Part 2: Nature Is
Having a basic grasp of the dualities involved with Daoism doesn’t necessarily help you find your own Dao. And since your path is unique to you, no one can dictate that process for you. Just as Finding Your Identity is a journey, not a destination, so is living as a Daoist.
But recognizing the dualities in life, as I explained in the first part of this blog, is an excellent tool. All those dualities lead to unity within the Dao. So there is also a very special oneness with nature.
The natural world never stops to amaze me. I believe there is a metaphor for every life lesson, represented somehow in the natural world. Even Michael Crichton acknowledged that “life finds a way” in Jurassic Park. Well so does humanity. That is evolution.
Let’s take one specific example from a friend of mine committed to his pursuit of identity. He found himself particularly drawn to trees that were seemingly growing out of rock or concrete. He was noticing the phenomenon sprouting up everywhere. He found himself pondering, "How could something living and breathing emerge out of solid, dead stone?"
And yet, it is that very possibility of a lost seed found in seemingly grotesque situations that can lead to the most beautiful and meaningful growth. The more he considered it, the more he found the juxtaposition informing his own spiritual journey.
The laws of nature are reflected in each and every one of us. All humans are made up of carbon atoms and DNA traits that we share with plants and animals. These atoms first evolved in the Earth’s vast oceans shortly after the Big Bang, giving birth to the planet that eventually birthed us.
The Big Bang erupted out of the same stuff that continues to make up our cosmos today. “In the cosmos, nothing is wasted,” Neil DeGrasse Tyson says in the remade COSMOS series. “From stardust to stars, from stars to stardust. We are all made of star-stuff.”
My brain is composed of the same atoms as the tribal peoples still living in forests; as every Wall Street banker drunk on his own success; priests observing the strictest ritual; misguided prostitutes... We all are one with the universe, and we all have the capacity for love.
Some connect our human experience together as consciousness, which extends to any living creature, be it a plant, single-cell organism, bacteria, or human. Consciousness can be compared to the immense oceans of our world.
Each unique wave emerges from the vast expansion of the water for its moment in the sun. It materializes for an opportunity to express itself unlike any other wave before or after it. It emanates from and returns to the same body of water from which it came.
In fact, it never really left. It rose out of, and upon, the same body of water from which its sibling waves will also do the same. This is how humanity functions as a collective consciousness.
Daoism doesn’t tell you how to live or how to be. It is only a compass to navigate the waters when searching for your truth.
Does Daoism speak to you? What do you learn when you stop to study nature? Take 10 minutes outside, Living in the Moment, and make the discovery of yourself, for yourself. And remember, this blog is written by a Daoist living in the concrete jungle of the big city, wearing generic high-top sneakers, loose-fitting pants on the hips, and a plain hoodie. Still no glasses. So if nature can speak to me, you can find it too….anywhere that "life finds a way."
Emileena is writing a book on artist development called ANOTHER WAY, the Dao of Artist Development. If you are an artist looking for development, consider Emileena's E-Velop program.
Original Artwork by Dave Law, freelance visual artist and illustrator. www.davelawart.com.