Category Archives: nature

The biggest obstacle to living your destiny

Just prior to the year 2000 there was a strange phenomenon spanning the globe with large groups of people believing that a catastrophic event would extinguish all life on earth at the turn of the clock into the new millennium.

There was the rumor, that the Y2K computer bug would cause major power outages and computer breakdowns across the world as the calender rolled over into the year 2000. Some Christian sects saw in the year 2000 the Apocalypse and the Second Coming of Christ.

In the end, the year 2000 came and went without much incident. The cults of course found various explanations why things didn’t turn out as they predicted. The calculations were slightly off and the apocalypse would occur at a later date or the reason it didn’t happen was a result of the faith and intensive prayers of the followers. Some followers downplayed the significance of the failed prediction or quietly forgot their predictions.

Fixed belief can completely derail you from your destiny

The event was however very revealing of how a fixed belief can completely derail and capture the minds of millions of people. We are seeing the same phenomenon in the drumbeat of political propaganda and fake news. Once a mind has been locked into a belief. There is no rational argument that will persuade the person to change his or her mind. It is wasted energy to engage with a person who is unwilling to listen or possibly see things from a different perspective.

While the term “sin” in the religious context is often equated with moral transgressions, the deeper spiritual meaning is more complex. It could be explained as a disruption of spiritual harmony, causing harm to the self, and straying from the path of your destiny.

The universe finds expression in nature

A principle in nature is constant flow, adaptation, and evolution. The universe, or God, finds expression in nature. And, we humans are very much part of the interaction with all living beings.

In the coming decades, humanity is at the cusp of making a major leap in the evolution of consciousness. But it can also go the other way with a major breakdown in civilization as we know it if we fail to do the internal and external work.

Internally we need to confront the demon of addiction. It is the addiction to the immediate gratifications, like substance and food abuse but especially the fixation to limiting political or religious beliefs. The new spirituality is cosmic by nature, emphasizing a deep, interconnected relationship between the individual and the universe as a whole. It transcends traditional religious boundaries and is characterized by a sense of awareness and awe for the natural world around us.

This is the stepping stone to the external transformation. Since the industrial-revolution humanity has seen the earth as a material object that needed to be exploited, in contrast to the ancient traditions that saw the divine in every object and living thing. The earth itself was seen as the Mother, a living entity. Certain places were pinpointed as locations with a high-energy vortex and portals to the hereafter. They were chosen for ritual and worship.

The cathedrals, chapels, and churches in Europe were often built on such ancient locations which is why these quiet spaces offer particular sanctuary for quiet stillness.

Especially during times of stress, uncertainty, and emotional turmoil time spent in solitude or in nature will calm the mind and open the senses to the whispers of the soul. When surrounded by the beauty, sights sounds, and smells of nature you become realigned with the bigger whole.

Allowing the mind to recover from stress and mental fatigue in nature helps restore cognitive functions and clarity. When you practice deep walking in nature you will regain your natural pace and rhythm.

Exposure to sunlight and the natural day-night cycle can help regulate and improve sleep patterns. Adequate sleep is essential for mental well-being. Sunlight plays a crucial role in the production of Vitamin D in the body, essential for bone density, muscle function, immune support, and cardiovascular health.

A principle of nature is constant change

A principle of nature is the cycle of change. Plants, animals and insects are constantly adapting to changing environmental conditions and seasonal cycles. Part of God’s evolutionary plan is constant refinement and perfection. By embracing nature’s wisdom you rediscover purpose and meaning.

The disconnect from our natural environment is responsible for much of the emotional turmoil and imbalance we see around us. With the pull of technology and digital distraction becoming ever greater, it is becoming more important than ever to take a time-out in nature to rediscover who you really are and who you are destined to become.

Reino Gevers – Author – Mentor – Speaker

P.S. My new book “The Turning of the Circle: Embracing Nature’s Wisdom for Purposeful Living” has just been published. You might also find my other books “Deep Walking for Body, Mind and Soul” and “Walking on Edge: A Pilgrimage to Santiago” of interest. They are available where all good books are sold.

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Filed under mental health, mental-health, nature, Uncategorized

The walk alone

The ancient masters of all the great religions recommended time alone as a crucial means of discovering authentic self.

It was the 40 days that Jesus took for time alone in the desert to confront his own shadow and the demons of temptation.  Moses removed himself alone to Mount Sinai to receive the ten commandments from God.

Before his enlightenment the Buddha retreated for an extended time in the forests, and often went into silent retreats during his lifetime. He however cautioned that “one who goes into solitude will either sink to the bottom or rise to the top,” meaning you have to do it for the right reasons.

It is in the time spent alone that we come closest to the divine and our life purpose, especially if it is time alone in nature.

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The Chinese masters of the body arts such as Tai Chi and Qi Gong called the empty space between the spokes of the wheel more important than the spoke itself.

It is in that empty dark space between the stars where you can touch the divine.

Confronting distraction

We as a society are obsessed with what the wise ancients called the distractions of the 10,000 things. Countless things pull at our attention every day in this digital age:

The news media feed on negative news, the constant subliminal messages working our emotions instill a need for material things we mostly don’t need. There is confusion between necessity and want.

It is no coincidence that with the addiction to distraction there are very few people who can truly bear to spend time alone, and be without the constant chatter.

There is such a great quote from Robin Williams that really sums it up nicely:

 “I used to think the worst thing in life was to end up all alone. It’s not. The worst thing in life is ending up with people who make you feel all alone.”

