Welcome! I am a contemplative thinker and photographer from Colorado. In this blog, you'll discover photographs that I've taken on my hiking and backpacking trips, mostly in the American West. I've paired these with my favorite inspirational and philosophical quotes - literary passages that emphasize the innate spirituality of the natural world. I hope you enjoy them!

If you'd like to purchase photo-quote greeting cards, please go to www.NaturePhoto-QuoteCards.com .


In the Spirit of Wildness,

Stephen Hatch
Fort Collins, Colorado

P.S. There's a label index at the bottom of the blog.

Thursday, October 31, 2013

What qualities do we wish to absorb from the saints on "the other side" this day?


Tonight is All Hallows Eve, the night before All Hallows Day (All Saints Day).  If this is the time when the veil is thinnest between this life and the other world, what is it we wish to carry back to our daily lives from the other?  The people I consider "saints" are those who lived their own unique spiritual vision most truly and authentically, disregarding the distractions present in the society around them.  Saints possess determination, discipline, perseverance, self-possession, and sensitivity to the Divine.  It is these qualities I wish to absorb from those in "the other world" this day.

Photo: Mist rises from Horsetooth Reservoir, revealing Cottonwood trees in the distance; Larimer County, CO; October 30, 2013

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If we want the flame of our passion to light, we have to remain still.


In order to create a flame, we hold a match in one position on the kindling until it lights. Similarly, if we are going to light the flame of passion for a particular aspect of life, we'll want to remain still long enough to allow it to catch fire. However, in our crazy society, people are moving so fast, they don't have time to consider anything in much depth. They are like a match that continually jumps around, unable to stay in one place long enough to light the flame. At least a few of us have to try living at a slower pace to help ensure the possibility that passion might remain vibrant and strong in our culture. But can the fast-movers even see our flame long enough to light their own? If not, are we any longer even relevant?

Photo: Ponderosa Pine and ruddy cliffs, Red Mountain Open Space, CO; October 19, 2013

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Wednesday, October 30, 2013

Because the Muse is somewhat shy, she needs our full attention given in solitude.


The creative process generally requires large blocks of solitude.  I know from experience that this is the case when I'm writing or seeking the answer to some life-question.  St. Bernard of Clairvaux, in his Sermons on the Song of Songs, informs us that one of the reasons why solitude is necessary is on account of the shyness of God. "Can you not see how shy your Love is," he asks, "that he will never come to you when others are present?"  Bernard goes on to remind us that even Jesus had to spend whole nights alone in prayer.  I find it fascinating to imagine that the Divine Muse has an element of shyness.  We so often criticize ourselves when we go through periods when our creativity seems to dry up.  What if instead we imagined that the Muse wants to reveal something especially profound to the world, but is hesitant to do so without the encouragement we offer by giving our full attention to what She is about to say?

Photo: A solitary Fremont Cottonwood leaf rests on a stout root; Horsetooth Reservoir, Larimer County, CO; October 23, 2013

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The lover of contemplation will gaze much into the sky.


"That which is farthest off is the symbol of what is deepest within.  The lover of contemplation, accordingly, will gaze much into the sky . . . As the skies appear to us, so is our mind."

Henry David Thoreau

Photo: Arthur's Rock and Narrowleaf Cottonwood trees, Lory State Park, CO; October 25, 2013.  To me, Arthur's Rock resembles a face ("Arthur's," perhaps) gazing up into the western sky.

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Tuesday, October 29, 2013

We are all meant to mirror each other's True Self.


I've spoken many times on this page of the importance of meditation practice in finding a spacious, unchanging backdrop of Divine awareness with which we can identify, as an antidote to our frustrating daily experiences of loss, turmoil and death.  However, spaciousness is not the only aspect of our core being.  The other aspect comes from the fact that all human existence is mirrored.  In other words, a major part of our being exists only in relationship to others.  Since our most familiar mirrors - first our parents, then peers, friends and  lovers - all have agendas of their own, we eventually go on a search to find a more stable, less threatening mirror.  It is the Divine who ultimately serves as this mirror, and each of us finds it differently.  For me, Nature is a major way I discover myself mirrored most completely and most joyfully.  For others, art, music, books or churches/sanghas may serve as the sacred mirror.  However, as long as we live in this world, other people will always continue to function at least partially as mirrors of our potential self.  It is for this reason that we need to be careful always to bring out the best in others, for it is our sacred calling - as embodiments of the Divine - to help mirror back to them their truest Identity.  Are we up to the task?

