ENSURING OPENNESS TO THE MORE THAN HUMAN WORLD
This is just a really important question for those of us who are committed to shifting from a human centric orientation to one where we are humans dwelling amidst the more than human world, amidst a great myriad of other beings who are our ontological equals, who are just as much beings as we humans are. This is absolutely antithetical to centuries of inherited thought and practice that have elevated humans above all other beings and have treated all other beings as only things that can be exploited to fill whatever human desires we might have. How can we ensure our openness to the more than human world? Here are some suggestions:
Spend time in the more than human world without distraction. It’s really tough for most of us to connect if we are inside typing at a computer. Our whole context in that case is human centric. Go walk or sit outside. Put your phone in your backpack. Pay attention to your steps or the birds, the trees, the squirrels, the wildflowers, the grasses.
Move slowly. This one is particularly hard for me. I’m always in this rush to get back. Pretend like you have nothing else to do but move at the pace of the turtle in the protected pond or the corn plant on a hot and humid summer day. Stretch, move slowly, follow where your attention wanders—and let it wander.
Talk to the other beings. The more we can talk to grass, to squash, to trees, the more we can see them as beings, the more we can reinforce an animistic view. And if you talk to squash long enough or to trees, eventually they will talk back. That has certainly been my experience with the deer who live in my slice of suburban heaven (for them, not for me), my experience with trees, with the catbird who I think might have lost his/her mate in the storm that knocked down hundreds of trees. I don’t think talking to other beings is complicated, but it is challenging because it is so different for us and they can’t simply use human language to talk back to us.
Find some kind of practice that works for you. There are millions of practices, literally. Grow a garden, do sit spot, do hitbodedut, forage for wild edibles, track animals, learn to make a fire without a match, bird watch, make s’mores over a campfire, gaze at the stars in the night, howl at the moon, pick some sugar (fruit) at a u-pick. Find some kind of practice and practice it—that is do it regularly. What does regularly mean? All depends. It might be a stretch for you to do it once a week. I’m blessed to be semi retired and I sit outside and pray probably at least 350 days a year.
