it but death - death without rebirth?” 

Ursula Le Guin 

Photo: New growth of a Ball Cactus arises on top of a dead portion of the plant; Hewlett Burn, Poudre Canyon, CO; October 12, 2012 

  

The burning of ego is the fuel for insight and enlightenment.

"The ego is the ideal fuel, the fuel that is exciting to burn . . . the best fuel that could be found in the whole universe . . . , the only fuel for wisdom . . . In fact, the very idea of enlightenment exists because of ego . . . Without [the burning of] ego, there wouldn't be the very notion of enlightenment at all."

Chogyam Trungpa,
Tibetan Buddhist rinpoche

Photo: Nodding Sunflower blooming in the Hewlett - High Park Burn; Poudre Canyon, CO; October 12, 2012

Radiance is the core of the Feminine.

"Radiance is the core of the Feminine.  Whether appearing in the vision of a flower, a rainbow, a man or a woman, there is a certain mysterious quality of grace, shine and beauty that can best be described as 'radiance' . . . But it is the inherent radiance of LOVE itself that is the true Feminine core . . . How, then do we magnify our inherent radiance?  By relaxing into our loving heart.  We must learn to let go of our resistances, and give love . . . As we do so, our shine becomes brighter and brighter. The core of the Feminine is this brightness of love."

David Deida

Photo: Golden Aspen trees above Maroon Lake, Maroon Bells - Snowmass Wilderness, CO; September 23, 2012

Light is what love looks like. Love is what light feels like.

"Light is what love looks  like . . . Love is what light feels like."

David Deida

Photo: View from the slopes of Deer Mountain, Rocky Mountain National Park, CO; September 30, 2012

Alpenglow light tinges, permeates, covers and glorifies the mountains.

"The very finest, softest, most ethereal purple hue tinges, permeates, covers, glorifies the mountains . . . How lovely then, how suggestive of the best heaven . . .!"

The Contemplative John Muir, p. 162

Photo: Alpenglow radiates from Long's Peak just before sunrise; Rocky Mountain National Park, CO; September 30, 2012

Even if we are the most shiftless and craziest of mortals, if we still recognize that we have a genius - a Muse - to consult, then no one may presume to come between us and our genius.

"Talk of fate!  How little one can know what is fated to one another! - what he can do and what he can not do!  I doubt whether one can give or receive any pertinent advice.  In all important crises one can only consult his genius.*  Though he were the most shiftless and craziest of mortals, if he still recognizes that he has any genius to consult, no one may presume to go between him and her.  They, methinks, are poor stuff and creatures of a miserable fate who can be advised and persuaded in very important steps.  Show me a person who consults his genius, and you have shown me a person who cannot be advised.  You may know what a thing costs or is worth to you; you can never know what it costs or is worth to me.  All the community may scream because one person is born who will not do as it does, who will not conform because conformity to him is death, - he is so constituted.  They know nothing about his case; they are fools when they presume to advise him . . . In the course of generations, however, people will excuse you for not doing as they do, if you will bring enough to pass in your own way."

Henry David Thoreau, 1858

Photo: Potentilla leaf, with a formation of the Lumpy Ridge looming in the background; Rocky Mountain National Park, CO; October 8, 2012.  

* For Thoreau, "genius" is a muse who visits us in order to bring us inspiration.  This muse is partly an aspect of our own personality, and partly an independent presence with a reality all its own.

Like a cactus, we are often prickly on the outside and soft on the inside.

Edward Abbey, one of my favorite Nature writers, had a nickname: "Cactus Ed."  Although he liked to say and write provocative things that sometimes made people angry, he had a very soft heart. Inside, Abbey was quite sensitive both to the negative attitudes and actions of other people towards him AND to the heartbreaking beauty of the redrock canyon country of the Four Corners area.  In fact, it was this sensitivity that makes his written descriptions of the area so powerful.

Abbey's nickname is a powerful reminder that whenever we encounter someone who appears prickly on the outside, they are usually protecting a vulnerable inner disposition, a soft heart that is actually quite affected by criticism or slight.  Hopefully, others will remember this principle as well when WE ourselves become frustrating and difficult to live with.

Photo: Prickly-pear cactus, looking toward the edge of the High Park Burn; Reservoir Ridge Natural Area, near Fort Collins, CO; October 9, 2012

People in Western society have an inclination to think in terms of black-and-white, and either-or. They tend to lose sight of the gray areas of life.

"Overall I have found much that is impressive about Western society.  In particular, I admire its energy and creativity and hunger for knowledge.  On the other hand, a number of things about the Western way of life cause me concern.  People there have an inclination to think in terms of 'black-and-white,' and 'either-or,' which ignore the facts of interdependence and relativity.  Between two points of view they tend to lose sight of the gray areas.  Also, with thousands of brothers and sisters for neighbors, so many people appear to be able to show their true feelings only to their cats and dogs."

The Dalai Lama

Photo: Shadowy rocks appear through the mist; Gem Lake Trail, Rocky Mountain National Park, CO; October 5, 2012

When we consider that everything we experience results from a complex interplay of causes and conditions, we find that there is no single thing to desire or resent.

"When we consider that everything we experience results from a complex interplay of causes and conditions, we find that there is no single thing to desire or resent and it is more difficult for the afflictions of attachment and anger to arise.  In this way the view of interdependence makes our minds more relaxed and open."

The Dalai Lama

Photo: Ice coats a spider web in a mountain-mahogany bush; Gem Lake, Rocky Mountain National Park, CO; October 5, 2012

Consciousness has the quality of luminosity.

"Consciousness . . . has the quality of luminosity . . . The ultimate nature of mind is essentially pure.  This pristine nature is technically called 'clear light.'  "

The Dalai Lama

Photo: Multi-colored leaves backlit by late afternoon light; Gem Lake Trail, October 15, 2012.  Yes, the leaves REALLY ARE that vivid!

Simplicity in all things is the secret of the wilderness and one of its most valuable lessons.

"Simplicity in all things is the secret of the wilderness and one of its most valuable lessons . . . Simplicity goes into the matter of thoughts and objectives . . . When in the wilds, we must not carry our problems with us or the joy is lost.  Never indulge in arguments or bitter recriminations; never criticize, but be of good cheer . . . 'It is not wise to ask too many questions, nor should you yield to the itch for making comments about the journey, a habit which may be cultivated to an excess.  Silence is a safe and discreet plenishing' . . . Keep your thoughts simple; do not be argumentative or meddlesome.  Do not hate, condemn, or criticize; an expedition is too short for that, as is life.  Learn to live simply and all will go well."

Sigurd F. Olson

Photo: Rock and aspen trees; Gem Lake Trail, Rocky Mountain National Park, CO; October 5, 2012.  The surreal quality of this photo was created in part by the dim lighting of a misty day, and by the lightly falling snow.  The quote within the quote is from Fr. LeJeune, a Jesuit who traveled in the North Country.