copyright Bela Johnson, published by Inner Tapestry, March/April, 2004

Yet even trees are not the oldest living organisms on our planet. According to microbiological research Prokaryotes are, and as you'll see later in this article, our lives depend on their existence. "Prokaryotes are single celled organisms that do not have a nucleus, mitochondria or any other membrane bound organelles. In other words neither their DNA nor any other of their sites of metabolic activity are collected together in a discrete membrane enclosed area. Instead everything is openly accessible within the cell" (http://www.earthlife.net, emphasis mine).

In other words, human life requires the existence of organisms with this kind of openness occurring within their spheres of existence. Single celled organisms have existed for millions if not billions of years longer than our comparatively infant human species. Though perhaps complex for our minds to ponder, these organisms are a model of simplicity. And over time, humans have continued with a fascination for complexity, especially in this modern technological age. Since the eighteenth century, a lifelong fascination with reasoning to the virtual exclusion of esoteric truth has led some Westerners to believe we are still living in an Age of Enlightenment as defined by rationality and mental acuity. This Age indeed began with such famous scientists as astronomer and mathematician Bessel and Sir Isaac Newton. Yet it also gave us the artistic genius of DaVinci and the emergence of classical music. Though emphasis in our country's history books still seems to favor science over the arts and Webster defines enlighten as "to give the light of fact and knowledge" over what is termed the archaic definition "to light up or illuminate," we cannot deny this older root meaning. DaVinci illuminates Creation for us through imagery, as does Mother Nature. Observing Creation can insert us into the now, the only place in which we may experience grace. Though wondrous in their capacity to render creative thoughts, our brains can never facilitate this state of being.

Let's go back to the trees for a moment, incorporating the four elements our own lives depend on (air, water, fire and earth). Allowing the breeze to blow, trees bend and flex or are taken down by a stiff wind when no longer viable. Allowing the rain to fall and the water to flow, they are fed or again freed from life when uprooted. Seeking the light of the sun, they convert solar energy to foliage. In turn their boughs feed others. Fire consumes them, enriching the soil with potash. There is no resistance to life or death, only existence in harmony with the One ­ one planet, one cosmos, one sphere of existence. The mind of trees is the mind of god, of all Creation, a single celled approach, if you will. They do not think nor actively seek awareness, they are models of it. From the beginning we have been interdependent on other sometimes extremely simple life forms for our continuance as a species. And though we may cease dancing with Creation when living in our heads, our bodies cannot live without opening and taking in nourishment in the form of breath and food, themselves dependent upon simple organisms for survival. These organisms have survived since the beginning of life on earth, and may well have something to teach us.

To continue with our quote from the earthlife website, "So far as we know only Prokaryotes, human chemists and the occasional blast of lightning can split the two atoms of nitrogen in gaseous nitrogen and cause them to be combined with one or more carbon or oxygen atoms. When a nitrogen atom is included in a molecule comprising other elements it is referred to as 'fixed' and organisms which can take gaseous nitrogen and incorporate it into such molecules are called 'nitrogen-fixers.' Nitrogen fixing organisms are very important to the balance of life on earth, without them Eukaryotes (Animals, Fungi and Plants) would not be able to live and grow."

Consider what we humans are doing with our power to split the atom. This knowledge, however, has ever been available as part of the creation of life itself. The Prokaryotes have it, and they may be considered ignorant by definition. Yet they understand their purpose in supporting, rather than destroying life. They understand without brains how to provide for others in the single sphere of existence we call earth. The trees, magnificent in their beauty and usefulness to many life forms seek no answers to existence but simply provide for and nourish life. Perhaps trees once were blind to their purpose, we cannot know. Perhaps every facet of nature more ancient than humans once had a functioning brain of sorts, before their form of intelligence evolved into Oneness consciousness. After all, unity consciousness is a somewhat recent development in our species, and is by no means universally accepted or understood. Perhaps nature moved beyond a brain-based mind as this kind of mind became detrimental to the survival of most species. Considering our short human sojourn on earth and the shorter time we may have left if we continue our hubris in separating ourselves from the concepts of interdependence and stewardship, this idea might not be as far-fetched as it seems.

Meanwhile let us not ignore the beauty inherent in our given complexities. Our journey contains the seed of our deliverance, if we are mindful. One of the tasks set before us then is to discern the difference between mind and brain, in that one facilitates awareness while the latter keeps us stuck in problem-solving. Even Einstein admitted his most brilliant discoveries were achieved by not thinking but rather tapping into the silence of awareness, a practice Buddhists call mindfulness. The simple act of walking meditatively in the woods inspired this article. Conveying concepts which were instantly understood became complex to describe in words. Yet it is through this sometimes-complex sharing that we are able to bridge to a state of mind which may facilitate an emerging awareness of the One. And though one day we may evolve to a state where, like trees, we communicate quite wordlessly and learn, like the "primitive" Prokaryotes, to open our inner walls to accept without question the Oneness of All That Is, we may still experience moments of grace through observing the wisdom inherent in the natural world. For now, we can glimpse the simplicity of nature while practicing mindfulness, or the cessation of our automatic thought processes. At such times we are able to experience moments of grace, delivering us from the turbulent world of the mind we have been conditioned to inhabit.