Sensing the sacredness of the universe.

In this episode, Eckhart talks about the two different aspects of knowing,

conceptual knowing and a deeper kind of intuitive knowing.

He says, indigenous cultures and people in the ancient world

were deeply familiar with the idea that everything has a soul.

He explains, they shared a profound empathy with nature and felt its aliveness.

Eckhart says, we have lost touch with this kind of knowing in current times.

He believes, through the overdevelopment of thinking, we have reduced the natural world to mental

concepts.

He says, today, we think of evolution as a random process,

devoid of meaning. Eckhart says, it's the price we've paid for the over emphasis on science

and technology. To illustrate his point, Eckhart recalls a tour through a magnificent forest.

Ideally, if I had sufficient time, I would experience the forest alone, non-conceptually,

and walk through it, just being there as the perceiving presence and sense it deeply,

connect with it at a deep level,

free of concepts,

just pure experiencing of the not only individual life forms,

but the totality of that energy field.

And then, at the end of that walk or hike,

if somebody had asked me, what have you learned about the forest?

I would have to say nothing.

I haven't learned anything, not conceptually.

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