There is One Holy Book, the sacred manuscript of nature,
the only scripture which can enlighten the reader
– HIK, The Way of Illumination, Sufi Thoughts
I puzzled over this passage when I first read it. How can nature be the only scripture to enlighten readers when the world has produced such divinely inspired words of wisdom? My favorite scriptures are from the New Testament, the Bhagavad-Gita, and the Tao Te Ching. So, what does this quote mean that only nature can enlighten the reader?
In The Alchemy of Happiness, HIK explains how each living thing emits a unique vibration and as the soul awakens, it starts to become aware of these vibrations. The apostles were able to speak in a language that everyone, even foreigners, understood because they were advanced enough to read and address each person in their own vibrational language. In his book, The Awakening of the Soul, HIK quotes the Persian poet Saadi: “Once a soul has begun to read, every leaf of the tree becomes as a page of the sacred book of life.”
Perhaps William Blake experienced a similar level of awakening as Saadi when he wrote this stanza of his poem, Auguries of Innocence:
To see a world in a grain of sand
And a heaven in a wild flower,
Hold infinity in the palm of your hand
And eternity in an hour
Conceivably, nature is the only scripture which can enlighten the reader because it underlies all scriptures. It exists at a deeper, more vibrational level and informs them all.
Perceiving vibrations
Do you perceive different vibrations? Sometimes when you walk into certain places or meet certain people, you feel good and want to linger. Other times, certain places or people give you an uncomfortable feeling that makes you want to leave quickly. It’s often easy to feel sacredness when entering holy places, especially historic sanctified sites which ground the vibrations of worship and prayers. Other places hold an extreme negative vibration. For example, on a tour of Israel, I started to feel nauseous as I exited the bus at Masada. I thought I had eaten something wrong for breakfast but the upset totally vanished once I got back on the bus. I understood why I felt so sick when I discovered what happened there—960 men, women and children committed mass suicide to avoid being seized by Roman soldiers. The horror of what happened on consecrated ground still vibrates more than two thousand years later.
Nature as spiritual nourishment
Many today who are disillusioned with organized religion turn to nature for their spiritual nourishment. Nature appeals to them because it has no intermediaries, doctrines or dogmas, or need for translation. It’s immediately accessible to everyone. Your approach to nature may be light, deep or somewhere in-between. You may walk in nature but chat with a friend or listen to music. A more enriching approach would be to sit in quiet and contemplate the natural surroundings. Or gaze on a small object found in nature, such as a leaf or flower. You may sense a vibration, pattern, or light emanating from your object of contemplation. Even if you can’t yet experience these traits, you’ll most likely feel calmer and more refreshed afterwards. Concentrating or meditating on a single object is a common spiritual practice in most traditions. What may vary is the object of concentration.
I love spending times on retreat because it affords me time in quiet and beautiful surroundings to practice contemplation of nature in this way. Some of my best, awe-inspired memories involve nature. What are yours? I recall a time on Martha’s Vineyard over the Fourth of July weekend with my sons, their wives and my grandchildren. At dusk, we trudged out to the sand dunes. Together we saw the full moon sparkling over the ocean in one direction and dazzling fireworks in the other, all the while smelling the fresh ocean air. My heart opened as I experience such incredible beauty. I was reminded of the precise order of the celestial bodies, indicating to me an intelligence behind the physical world.
Contemplating violent occurrences in nature
What about the times when nature is not peaceful—thunder storms, earthquakes, volcanoes and other extreme weather. These events also shed light on an aspect of the divine that the theologian, philosopher, and comparative religionist, Rudolf Otto calls the mysterium tremendum. In my March 2023 Reflections Newsletter, “Encountering the Holy,” I addressed the meaning of this phrase. Contemplating the more violent occurrences in nature broadens our understanding of the divine. It’s not all sweetness and light. Hinduism conveys a comprehensive view when it speaks of the divine as Creator, Sustainer and Destroyer. In a safe place, try sitting and contemplating an oncoming storm and see what arises. You may experience the power, grandeur and dynamism of the divine.
Help for the elderly and infirmed
Saadi and Blake realized you can understand the whole world by contemplating one small part of it. That is especially good news for the elderly and infirm whose world narrows when circumstances limit mobility or preclude social involvement. They may no longer be able to attend workshops, group meditations, or church, but they still have an excellent opportunity to grow spiritually by contemplating some aspect of nature. I’ve observed the joy many receive when given a flower or when seeing one bloom in their garden. They now have time to examine its structure and form, to really sink deep into what they are observing, to sense their vibratory signature. Watching birds with their varied colors and songs brings delight and praise. The world need not narrow with infirmities and inequities because nature opens a path to understanding the essence of creation, to see the divine in manifestation.
Nature connects the deeper vibrations
Understanding nature as a sacred book doesn’t mean you can’t get inspiration and insight from reading the scriptures, it just means nature more easily helps you connect to the deeper vibrations that unite them all. You might decide to go on retreat or take more quiet time to sit and contemplate some aspect of nature, such as a crystal. Perhaps, you’ll notice how your heart opens and you feel more compassion. You may become aware of how each thing has its own vibrational signature and together form the music of the spheres. This ushers in unitary consciousness—the goal of the spiritual journey.
