From Author' Preface

Since I have never orbited the Earth, I have not seen the Earth in her entirety. However, I know that the Earth is absolutely stunning in her beauty, not because I have seen the photos taken from space, but because I know that she is the source and the root of all life, as we know it. How can she be anything less than beautiful? I eat, breathe, and live because Earth so graciously allows me to.

I am not a geologist familiar with all the wonderful details of Earth's make up, nor am I an ardent environmental activist courageous enough to block bulldozers from removing trees with my own body. However, I am deeply aware that I exist only because the Earth exists. I am also someone who has spent all of my adult life examining ways in which we may achieve world peace. I am doing my best to contribute to its realization. Above all else, I am someone who can feel the energy and soul of the Earth. I can feel the sadness and grief that the Earth feels as she watches her children destroy themselves along with her. I feel the Earth's soul quiver, not with fear and anger at the destruction wrought by humanity, but with the concern and love that she holds for all of life, in her bosom. I write this book to share the soul of the Earth as I feel her everyday.

I believe that the two most important focal points for all of humanity in the 21 st century are the Earth, and the human brain. The health of the Earth is the only standard that is all encompassing enough to overcome the ethnic, cultural, religious, and national boundaries that are rending the world asunder. This alone can bring humanity together under a common system of life values, while preserving the wonderful traditions of the various peoples of the world in their spectacular diversity. Only the Earth can become the central axis around which world peace can be spun, for no religion is more compelling, no nation larger, and no peoples older than the Earth herself.

For that to happen, the collective human consciousness must expand and advance to the point where our highest common identification is as Earth-Humans, first and foremost, before we pigeonhole ourselves into different national, ethnic, and religious categories. This advance in human consciousness can only be achieved through the human brain. This is why the human brain is so crucial in the peace equation.

My talk about the importance of the Earth is certainly not new. Many people have worked very diligently to educate the rest of us about the dangers threatening the environment. To my eternal admiration and appreciation, they have spent their lives furthering the cause of the preservation of Earth. Efforts are being made to publicize the importance of insuring sustainability of economic expansion by balancing the needs of human civilization with that of the ecosystem. However, I wish to talk about the Earth not as a network of constantly varying ecosystems, but as the root of our existence, the central standard bearer of our collective life values, and the source of all life that calls her home. I believe that it is just as crucial to feel the reality of the Earth, as it is to understand her disparate components on an intellectual level. Only then will our intellectual understanding gain power and be transformed into action.

The important thing is to build a bridge between our soul and the soul of the Earth. For this to occur, we must know the Earth not only on a material plane, but also on a spiritual one. We have to realize that the Earth herself is a living entity. With her unique energy and soul, she is capable of communicating with and nurturing the innumerable forms of life that populate her being. By feeling the soul of the Earth, I have been awakened to the Oneness of all life. The more people communicate with the soul of the Earth, experientially realize this Oneness, and socially actualize its consciousness expanding consequences, the quicker will we achieve lasting peace on Earth.

You probably already know that all people of the world are brothers and sisters in our common human heritage, which cannot be broken by transitory barriers of ethnicity, religion, and nationhood. This is obvious to everyone. However, this knowledge itself has proven to be sorely deficient in effecting fundamental and lasting change. We need to understand this in a way that will shake us to the core of our being, and lift us from our lack of consciousness in a blinding swirl of enlightenment. Only then will our brains undergo a fundamental transformation, translate the knowledge into action, and change the world for the better. Meeting with ?Mago' will lead you to such understanding.

As a brother to a brother, a sister to a sister, a parent to a child, and a child to a parent, I offer you my soul, my life, my all, knowing that we share the common destiny of our collective creation. And as one Earth-Human to another, I salute you in our common spiritual heritage and love of the Earth.

From Chapter 2: Mago, Soul of the Earth

Breathing in the Earth with a Tree

Everything on Earth is first and foremost, connected by breath. What we breathe in, others breathe out. What others breathe in, we breathe out. The cycle is repeated endlessly, encircling all forms of life on Earth. We can feel life through our breath. We can also feel our soul through breath. We can feel our own divinity through our breath.

There are two gates through which life enters the human body. One is the nose and the other is the mouth. Invisible air and heaven's energy (ChunKi) enter through the nose. Earth's energy (JiKi) in the form of food, enters through the mouth. Our lives are sustained by the circulation heaven's and earth's energy.

Thirty percent of the air we breathe is oxygen. Oxygen comes from trees and plants, which breathe in the carbon dioxide that we breathe out. Trees and humans thus have a symbiotic relationship in life. I would now like to introduce you to a simple meditation that you can do, one that will help you feel the Earth through the life of a tree. This meditation is best done in the outdoors, filled with trees, but it is also possible to practice indoors.

