A young woman from Australia flew to California on a whim and hiked the beautiful 211 mile John Muir Trail in California’s high Sierras. Now she was hooked on solo hiking and decided to take on the Pacific Crest Trail, a much more daunting trek. Two other solo hikers that season lost their lives in this pursuit. Our Aussie girl met plenty of challenges, with swollen rivers, glaciers and snow, which she’d never seen before.
Even when we call it “vacation,” extended recreation can easily turn to “wreckreation.” My own experiences have born this out; and we often hear of the weekend sports person who’s now a recovering invalid.
“Work hard; play harder.” It’s a great motto, but can be our undoing. Coming home from activity-filled vacations with my husband, I usually feel like a wreck, and it takes me a week or more to fully recover from our non-stop hiking, camping, rock scrambling, etc. But I wouldn’t want to miss the beauty and adventure of it, maybe even the challenges.
After thinking I’d created a new word, I found it listed at the Internet’s wiktionary: Noun: wreckreation Recreation that wrecks or harms the environment. For example, running off-road vehicles and mountain bikes through ecologically sensitive areas, running boats with large wakes in narrow watercourses so as to cause bank erosion, climbing in areas where raptors nest, or simply hiking in areas that disturb existing flora, fauna and archaeological resources.
We owe our Mother Earth some conscious care, just as we need to respect our God-given bodies, minds and spirits. Actually, I was thinking wreckreation might be applied to over-indulgence in “recreational” beverages, or other substances that wreak havoc on one’s normal ability to function, i.e. one’s personal environment.
So what’s the purpose of recreation anyway? The word’s roots mean “renewal.” Each day the sun rises and renews our daytime activities, after (what should be) the restfulness of night. Life has a rhythm, an ebb and flow. Sunburst’s founder, Norm Paulsen used to say that even the Creator fluctuates between
“a movement and a rest.”
As a microcosm of the macrocosm, or a chip off the old block of the Divine Creator, we each require a movement and a rest. Re-creation or renewal is vital to our wellbeing. We need a balance of exercise and rest physically, mentally and spiritually, so we don’t become a wreck.
Spiritually, and mentally, the best rest is found when we connect directly with the Divine. This can happen in deep meditation, or sometimes spontaneously in reverie, possibly when awed by the beauty of nature.
My husband, Al once met a woman who was fifty years old and on a road trip, having left Detroit for the very first time in her life. She had never before been face to face with a mountain or a forest, or seen the ocean. Hers was a whole new life, a true recreation and renewal of her realm of experiences. She was very excited about it all.
Let us pray for a wonderful renewal of spirit for all humanity. It is our birthright to realize and reaffirm our divinity as sons and daughters of a Creator who loves us, each and every one so very, very much.
Yesterday a boy I know well, Cheechihoh, was coming to the Sunburst garden to work with me. He pestered his “Lala,” Ilene about it all morning. She was enjoying her grandson’s summer visit at her Sunburst home. But she was concerned about taking him to the garden on such a hot afternoon. Finally, it seemed a bit cooler, so she brought him over to work with me.
Cheechihoh was amazed at all the new growth of the plants he had helped put into the ground as transplants only a few weeks earlier. His six-year-old mind had so many questions! After we placed drip hose along a newly planted bed, he saw the water dripping out onto the soil. He wanted to know, “Where is the water going?”
That afternoon, everything in nature seemed to be a cause for wonderment. While we were working, there was a rustling above us on the hillside. We stopped to observe the source, a doe with her two spotted fawns. The youngsters were playing, jumping around amidst the tall grass.
After a bit, Cheechihoh noticed some vultures sitting atop a fence at the far edge of the mandala garden beds. “Why are they sitting there?” he asked. I pointed to the area beneath a butterfly bush. There, very still, sat a mother quail on her nest of numerous eggs. They were probably soon to hatch.
After an hour and a half, our work was done. But my joy at seeing the garden through a young boy’s eyes would always be with me. I felt I had learned much more that afternoon than he had.
As we walked toward the gate to leave, Cheechihoh turned to me, asking, “Can I make this my playground whenever I come to Sunburst?”
