Beliefs are a luxury of the idle and disconnected. I can say this because I am idle and disconnected enough to observe it in myself. Yet when I share this observation with others, some ask, “What about values and morals; aren’t they based on beliefs?” “What do beliefs mean,” I reply, “when we are out…
Making Pemmican
The Native People of the temperate and northern regions of America developed a high-energy fast food that is easily transportable and long-storing. We know it as pemmican, or pimikan in the Algonquin languages. The term is derived from pimii, the Cree-Chippewa word for fat. This is quite appropriate labeling, because fat, a concentrated energy source,…
The Right-and-Wrong Trap
When we speak from our hearts, there is no right and wrong. If I tell someone else she is wrong, I am probably either not hearing what she is saying or I am not accepting it. Instead, I am judging, externalizing, or defending. When I tell someone else he is wrong, it is usually to…
Become the Animal
The following is an excerpt from my forthcoming book, Becoming Nature: Learning the Language of Wild Animals and Plants, scheduled to be released this upcoming spring with Inner Traditions. You wrap yourself in the skin of an animal and move within her movements. You see through the bright of her eyes and feel through the…
Master Stalker
One afternoon in my youth, I became mesmerized by a Wolf Spider stalking a Fly on a sunny windowsill. It was as though I had become the Spider; I felt the dynamic tension he had disguised by his outwardly relaxed state, and I adopted his keenness of focus, while at the same time maintaining overall…
Seeing Through Our Biggest Blinders: Prejudice and Fear
The following is an excerpt from my forthcoming book, Becoming Nature: Learning the Language of Wild Animals and Plants, scheduled to be released this upcoming spring with Inner Traditions. When we Become Nature, we are at-one with our surroundings. We move among the animals and plants as if the forest were our home. Our sense…
The Teaching Trail
When two paths open before you, choose the hardest one. – Buddhist saying “You’re kidding Tamarack!” were the first words out of Meg’s mouth after trekking up the new trail to my lodge. “What is wrong with the old trail? You’re going to break your neck trying to get up this one at night.” “Perhaps,…
Be as a Question
A short while ago, two Seekers brought me a conifer branch they wished me to identify for them. If I did so, they would have their answer and likely be content, learning little about neither the tree nor the learning process. So I turned the question back to them, along with some guidance as to…
The State of Western Values
My mate Lety recently went to a talk given by a college professor on ISIS, acronym for the Islamic State insurgence centered in Iraq and Syria. He was discussing the appeal ISIS has for drawing recruits from all over the Western world. As he saw it, the primary reason was that we have bankrupted ourselves…
The Power of Everyday Awakening. Or not.
I have a confession to make: I’ve been ignoring my spirituality. In fact, I’ve been acting just like an animal, with no higher purpose. I eat, I shuffle things around (my substitute for the hunt), then I sleep and get up to do it again. Am I missing something? Alright, I’ll get serious (I said…