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I open the car door and the bird songs immediately greet me. In the far off distance the sun is currently hidden by heavy but light gray cloud cover. It doesn’t look like it’s going to rain, but I can feel the wetness on the back of my hand. I come upon some new blooms as I approach the lake which is as still as last week, except for some additional islands of algae which are floating today in the middle of the waters. They remind me a little bit of perhaps what the thousand islands by Niagara Falls must look like. Just when I think that the lake is actually empty, I come upon a couple of pairs of geese intermingled with the shadows being cast upon the water by the trees bordering the lake.

It strikes me that natured has figured out the best camouflage to hide birds from their predators — by simply blending colors of flora and fauna, and by playing with gradations of light created today by a combination of overcast skies and still waters. The entire scene is like a suggestion to me to stop, or at least pause at the wide-open clearing and take a look. I accept, and humbly start chanting the Gayatri mantra — four lines of eight syllables each, design for healing and prosperity, by paying homage to the sun. As I walk past the geese, I notice that the path to the geese observation enclosure near the lake, constructed this spring by faculty and students, has finally dried out. It looks so cleaned up and inviting that I decide to accept the invitation to check it out.

In order to enter the enclosure, which looks like a boxcar with a door in the middle, I realize that I need to navigate the one foot wide and four foot tall entrance at lake level. It strikes me that it so very appropriate that I have to bow my head and bend at the waist to actually enter. As I enter, it is almost as if I’m entering the inter sanctum of many an Indian temple, whose doorways are only high enough so that one cannot enter without bowling or bending. I cannot help but smile at the idea, that one has to humble oneself a little bit because I’m really close to nature sanctum too.

The project was created to have lower school and middle school children visit and come really close to the water, and safely observe and inhale the beauty of nature. The enclosure is lined with narrow benches along the walls, and there is room enough to fit about a half dozen kids and a teacher. The inner sanctums of temples also only have room enough for a priest, and a few visitors at a time.  I’m fortunate that I can sit here today for a few moments, and notice that the geese are swimming a bit more peacefully. Maybe it is because I am sitting down a little bit closer to the level of the lake, hunched and bent over a bit, in a position of humility, I am looking a little less intimidating to them?

As I sit there, I notice that my nostalgia about the fact that I may not be taking these walks that often, as the school year ends and my daughter graduates, has been replaced by a feeling of peace and a new reason to come visit. I realize that my work with the school is probably not yet done, and I can still contribute as a parent alumni of one who has benefited greatly by being in nature’s  playground over the last nine years. Time does not diminish nature’s gifts to us, as long as we are willing to accept them with a bit of humility. As long as we accept nature’s invitations with a heart full of respect, chant an occasional prayer, we are rewarded with peace, More so, if we are willing to go a step further and approach bow our heads, bend our knees and our waist, we may find our way into the inner sanctum of our own hearts and be filled with light and lightness. 

If a little bit of humility can bring us so much closer to awareness, to nature consciousness, what could happen if we were to go beyond humility? What lies beyond humility, you may ask? Perhaps a bit of surrender? But surrender to what, you may ask? Perhaps we can bend our ego a little bit towards all of that infiniteness which our finite senses cannot possibly comprehend? Maybe surrender will then follow?

Kumud

Join us for our weekly gathering and twitter chat, Sunday May 5 at 9amET / 1pmGMT / 630pm India as we reflect on ‘Humility and Beyond.’ All friends and family, new and old are invited to visit and sit with us. Namaste ~ @AjmaniK

New Blooms MayNew blooms seen near the lake on the first Friday of May. April showers do bring May flowers!