My eyes teared up. One of our aims at Sunburst is to give others the opportunity to see Spirit alive in the glorious body of Nature that is Sunburst Sanctuary. What better gift could I have been given that day? May we all experience life through eyes filled with amazement and wonder.
There they stood, majestic, commanding, glorifying the entire hillside with their immense beauty, three magnificent horses, while a beautiful lone poppy bloomed in full majesty on the Wheel of Life trail silently proclaiming to all, “Welcome!”
It was a late February morning as Sharon Ray led our silent procession to the Wheel of Life, an exercise in Mindful Walking Meditation, styled after the precepts of Thich Nhat Hanh. A cosmic blessing indeed to watch the pretty lone poppy as if proudly declaring, “Here I am – alone, yes, but here to offer joy and bring a smile to the faces of all who enter upon this sacred trail.” And smile we did!
As we stood on the hilltop in reverence of Divine Mother’s Nature, Sharon reminded us of the necessity to slow down, to observe, to feel nature and “listen.” And that we did for on our way down the hill on our way to the sanctuary temple, there stood the three gorgeous horses, looking directly at us and as I “listened” their voices in unison conveyed the message to me, “We bring blessings of the Divine Father to you.”
Weeks later, a large group of us made another procession to the Wheel of Life Seed Ceremony led by Sean Fennell. And what were we sowing? Poppy seeds! Could it be a Divine call from that lone poppy that she needed friends? Could it be Divine Mother’s blessing that she recognized just how much we appreciated her lone poppy child and wanted us to create a glorious poppy community? Whatever it was, it was all wonderful, for as retreat participants made their sacred seed offering at the Wheel of Life – sowing symbolically the seeds for the future flowering of their innermost hopes and desires – we knew with conviction that Spirit had heard our prayers and proclamations.
Having explained the Wheel of Life and its significance spiritually as our inner journey, and physically as our outer journey in the world itself, Sean talked about the spiraling nature of our inner journey and showed amazing physical examples of spirals in nature, some of which (a conch shell and pine cone) powerfully captured the message that all life forms, including us humans as well as the orbiting planets and galaxies themselves, are always moving and expressing their spiraling nature.
Once again, the same three horses stood majestically in the exact location they had for the Mindful Walking event weeks earlier, as we proceeded down the hill toward our lodge area. Inwardly, I felt that Divine Spirit and the Ancient Elders of this sacred Chumash land were showering countless blessings upon us and our sincere efforts through these events to bring back Heaven on Earth, right here, right now.
Nourishing rainfall did not deter the afternoon’s planned outdoor events, for in its place an incredible Permaculture movie was shown that created an atmosphere of great anticipation and excitement as participants later eagerly planted trays of vegetable seedlings. These were to be taken home for infusing their own gardens under the guidance of Sean Fennell.
Little Eli, Sunburst’s most adored resident, was, of course, the most eager of all as he dug into the compost, playing with it, wanting to plant also but too young to do so. So thrilled was Carmen, one of the participants who had brought about twenty friends to the event, that she hugged Sean and said to him, “Thank you so much. This is the best birthday I’ve ever had!”
And as Sean humbly put it, “This is our gift to you for gifting us so greatly with your eagerness to learn, your loving presence, and the joyfulness that you and your friends all brought to us at Sunburst.”
Two months filled with many treasured memories of wonderful people, incredible energy, and great learning, blessed by three stately horses and that glorious lone poppy!
“Blessed are the pure of heart, for they shall see God,” a powerful statement! “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God.” This was spoken by Jesus to let all the people know this is possible.
Today we saw, in the early morning, a thick fog that was just hovering around us outside. It was actually very beautiful. I could barely see the tops of the trees, it was so present. It was comforting; it almost felt like it was a nice embrace. It made me think for a moment, as Jesus always put stories into nature, that my faith would know that there was still a sun in the sky shining somewhere, and star systems, and galaxies above me. But my senses couldn’t see it; I only saw what was right there.
It made me think about the similar journey of our soul. Sometimes with that cloud around us, we’re not able to see fully an understanding of the soul’s spiritual journey. We only see and comprehend what’s in the sensory world, what’s around you—and your security, and your basic needs.
