This conversation came out of discussing The Inner Life of Trees and Finding the Mother Tree.

Q: I’ve been thinking about trees and their ability to communicate with each other and to help each other and I was wondering if their consciousness is greater than ours?

What they have kept in their evolutionary process is a groupthink, a oneness that humans have lost. We used to have it and that was where there used to be telepathic communication and the ability to communicate with each other at great distances and to be able to learn things by osmosis because it was also being learned somewhere else.

We know that this can still be true in theory; […]

From the time we take on language, our ability to see things clearly for what they are, as they are in real-time, is impacted by perception and memory.

Both have been culturally influenced, so cannot be fully relied on to reveal any great truths. One must look past your story; the story of who you’ve been told you are by parents, teachers, clergy, friends, culture. You must look past the memories because memories are inherently inaccurate.

They are stored perceptions of an event that is immediately filtered through how we want to see ourselves, how we feel about the situation, what else is influencing that moment in time–all influences the story we tell ourselves about that moment that gets stored as a […]

Q: I’m feeling stuck in old patterns.

A: Work to try to shake yourself out of the habits that are preventing you from changing, from getting to where you want to go. For example, don’t start the day at the computer. Start it outside going for a walk, or exercising, or reading.

Q: I know, I’ve made my energy and my life very small. But it feels manageable. Making it bigger feels like just adding more to the to-do list.

A: I’m not talking about adding more busywork. This is about choosing something in the moment that will help you feel more alive and present; something that will give you a lift instead of drag you down, distract you, or numb you.

Q: Even […]

We are born in a state of oneness—still aware of our pure connection with a greater knowing, a greater beingness and the all-that-is. But as soon as we are taught language, we begin being taught how to forget…

How is that possible? Let’s use the word “tree,” which is a language symbol for the image symbol for the thing itself. We’ve instantly been twice removed from pure reality. Much gets lost in the translation.

Each time we are indoctrinated into another “system” —cultural, religious, educational, etc.—we get more filters placed over our direct connection to knowing.

Think of these accumulated filters as glasses that start out clear, and over time begin gradually darkening, until they become very, very, very dark sunglasses. Whereas at […]

Q: Is the glass half empty or half full?

The glass is neither half empty nor half full.

The glass is always full.

The question is: Full of what?

In the example you’re referring to, it’s full of liquid and air.

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Most people think of karma as a spiritual principle of cause and effect/punishment and reward. This view holds that the sum of a person’s previous and current actions determines their fate in the future. For example, if someone committed bad deeds in a previous life, they would be punished for those past misdeeds in this life. If you are a good person in this life, you would be rewarded in your next life.

From a non-punitive view, karma is what you have not experienced in the past, you will experience now. What you’ve finished with now, you will not need to revisit in the future.

Both of these views allow for the idea of “progress.” The first view holds that when you […]

Q: How do we make ourselves better able to embrace change and uncertainty?

You have a major opportunity right now. This national uncertainty we’re facing will continue intensely for quite a while before it levels out. Knowing that this is not going to go away quickly will prevent you from rushing back to the status quo. Most of this has to do with varying levels of acceptance: acceptance of certain emotional states, external world conditions, and so on. Once we can accept what is, we can begin looking for ways to become comfortable with uncertainty. It does require sustained practice. But we’re being given a sustained period in which to practice.

Q: But what is the practice?

Learn to experience each moment as […]