A little flower popping it’s head through the hard, dry soil of a well trodden path reminded me of the exuberance and tenacity of life and how it finds its expression despite what we consider difficult circumstances. After taking its photo, as I continued to amble down the trail recalling the image, my thoughts turned to the greater story of life the one that is currently hidden from the scope of western science, but affirmed by the spiritual traditions of the world.
Because western science limits its view to consider all phenomena to be materially based, it sees life as originating from carbon based molecules that somehow have the capacity to replicate themselves, or reproduce creating variations. This is an arbitrary choice which cannot resolve many questions about the universality of life, about the amazing interconnectedness of things and beings, about its amazing complexity etc. But beyond these questions and the speculations of the intellect, there is a sense or a whisper in the background of most people’s minds. It’s a feeling that you get when spending time in nature; a feeling that life is much grander than organic molecules doing their little dance.
Luckily, spiritual teachings remind us that this sense is not incorrect, that Life is not restricted but all inclusive. It is not that this little flower is alive and it’s surrounding is inert, but rather that All is alive or that Life is the whole of existence. There is no real separation between alive and inert, sentient and insentient, alive or dead. Life does not belong to the organism, rather life expresses itself through organisms as well as through matter, energy and thought. The spiritual masters experience this and inform us that what we consider to be the death of an organism is nothing but a change and not a loss of life; it is only a transition from one form to another within Life.
The most reassuring aspect of the teachings is that this is not a belief, an irrational whim of those who lack ‘scientific’ training. It is a Knowledge that can be known or ‘experienced’ by anyone who is seriously interested in knowing, moreover, this Knowledge of Life is confirmed by solid reason. Yet, it is not merely intellectual knowledge; it is a direct intuitive knowledge.
This flower, the soil, the sun, the breeze, the observer and his thoughts, the interconnectedness of all beings in its biosphere, the space in which it exists are various expressions is Life. Life does not start or end with a tenacious little flower, in fact, it does not start or end, it Is. Life expresses itself through all there is, but it is a mystery because our minds can not comprehend its scope, as they are part of it. This is the wonderful message of the spiritual teachings. The one who walked by the flower, the cracked soil, the flower and the reader are expressions of the One Life.