Lessons from The Redwood Forest

Across the globe, nature provides centers of learning offering tutorials in spiritual awareness. The Redwood Forest is but one of nature’s many satellite campuses. The unique, ethereal classrooms within each redwood grove, have been carefully, developed and nurtured from generation to generation, to enhance and optimize each student’s learning experience.

Upon entering a tutorial grove students will be acutely aware of a deep stillness. A notable sense of sacredness, wonder and awe fills the air. This magical stage prepares the mind and body with a sense of childlike enthusiasm mixed with humility and appreciation. In every grove, majestic mentors, some more than one thousand years old, stand ready to extend their wisdom of the ages.

The sages of spiritual awareness, with vertical extensions reaching as high as 350 feet, draw the student’s attention upward, beckoning the eye to stretch beyond its self-limiting boundaries to look, to see, to behold. The instructors of inspiration understand that many students learn best when their senses are involved so they selflessly open themselves completely for each student’s individual examination, interpretation and enlightenment.

Each student will learn at his own pace, there are no formal lesson plans or structured exercises. All that is required is an open mind, a willingness to submit fully to the experience—becoming, for the moment, a part of the forest. By touching, feeling, observing and listening to the masters of the forest, the student gains insight and awareness about survival, sacrifice, service to others, love and so much more.

Special attention is given to the unusual bark of the redwood. The bark is six to twelve inches thick and contains tannin. Tannin is a substance that protects the trees against dangers and irritants from fires, insects, fungus and disease. There is no insect that can kill a redwood. Redwoods survive in part because they have developed “thick skin” and they are able to provide self-inoculation against insults from outside influences.

Some students may think the trees have very deep root systems to withstand the forces of nature; however, their root systems are actually very shallow, only a few feet deep. Instead, the strongest roots from each tree spread out more than 50-80 feet in all directions to connect with other members of the community creating an interlocking root system. This beautifully intricate system of engineered interconnectedness provides support for the community while also allowing an opportunity for each individual tree to seek to fulfill the measure of its creation.

In the forest, students may begin to understand there is purpose and meaning for each experience. For exame, the first 100 years of a redwood’s journey are spent developing its vertical awareness. After that time, the mature redwoods begin to practice service and sacrifice as they cast off lower limbs to create the beautiful canopy that is characteristic of the forest. These canopies provide support for a variety of living organisms. When a redwood is damaged or injured, it develops a lumpy outgrowth at its base called a burl and the burl provides an environment for saplings to sprout. Fallen redwood trees offer a most important support system by becoming nurseries to provide the nutrition and protection necessary to foster the growth and development of the saplings.

The benevolent beings of this majestic classroom will wait patiently as each student absorbs the messages of the forest. One by one, the students are encourged give their own meaning to the experience. Some students may walk away feeling a desire to serve or to become mentors who help a younger generation grow and mature. Other students may recognize their own need to find an environment where they feel supported in order to develop their unique talents so they will have an opportunity to thrive. Gardeners understand well the concept that some plants need a special environment to grow.

Some students may feel empowered and encouraged to look beyond their present boundaries and stretch to new heights. Others may find the courage to believe that they too can shine in spite of their own challenges. A particular group of students may recognize that they have become victims of their sensitivities, in the face of life’s challenges. They may recognize that they are allowing irritants to infiltrate and to injure their souls. They may discover that they are trapped by their own mental inertia, believing they are victims of life's circustances rather than the master's of their own fate.

For students such as these, unconditional love may be the change agent that awakens their awareness, sparking the fire within that fuels a desire to change. It is quite humbling to consider the behaviors modeled by the injured and fallen redwoods. In their most painful moments of intense personal suffering and insult, they extend their love, from the inside out to create, to nurture, to protect and to develop new life. Their demonstration of the circle of unconditional love is offered with a grace and selfless beauty that gives profound meaning and purpose to their suffering, offering the assurances so many are seeking; that we all remain connected-always. Perhaps that is the most important lesson of all that the these gentle giants have to share with us -there is no greater love than this, and each one of us is capable of extending and receiving this beautiful gift in our own very special way.