Nature, Intuition and Oneness in Life
by Joseph Cornell
A teacher in the Southwest told me he once asked the children in his class to draw a picture of themselves. "The American children," he said, "completely covered the paper with a drawing of their body. My Navajo Indian students, however, drew themselves quite differently. Making their bodies much smaller, they also included in their drawings the nearby mountains, canyon walls, and dry, desert washes. Because to the Navajo, the environment is just as much a part of who they are as are their own arms and legs."
The understanding that we are a part of something larger than ourselves, is, I feel, Nature's greatest gift. With it, one's sense of identity expands and, by extension, so does his or her concern for the well being of all. True caring for the environment comes, as Lao Tsu said, "when you love the world as your own self." Whenever we, as nature leaders, point out a bird or flower, aren't we ultimately hoping to encourage this type of loving respect?
In Western culture, especially, people often confuse knowledge with wisdom, and think that if we learn enough, then we'll care enough. But knowing what we ought to do, and doing it are two different things. Tanaka Shozo, the pioneering Japanese conservationist, said, "The care of rivers is not a question of rivers, but of the human heart." For love is the greatest stimulant to the will.
Of course a balance of reason and feeling is needed for understanding nature. The forte of science is explaining how nature works so we can, for example, restore damaged ecosystems and understand the consequences of certain types of behavior. Science is very practical and helps us work creatively with nature.
While science explains nature to us, it is only our intuition, or calm feeling, that can perceive it. When Albert Einstein discovered the law of relativity, it was in a flash of intuitive insight. Only many years later was he able to reason it out scientifically. Einstein said also that every scientist, to be great, must have a mystical awe of the universe. In other words, be someone of deep feeling and reverence. Science, if it is to be more than mundane, needs to be accompanied by and inspired by deep intuitive feeling. Intuition has been described as the knowledge of the soul because through it, we experience our unity and harmony with the totality of life.
All the nature games and activities I've written help children and adults gain greater intuitive as well as scientific understanding of nature. The Flow Learning system we use to teach the activities makes this approach very practical, because it works with people where they are, and step by step, gently brings them to a deeper, more profound experience of nature. For example, the first stage of Flow Learning-Awaken Enthusiasm-uses playful games to get the children excited and motivated to learn. A stationary car is hard to steer, but once it's moving, it's quite easy to guide the car where you want it to go. It is the same for children or adults: once you get them enthusiastic, it's easier to guide them. The Flow Learning progression leads naturally to its later stages and the intuitive realization of our connection to everything around us.
by Joseph Cornell
A teacher in the Southwest told me he once asked the children in his class to draw a picture of themselves. "The American children," he said, "completely covered the paper with a drawing of their body. My Navajo Indian students, however, drew themselves quite differently. Making their bodies much smaller, they also included in their drawings the nearby mountains, canyon walls, and dry, desert washes. Because to the Navajo, the environment is just as much a part of who they are as are their own arms and legs."
The understanding that we are a part of something larger than ourselves, is, I feel, Nature's greatest gift. With it, one's sense of identity expands and, by extension, so does his or her concern for the well being of all. True caring for the environment comes, as Lao Tsu said, "when you love the world as your own self." Whenever we, as nature leaders, point out a bird or flower, aren't we ultimately hoping to encourage this type of loving respect?
In Western culture, especially, people often confuse knowledge with wisdom, and think that if we learn enough, then we'll care enough. But knowing what we ought to do, and doing it are two different things. Tanaka Shozo, the pioneering Japanese conservationist, said, "The care of rivers is not a question of rivers, but of the human heart." For love is the greatest stimulant to the will.
Of course a balance of reason and feeling is needed for understanding nature. The forte of science is explaining how nature works so we can, for example, restore damaged ecosystems and understand the consequences of certain types of behavior. Science is very practical and helps us work creatively with nature.
While science explains nature to us, it is only our intuition, or calm feeling, that can perceive it. When Albert Einstein discovered the law of relativity, it was in a flash of intuitive insight. Only many years later was he able to reason it out scientifically. Einstein said also that every scientist, to be great, must have a mystical awe of the universe. In other words, be someone of deep feeling and reverence. Science, if it is to be more than mundane, needs to be accompanied by and inspired by deep intuitive feeling. Intuition has been described as the knowledge of the soul because through it, we experience our unity and harmony with the totality of life.
All the nature games and activities I've written help children and adults gain greater intuitive as well as scientific understanding of nature. The Flow Learning system we use to teach the activities makes this approach very practical, because it works with people where they are, and step by step, gently brings them to a deeper, more profound experience of nature. For example, the first stage of Flow Learning-Awaken Enthusiasm-uses playful games to get the children excited and motivated to learn. A stationary car is hard to steer, but once it's moving, it's quite easy to guide the car where you want it to go. It is the same for children or adults: once you get them enthusiastic, it's easier to guide them. The Flow Learning progression leads naturally to its later stages and the intuitive realization of our connection to everything around us.