The healing power of trees

YES, YOU CAN DO IT!

DAAJI shares his experience of the healing power of trees, and how a simple tree practice improved his health. He invites us all to try that same practice.

Dear friends,

In the early 20th century, the great sage, Ram Chandra of Fatehgarh (Lalaji), visited a village in the tribal area of Rawati in present-day Madhya Pradesh, India. He was greatly taken by the place, which reminded him of the ancient ashram of Kakabhushundi. Whoever entered that ashram experienced a sense of liberation.

Lalaji liked the natural beauty and innocence of the village people. He wanted to stay there, and realize his dream of building an ashram like that of Kakabhushundi. He wrote, “Such places have a better capacity to absorb feelings and Transmission than people do, and can retain them for a longer period. As a result, whoever goes there cannot but be influenced. This is the reason why even today this place looks like Brindavan. Even if one looks at it from the traditional angle, one can do better sadhana here than in other places.”

In 2007 I went looking for this village, now called Raoti. On reaching the railway station, I could see that there were hardly any trees for hundreds of hectares; they had been cut down. And as I reached the village, I noticed the stream had almost dried up. Yet on the banks were beautiful trees, including a huge banyan tree with a giant canopy. Perhaps Lalaji visited this very spot. I sat there and felt immensely benefited.

Why are trees so special? First, they retain spiritual charge for a longer period than humans, because their consciousness is of a different quality. We have a very dynamic consciousness that gives us the potential to willfully evolve, but also of going in the opposite direction.

By and large we do not know how to use what is given to us, and we tend to lose it. In addition, our constant activity of thoughts, emotions, and actions create thought pollution, changing the environment around us.

Trees, on the other hand, retain spiritual charge as it is given, without creating disturbance. They are vibration banks that retain the divine charge of Transmission. So future generations also benefit from them holding spiritual charge. Trees do not go backwards in the field of evolution, but they also cannot evolve willfully. It is actually their lack of will that protects the charge once it is absorbed in them.

Trees are also conduits for the flow of energy from the earth upward and from the cosmos downward. Through this flow, they sustain all the lifeforms around them by distributing their charge, for example, through fungal networks in the soil, and in all the lifeforms that live on and among their branches and leaves.

Trees retain spiritual charge as it is given, 
without creating disturbance. They are
vibration banks that retain the divine
charge of Transmission. So future
generations also benefit from them
holding spiritual charge.

Have you ever observed the branches and leaves of a large tree dancing in the breeze? You can feel the joyous expansiveness in their movements. Whereas when a branch is being cut, the feeling is of a totally different nature-constrictive and defensive. During different seasons, also, the energy flow will vary. In winter, the energy and nutrients flow down into the roots to regroup and remain dormant for some time, so that in spring they can rise up and the tree flourishes with new buds, new leaves, flowers, and eventually fruits for the production of seeds. In extreme heat also, trees conserve their energy remarkably, and only produce the bare essentials. Everything is about maintenance at that time.

We have a lot to learn from being with trees. In fact, once when I was very sick, I was told by a healer from Europe, “Why don’t you sit with a prayer to a tree, asking the tree, ‘Will you exchange?’” Our relationship with trees is complementary. What is not good for us, like carbon dioxide, they can use, and vice versa. There is a healthy exchange. Trees and humans generally have a good relationship. We have to look after them.

A simple tree practice

So here is the simple practice that healer taught me. I invite you to try it also.

After asking a tree for permission to sit, with a prayer, you may sit on the ground with your back against the trunk of the tree. Make sure the width of the trunk is narrower than your back.

Whatever illness or disturbance you have in your system, offer it to the tree, saying, “Please take this away. Also, take whatever you need from me, and give me the strength to survive and heal myself.”

I wish you all the best of health and well-being,
Daaji