The fog of ego, attachment and the distractions of life makes us appreciate better the clarity of spiritual vision.

Generally, it seems we wish for clear spiritual vision without the  fog of ego, attachment or the distractions of life to obscure our gaze.  But perhaps we could not appreciate the one without the other.  Here we might take an analogy from photography. This rather typical view of the Teton Range just wouldn't be the same without the layer of fog to make it especially interesting!

Photo: Sunrise, Grand Teton National Park, WY; July 7, 2013

The great Tao flows everywhere; it does not show greatness, and is therefore truly great.

"The great Tao flows everywhere, both to the left and to the right.
The ten thousand things depend upon it; it holds nothing back.
It nourishes the ten thousand things,
And yet is not their lord . . .
The ten thousand things return to it,
Yet it is not their lord.
It is very great.
It does not show greatness,
And is therefore truly great."

Lao Tze,
6th century B.C.E.

Photo: Lichen-covered boulder and the Big Sandy River; Wind River Range, WY; July 5, 2013

The deeper the solitude the less the sense of loneliness, and the nearer our friends.

"Divine beauty all.  Here I could stay - tethered forever with just bread and water, nor would I be lonely; loved friends and neighbors, as love for everything increased, would seem all the nearer however many the miles and mountains between us . . . The deeper the solitude the less the sense of loneliness, and the nearer our friends."

The Contemplative John Muir

When we saturate ourselves in periods of silence and solitude, we come into contact with the spiritual essence of all things.  During these times, we see our friends and loved ones as they really are - as pure, lovable and full of goodness.  In solitude, we perceive the core essence of all beings - including those whom we know and love - as facets of the One Divine Beloved.

Photo: Alpine Bog Laurel at Lake Solitude; Grand Teton National Park, WY; July 6, 2013

The highest value of wild parks is as Nature's cathedrals.

"The highest value of wild parks is as places of recreation: Nature's cathedrals, where all may gain inspiration and strength and get nearer to God."

The Contemplative John Muir

Photo: Lupine blossoms and Pingora Peak, Cirque of the Towers, Wind River Range, WY; July 5, 2013

Love in its essence is spiritual fire.

"Love in its essence is spiritual fire."

Lucius Annaeus Seneca
Rome, 1st century A.D.

Photo: Sunrise at the Cirque of the Towers, Lonesome Lake, Wind River Range, WY; July 5, 2013

In solitude, we realize that our deepest "I" is actually an Other - the Divine Beloved.

When we are with other people, we seem engaged in a truly relational way of being. However, the different agendas that we and others carry often conflict with one another, and the resulting angst we feel can wear us out. On the other hand, in solitude, we begin to realize that the deepest relationship occurs right WITHIN us. When we are alone, we generally think that "me, myself and I" are the only reality present, and this mistaken perception makes us tire of being alone with ourselves. It is for this reason that we so often avoid solitude.

However, in a moment of epiphany, we may instead find ourselves awakening to the reality that our deepest "I" actually does not belong to us. In reality, God - the Divine Beloved, the Beyond Within, the Ultimate Mystery - IS our sense of "I." In other words, the "me" that consists in our thoughts, feelings, insights and creative actions is actually a different person than the One - the "I" - who is AWARE of all of these things. Indeed, our awareness - our listening, witnessing, and seeing; that is, our "I" - is itself a participation in a beloved OTHER. Fortunately, this Other is absolutely thrilled and enamored with our truest "me." Thus, real solitude reveals the deepest, most fulfilling relationship imaginable.

It is THIS primal affair that gives us the strength, courage and insight to deal compassionately with all of our other important relationships.

Photo: Snowlilies, Lake Solitude, and the back side of the Tetons; Grand Teton National Park, WY; July 6, 2013

"All things are divinized in morning light."

The Contemplative John Muir

Photo: Sunrise at Cirque of the Towers, Lonesome Lake, Wind River Range, WY; July 5, 2013

Each creature is made for its own happiness.

"The world, we are told, was made especially for man - a presumption not supported by the facts . . . Now, it never seems to occur to these far-seeing teachers that Nature's object in making animals and plants might possibly be first of all the happiness of each one of them, not the creation of all for the happiness of one.  Why should man value himself as more than a small part of the one great unit of creation?  And what creature of all that the Lord has taken the pains to make is not essential to the completeness of that unit - the cosmos?"

The Contemplative John Muir

Bull moose browsing among the willows; Snowy Range, WY; June 28, 2013

Creation is still going on!

