March 2014 Archives

Fun Among the Rungs

By Sharon Ray

Being outdoors is ENLIVENING! This is how I feel after my playdate with Sandy today, a day that began with watching her crack a square top into a round coconut with a cleaver. We drank the nectar of gods out of the shell, just the way Nature seems to have intended it. This was followed by a breakfast of sweet organic pineapple, and I made a juice from organic carrots, apples, pineapple, and a squeeze of lemon. Yum!

Sharon and Sandy

Thus thoroughly and beautifully nourished, Sandy and I took off for one of Sandy’s favorite hikes up a nearby fire road trail. Very soon after starting out, we entered a beautiful oak grove where old growth oaks twisted and turned above our heads and showered us in dappled light. “My favorite oak lives here,” Sandy told me. “I haven’t seen it in two years.” When we came upon the majestic tree she stopped, and I could hear something like cooing coming from her throat.

“I think that’s poison oak,” I warned as she began to make her way closer to her branched friend.

“Oh, I don’t mind it,” she said, and blithely walked through the “leaves of three,” which somehow didn’t touch her, who they knew bore them no ill thought. In fact, she was on her way to give the tree a tender, giant hug.

Young milk thistle emerging from the ground

Walking with Sandy is such a treat as she is an herbalist and humbly and naturally shares her knowledge along the way. I met the Japanese catnip herb growing under the oaks, and Sandy told me how wonderful Japanese catnip is when it is juiced as a bedtime drink, its properties can bring relaxation and the calming of the nervous system. We later discovered some milk thistle, and Sandy explained that the first two leaves of the milk thistle are called its “embryonic leaves” and can be eaten, as well as the seeds that come later in the year, to help cleanse the liver.

The hike to the top of the winding road was mostly uphill, with some welcome flat stretches in between. My legs felt happy to be out exerting themselves, and it all felt pretty delicious. While we walked, a certain fragrance filled the air, disappeared, then came again. It kept coming and going, and whenever I inhaled it, the feeling I got was “Wow, this is all I need.” Sandy told me later that the fragrant plant was sagebrush, explaining: “its property is to drop everything you don’t need, and stick to the essence of things,” which coincided exactly with the feeling that arose in me when I experienced its scent!

At the top of the trail we saw a large boulder called “Victory Rock,” so named, I’m supposing, for the feat of those who make it that far in the intense summer heat. Our conditions today were very mild with a sweet, cool wind blowing to keep us happy and refreshed.

Victory Rock holds a secret, sacred formation on its hidden side: the birthing canal. This is an opening in the boulder that Sandy uses when she is experiencing transformation in her life. Sandy’s beloved son, Lorin, is soon to be married, and as she descended the steep side of Victory Rock and looked back up at me just before making her entrance into the birthing hole, she told me that this time through would signify her life transition from mother to wise elder woman. I crouched and watched in silent support as my friend went through the hole and out the other side.

Sandy at the “birthing canal”

Now, it was my turn. I shared that, for me, going through the birthing canal symbolized my transition into living in a body that is energized by plenty of Divine Life Force through the changes I’m making in my habits of conscious nutrition and exercise. Meeting at the other side of the birthing canal, we gave each other a high five.

Sandy and I walked down the trail in silence. We drove back to where we’d met early in the morning—at Sunburst Sanctuary. We had both worked up an appetite, and proceeded to satisfy it by sharing an organic salad. It was made of lettuce grown on Nojoqui Farm, organic avocado, lentils I’d sprouted, all bathed in a dressing of olive oil, Braggs, and fresh squeezed lemon.

I feel wonderful and strengthened physically, mentally, and spiritually. No wonder that conscious nourishment, recreation, and association are three rungs on the Path to Self-Realization.* The day is soon coming when more people will recognize the deeper benefits of these activities and doctors will begin to advise, “Take a two-mile hike, and call me in the morning after you’ve had your fresh coconut juice.”

Oh God, blessed is the Path that leads to You!

*The Sunburst Path recognizes the importance of consciously and virtuously including eight activities in our lives: meditation, study, conduct, speech, work, association, nourishment and recreation.

Faith and Setting the Butterfly Free

By Sharon Ray

On my friend Valerie’s birthday, we honored her at breakfast. Val said that one of her goals this year is to have “FUN!” and she inspired us all to “enlighten up!” lol!

When I hear the word “fun,” I think “recreation” which is a rung on the ladder of Sunburst’s Eightfold Path. [Walking the Eightfold Path means to consciously and virtuously practice eight activities: meditation, conduct, study, speech, association, nourishment, work, and recreation.] It is easy for people to scold themselves if they feel they are not working hard enough, but how many of us consider FUN to be a requirement on the Path?

It is! Recreation frees our spirits and gives us joy, rendering us more receptive and closer to Spirit. So, in the interest of having my required weekly dose of recreation—which needs no sugar to get down—I went with my friend, Sandy Anderson, to the Elwood Butterfly Reserve.

Sandy and I walked along a trail so shaded by eucalyptus trees that, even in extreme drought, there was actually green stuff growing on the ground: nasturtium, sour grass with yellow flowers, and good old lush green grass almost a foot high. This spring greenness was so refreshing to see, my eyes just drank in the color as butterflies sailed by, some at eye level. We saw many flying high up near the tops of the eucalyptus trees.

Wandering deeper along the narrow trail, we suddenly noticed a beautiful, large Monarch flailing about in the grass. We thought how curious this was and drew nearer to get a better look. This lovely creature was in distress because a dry leaf, perhaps with some sap on it, had gotten quite stuck onto one of her legs. She was desperately trying to free herself of it, to no avail.I carefully reached out my hands and plucked the leaf from her leg, then raised her up out of the grasses. She was now free, and sailed away. I swear I could hear the echo of her calling back “Thank you!” as she registered her new lease on life.

I’ve been thinking about it…what would have been the fate of this magnificent creature if Sandy and I hadn’t passed by at the exact moment of her need? Or what if we had walked by, but not to have comprehended, saying, “Hey, look, there’s a butterfly down in the grass. That’s weird. By the way, did you see the Olympic ice skating finals last week?” Or “Oh, there’s a butterfly in distress in the grass. Too bad. Man, I’m hungry. Where do you want to eat?” But Sandy and I responded with open hearts, and that is precisely why we were appointed to be there at that exact moment.

Sandy and Sharon having fun!

This is the month of the year, in which Sunburst focuses on the virtue of faith. I think to myself, “If the Divine arranges a rescue for a butterfly, how likely is it that a rescue will take place for humans in their time of distress!” My experience with the beautiful butterfly really strengthened my faith. The Mother of all mothers, Mother Divine is always here, ready to help us, support us, counsel us, and send us the help we need. If I am ever a candidate for a 911 rescue, I’ll expect something like a giant Monarch to come and carry me safely home! Thank you God, for being our Best Friend!