Cultivation is an essential part of a whole human life. It is the descending, earthy, embodied movement that complements and balances the ascending, heavenward, expansive movement of a vibrant spiritual life… One day, while living at a hermitage during a year-long retreat, I woke up to a feeling of immense sorrow. My heart broke open with a deep sadness that I didn’t know or have a real understanding of any of the plants, trees, animals, or insects around me. I felt, with acute pain, that I was a stranger on this earth. I knew that day that if I was going to live a full human life, I would need to be of earth as well as of spirit. Looking back, that was the day I began my conscious journey of cultivation.
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