At Zion, the qualities of Mother Earth and Father Sky are clearly visible.

 

At Zion, it is relatively easy to experience the divine masculine and feminine dimensions of life. For example, the exquisitely translucent quality of the Sacred Datura flowers - especially when the morning light first hits them - leads us to an awareness that all seemingly solid creatures and phenomena are actually simply the shimmering of the vast and transparent awareness that is "Father Sky." The ever-present looming cliffs also lead naturally to this awareness of the vast, transparent sky spread out above them.  And in the crossbedded layers of Navajo sandstone, we find what seem to be the epithelial skin cells of "Mother Earth." 

As human beings, we are placed right in the middle between these two realms of transcendence and immanence. It is our task as contemplatives to join the two, allowing the qualities of each to cross-fertilize with one another and to intermingle.

Photos: (Top) Sacred Datura glowing in first light; (Bottom) Skin-like "epithelial cells" of Navajo sandstone; Zion National Park, UT; August 31, 2014