Stepping through the
Door
By saying that everything is
alive, I am not using words in the same way a
biologist would. I don't mean, for example, that a
rock is a biological organism that a lake can flee
from predators. What I do mean is that
consciousness - the being and
experiencing that makes life real -
permeates everything; it is a part of the structure
of the universe, like space, time, or energy. How a
particularly being experiences consciousness
depends on its own nature, including its biological
apparatus and behavioral repertoire. I experience
being alive in a particular, human, way. A cat
experiences it differently, as does an oak tree. A
rock, too, has some experience of being a rock.
It's not the same kind of experience that
biological organisms have, but there is still a
core of being that all things partake
of.
The Animistic
Vision
 The
idea that everything is alive is hardly original
with me. In fact, it has been a basic part of human
understanding and perception in most cultures and
most eras. The widespread depersonalization of the
natural world is a relatively recent development.
From the Shinto spirits of Japan to the dryads and
river gods of Greece, people have recognized and
responded to the living essence within all things.
We should not imagine these stories as being
fiction (in the modern western sense), or (even
worse) imagine the people who told them to be
confused or ignorant.
When we see everything as
alive, we step into a world rich with personality
and story, a world that invites us to connect, to
communicate, to commune, and to co-exist. When we
see everything unlike ourselves as inanimate
objects to be used, we turn instead to an existence
of indifference, superficiality, and exploitation.
It is not a question of one of these perspectives
being true and other being false; it is a choice.
We can decide how to live and how to relate with
the world around us.
Although it is hardly
possible to be a 100%, full-time animist in our
present mainstream culture, one can still move in
the direction of greater awareness of the living
essence in all things. Doing so opens up a richer,
more satisfying way of living. Walking in a living
world, one can learn wisdom everywhere. Each
animal, plant, or place has its own perspective,
its own personality, and we can receive from all of
them - and give back. Some people may think you are
weird to be getting information from pine trees,
but is Fox News really such a superior
alternative?
Mars
 As
a mythological/astrological mascot for the idea
that everything is alive, I have selected the god
Mars (Ares in Greek). Modern spiritual seekers are
often ambivalent about those ancient war gods. Do
we really need all that agression and competition?
What meaningful lessons can such a deity bring into
our lives?
Some people, upon connecting
with the idea that everything is alive, focus on
the unity of all things, becoming pantheists and
finding a single conscious spirit moving in
everything. My own sensibilities draw me in a
different direction. I am fascinated by all the
different experession of spirit this world
contains: the raven, the morning glory, the
laughing creek behind my home. It seems to me that
the cosmic spirit (by whatever name you choose to
give it) must also revel in this diversity.
Consciousness loves these individual, particular
beings with their unique natures and
experiences.
As part of all that is, we
can flow outside our own egos and find a particular
kind of blisss. But as individual beings, we can
also see our egos as vehicles of vivid, distinctive
experience. The two perspectives complement each
other; we do not have to deny one to affirm the
other.
With this in mind, we can
look at Mars in a new way. He is competive, sexual,
ambitious, passionate - he is a symbol of striving,
seeking the glory that comes from succeeding in his
own personal cause. Mars has something of the same
energy as a seed sprouting, exerting incredible
force to move obstacles and break into the light,
to live and grow and thrive. This is the energy
behind the beautiful, magical diversity of life.
Every individual being is on a mission to
become. Each being has its own urge, its own
need, its own passion. From these differing needs,
competition arises. The process of biological
evolution takes this competitive struggle and
transforms it into the incredible forms we see in
the natural world. Without the passionate quest to
survive, to grow, and to reproduce, there would
hardly be life at all.
Today, we may take a dim
view of warfare and conquest, but that is only one
expression of the energy Mars represents. He is
passion, motion, intensity, purpose, and
individuality. His is the energy of seeking,
striving, and becoming. Mars gives great fuel to
the driving creativity of the artist, the
passionate joy of the lover, and the idealism of
the reformer.
Homework
Here are some ways to
encourage your connection with the life spirit in
other beings.
- Imagine what it would be
like to be a dog or other animal of your
acquaintance.
- Imagine what it would be
like to be a 500-year-old redwood
tree.
- Watch a bird or other
creature for half an hour, or as long as you can
follow it.
- Go for a walk, and sense
the mood of each different place you pass
through.
- Ask an animal for a
message, and open your mind to a response (it
may come as words, images, or just
feelings)
- Read poems by Mary
Oliver.
- Go to a favorite tree
(or other plant) and ask it what its name
is.
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