Photo: A Fremont Cottonwood is mirrored during a foggy sunrise in the irrigation ditch across the street from my house; Larimer County, CO; October 25, 2013

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Nature is painting for us pictures of infinite beauty.


"Nature is painting for us, day after day, pictures of infinite beauty if only we have eyes to see them . . ."

John Ruskin

I am continually fascinated by the beauty of some of our burned landscapes.  Here, the blackened trunks of Ponderosa Pine contrast beautifully with the ruddy color of grasses and Wild Plum bushes that came back after the fire.  

Photo: Galena Burn, seven months after the fire; Lory State Park, CO; October 25, 2013

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Beauty involves a harmonious relationship between perceiver and perceived.



"We are conscious of beauty where there is a harmonious relationship between something in our nature and the quality of the object which delights us."

Blaise Pascal  

Photo: Narrowleaf Cottonwood trees growing along a stream; near Livermore, CO; October 26, 2013

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Monday, October 28, 2013

When we situate death within a vaster, more spacious context, it seems less threatening and less final.


Yesterday, I found the sun-bleached bones of an elk rib-cage lying in a large meadow, radiant with golden aspen trees.  The scene reminded me that the best way to deal with death is to view it as part of a larger, more spacious reality - represented by the golden meadow - that is an embodiment of the vastness of divine awareness.  While various manifestations of life and death come and go, the spacious backdrop of divine consciousness - out of which these elements emerge and to which they all eventually return - remains stable and unchanged.  The task of meditation is to identify ourselves more with spacious awareness, and less with the cycle of life-and death.

Photo: Elk rib-cage lying in an aspen meadow; Elkhorn Creek, Red Feather Lakes, CO; October 26, 2013


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Insight can only shine in the parts of our life that are dark.


Without the parts of our life that seem dark and problematic, how would the light of insight ever have a chance to register?

Photo: A wild rose leaf shines in a shadowy portion of meadow; Elkhorn Creek Trail, Red Feather Lakes, CO; October 18, 2013

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Sunday, October 27, 2013

Home is not where you live, but where they understand you.


"Home is not where you live, but where they understand you."

Christian Morgenstern

In my own case, the place where I feel most understood is in the Great Outdoors.

Photo: Bellvue Dome, Narrowleaf Cottonwood trees and freshly-cut hay; Bellvue, CO; October 24, 2013. This scene is two miles from my front door. Morgenstern was a late 19th century German poet. Although his work is popular now, it was not well-known during his lifetime.

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Saturday, October 26, 2013

Beauty is the balance between a loving gaze and the goodness of that which is gazed-upon.


During moments when the lighting is just perfect for photography, I perceive a corresponding inner sense of perfection as well. This experience of perfection brings a profound sense of balance, a realization that an external perfection - in this case, the brilliance and restfulness of a Saturday afternoon spent in a sunny mountain meadow -  and the internal perfection of a love-filled gaze, are in complete harmony. This balance might also be described as "beauty."  In the Navajo language, the word "Hozho" translates into English as "beauty," "perfection," and "balance," underscoring the fact that beauty is both aesthetic and moral.  During times when a balance between a loving attitude in the perceiver and the radiant goodness present in the perceived object manifests itself, there exists simultaneously an aesthetic sense of beauty AND a moral sense that everything is as it SHOULD be. These times are a true gift, for they point to the reality of perfection and beauty that are present - though often unperceived - within the heart of every moment of our lives.

Photo: Lichen rocks, a meadow, aspen trees and an outcrop; Elkhorn Creek Trail, Red Feather Lakes, CO; October 26, 2013

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The person who trusts in God is like a tree planted by a stream.


"Blessed is the person who trusts in God, whose confidence is in Him. She will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always verdant."

Jeremiah 17:8

Photo: Fremont Cottonwood growing next to the Poudre River; Poudre Canyon, CO; October 25, 2013
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On a brilliant autumn day, the tight ego-self naturally dissolves into the spacious divine Self


On a brilliant autumn day, it is easy to lose all awareness of the tight, leaden ego and dissolve into the vastness of the true self; the self which is - and always will be - united to the Source of all things.

Photo: Foothills, Horsetooth Reservoir and Fremont Cottonwoods; near Fort Collins, CO; October 23, 2013
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Friday, October 25, 2013

When our vision is partially clouded by the haze of everyday concerns, our glimpses of Truth become that much more amazing.


Just as fog makes a landscape more magical, so a vision that is partially clouded by the haze of everyday concerns makes our glimpses of Truth that much more amazing.

