The Mystery!
“In nature everything is so closely linked together that it is impossible to understand one aspect without having studied another… and for that, we need to study the entire universe. But the universe is infinite, and knowledge of it is beyond our intellectual capabilities” - Pascal
The mystery! I revelled in the mystery this very morning on my now-ritual Monday walk throughout the Dandenong Ranges. I live somewhat close but the short drive there is no less spectacular. And the magic is only heightened once I park my car, run across Monbulk Road and begin the two hour hike.
I stop numerous times on the way up and simply smile (a big, awe-induced grin) at the miracle of nature, and to let the sun warm me when it manages to peek through the sky-scraping Mountain Ash, rumoured to push 80m plus in height (the trees themselves divine beings of Sherbrooke Forest).
Once back at the car, I hit the road and head straight to the bakery/cafe famous - or infamous - for its pastry-thieving Kookaburras. Yes, it’s real; something I learnt first-hand. I decide to sit at my car this times and deny the brazen thieves access to my pain-au-chocolat… which ain’t that healthy for either of us, let’s be honest. It is at this point that I sit, lean against the front bumper and read:
“Anyone who has had an experience of mystery knows that there is a dimension of the universe that is not that which is available to his senses” - Joseph Campbell
Though the Mountain Ash seem miraculously tall and the dance & call of the Lyrebird a mind-blowing joy to witness, the magic of Sherbrooke Forest is well and truly beyond the explicable.
“There is a pertinent saying in one of the Upanishads: ‘When before the beauty of a sunset or of a mountain you pause and exclaim “Ah”, you are participating in divinity’. Such a moment of participation involves a realisation of the wonder and sheer beauty of existence” - Joseph Campbell
If ever you are feeling disconnected from your deepest truth; feeling lost to your calling, your purpose, your mission, your true divine essence, consider blocking away an hour or two and taking a walk through your nearest National Park or nature reserve.
To both walk in nature and to sit in meditation are practices that are sure to unite the human and the divine.
“People living in the world of nature experience such moments every day. They live in the recognition of something there that is much greater than the human dimension” - Joseph Campbell