"People talk about creation as a remote fact of history, as if it were something that was attended to a long time ago, and finished at the time. But creation was not an act; it is a process, and it is going on today as much as it ever was."

The Contemplative John Muir

Photo: Globeflowers, Lookout Lake, and the Snowy Range, WY; June 29, 2013

Water is sacred!

"To the Indian mind all nature was instinct with deity.  A spirit was embodied in every mountain, stream, and waterfall."

John Muir, 1890

Considering how precious water is in our present time of climate change, I'd like to see the Divine imaged more frequently in terms of water.  For example, we might think of Jesus speaking of the indwelling Spirit using the image of "rivers of living water."  If we viewed the Ultimate more in terms of rivers, streams, waterfalls, lakes and ocean, wouldn't we take better care of these sacred realities?

Photo: Waterfall and snowlilies, Bluebird Lake Trail, Rocky Mountain National Park, CO; June 28, 2013

Who wouldn't be a mountaineer? Up here all the world's prizes seem nothing.

"Who wouldn't be a mountaineer!  Up here all the world's prizes seem nothing."

The Contemplative John Muir

Photo: Marsh-marigold blooms in the foreground, snow lilies in the middleground, and the Snowy Range in the background; Snowy Range, WY; June 29, 2013

To get these glorious works of God into yourself - that's the great thing.

"To get these glorious works of God into yourself - that's the great thing."

The Contemplative John Muir

Photo: Alpine Bog Laurel, quartzite rock, and the Snowy Range, WY; June 29, 2013

Beauty reveals itself only to the beauty of a patient gaze.

"If our style of looking becomes beautiful, then beauty will become visible and shine forth for us . . . When we approach with reverence great things decide to approach us.  Our real life comes to the surface and its light awakens the concealed beauty in things.  When we walk on the earth with reverence, beauty will decide to trust us . . . There are times when beauty reveals itself slowly.  There are times when beauty is shy and hesitates until it can trust the worthiness of the beholder . . . Beauty waits until the patience and depth of a gaze are refined enough to engage and discover it.  In this sense, beauty is not a quality externally present in something.  It emerges at that threshold where reverence of mind engages the subtle presence of the other person, place or object.  The hidden heart of beauty offers itself only when it is approached in a rhythm worthy of its trust and showings.  Only if there is beauty in us [in our loving gaze] can we recognize beauty elsewhere: beauty knows beauty . . . There is a profound balancing within beauty."

John O'Donohue

Yesterday I went looking for the Purple Lady's Slipper Orchid and found several dozen plants in a small section of the spruce-fir zone of our mountains.  Because the flowers are nodding and because the four petals tend to curl over and shroud the "moccasin" part of the flower, I had to get down on the ground, tilt the flower upward, and bend the petals a bit to get a full view.  The entire flower is only about a half-inch across, and most people wouldn't even notice it as they pass by on the trail.  For me, the secretive quality of this Lady's Slipper hints at the attitude of mindfulness that is necessary to become aware of many of the beautiful things in life.

Photo: Purple Lady's Slipper Orchid is very rare and is considered endangered.  I found these on the Fern Lake Trail in Rocky Mountain National Park (CO) on July 1, 2013

I glowed with wild joy!

"I glowed with wild joy, as if I had found a new glacier."

The Contemplative John Muir

Photo: Alpine Sunflowers, Snowy Range, WY; June 29, 2013

In the presence of a beautiful landscape, the experience of vibrant joy swirls together human and non-human realms.

It's an amazing experience to hike up to treeline and suddenly come upon marshy meadows filled with vast mats of vibrant color. To me, these swaths of pink feel like communities of supremely sentient beings populating every nook and cranny with with their joy-filled blooms. John Muir called them "plant people," and their exuberant color definitely reveals the human aspect of their being.

I've discovered that when I unite myself with a beautiful landscape, the personal and non-personal aspects of life begin to interpenetrate and exchange places. Thus, the hiker transcends ego in taking on the non-personal, billion-year-old aspect of the landscape, and the plants and rocks become communicative in taking on the personal dimension of the hiker.

Here, the experience of joy - felt emotionally as an altered state of consciousness in the hiker, and embodied physically in the vast swaths of color - begins to SWIRL together the seemingly opposite realms of human and non-human, like a Sufi whirling dervish who dances as a means of experiencing the union of humanity and divinity.

Photo: Alpine Bog Laurel, Snowy Range, WY; June 29, 2013