Spirituality Begins Where Nature Is Respected

While walking around and tending to the orchard here, I feel the presence of nature in every breath I take. At this altitude the air carries the scent of pines and herbs, The place sings with the sound of dry leaves in the wind mixed with the bird songs. When I walk through the orchard in the early morning the frost still clings to the leaves during winter months and the sun rises slowly over the ridges. In those moments something within me becomes still. The nature speaks in its own gentle way and I feel held by the ground I walk on.

Living in sync with the orchard has become a source of deep spiritual nourishment for me. The rhythm of the seasons here is slow and yet persistently ongoing. Trees take their time to bloom. Soil responds with patience. Migratory birds return each year with familiar songs, while many of them stay back here all the time. When I tend to the new plants or mulch the beds or observe the way water moves across the slope I am reminded that nature has its own wisdom, and we are far from understanding it. Everyday is a new learning. This way of living has shaped my own inner life. I have become more grateful and more aware of the quiet lessons that the earth shares. The more time I spend in my orchard the more I respect the living world around me for it reveals the beauty and intelligence of creation and guides me towards a deeper spiritual understanding.

I often see people flocking to the hills in search of peace, spirituality, and natural beauty only to destroy the very essence of what they claim to seek. They build large concrete structures and clear every tree from a slope and somehow believe that this will bring them closer to nature. How does this work for them I fail to understand. A place without trees without soil that breathes and without birdsong cannot offer true calm. It becomes a hollow shell of the hills with a replica of cities they are trying to escape, rather than the living landscape they came to experience.

Over time I have come to believe that people who destroy nature cannot truly be spiritual. Anyone who is spiritually awake understands that every living thing has its own place. And this applies to most religions that I know of and even those people who call themselves atheists. They recognise that the land is not something to exploit for quick gain. It is a home that shelters us and feeds us and teaches us. When someone removes trees without thought or damages natural streams or exhausts soil it reveals a disconnection from life itself. True spirituality cannot grow where there is disrespect for the earth.

For me, every part of the orchard offers companionship. The apple trees and pear trees, the herbs that grow in sheltered spots, and the wildflowers that appear during spring or after the rains – all feel like members of a living community. When I work with them rather than against them I feel a sense of belonging. My spiritual energy feels lighter. It becomes easy to let go of unnecessary concerns and return to a simpler and more grounded way of being.

My orchard continues to guide me. The more time I spend among the trees and the soil the more I grow as a person. The more closely I observe the natural rhythms here the more balanced and peaceful I feel. Nature is not separate from my spiritual path. It is the heart of it and this orchard is my teacher or my guru every single day.

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