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Informationen zum Autor Zachiah Laurann Murray is a Registered Landscape Architect who, as a steward to the land and all its inhabitants, encourages us to remember we are made of Earth elements and advocates for the preservation and restoration of the natural environment to ensure future generations a quality of life enriched through their ability to connect with the Earth itself. Zachiah has earned a Master of Divinity, is an Ordained Minister in the Kriya Yoga tradition and a Dharma Teacher in the lineage of Thich Nhat Hanh, and a Shodan in Aikido. They lead meditation in many forms and teach children’s Akido classes. They live in Santa Cruz, California. Jason DeAntonis is a professional artist, designer, and builder with three decades of experience in various mediums. Klappentext Mindfulness in the Garden offers simple mindfulness verses (gathas) composed to connect the mind and body and to bring the reader/gardener's awareness to the details of the present moment as they work in the garden. These gathas are signposts leading to nature, to the present, and ultimately to one's self through the love and understanding they evoke. The gathas offered with each gardening activity serves to water the seeds of mindfulness within us, and softening and preparing the ground for our ability to be present. Mindfulness in the Garden values weeds as important messengers seeking to bring into close communion our spiritual nature with that of the environment. It likens spiritual practice to cultivating a garden and inspires each person to accept themselves and start where they are, weeds and all. Through the practice of mindful gardening, we invite not only the thriving of the natural world but also the flowering and beauty of the pure land of our true self to emerge. Features black and white botanical illustrations throughout. Introduction by Thich Nhat Hanh, author of Present Moment Wonderful Moment Foreword by Wendy Johnson,author of Gardening at the Dragon's Gate Leseprobe INTRODUCTION Tucked in the far left corner of my childhood home lived a handsome row of silvery-green-leafed Russian olive trees, Elaeagnus angustifolia. Beneath their thorny boughs—young knees to the ground and body in an earthly bow—I became a gardener at the tender age of eight. Gardening without gloves, I loved the feel of the earth in my hands: its rich, aromatic texture, warmed by the sun. I still do. I surrendered many childhood struggles at the feet of those olive trees. I found solace in their silent presence. Grateful for their company, I instinctively knew my survival was intimately connected to theirs. As I stepped away from the carefully tended band of soil that held the olive tree roots firm to the earth, I saw the rich brown soil free from the tangle of weeds that once claimed its clarity. In this clearing, the knot in my mind loosened, and my heart was put at ease. Now, many years into my practice as a landscape architect, gardening remains a true love. Nature is a place where I come back to myself. Whether it’s a window box, vegetable crop, fruit orchard, vineyard, a designed “outdoor room,” or simply a patch of tenacious weeds, a garden is the critical demarcation between what is wild and what is cultivated. When we garden—weeding, preparing the soil, planting, watering, tending, harvesting—we place ourselves at the edge, between what is wild and what is cultivated. Crossing the garden’s threshold, we enter into a direct relationship with nature and with ourselves. This is a relationship that must be recognized and consciously and compassionately entered. It requires that we garden with a heartfelt mindfulness. This book offers simple short verses, called gathas, to guide our gardening and assist us in becoming present. Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh says that reciting a gatha “helps us to dwell in the presen...
