Stillness

Is there anything more challenging than stillness, I wonder?  Am I the only one who has difficulty being still?

Here I am in beautiful Maui. On the one hand I have no real desire to move from my lanai.  I have a desire to be still.  And yet, there is this part of me that screams, "You can't have traveled twenty hours to sit on a balcony.  There are beautiful sights to see and many things to do and you only have six days left."  This annoying part of me that is so afraid I'm going to miss something was reflected back to me this morning in the guise of a group of young men in the condo below disturbing my reverie.  I mean they're blasting something that's supposed to resemble music at 7:30 am and shouting with deep, boisterous, resonant young men voices.  So I try to tell myself, "They're just having fun on vacation."  But it's agitating me and just when I decide to go down and remind them that the signs posted say that quiet time is before and after 10, the wise tree beckons, "Come to me.  Just leave the noise behind you."

I leave my balcony grumbling to myself that I shouldn't have to leave my space to find quiet this early in the day, but as I cross the lawn in bare feet, its spongy soft coolness begins to soothe these irritated nerve endings.  And my wise friend invites me to lie down with him.  So I drape the sarong on the grass and lay down gazing upward into his branches searching for the stillness I seek. 

He suggests softly that I notice the grass and the solid support of the soil beneath me.  He reminds me that the earth is my mother and while she does everything in her power to nourish me, she won't push herself on me.  I must allow her to take care of me if I wish to be strengthened by her.  He asks me to listen for, and to actually feel, the beat of her mother's heart within the drumbeat of my own heart.  He instructs me to take a deep breath in and to hold it within me for a moment before breathing it out.  All of this I do.

Then he surprises me by inviting me to enter his trunk.  "Become the sap flowing down into my roots," he says.  "Notice the way our sap flows down through the soil right into the heart of our Mother. Observe how she places her love into our sap and returns it to our roots similar to a money exchange at the drive-through window of a bank.  He asks me to feel the movement of the sap in our veins flowing back and forth between the heart of Mother Earth and our own roots.  And while sensing that exchange of love to take a deep breath in and rest in the stillpoint of the breath before exhaling deeply and breathing easily in the space of this loving exchange."   And I do.

The wise tree wasn't finished with me.  "And now flow from our roots upward into the tallest branches.  Rest there in the breeze.  Perceive that we are extending beyond the seen branches into the sky on the wings of a bird flying as far as our imagination can take us.  Breathe in the planets, the stars, the galaxies, the moon, the sun as we fly. Hold the stillpoint.  Sense your physical cell connection to these wondrous galactic beings.  And as you breathe out, allow yourself to flow back into the center of my trunk bringing the galactic heavens back with us.  Feeling the consistent love and support that we receive from the galaxies.  Especially the Sun.  It rises every day without fail whether we see it or not.  Feel the warmth of the Sun's rays flowing into every cell of your body.  Recognize the love flowing from above anchoring us to Source and recognize the flow of love from below anchoring us to the earth right within the heart of our trunk."  And I do.

"Now travel to the farthest tip of the longest branch pointing to the north.  Go beyond the leaves and feel the energy of the tree blueprint tethoring us to the overall divine blueprint.  Breathe it in.  And I do.

Flow into the southernmost branch and feel the security of my equilibrium and harmony.  Breathe it in.  And I do.

Next spring to the east and breathe in the golden radiance of higher consicousness .  And I do. 

And lastly flood into west.  Breathe in our connection with every animal, plant, bird, insect, mineral, and all humanity."  And I do.

Now flow back into the heart of my trunk.  Feel the intersection of above, below, north south, east, west coming together in the rotary of the center. 

Breathe it in. 

Hold it for a moment. 

Breathe it out. 

Hold it for a moment. 

And now just breathe.

And I do!

This my darling daughter is stillness.

When the winds fiercely blow & the ocean threatens to overwhelm, stillness keeps me firmly rooted, strongly centered, and solidly in place. There is no need to find stillness only while sitting in peaceful reverie on your lanai.  Take this stillness with you everywhere you go.  

And so I go out today to absorb the true beauty of Mother Maui as a daughter of the Earth and Sky.

The Wisdom of the Tree
by Margie Boehmer
November 2009

The tree stands firmly rooted in the same space
day after day, year after year, observing.
Its growth depending upon the sun, the rain,
the clarity of the air.

Sap streams through the tree’s
roots, its trunk, its branches, its leaves.
Yet the tree need do nothing
but stand firmly rooted
allowing its sap to freely flow.


When the sun warms the air
and rain springs from the sky,
sap entices the buds to burst forth
into luscious flowers and yellow-green leaves.
A majestic headdress that feeds the soul,
yet the tree need do nothing
but stand firmly rooted
allowing its sap to freely flow.


When the sun turns hot
And the sky dries up,
sap encourages the flowers
to sacrifice themselves for the seeds
and the fruit ripens into rich,
juicy, plump lushness.
Yet the tree need do nothing
but stand firmly rooted
allowing its sap to freely flow.


When the fruit abundantly flourishes,
the tree’s limbs sag with effort,
but it is the fruit that sacrifices itself
to the birds, to people, to the earth.
And the tree need do nothing
but stand firmly rooted
allowing its sap to freely flow.


And when the clouds cover the sun
and the air turns brisk, the sap thickens
and leaves blush with glorious displays
of gold, ruby, and amethyst.
Yet, the tree need do nothing
but stand firmly rooted
allowing its sap to freely flow.


And when the sun rests behind winter skies
and the leaves sacrifice themselves to the earth,
and the rain sacrifices itself to ice crystals,
the tree’s nakedness is clothed in a
wintry gown of purity and natural
innocence.
Yet the tree need do nothing
but stand firmly rooted
allowing its sap to freely flow.


And like the tree,
I surrender my need to control
my life and stand on the earth
firmly rooted allowing my inner sense
to freely flow.