mangrove roots

I am lounging in a hammock, in the garden of a small guest house on the coast of Brazil. Birds are hopping around, feeding on the ground, and in the distance I can hear the ocean. The bottom of the garden gives way to mangrove swamp. And now, looking at these mangroves, I am fascinated. They seem to be half roots, the roots spreading out above the ground level.

And this reminds me that so much of life is not usually visible to us. With most plants the roots are underground, and we simply forget about them. And so it is with so much of life, of ourself even. There are layers of mystery within us, ordinarily hidden from our consciousness. And these mangrove roots are reminding me of this: that so much of the spiritual journey is about getting in touch with these mysterious, almost hidden, aspects of life – hidden from normal consciousness, and yet aspects of life which can be tasted, felt, sensed, lived. And celebrating these mysterious aspects, this for me is what spirituality is all about. And looking at this tangled web of mangrove roots, I also am reminded of how interconnected we all are. The whole of life is this web, an intricate, multidimensional web of interconnections.

So this is what is coming to me today, as I lounge here, gently swaying in the breeze, and gazing at the roots of the mangrove swamp.