Thursday, 4 April 2013

When men and nature meet there is no beginning or end, no space or time


Yesterday my family experienced a rare treat. An unexpected one at that when we toured the Allerton Gardens on the South side of Kauai. The Allerton Garden is touted as a Botanical Garden protected by the National Trust. But is much more than that, it is the work of the Divine, God, or whatever mystical and higher power we may want to believe in. It is beautiful beyond words and much more than just a Garden. It is a work of Art intertwined with nature comingled with spirituality and the principle of flow.
Lush trees, man made waterfalls, water features, little rooms, colourful flowers, and a special green house for the propagation of plants that are nearing extinction are just a few of the wonders throughout this garden. But more than that it is a garden that tests all of our senses even those beyond the human five senses tapping into our soul sense - our inner essence reconnecting us back to Mother Earth, Father God, and all that is, was and ever will be.
An oasis within a garden of Eden. Our walk began with us going into a special greenhouse for plants which are being propagated to bring them back from extinction. Mist spraying on them as they are mostly clouds plants disappearing as the temperatures rise and the clouds start to dissipate.
Then we walked through a garden which was created by Allerton full of fruits and starched used to feed people during World War II - oranges, bread fruit, pomegranate, guava and the list goes on.
Juan was the best guide ever because he loves his job and his passion came through in the way he described the garden to us. The way he intertwined poetry with the flow of the garden. Folklore with reality. Stories of old intertwined with the new. Inviting us in to the mystery of the garden. Allowing us to conjure up our own images and feelings about what we were seeing and hearing. Asking us to awaken beyond our five senses to the sixth sense of the inner eye, the inner voice, intuition.
He then led us to a reflecting pool with Diana, the Roman Goddess of fertility, childbirth and Nature standing at the top of the pool. Protecting the garden. I could feel her presence in the peace of the canopy of trees.
From there we walked to the bottom of the reflecting pool where we came across a man made waterfall. But what was unique about this waterfall was the way the rocks were positioned at the bottom to give a relaxing and calming sense particularly when I closed my eyes. Juan telling us that some monks from the Kauai monastery told him the rocks were positioned that way because then the water is flowing through at the rate our brains work. Such that if one were to sit in silence, the brain will slow down and calm down putting us in a meditative state. Serenity beyond words.
From there we walked through clusters of bamboo where Juan, our guide, told us the importance of growing clustered bamboo rather than spreading bamboo because of how quickly they grow.
And then we turned into another oasis within the garden where we had two statues on either side of a water feature that Juan said was fashioned to flow at the pulse of humans when we are at our resting state. I closed my eyes and sat on the bench and immediately my breathing slowed. My body relaxed. The flow of the water like something out of a science fiction novel - the physics of it so inspiring and mind bending at the same time.
Our walk then took us through large trees whose roots looked like they could swallow us whole if they wanted. We discovered it was there that Jurassic Park was filmed. A place where one could believe dinosaurs may have roamed centuries before. Some of the roots looking like the tails of dinosaurs.
Our walked ended with us overlooking these amazing red dart plants but my eye was drawn to a statute that sat almost camouflaged by the red darts as if it was calling out to me. I asked Juan what the Buddha was and he said it was Confucius and it had been unearthed there when they were building out the garden. Such a apt way to end the walk because it was Confucius who said, "Everything has its beauty but not everyone sees it."
A garden of Eden on the garden of Eden island of Kauai. What a wonderful way to spend an afternoon. Taking a walk through a place where there is no space and time. A place where our imaginations and senses meet to take us to that level we all know but forget - the place where we and nature become one where there is no beginning or end. Beautiful beyond words. In gratitude for experiencing and appreciating the wonders of nature, of life.  For experiencing and acknowledging when men and nature meet, there is no beginning or end. No space or time. Only Infinity. As are we. As are we all. Namaste.

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