But there’s always something in you, longing for more. You realize something more has to fill that space inside of you that is hungering. When you have that awakening, that moment is when you begin the journey of the spiritual warrior, walking the journey of your soul to its full potential of God realization.
This is the resurrection of our souls—to know that inwardly there is that light of Christ consciousness shining upon us all. We are the waves in this ocean of love. Sometimes we forget the ocean, but we are each a part of this eternity.
The month of August was a momentous one at Sunburst. A journey through the cosmos, exploring the cycles of cosmic time in relation to ancient Sanskrit texts was a most unexpected and fascinating highlight of our yearly Star Party.
Sunburst’s own, Moksha Badarayan held spellbound an audience of sixty eager partiers as she explained the direct correlation between the length of the great Yugas (cycles of cosmic time) calculated by the ancient Indian sages, and the Yugas’ duration as validated by present day science. Recent archaeological findings have provided irrefutable evidence that highly sophisticated civilizations existed more than 200,000 years ago!
Jaws dropped as Moksha showed pictures of those findings. Minds raced as each of us tried to understand the vastness of time and place in those spectacular discoveries, and their import. Complicated, advanced mathematics known to pre-Neanderthal races—now how’s that even possible?
A recent article in The Guardian stated that, “Archaeologists unearthed the bones of at least five people at Jebel Irhoud, a former barite mine 100km west of Marrakesh…. They knew the remains were old, but were stunned when dating tests revealed that a tooth and stone tools found with the bones were about 300,000 years old.” Another discovery in San Diego, California posits the claim that humans might have lived in North America 130,000 years ago!
Homemade chai tea, all types of snacks, salads, finger foods and cookies provided an incredible prelude to a small trek up the Wheel of Life hill to view the Perseid meteor shower. What a memorable evening it was as all celebrated the fact that it is science that will continue to debunk what mainstream academia has for far too long deemed: hardly likely, impossible, or simply a myth.
The excitement of this memorable event had hardly waned as yet another fun and exciting happening followed two weeks later—Family Weekend! Oh what a joy to see families having fun together painting sand mandalas, practicing yoga, learning meditation. Kids excitedly andjoyfully helped Sean Fennell plant young starters in Sunburst’s permaculture garden. There was harvesting of all types of yummy vegetables, dancing and playing under the sprinklers and even more fun at a beach party afterwards. A scrumptious dinner was to be only a teasing prelude to yet another amazing evening—a live concert by Jaya Lakshmi and Ananda.
A full day, a fun time, and a restful night were followed the next day bySunday services and a yummy brunch. This marked the grand finale before Labor Day celebrations. We had explored the cosmos, meditated and explored inner space, worked and played in the garden, sang and danced in the temple, and made special connections with each other. Spirit and Nature had joyfully and effortlessly played and danced together for three glorious days.
Yesterday a boy I know well, Cheechihoh, was coming to the Sunburst garden to work with me. He pestered his “Lala,” Ilene about it all morning. She was enjoying her grandson’s summer visit at her Sunburst home. But she was concerned about taking him to the garden on such a hot afternoon. Finally, it seemed a bit cooler, so she brought him over to work with me.
Jaws dropped as Moksha showed pictures of those findings. Minds raced as each of us tried to understand the vastness of time and place in those spectacular discoveries, and their import. Complicated, advanced mathematics known to pre-Neanderthal races—now how’s that even possible?
The excitement of this memorable event had hardly waned as yet another fun and exciting happening followed two weeks later—Family Weekend! Oh what a joy to see families having fun together painting sand mandalas, practicing yoga, learning meditation. Kids excitedly and
Sunday services and a yummy brunch. This marked the grand finale before Labor Day celebrations. We had explored the cosmos, meditated and explored inner space, worked and played in the garden, sang and danced in the temple, and made special connections with each other. Spirit and Nature had joyfully and effortlessly played and danced together for three glorious days.
“Work hard; play harder.” It’s a great motto, but can be our undoing. Coming home from activity-filled vacations with my husband, I usually feel like a wreck, and it takes me a week or more to fully recover from our non-stop hiking, camping, rock scrambling, etc. But I wouldn’t want to miss the beauty and adventure of it, maybe even the challenges.