By Mirabai WolfWillow
It started with a wonder.
It always starts with wonder.
I wonder what would happen if I befriended some aspect of nature,
took it into my consciousness and followed it daily
through four seasons
to see what it would teach me?
Would my life be changed by this?
Where would it lead me?
I wondered.
And what would it be like to share this journey with others?
Could we inspire and delight each other as we went along?
There is One Holy Book, the sacred manuscript of nature,
the only scripture which can enlighten the reader.
Guided by Hazrat Inayat Khan’s third Sufi Thought, and inspired by the spirit of guidance, the call went out (November, 2019):
Beloved Friends,
This is an invitation to open the Book of Nature in a specific way. It is the way of relationship. This is a practice of the heart, of attention, and of following the thread of your own unfolding into a mystery. Here are the moving parts:
1. Listen for the call of some aspect of nature – one that you can engage with your senses, with your curiosity, with your imagination, with your intuition, with your intellect, and with your heart. The call may come from the animal world, the plant world, the sky, the elements... Let your heart choose the object of your devotion.
2. Keep this choosing to yourself for a time – let it incubate within you. When you are ready, create a ritual of commitment to the journey of this relationship through four seasons. You may wish to begin this journey at the turn of a season – winter, spring, summer, fall.
3. Once you have made your ritual, begin opening to your “beloved” in as many ways as you know. You might wish to start with your senses and see where that takes you. Allow yourself to be still. Allow yourself to be surprised. Use your senses in new ways. Follow the thread of your opening wherever it takes you. Dive in. Be curious. Turn your attention to this devotion as often as you can in your daily life. Be sure to observe yourself as you observe. This is about relationship, inter-relationship, and more.
4. You may find it useful to record this journey. A special notebook might be helpful. Perhaps songs or poems come. Maybe drawings or other forms of art. Make some kind of record of the journey if you hear that call.
5. You may wish to share this practice with others so that you can support and learn from each other as you go. You may wish to create a circle of support and check in with each other, perhaps at least once during each season.
Enjoy this exploration, this devotion, this making sacred.
Fifteen willing souls answered the call and entered into a year of personal and shared exploration from Winter Solstice 2019 to Solstice 2020 and beyond. Two groups formed – one local to Nelson, BC who shared experiences through our monthly mureed gatherings; the second a group of mureeds who were non-local and kept in touch with each other via a groups.io listserv as well as seasonal Zoom calls.
Each mureed chose their concentration, or as we came to call it “our beloved” ~ sky, river, trees, rocks, creek, sunrise, water, earth, air, water-moon, self as Earth-being. We took “a step into the unknown” together on the Winter Solstice of 2019 with each of us creating a personal ritual and perhaps a personal altar to help support the practice over the course of the four seasons.
Every journey was unique to the “wonderer” and to the focus of their practice. What seems common was that the practice brought us outdoors on a regular basis, opened our senses, entranced our hearts, and created a sense of relationship with nature that, as one mureed said, “became more central and less peripheral” to our lives. Some of the time we were active in our relationship with nature, as in gardening, hiking, skiing, kayaking, and walking. Other times we were still and observant – noticing, sometimes with great specificity, about natural forms, patterns, cycles of change, and interrelationships with other aspects of nature. Some found ourselves drawn to communicate with our beloved – asking questions, seeking guidance. In time, some began to experience ourselves as less separate from the “beloved” and more in a dynamic relationship with all of nature – identifying as a being of nature ourselves.
Some mureeds were drawn to supporting our nature devotion practice by learning more through reading and even movies that were pertinent and sensitizing about our “beloved.” Some supported our witnessing through Sufi practices done outdoors, such as the purification breaths, prayers, and nature meditations. Over time some found ourselves letting go of formal practices and being guided by a deep engagement with nature in the present moment. Moments of awe were reported; in the words of one mureed, “I also feel awe… like I am in the presence of a mysterious and wise and perfect being.” Perhaps these are the moments when the eye of the soul opened, as in Hazrat Inayat Khan’s words.
“It is when the eye of the soul is opened and the sight is keen that the Sufi can read the divine law in the manuscript of nature…”
For some mureeds part of the process was journaling on the spot or reflecting later. Poetry, photographs, drawings and paintings became part of the experience for some. Sharing our experiences with each other through writing and through meeting, including on Zoom calls, also became part of the ongoing inspiration to keep opening.
blue dawn, caught it,
caught a ride in the hammock of blue dawn.
though what i hold seems big, the blue dawn holds me.
i can let myself be held as i hold others
-Hamida
What did this practice contribute to our lives? Many reported feeling nurtured, more present, grounded, creative, connected, and inter-related with all aspects of nature. Some spoke of seeing aspects of nature less as objects and began relating to them more as beings to whom they were related.
Without exception, mureeds had experiences of feeling uplifted through their nature devotion practice, reminiscent of the Eighth Sufi Thought:
There is One Object of Praise, the beauty which uplifts the heart of its worshippers through all aspects from the seen to the unseen.
Some felt they were beginning to have a deeper experience and understanding of devotion and what that brings to one’s life. In the words of one mureed, “I experience devotion as a willing and tender flow of attention. It is both comforting and comfortable. It is love in motion.”
Some mureeds felt they were learning about themselves through the metaphor of nature; for instance, one mureed observed the moon as whole through all of its phases and came to see herself as whole through all of her aspects.
Some mureeds felt the nature devotion practice was a precursor to action. In the words of one mureed, “It stands out to me that re-enchanting nature, rediscovering our part in it as human beings, is a necessary part of coming to terms with many of today's global problems, such as climate change.”
Finally, some mureeds reported that through their practice of deep stillness and silence, they had glimpses into a world that is beyond shape, form, sound, color, time, space or description.
As this is written, many of us have decided to continue on with this practice, inspiring and encouraging each other through written communication via a groups.io platform, and seasonal Zoom calls. The composition of the group has changed somewhat as have some of the concentrations. In addition to our previous concentrations, we have included fire, birds, wet-lands, mosses, and light.
And so we continue with the wonder that springs from the heart, humbly sharing with you, the reader, a possible template for Ziraat practice, which is both personal and shared, and grounded in attention, experience, relationship, and beyond.
Mirabai WolfWillow
Nelson, BC
April, 2021