Photo: Horsetooth Rock, Fremont Cottonwoods and fog, just a hundred yards from my doorstep; Larimer County, CO; October 25, 2013

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Opposites are needed to reveal one another.


How would we ever come to know and appreciate Autumn - as well as Spring and Summer - if there were no Winter? Similarly, how would we feel emotion unless there were also a ground of stillness underlying it, allowing for the contrast to occur? How would we ever discover our own vision if we didn't have people to contradict it? How would we embark on a spiritual search if our parents were always perfect, our friends always faithful, and our own personality always living up to our deepest expectations? How would we be creative without the fuel of suffering? And how would we ever appreciate the need for solitude if we didn't live in a bustling society? Like it or not, opposites are continually needed to reveal the depths of one another!

Photo: The golden leaves of a Narrowleaf Cottonwood contrast beautifully with fresh snow adorning Douglas-firs; Poudre Canyon, CO; October 18, 2013

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Thursday, October 24, 2013

Christ disappears as an object and instead gazes out through our eyes, bathing the world in warm, radiant love, dissolving the boundaries of all things and making them One.


In the warm glow of the trees and landscapes in mid-autumn, we find an embodiment of the calm, radiant light of Christ. While it is natural at first to see Christ as an object of worship - after all, we DO want to emulate him - eventually he begins to disappear as an object of awareness and instead looks out AT THE WORLD through OUR eyes and inner vision, bathing all things in the radiant light of love. This radiant love then dissolves the sharp boundaries between things, making them permeable to one another and - ultimately - One. It is because of Christ's humble self-emptying that he disappears as an object and becomes instead the enlightening gaze that causes all things to be united in love. The same occurs with us as we learn to empty ourselves of all self-importance and begin to join - through our loving vision - all the world into One.

Photo: Cottonwood tree and red cliffs, near Livermore, CO; October 21, 2013

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We can make an extract from special moments of spiritual revelation by crafting a prayer phrase that can be repeated throughout the day.


Our lives resemble a field containing gold dust scattered here and there across its wide expanse of mostly ordinary minutes, hours and days. These flecks of gold represent those moments when we perceive our union with the Divine in an especially clear manner. Our task as seekers is to gather all of these moments, employ the fire of love to melt them into a single substance, and make a concentrate that can then be used to "paint" ALL of the moments of our lives with a beautiful gold leaf covering. We do this by making a practice of repeating a mantra or prayer phrase throughout the day that distills the essence of these moments into a few choice words.

Photo: Aspen leaves in the snow; Red Feather Lakes, CO; October 18, 2013

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Every soul becomes gold when touched by the Beloved.


"O great one,
journey from self to Self
and find the mine of gold . . .
This is the miracle:
Every tree becomes beautiful
when touched by sunlight;
Every soul becomes gold
when touched by the Beloved."

Jalaluddin Rumi

Photo: Golden Cottonwood leaves with Greyrock in the background; Larimer County, CO; October 18, 2013

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Wednesday, October 23, 2013

Rocks are the rocky aspect of leaves, and leaves are the leafy aspect of rocks.


According to our usual logic, leaves are much different than rocks, and rocks are not the same as leaves. But what if we also realized a second truth; namely, that rocks are actually the rocky aspect of leaves, and leaves are truly the leafy aspect of rocks? What then?  And what if we also realized that we are the human aspect of wild Nature, just as Nature is the wilderness aspect of humanity?  What then?

Photo: Three-leafed sumac and a ruddy sandstone formation at sunset; Red Mountain Open Space, Larimer County, CO; October 19, 2013


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Your essence is gold hidden in dust. To reveal its splendor, you need to burn in the fire of love.


"The time has come to turn your heart
into a temple of fire.
Your essence is gold hidden in dust.
To reveal its splendor
you need to burn in the fire of love."

Jalaluddin Rumi

Photo: Fremont Cottonwood leaves flaming at the edge of the High Park Burn, with a house roof at the lower left; Poudre Canyon, CO; October 18, 2013

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Humanity is a compound that glows with joy when exposed to the rays of mountain beauty!


"I think that one of the properties of that compound which we call man is that when exposed to the rays of mountain beauty, it glows with joy."

