I am full of exclamation marks!
Day 101 of my tree puja.
In which my reading of Bentov’s book validates and expands the experience I’m having with the tree puja.
I am reading Bentov, Stalking the Wild Pendulum, and have just started the section entitled, ‘Construction and Maintenance of a Nature Spirit’. I am full of exclamation marks! So of course, I had this in mind as I went about the puja.
Finding my footing
Day 98 of my tree puja.
In which I use Sanskrit words from the 8 limbs of raja yoga. The purpose of raja yoga is to still the mind. The tree puja does this.
Concentration. Puja is also about concentration, dharana. A state of sense withdrawal, pratyahara, spontaneously occurs as I squat by the tree…
The tree has been my teacher
Day 92 of my tree puja.
In which the tree is understood as guru.
The tree has been my teacher this last year. All the books I have read, all the wise talks I have heard, programs attended, discussions discussed, have not taught me the profound insights the tree puja has allowed to unfold…
Not entirely a wild thing
Day 86 of my tree puja.
My tree is not a wild tree. Just as I am not a wild human. We have this domesticity in common, as we reach out to each other across the species boundary.
The morning is a time of upward flowing energy. I felt it instantly, as I stood under the tree preparing the deepak (oil lamp)…
The matrix of natural energy
Day 82 of my tree puja.
Feedback from the tree continues as our relationship unfolds.
A group of birds were singing madly and urgently together somewhere. In the gum blossom, full of nectar and rain, a wattle bird flapped and supped…
The purpose of ritual
Day 80 of my tree puja.
Realisations about ritual, about worship, about surrendering to the experience, continue. This is a state of clarity.
The regularity of ritual brings reassurance if nothing else…
Feeling is a prayer
Day 75 of my tree puja.
Offering a flower to a plant is an interesting concept.
I am swelling with emotion just like a ripe bud in spring! Some say that feeling is a prayer. I offer my feeling, there is too much for me…
In the moment, without resistance
Day 69 of my tree puja.
I realise that the tree has perfect self-knowledge.
I was late to bed and late to rise and late to the tree. Nevertheless, I went…
The regularity stabilises the energy
Day 68 of my tree puja.
Yesterday I met with some of the world’s tallest trees. We need to touch and rest on such beings. Press your ear against the trunk, press your palms into their strength, be with that tree for a little while and feel the steady power which we are welcome to share.
The tree was pleased with my presence and efforts today…
I get dissipated and lose my discipline
Day 67 of my tree puja.
The tree is a brilliant psychologist. I’ll leave that for you to think through.
She is right – routines help ground us, and I need to be stronger at maintaining them…
Agitation and frustration
Day 66 of my tree puja.
Separation is the opposite of unity.
it’s just a state of mind for a while…
Get on with it!
Day 33 of my tree puja. Amidst the wet and leaves and petals and life, the tree gives me a message I need.
All the tree would say was, “Get on with it.”
The tree cannot walk but it never ceases to grow.
Day 28 of my tree puja. The seasons do not stand still. The brightness of flowers sprinkles the earth, while the tree is yet to emerge from her slumber. And yet, she has a message that helps me stabilise my mind today.
The tree said to me, be steady, be steadfast, one foot in front of the other, keep walking.