In Oneness & Love
In Oneness. Which is to love all as one, all as pieces of the Infinite that you are an aspect of. All One. Today as I ventured out into my garden the first thing I stumbled upon was four butterfly wings perfectly preserved on the ground in the middle of my walking path. These wings were from the Fritillary butterfly that I consider myself a caretaker of. These butterflies primarily live off of passion vines, which are a medicinal plant that the passion flower and fruit come from. The flowers are almost otherworldly in their appearance and the leaves are very good for aiding relaxation and the reduction of stress. I had a passion vine pop up many years ago, and I made sure the garden fence was built out of alignment from the original plans to accommodate the continued growth of this vine. Every year myself and my next door neighbor supply butterflies for the whole street and possibly neighborhood. This vine can be considered invasive as it will spread all over the place, and I have encouraged it to do so. When one plant is sparse and still has caterpillars I move them to another plant that has more foliage left for them to eat. In return I am gifted with their beautiful and abundant presence in my life and all around my house and gardens. Every insect plays a roll in the flow of nature, even the ones we consider to be quite “pesky.”
One observation for me today was in my relationship with the flies that love my backyard as they have a full feast of chicken scraps and manure to choose from. When I found the butterfly wings I felt so much gratitude to the butterflies and the nature spirits who gifted those wings to me today. I was just in gratitude and love for nature, for Infinite Mother, for all Beings…and I even was finding gratitude for the flies buzzing. In these moments I was surrounded by flies yet none of them were landing on me. Not one. A little while later when I was starting to work in the soil of a new bed I am planting I fell out of that space and the flies were really pestering me…this prompted me to sit down and take a minute to contemplate where the difference was now from earlier. The word that came into my mind (and heart) was Oneness…I sat and very consciously acknowledged the flies as aspects of the Infinite’s…and my own Being…and it was like magic that they immediately left me alone and proceeded to land on everything all around me. Paramahansa Yogananda spoke of mosquito consciousness and how one with it would not be bothered or bitten by them. I guess I found fly consciousness today and will give mosquito consciousness a try next time they are out and feeding. I am truly in awe as I sit and watch these flies buzz and land all around me, yet no longer on me or buzzing annoyingly close and all around me.
Shortly thereafter, I started listening to a portion of a class I am in…one that a strong bee connection was felt through-which was one of the things that I feel guided me to this particular person and teachings. As a part of the things she was saying was directed towards the Infinite and at that moment I looked down to see a little bee on the toe of my shoe. I got it onto my hand and took it to a flower. I thought maybe it was injured or unable to fly but it flew off immediately as I placed it on the flower. This links for me to an experience I had when I was in Ireland. I will write about that another day but I had a deep connection to the land there, and the bees seemed to be guides for me while I was out exploring at sacred sites. It was a mystical experience where I felt so incredibly connected and safe. The nature spirits were communicating with me and I was feeling so much love there from the land and for it as well. For me Ireland was magical and mystical…the trees were alive in a way I haven’t experienced before-which says a lot as I am a tree person who feels deeply connected to them.
Right now I am sitting in the backyard with the chickens, dogs and the duck, feeling so much love, praise and gratitude in my heart. What I am finding is that there is a gift in every day when you are open to the small things that present themselves to you. All you have to do is pay attention and not take the small things for granted. This is where our greatest gifts are.
This has been a good daily contemplation for me to begin to notice all the small things in life I feel grateful for. The more I look, the more I find!
In Love, Praise & Gratitude,
Kaiyana LB