Be still, like a tree
Day 83 of my tree puja.
Stillness is the secret.
I squatted beneath the tree, closed my eyes and was still, face held by hands. The tree is so still…
The matrix of natural energy
Day 82 of my tree puja.
Feedback from the tree continues as our relationship unfolds.
A group of birds were singing madly and urgently together somewhere. In the gum blossom, full of nectar and rain, a wattle bird flapped and supped…
I am the same as the bird
Day 78 of my tree puja.
The idea of oneness, unity, becomes a living experience.
The feeling from the tree was this: I am the same as the bird and the bird’s song, as the soil, and I am even the same as the sky…
Trees and birds are one
Day 71 of my tree puja.
Trees are not islands. They are worlds. Birds inhabit that world.
If not for the tree ritual I wouldn’t go out each morning to stand in nature and hear the birds.
Birds are the Voice of Trees
Day 51 of my tree puja.
This one’s for the birds.
The tree holds arching branches over me, it reaches wide, giving shelter – to birds, to flowers, to me.
Humanness and Treeishness
Day 50 of my tree puja.
At times the business of life makes connection with the tree’s energy difficult.
Humans think and feel and make choices…
Nature is on the Alert
Day 43 of my tree puja.
As the blossoms fade and fall, other flowers have their time in the sun. The movement, the cycling of the season is ceaseless.
Spring is a time of adjustment and work. The changes come so fast and so much is to be done. We see the beauty and it looks so effortless and relaxed, but that is appearance only. Nature is on the alert. So much must happen now.
Sit Quietly and Listen
Day 40 of my tree puja. The surging energy engulfs me, welcoming me into its organic totality of self.
Birds are singing and racketing all around. Lapwings call to one another, while smaller songbirds trill away in the background. I imagine the vibrations we sit amongst, the tree and me.
I felt the tree as Mother Nature
Day 24 of my tree puja, in which I experience the tree’s embrace as Mother Nature.
A rooster in the distance, birds awakening – the dawn always reminds me of India, for in India I am always outside at dawn.
The ground is not so cold anymore.
Day 23 of my tree puja, in which I move from inner disturbance to inner peace.
Awoke feeling inner disturbance. Don’t know why. At such times I wonder …
I listened, sound by sound
Day 22 of my tree puja. The tree stands within the activity of air.
I heard the sounds of dawn and tried to imagine not hearing them but experiencing their vibrations, as the tree does and as we do too.
Puja ~ The Tree and Me
Tree puja (worship) is an Indian custom in which an offering is made to a tree. In 2009 I vowed to practice this ritual at dawn for one year. As the seasons passed, my relationship with the tree evolved.