NMH and Nature Walks

Question 1

What is an aspen tree a metaphor for…possibility 1.

Answer 1

• Aspen Trees—leaves shimmering
  
  • tree perfect metaphor for truly successful person; strong, durable, reliable, solid
  • strong,productive, ruggedly individual; one of a million in a forest, or one alone in a Savannah, a tree grows silently on his own, reaches its own heights, and ultimately dies alone. right?
  • wrong. The aspen tree is not a solitary masterpiece. That lone aspen is no such thing.
    • The Redwoods grow in thick groves because their shallow roots are intertwined and, over time, fused together. They start out as individuals and become one with others as they mature and grow.
    • The aspen and the Redwood are almost perfect metaphors for the Buddhist belief that the self is actually an illusion; we are intertwined, Buddhist thinking goes, and our individual lives are simply manifestations of a more holistic life force. Ignoring this, the Buddhists feel, is to living an illusion and a lot of suffering.

From Arthur Brooks, Strength to Strength

Question 2

What is an aspen tree a metaphor for? Try again

Answer 2

• Each individual aspen trees forms part of an enormous root system. In fact, the aspen is the largest living organism in the world.
  - One stand of Aspens in Utah called Pando spans 106 acres and weighs six million killograms. The one lone aspen is simply one shoot up of a vast root system, one expression among many of the same plant. That got me to wondering if the aspen was a special case.

Question 3

Are the red woods of California a metaphor for a rugged individual who can do it all on his own?

Answer 3

• Later I found myself in CA in the Redwood Forest. The Giant Redwoods, Sequoian Gignatium, are the most massive individual trees on earth. Not a single system like the aspens. Maybe this was a better metaphor for the rugged individual. Again, no. The Redwood, which can grow to 275 feet tall, has remarkably shallow roots, often only five or six feet deep.
  - It seems to violate the laws of physics that they can stand upright for hundreds, even thousands, of years. That is, until you know one more fact.

Question 4

How are the Aspen and the Redwood perfect metaphors for the Buddhist belief that the self is actually an illusion, and that we are intertwined

Answer 4

• The Redwoods grow in thick groves because their shallow roots are intertwined and, over time, fused together. They start out as individuals and become one with others as they mature and grow.
  - The aspen and the Redwood are almost perfect metaphors for the Buddhist belief that the self is actually an illusion; we are intertwined, Buddhist thinking goes, and our individual lives are simply manifestations of a more holistic life force. Ignoring this, the Buddhists feel, is to living an illusion and a lot of suffering.

Question 5

What do Buddhists believe about interconnectivity

Answer 5

• The aspen and the Redwood are almost perfect metaphors for the Buddhist belief that the self is actually an illusion; we are intertwined, Buddhist thinking goes, and our individual lives are simply manifestations of a more holistic life force. Ignoring this, the Buddhists feel, is to living an illusion and a lot of suffering.

Question 6

Why should one stop having this “imagined self” view. What is wrong with it.

Answer 6

> As Buddhist Writer Mattheo Ricard puts it, “Our grasping to the perception of the self as a separate entity leaves to an increasing feeling of vulnerability and insecurity. It also reinforces self-centeredness, mental rumination, and thoughts of hope and fear. and distances ourselves from others. This imagined self becomes the constant victim, hit by life’s events.

    - Just as seeing only the one aspen is a misunderstanding of its true nature, the lone person, no matter how strong, accomplished and successful, is a misunderstanding of ours as well.
    - We may look solitary, but we form a vast root system of families, friends, communities, nations, and indeed, the entire world.

Question 7

Are the changes of growing older –the inevitable decline-a tragedy to regret?

Answer 7

• The inevitable changes in my life and yours, aren’t a tragedy to regret; theyre just changes to one interconnected member of the family, one shoot from the root system.
  - The secret to bearing my decline—no, enjoying it—is to be more conscious of the roots linking me to others.
  - If I am connected to others in love, my decrease will be more than offset by the increases to others. Which is to say, increases to other facets of my true self.

Question 8

Why is it important to establish a root system and connections to others

Answer 8

• Further, my connection to others makes my jump to the second curve all the more natural and normal. Indeed, the crystallized intelligence curve is predicated on the interconnectedness; without it, my wisdom has no outlet.
  - Establishing a root system isn’t always simple, though. Many strivers have spent their adult lives under the illusion of their solitariness and now suffer the result. Their root systems are withered and unhealthy. Less metaphorically, they are simply lonely.
  - The lessons in this chapter focus on how to build, or rebuild, a proper root system. We will first look at the evidence on love and happiness, particularly in the second half of life. Then, we will take on the lonliness that so many successful people feel and how to meet it, head on.
  - homni vinci devore.

Question 9

Tree poem

Answer 9

• Poem : I think that I shall never see/A poem lovely as a tree/ Joyce Kilmer, 1913