The Contemplative John Muir

Photo: Aspen leaf glowing in last light; Red Feather Lakes, CO; October 18, 2013

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Tuesday, October 22, 2013

I am a Tree


One of the most challenging aspects of my vocation as a spiritual teacher is the fact that people so often want to affix a single label to my perspective, one that is tied to one of the great world religions. However, I find that such labels never work for me; they somehow seem so limiting. After all, was Jesus a Christian, or was the Buddha a Buddhist? No, they weren't. In my search for a categorical "box," I used to say that I am a "contemplative"; that is, a person who seeks union with Ultimate Reality through a lifestyle of silence, solitude, simplicity, service, and time spent in the natural world. That was OK in the 80s and 90s, when the word "contemplative" was more popular. But now, very few people even know what that word means. In my search for a category that makes sense, I've also experimented with using a regional label. For example, I sometimes say that I practice a combination of Cascadian, Rocky Mountain and Southwest spirituality. But that sort of regional approach, however true, may take some time to catch on. Therefore, in the meantime - and I've mentioned this before on another post - HERE is what I tell people. I am a tree, with roots in evangelical Christianity and Quakerism. My trunk is made up of Contemplative or Mystical Christianity. My branches and leaves, then, are composed of choice insights from Buddhism, Native American spirituality, Hinduism, Taoism, Sufism, Contemplative Judaism, Transpersonal Psychology, the spirituality of American Nature Writers, and Enneagram Work, for starters. However, I have to admit that I identify more with the FOREST in which that tree grows than with the tree itself. In other words, the thing that attracts me most in all of these different faiths and traditions is the imagery they employ which comes from the natural world. Thus, "Wilderness Spirituality" comes perhaps the closest to what I practice. But ultimately, no label works. When the Buddha was asked what he was, he replied simply:  "Awake." Now THAT is definitely something I aspire to!

Photo: Fremont Cottonwoods growing at the edge of Horsetooth Reservoir; Larimer County, CO; October 22, 2013

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Weekly retreats are an important element of a contemplative lifestyle.


One of the most important aspects of living a contemplative lifestyle is the discipline of setting aside retreat time at least once a week. I try to do this during the weekdays on my solitary two-hour long hikes up into the foothills. The trailhead is just five minutes from my home. In addition, my wife, sister-in-law and I enjoy hiking together on Saturday afternoons. At the halfway point, we separate and each have our own individual retreat. For me, this involves falling asleep in a sunny meadow, then having a 20-minute meditation period, doing a little reading, and then writing in my journal. I find these times so important for taking a vacation from the more superficial, ego- and survival-driven aspects of my personality in order to get in touch with the core self, which is rooted in the divine Source. Without these regular retreat times in the Great Outdoors, I don't think I could retain whatever degree of sanity I DO happen to have!

Photo: Sister-in-law Nancy having a retreat in a meadow by a rectangular-shaped block of sandstone; Red Mountain Open Space, Larimer County, CO; October, 19, 2013


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Finding joy in looking at the world through another's perspective.


I'll never forget the first day in class of my World Religions course in college. The professor told us that if we really wanted to understand another spiritual tradition, the best method was temporarily to set our own religious viewpoint on the shelf, and then to enter into whatever worldview we were studying. I found that when I did this, my mind and heart opened up to completely new ways of looking at life! Since then, I've always reveled in the powerful insights that arise when I look at the world through another's eyes. And this includes not just various spiritual viewpoints, but also those of the different genders, personality types and cultures. For me, this is one of the great joys of life - to see the world through the eyes of another, to experiment with joining the two views together into a single, dual-hued reality, and then to repeat this process with other pairs of perspectives. In light of this experience, I'm always perplexed when I meet someone who DOESN'T like to experiment with looking at life from other perspectives. I wonder what the underlying motivation is for narrowing one's focus and perceiving the world through only one lens? Is it fear?

Photo: Two-toned Chokecherry leaf, with Narrowleaf Cottonwood trees and Arthur's Rock in the background.

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Monday, October 21, 2013

We are only able to feel afflictive emotions because we perceive an underlying stillness.


Beauty might be defined as the harmony of contrasting things. Here, for example, we have winter, represented by the snow on the canyon walls, and autumn, embodied in the golden cottonwood leaves. On other occasions, the presence of concave and convex curves, the balance of silence and bird song, or the various-tasting foods composing a Thanksgiving dinner - like potatoes-and-gravy lying next to cranberry sauce - embody this harmony of contrasts. When we're having an emotionally challenging day, it sometimes takes faith to understand that beauty is being expressed there as well. In that case, we can make a practice of realizing that when we feel traumatized by anger or fear or abandonment, for example, these emotions are able to reveal themselves only because they appear against a backdrop of stability, stillness and groundedness. Otherwise, how could we even feel them? In other words, stability is an innate aspect of upheaval, and vice versa. It is similar with all of the other challenging aspects of life. A major aspect of spiritual practice is precisely this ability to find beauty in all things.