We are thus constantly seeking the accolades through social media as a reassurance. But it will seldom lead you onto the path of deeper spiritual experience.

Discover self by being alone

It is during the walk alone, the time-out during a silent retreat and the alone time in nature where the gateway to the soul opens and you begin to realize who you truly are.

It is the  time when we confront our own shadow, explore the world within, and find out where we need to take the next step.

It is during the alone time that we discover the heart, the love and the divine within. It is who we truly are and that which soul wants to illuminate.

Reino Gevers – Author, Mentor and Consultant

https://www.reinogevers.com

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Filed under happiness, humanity, lifestyle management, mental-health, nature, purpose, self-development, Uncategorized

Are you living in a tribal bubble?

Our world is becoming dangerously fractured into tribal bubbles and we are losing our sense of a common humanity along the way.

As our world becomes more globally connected on a digital level, there is a growing tendency to align with a “tribe” that thinks, dresses, talks and believes in the same things that we do.

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Photo by Surya Prakosa on Unsplash

Tribes have a tendency to build defensive walls against all those who are not members of the same community.  It is then only a small step away to see them as the enemy targeting our watering holes.

The divisive narrative on both sides of the political spectrum in the current politics is symptomatic. Extremist leaders whose narrative is threatening the very fabric of societies are being democratically elected.

We desperately need such wise leaders as Nelson Mandela, Mahatma Gandhi , Theodore Roosevelt and Dag Hammarskjöld who were multi-lateral and holistic in their thinking. Their narrative was one of serving a common humanity rather than a political ideology.

When wise leaders are at the helm,  the rest follow and an immense sense for the common good and higher purpose can result.

The western mind has very much lost its way. When there is a spiritual vacuum, loss of purpose and direction, it is fertile ground for demagogues. They fill the void in playing the “angst” game with nationalist or tribal rhetoric. Its us against them!  Political ideology has all the trappings of a pseudo-religion. Its black or white. A religious cult has the philosophy of either you believe what we tell you to or you will suffer eternal damnation.

An innate spirituality is liberated from belief.  It intuitively feels rather than believes itself connected to what is the fabric and the web that holds everything together on a different level.

When you live in a tribal bubble you will listen only to those people, and media outlets that share your opinion. You have a fixed belief and it becomes part of the ego and the self. Different opinions, irrefutable evidence and scientific fact are slated as “fake news” because they might threaten the image of a false identity that has been created.

If there is no willingness to even listen or to discern between the opinion and the humanity of the other, the inevitable result is confusion about those root cohesive and common values that solidify society.

Reino Gevers – Author, Mentor and Consultant

https://www.reinogevers.com

     

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Filed under ideology, lifestyle management, meditation, nature, psychology, purpose, self-development, Uncategorized

Nature and the Respect of the Sacred

Respect for that which is holy and sacred is closely aligned to respect for the self and self-love.

It is telling for humanity that the sacred house in which we live is being treated with such lack of mindfulness.

When you hike for hours along a country road you soon begin to notice the huge amount of trash such as plastic bags, tin cans, plastic bottles and cigarette butts that are carelessly thrown out of car windows by passing motorists.

IMG_2135It has a devastating effect on other living beings. I’ve seen cows munch plastic bags and hedgehogs trapped in rubbish.

Much can be attributed to the disconnect of modern man to his natural surroundings. Nature is a manifestation of God and not without reason have the wise teachers of old described time spent in nature as our best healer.

Any person who has spent alone time in the African bush or hiked alone for hours in pristine nature will soon become aware of the awesome marvel of creation and the interconnection of all living beings. God can be seen live and working in slow motion.

But never before in the history of mankind are we seeing such a rate of extinction of biological and animal species. The ocean waters are being polluted with plastics and the atmosphere brought into imbalance with excess burning of fossil fuels.

Humanity will only survive when we recognize that the sacred within is also the sacred without.

For centuries Christianity has had a false understanding of man’s role in nature based on misinterpretation of the old testament of the bible in Genesis 1:28 in which man is given the cultural mandate to subdue and rule over the earth.

The lost gospel of St. Thomas, that was discovered in Egypt in the 1940s, has a far more mystical interpretation of many of the biblical interpretations. Rather waiting for the Second Coming of the Christ, the lesson espoused here is all about nurturing and discovering the Christ Within−closely resembling what is described in Buddhism as discovering the Buddha Nature.

The Medieval interpretation of Nature was that of a harsh alien environment, that needed to be conquered. Paradise and a life of bliss could only be expected after death and resurrection.

In contrast the eastern Daoist tradition is all about the yielding to the laws of nature. The philosophy of the Five Elements in essence is about the right timing in accordance with the laws of nature. The harmony of objects and things in Feng Shui, the cultivation of the life-force energy of Chi in the body with nutrition, Qi Gong and Tai Chi and the ancient Book of Wisdom, the I Qing, all are built on these foundations.

We desperately need to revive the sacred places of old to help realign human consciousness. We need places of solitude, and places for meditation to quieten the mind. These also includes saving the sacred buildings of old that were often built at places with a high natural energy frequency.

Maps of medieval towns show how mindful our ancestors went about in planning their cities. The place of worship was always built on the highest plateau or center with all the other buildings in circular form around it. Shamans and geomancers were consulted so that the buildings conformed to the harmony principles of the universe.

We seem to have lost something elementary in sacrificing so much on the altar of materialism.

Reino Gevers – Author, Mentor and Consultant

https://www.reinogevers.com

     

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