The Landscape of the Soul

Gardens are a great place to pray and to learn. The whole cycle of the plants being seeded, then appearing as if out of no where. We believe they will come up and they do. Then the harvest cycle, so like the productive years of our lives, then the dormant period where the Winter garden looks like it died and then the resurrection that teaches us if we believe we will be reborn. Knell now and pray in your garden, meditate, create a holy space in the garden, pour in love and watch how the plants just soak it in. When it comes time to eat the fruits of your labor you will consume that love. Through the years, we accumulate a series of experiences. Our tendency is to evaluate and simply reflect on what we have been through and what we have learned. This inward site into what we can no longer see with our eyes allows us to see through them through our soul. The landscape of the soul creates a movement and a synchronicity pattern between our heart and our mind through the inner visions of our soul. When the heart and imagination join forces to look back or look forward, we are deepening our awareness of who we really are. This deepening of who we really are is our soul. It has been said that "our hearts will not rest until we rest in thee." This is our journey in life. It is our journey home. It is the journey into the spacial quality of existence that brought us into this world. It is the journey of what is leading us through this life. And, it is the journey back to where it all began. One could say that the infant and the elderly are more soul than body. As you and I develop our personality and ego, we begin to think we are somebody. Ram Dass calls this "somebody training." We begin to think we are real and act on this appearance of being as we move into adulthood. When we mature, we go back into what Ram Dass has called "nobody training." We spend a great deal of time learning to develop independence from infancy only to lose it again as we die. It is the journey from innocence to grace. The human expression is a journey with many ups and downs. What keeps us on tract and often sane in an insane world is the "landscape of the soul." The landscape of the soul gives us strength to do the impossible and give us hope when there is none. Even though all parts of the self needs to be embraced with scrutiny and unconditional love, there is something inside us perfecting our true nature. Our authentic self knows we are growing through life and simply going through life at the same time. This delicate balance between these two forces of nature enables us to stay on our path. It is the path a knowing who we are through the various experiences and expressions of our life. in so doing, we learn to trust in our soul and find direction there when direction in life is not present. Small pools and running water are still another method of creating illusions in small gardens. Even if your space only allows for a small pool that runs along the bottom edge of a wall it will add a lot of depth to your garden. Some small gardens only allow enough space for water features that sit flat against a wall, but if you can allow just this much space it will bring much needed light and movement into the area. Using glass walls or mirrors that extend the garden into the house or another wall. I've personally never done this one but I have seen it done. This created a really neat effect that made the small gardens feel twice their real size. You can have the most elaborated back yard from the entire neighborhood, but if it isn’t functional you have built it in vain. We all want to have beautiful and flourishing gardens, but when we have a family, we must also take into consideration the needs of the other members of it. Divide the space of your yard in two or three visual spaces, one for play and relaxation, one for gardening and maybe one for pets. An open space, covered by lawn is ideal for your children. Here you can install a table for open air lunches or for a romantic summer evening dinner. Do you have a fireplace? Keep a portion of your garden especially for depositing fire woods, but make sure it is at a considerable distance from the house or animals that can cause damage. How about pets? You can build for these little members of your family special spaces, in which they can play and exercise. Before you plant bushes and ornamental plants, surround the pet space. Cats and dogs tend to be attracted exactly by the things we try to keep them away from. Keep the by-passers’ eyes away from your personal life. Before planning the scenery, you must have in sight a place for the garbage cans. It wouldn’t be very nice to have a wonderful garden right next to the garbage cans. These can be efficiently hidden in some kind of surrounded space, decorated on the sides with life fence. Functionality is an important factor in your garden, so you have to think about children, little pets and family assets before you plant anything. Save a portion of the yard especially for you, in which you can plant whatever you want and leave for the others some space to breathe freely. You will find it more satisfying this way, once the whole family is happy with your garden and they might even bring their personal ideas for it. It is important that personal space is respected and that is why the garden must not be very wide, taking up all available space. Build from time to time a pathway or some benches where you can just relax and admire your work.