Forest Sutra
context → teaching → elaboration → conclusion → closing.
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invocation:
"I have met many people that see trees, talk about trees, categorize trees, but have no idea what a forest is."
"Do not be dismayed if you feel lost, there is a trail. Unless you are bold and wander off it, then if unprepared, incautious, you will find the forest uncaring to your discomfort.”
context:
This land I walk daily is a mixture of second-growth trees with ancient giants, each young tree already eighty years old, just a shade older than I. You can read the story on the forest floor when you step into untouched woods, where the earth still whispers of its pristine past. I wander beside an old scar of road, a trench gouged deep into the soil to haul timber away, ending in a broad clearing now tangled in thick underbrush. Beyond that, the scene shifts. Here the true old forest rises, untouched by axe or chain, free of saws and the rumble of trucks. Somewhere long ago, someone drew a line on a map, sparing this realm. Yet even this sanctuary bears the marks of fire, its embers lingering in each tree’s rings.
Still today, the change is unmistakable. There is nothing mystical about an old-growth forest, just different. The newer forest is more dense, more uniform in verity, much more susceptible to various threats. But the old-growth forest also has deep vulnerabilities. All forests need care. Humans have been stewards of forests for thousands of years. Yet it is this man-made nature that we are destroying by our hubris, our myth of independence. The natural forest will continue. It will change over a long time, but it will continue.
teaching:
Nature is not natural. Nature is man-made. The natural world was here long before and will be here long after humans. The natural world is not in danger. The human-invented nature is in very serious peril. This is not a planetary catastrophe, this is a human biosphere disaster. The natural world will change, adapt, and move on.
In some ways, the human mind is thus. Or at least it is helpful to think about the mind in this way. The human Nature-mind and the Natural-mind. Second growth mind and old growth mind. No, this is not a perfect analogy. But it is a distinction that makes a difference.
A word of caution: the old growth mind is not mystical, it is not divine, nor universal, or infinite. It too has boundaries. Yet in our everyday life, we rarely step into it. Habitually, we operate within the second growth mind, the mind created by human man-made Nature. The human Nature-mind, we now find in serious peril.
Some qualities of this peril in the man-made nature-mind can be easily witnessed. Uniformity, fragility, reactivity, a feeling of something not quite right, a dissatisfaction. Fear of missing out. A self-created need to be busy. A mind seeking constant diversions. The endless scroll. This mind is not natural, it is a cultural product. Just as the human-planted pulp-wood farms are not forests. So too is this planted mind nature, not natural.
Some qualities of the natural-mind include, but are not limited to, contentment, curiosity, flexibility, spontaneous insight, and an affinity toward other natural minds. It is diverse in its contemplations. Relaxed in its not-knowing. A meandering, flowing attention. Yet with an ability to concentrate this attention with ease. It can be both shallow and wide, and also narrow and deep, as needed.
To clarify: this man-made nature-mind is not inferior, nor is the natural-mind superior. But this culturally manufactured mind is susceptible to more hazards. Different hazards. So detecting which mind you’re standing with is beneficial. The care needed to maintain a second growth forest is quite different than the care needed to sustain an old growth forest. Yet they are both forest minds. Greater than the sum of their tree thoughts and emotions. Perhaps as modern humans, we need to circumnavigate the world using both.
Both minds are embodied minds and cannot exist outside of the feelings and proprioceptions of a body. Yet the natural-mind can at times transcend the ego of the nature-manufactured mind. And see it for what it is. Not so the other way. The culture-dependent mind has only clues and vague murmurings of the more expensive natural-mind. Thus the healthy maintenance of these is sometimes in opposition to each other.
elaboration:
“If the natural-mind is not superior to the culturally manufactured nature-mind. Why should we practice to strengthen it ?”
"Creativity. Wholeness. Deep understanding. All are blooms of the natural-mind. Empathy arises in the natural-mind, whereas superficial knowing arises in the reactive nature-mind. To sit comfortably in the natural-mind is necessary to commune deeply with other minds.”
"Then the natural-mind is superior ?”
"Not at all. The day-to-day nature-mind is very useful in its ability to use language and to take actions for survival. They serve different evolutionary purposes. The idea is to be proficient in both.”
conclusion:
Walk Both. Notice the differences. Today I pick fresh tomatoes from my garden. And I sit in contemplation. Today I walk the old logging scar up to the old growth. The stump I rest on is older than my grandfather; it takes a minute, but my nature-mind sublimes into a more natural-mind. The pace of thought slows down. Centered in my body and the forest. This isn’t magical nor supernatural. It is subtle and almost pre-language. Yet the difference is notable.
Nature-mind is from where I write this. Natural-mind is oceanic and another source of insight. Not superior nor inferior. Yet the hazards of nature-mind are often resolved by the contrast to the natural-mind. Both are readily available.
Duḥkha (Sanskrit: दुःख; Pali: dukkha), standing badly, unsteady, disquieted, uneasy. Is the motivation for seeking natural-mind. It does not resolve suffering, yet it points to the source of suffering.
closing:
Do not be dismayed that you find yourself caught in nature-mind. It is necessary to function in a world of other human nature-minds. Language and rational thought are extremely useful. Yet I urge you to take a walk in the old grove of natural-mind. It too is useful.
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.1
Andrea Wulf’s illuminating biography of Alexander von Humboldt, Inventing Nature, which everyone should read. The big argument of the book, pretty persuasively made, is that in the early 1800s, Humboldt almost single-handedly invented Nature as we understand it today.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Invention_of_Nature
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