ESCAPE!

I have come to the mountains this weekend to escape the heat of Rio, where it is around 40 degrees C or over 100 F. It is wonderful to be able to walk around easily, outdoors and in and not have to bother with air conditioning. I guess the temperature is about 15 degrees C lower here. I brought the dogs with me and they are so happy! They have been running around the garden here like two-year-olds!

Because it is still spring, many trees and shrubs are in blossom and the roses are a picture. There is a beautiful purple bougainvillea over the gate and it is in glorious bloom again and seems to light up the entire house and garden. As the peace of this lovely part of the world sinks into my bones, so I begin to relax more and to remind myself how fortunate I am to be able to come here whenever I choose; to come and to feel “Nature’s great heart beating over my head and under my feet,” which is how it was so eloquently described by a much more gifted person than me. Here I feel a million miles away from the sordid greed and selfishness that are still laying waste so much of our beautiful planet and destroying the lives of so many people. Here I can more easily invite those beautiful beings of light to draw close and help me help them focus their angelic light on those dark minds in the world that have been blinded by materialism, lust for power and overwhelmed by the power of their ego. To focus this beautiful light in the expectation that it will so affect those dark minds that their own light which is still there, though buried deep, will burst forth and that by its illumination they will see how foolish and ultimately self-destructive are their lives and decide to change to a more caring and constructive way of life.

It is as though the clear, sweet breeze here in the mountains sweeps through the mind, blowing away everything that is unimportant and encouraging the development of closer links with the subtle worlds that surround us at every turn. Those worlds wherein lie inspiration, knowledge, understanding of the world and all that is in it and above all an awareness of the simplicity that lies at the heart of God and the awe-inspiring powers that encompass both creation and destruction. (In reality, two sides of the same coin) By trying to make ourselves more aware of these subtle worlds which form part of both the physical and spiritual universes and their equally subtle energies, we can gradually realise that all that at one time seemed contradictory in life; everything that made no sense, in fact is entirely logical and makes perfect sense because we are beginning to see with our entire being and not just those five inadequate measures which so dominate our physical existence.

We should take every opportunity to move amid the wonders and beauties of the natural world, even if it is only in the local park, or walking along the beach. Take a break from the routine that our way of life has forced upon us and just try to be! Yes, we have to live this life as physical beings with all that entails but we should never do so to the exclusion of the inner life both of ourselves and of the natural world that surrounds us. We are not merely physical beings our physical body is a suit we have tailored using earthly materials to enable us to understand as spiritual beings, the spiritual lessons that follow when we choose to subject our free, spiritual selves to the constrictions upon that freedom inherent in temporary, physical existence. It is an existence that will encourage us to forget our spiritual origins unless we make an effort to still the insistent voice of ego and listen for a while to “the still small voice” within. Creating inner peace in the surroundings of the natural world is one sure way to do this.