Reconnecting with Our True Nature

Dear Awakened One,

I’m writing this on the Shinkansen bullet train, 
watching the landscapes shift 
as I head toward Tokyo. 

I’ve just spent a week on Yakushima Island,
home to thousand-year-old cedar trees, 
thick misty moss-covered forests, and 
an ancient stillness that speaks directly to the soul.

I came to return to nature.  
And in doing so, 
nature returned me to myself.

There’s a overwhelming power 
in standing before a tree 
that has lived for over a millennium.  

I bowed to them.  
They greeted me back.

I was reminded: 
while I move fast, strive high, and chase more…  
nature has always stood still, rooted in being. 

Even after centuries of evolution, 
and being exploited,
it continues to give.  

Unconditionally. Lovingly. Silently.

And yet, what have I given back?
We seem to understand the idea of 
give and take in relationships,
with people, with systems.  

But when it comes to nature, 
we often take without 
remembering the cause and effect.  
Every grain of rice, 
every drop of rain, 
every beam of sunlight 
is a gift.

This trip helped me remember:
I am not separate from nature.  
I am of it.  
I am it.

That’s why we call her Mother Earth…
because she doesn’t just surround us,  
she nourishes us, 
births us, 
holds us through everything.

So here’s the invitation:  
Taking care of nature is taking care of yourself.

Eat whole foods, grown from the earth, to honor your body.  
Walk in forests, near rivers, to recharge your energy.  
Sit with a tree, listen to the wind, and let it speak to your soul.

You are not just a visitor to this planet.  
You belong here.  
And it’s time to reconnect.

With love and light from Japan,  
Ryion P.
Author of Awakened Purpose