I was fortunate to be invited by Philip Carr-Gomm to present ‘Life of Earth in a Year – past, present and future‘ to the worldwide community of people interested in nature-based spirituality that he gathers each Monday for “Tea with a Druid”. It is hosted by OBOD – The Order of Bards Ovates & Druids – a community around the world of people who love nature and want to follow a magical, spiritual way that respects and protects the natural world in all its beauty.
I really appreciated everyone’s enthusiasm and the feelings they shared. Watch the recording and feel free to add the feelings this gives you.
Philip shared his own reactions including the acceptance of having two seemingly conflicting feelings at once: feeling sad that all life will come to an end, but also the wonder of being part of life and appreciating its transience. Such a linear timeline also posits that the material world is the only one that exists: from a more esoteric point of view, what if there are other dimensions.
There are also other ways of looking at the passing of time, Philip explained: in Hinduism, yugas are generally used to indicate an age of time and last up to millions of years – and we are currently in the Kali Yuga lasting 432,000 years.
Likewise in Hinduism, the god Brahma creates and destroys worlds in a cyclical rhythm: with each breath out taking millions of years Brahma creates all things, and destroys them with each breath in. What we don’t know is what will happen after the end of this planet – a whole new cycle could begin.
Philip concluded by sharing that when we think of our own existence we can compare it to the cycle of life we can see with a chestnut tree for example: from a fully grown tree flowering in spring, producing fruit in summer, shedding its leaves in autumn and becoming dormant in winter. In the following spring the tree starts the cycle again – and its fruit germinates to continue the line.