Photo: Radiant Fremont Cottonwood leaves appear against a backdrop of snowy cliffs; Poudre Canyon, CO; October 18, 2013

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Sunday, October 20, 2013

A person who is enlightened does NOT know that they are!


In spiritual circles, there is a lot of talk about enlightenment, and whether one has "attained" it or not. However, I firmly believe that if a person is truly enlightened, they actually will NOT know that they are. An enlightened person is so full of awe and wonder at the beauty of the world, that they don't have any energy left over to see whether or not they themselves are enlightened. They are focused completely on the sense of amazement that allows the enlightened nature of all things to reveal itself in all of its glory. After all, enlightenment is a kind of ecstasy, a "standing outside" oneself, suspended in a state of awe and wonder in which all things are One. Here, the beauty of things is simply an external shimmering of the internal state of amazement, and the internal state of amazement is simply the way in which those very things come to know their own goodness and beauty. Enlightenment can never be one's own possession; rather, it is the stance of amazement in which all things - including the one who is amazed - are One. In this state, either ALL things are enlightened, or none are!

Photo: Narrowleaf Cottonwood leaf lying on a lichen-covered rock; Red Mountain Open Space, Larimer County, CO; October 19, 2013

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Going out, I found, was really going in.


"I only went out for a walk and finally concluded to stay out 'til sundown, for going out, I found, was really going in."

John Muir

Photo: Sisters Joanne and Nancy hiking up Big Hole Wash at sunset; Red Mountain Open Space, Larimer County, CO; October 19, 2013


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Through the fire of our longing, the light within the heart rises to meet the Divine light, and the Divine light comes to meet us.


"Through the fire of our longing, the light within the heart rises to meet His light and His light comes to meet us. This is the secret of the mystical communion, the journey of the soul back to the source . . . Each time the heart sighs for the divine Throne, the Throne sighs for the heart, so they come to meet . . . This is the secret of the heart's sorrow, and why longing is the golden thread that takes us home."

Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee,
Sufi teacher


Photo: An aspen lead becomes translucent to late-day sunlight; Red Feather Lakes, CO; October 18, 2013

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Saturday, October 19, 2013

Sometimes two conflicting views of ourselves can create a new - third - reality that is independent of BOTH views!


Sometimes the "shadow" our presence casts on others is very different than how we actually experience ourselves. For example, others may experience us as being overly stubborn, while we simply think of ourselves as being focused on a particular goal that is in line with our most cherished values. At first, the difference between these two views causes us to feel conflict. We don't like having our own positive view of ourselves challenged by someone else. But I wonder if we can instead learn to embrace BOTH views, realizing that - together - the two form a new - third - and more interesting reality? A reality that is independent of both our own view of ourselves AND that of the other?

Photo: Late-day sunlight creates shadows of aspen leaves in the snow; Red Feather Lakes, CO; October 18, 2013

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The first snow of the season always elicits that childhood holiday feeling!



Yesterday we had our first snow of the season. When I was a kid, I always felt a sense of excitement when a storm was forecast, knowing we'd have a holiday - a snow day. Even though I'm an adult now, I still have that holiday feeling whenever the snowflakes start falling. It seems Nature is breaking into our usual routine - based so heavily on society's smug sense of self-importance - in order to let us know that SHE, with her 4.6 billion-year cycles, is STILL the one in charge. Yesterday was especially beautiful because the golden leaves were still on the aspen trees.

Photo: Snow and changing aspen, Red Feather Lakes, CO; October 18, 2013

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Friday, October 18, 2013

I have never got over my surprise that I was born in the very nick of time!


"I have never got over my surprise that I should have been born into the most estimable place in all the world, and in the very nick of time, too."

Henry David Thoreau

Photo: Aspen trees and the peaks of the Never Summer Range; near Cameron Pass, CO; October 5, 2013

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Our inner beauty is able to reveal itself precisely because it contrasts with our outer struggles.



