Nature is sentient, Body is sentient

One of the most important propositions in archetypal traditions is that nature is sentient. And by that we mean that it is intelligent and its intelligence is of itself. So this means that it is not the same as us imposing our intelligence upon nature, but rather, that we experience the particular intelligence of nature when we are able to mirror. And that mirroring was done through embodied ritual traditions.

In this video I share share three things about the sentience of nature, the sentience of body, and why this is important for us to reconnect with the sentience so that we can live more harmoniously in nature.

The first point is the sentience of nature. Normally, we impose our mental intelligence upon nature, we live life mostly through the lenses of the mind, by which I mean, verbalizing, language, the ability to clarify and define, the ability of duality, to say something is good, something's evil, or black or white, or right or wrong. And this is a very useful intelligence. But there is a saying in the tradition that I come from, which is Indian philosophy, which says that three quarters of the word is hidden in the cave. And what that means is, whatever we bring to the mind, that is only a quarter of the actual experience of Reality, and three quarters of that experience is not available as word. And this sentience of nature is of that three quarters of intelligence. So when we apply our lenses and we look at cause and effect, it might be useful, but that usefulness is quite limited. Whereas to really understand and experience the fullness of nature, the full movement of nature—that is not available to us through the same intelligence of the mind.

And this is where we go to the intelligence of body, how do we mirror nature, how do we connect with nature, through the nature that is us, which is our body, as body is made up of all of the elements of nature. And so this is the most intimate aspect of nature that is available to us, which is a body and our body has the same kind of sentience as nature has, which is that sentience of multi dimensionality, not duality, which means many things can happen at the same time. It is a sentience which is about movement, everything in nature moves. And the body’s intelligence is also about movement, of sensation, and about being expressive. Because when things move, there is expression, there is something that is offered through that movement. So these are the very same lenses, these are the very same aspects or characteristics of the intelligence of nature is available to us in the body. Therefore the body is also sentient. It's not just infused by the intelligence of the mind. That's what we think usually, just as we think that nature requires our intelligence to manage and control it, we bring that very same approach to our own body, and we think the body doesn't have its own intelligence, but that is infused with our mental intelligence and must be dominated and controlled and offers nothing of itself. And that is far from the truth.

The third point is why is it important to reconnect with this sentience of nature, through the sentience of the body? Because just as the saying said, if we only go through the mind and if we think that the lenses of the mind which is linearity, or verbalization or duality, that's the only relevant approaches to reality,we are in fact completely unconnected or disconnected from the three quarters, which is in the cave. And indeed, when we are able to connect the two is when the experience of reality is aligned and harmonious.