Close your eyes and imagine a tree in front of you, its strong branches packed with healthy leaves and filled with vitality. The oxygen that the tree pumps out comes into our bodies to help generate the energy that allows us to live. Conversely, the energy that we breathe out as carbon dioxide feeds the tree, and helps maintain its' life. Feel the air as it enters through your nose and into your body. Feel every particle, every molecule, of the air as it flows through your nose, mouth, and into your lungs, being absorbed by each single cell in your body. Feel the refreshing and literally life-giving pleasure provided by the simple act of inhaling. Now exhale, letting your body relax, newly invigorated.

See the tree again. Feel the tree through your breath. Feel the life of the tree transmitted through the air and communicated through breath. This tree has its roots embedded deep within the earth. From the earth to the tree, from the tree to you, from you back to the tree, the cycle of life and energy can be sensed not on an imaginative plane but palpably, in reality. Through this cycle of breathing, Earth's energy and soul are transmitted to us, showing us that our lives are not separate and isolated, not even for a moment. This interchange of energy is a fundamental function of life at all levels. Breathe with the tree, and you will the feel the inescapable oneness that connects us to one other and to the Earth.

I am breathing, as are you. We are creatures whose noses are rooted in the air that we share. We don't have to pay for this privilege. We just breathe. Who, then, is the owner of this the most precious of all commodities? If we were to calculate it in terms of money, the sum would literally be priceless. However, we have never been presented with a bill, thank God.

Countless trees sustain of our lives. Trees have supplied humanity and other creatures with one's worth of oxygen and energy, thereby life. Trees have never asked to be given credit for this contribution. Trees have never asked to be worshipped for this ?life-giving' activity. Trees have never asked to be recognized in the slightest way. However, if we were to pick something to honor or worship based on merit or contribution to the prosperity of humanity, any old oak or poplar tree would come far before any ideas of god. In fact, a single needle on a cactus in a forsaken desert would qualify before any abstract concept of a god.

Trees heal without having learned any special knowledge or developing any particular religious faith. Earth supplies the trees with water and nutrition without any conditions. What is more important to us trees, or gods? What is more important to us Earth or gods? If I were told that trees are gods, and the Earth is a god, then I would be less confused. I cannot believe that any god can be more important than the trees, the air, and the Earth. Nor proscribe to the belief that any god would exist in a vacuum far above, instead of residing within the trees, the forests, and the streams that surround us. Reside within the Earth herself. I believe firmly that ?god' exists within all life that we are witnesses to today and beyond.

Humans and trees have no business dealings in the normal sense. There are no brokers who take their cut, whose profit is calculated by the amount of air that we consume. We don't need a lawyer, an accountant, or an arbitrator to regulate our dealings with the trees. Therefore, we haven't had a single incident of conflict. No tree has refused us its exhalation of oxygen just as we have never refused a tree our breath of carbon dioxide. The reason why there are no conflicts in this life exchanging process is that there are not any interlopers seeking to take credit for what is not theirs, coveting honors they don't deserve. All conflict arises out of just such misguided self-aggrandizement. However, the real giver of life does not seek any recognition, prayers, or worship. If this is not real love, then what is? If this is not divinity, then what is?

All of life is intimately involved in this cycle. There is no sense in labeling who the giver is or who the taker is. Everybody owes somebody something. I literally owe my life to a plant, tree, or a shrub nearby, not in any metaphysical sense but in a real sense. Ultimately, a tree is a tree, the Earth, and the universe. It is, you, it is me, and it is all of humanity. When we realize this, we will treat each other, and nature, as we ourselves would like to be treated.

For a single seed or cone to mature into a healthy tree, you need the full-fledged participation of many factors, including the water, earth, sunlight, and wind. In order to grow, the tree, and all life, opens itself up to these energies. However, we humans often make the mistake of closing ourselves off, while simultaneously trying to attain those things that are crucial to our survival. We live too much in our own world of isolated bubbles, blown from the hot air of self-inflation.

We think that we see because we have eyes. True, but what is more fundamental is that we see because the sun shines from above, providing us with light. We see only because of the reflection of light by material objects. Look at your hand. What do you see? Do you see fingers, five of them? Now look closer. What else do you see? Do you see the empty spaces in between your fingers? How about the stars above? They appear to be separated from each other, sparkling and beautiful in their cold isolation. Yet, do you see the dark space that connects them, suspending them in a sea of eternal blackness?

Sometimes, we need to look beyond the obvious in reality to peer into the truth behind everyday phenomena. All it takes is a change in focus, a simple shift in point of view. Likewise, all it takes for us to see and feel the Earth is a simple realignment of our given senses. Since we are children of Earth, we all have this ability to feel the life of the Earth. When we have reawakened this sense within ourselves, we will have held our first conscious conversation with Mother Earth.