Often people have difficulty believing that their own deepest self is truly radiant with an innate beauty. This is especially true of those with a religious upbringing who have been trained to see the flaws inherent in their behavior.  In addition, every one of us has done things in our life that we are not proud of - actions we wish we could reverse.  As a result, WE ALL have a tendency to doubt the fact that we are possessed by an innate inner beauty.  However, perhaps autumn leaves can help us integrate both perspectives into one.  Just as the leaves  are always at their most beautiful in the very moment when they are in the process of dying and falling off the tree, so perhaps our inner beauty is able to reveal itself precisely BECAUSE our external behavior is often so less than perfect.  In this metaphor, the imperfection corresponds to the death of the autumn leaf insofar as it is the result of a lack of conscious connection to the LIFE of the spirit.  A gem is most beautiful when everything around it is rather dull in color. Similarly, would our true nature appear as beautiful as it is if our outward behavior were always exemplary?  It seems to me that the most attractive people are those who DO have neuroses, but who are quickly able to let go of them in order to live from their true nature.  Which is more admirable - a person who is never fearful or angry, or a person who manifests a bit of fear - or anger - but then is able to overcome it quickly by allowing their deepest faith, hope and love to radiate all the more brightly by contrast?

Photo: Narrowleaf Cottonwood trees radiate next to a rocky outcrop, Red Feather Lakes, CO; October 14, 2013







Basic goodness is the shimmering brilliance of our being.


"Basic goodness is the shimmering brilliance of our being."

Sakyong Mipham,
Tibetan Buddhist teacher


Photo: Aspen leaves lying on a bench next to the Great Stupa of Dharmakaya; Shambhala Mountain Center, Red Feather Lakes, CO; October 14, 2013

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Thursday, October 17, 2013

Insist on yourself; never imitate.


"Insist on yourself; never imitate. That which each can do best, none but his Maker can teach him. No person yet knows what it is, nor can, till that person has exhibited it."

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Photo: Twisted Ponderosa Pine, with changing aspen trees in the background; Red Feather Lakes, CO; October 11, 2013

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A goal in the spiritual journey is for ego to become translucent to the deeper no-Self!


For many, the goal of the spiritual journey seems to be the death of the ego - i.e., the separate self, with its needs and desires - en route to union with the Divine. As a result, we end up with all kinds of spiritual "masters" who claim to have no ego, yet who seem full of themselves, just like the rest of us. I believe in a very different goal, one where the ego remains, but gradually becomes translucent to the Deeper Presence which has no-Self. Here, for example, we might still get angry when we (or someone we love, or an oppressed group, or the health of the environment) are ignored or slighted. And yet, there is at the same time no hanging on to the anger. During these times, if we look deeply into the source of the anger in order to find out "who" it is that is angry, we find no one! In fact, it seems to arise out of nowhere. In practical terms, this means, for example, being upset at an injustice, but having a light touch with the anger. I think this kind of vision in which ego becomes translucent to No-Self is much more awe-inspiring than one in which either no ego is present, or where one claims not to have an ego, but really does!

Photo: Chokecherry leaves glow in the day's last light, with golden Narrowleaf Cottonwood trees and Arthur's Rock looming in the background; Lory State Park, CO; October 16, 2013.  Note: no flash was used in this photo; it is natural lighting :)

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Prayer is the basic orientation of our being toward the Source of our lives.


Prayer might be defined as the basic orientation of our being toward the Source of our lives - God, the Great Mystery, the Divine, the Goddess, the Web of Life. Sometimes prayer takes the form of petition, where we make verbal requests. At other times, our prayer is one of gratitude for the blessings and wonders of life. At still other times, prayer becomes contemplative. Like Tibetan prayer flags, we simply allow ourselves to be fully present as a means of allowing the Spirit Wind to blow upon and through us, cleansing and inspiring us. Here, we practice deep silence, allowing our awareness to be grasped and held by the magnetic Presence welling up from the very depths of our being.

Photo: Tibetan prayer flags and aspen trees at Shambhala Mountain Center, Red Feather Lakes, CO; October 14, 2013

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Wednesday, October 16, 2013

The golden light of an aspen grove speaks of the nobility and spiritual wealth present within our deepest core.


The golden light of an aspen grove speaks to me of the nobility and spiritual wealth present within our deepest core, a place that also forms a passageway to the Source of all things!

Photo: Sunlight shining through an aspen grove; Red Feather Lakes, CO; October 14, 2013

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The journey IS the goal!


I love the metaphor of the "spiritual journey," for it helps us remember that we are always - for all eternity - simply "on the way."  There IS no final enlightenment, revelation, salvation or transformation, for each milestone we reach is simply the beginning point for a deeper realization of how far we have to go.  Since we are ALWAYS on the way, we can therefore REST in the moment.  For - since the journey is endless - every step is also an embodiment of the most beautiful realization of enlightenment.  In this sense, the process is also the goal.

Photo: Joanne walking along an aspen-lined trail; Red Feather Lakes, CO; October 12, 2013

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