clean air, clean water

I'm in the mountains of New Zealand, and I'm looking around at the ragged skyline. And it strikes me that it's incredibly sharp. And by that I don't mean particularly rocky, I mean it appears as a sharp line, the horizon against the blue sky. And of course this is because the air is very clean, very clear. Not just the air, the water in the mountain streams is also crystal clear. And breathing this clean air, and drinking this pure water, it reminds me how important it is, for us human beings, to have a healthy environment. And so often we mess it up. Nowadays most people live in cities, where the air is almost unbreathable, it's so polluted. And the water, too – it's made drinkable by heavy chemical treatment, and that might stop it from making us ill, but it is not as nourishing as this pure water. The earth has its own way of treating water and that is through evaporation from the oceans. Falling as rain somewhere else, it's been purified.

So being here in the mountains, taking big lungfuls of fresh air, it reminds me what that phrase really means: this air is fresh it's clean. And that alone nourishes me incredibly. My body feels so much more alive, and more healthy, when I'm breathing mountain air, and the same when I'm drinking mountain water: it's a great nourishment.

We have lost so much with our modern ways, with our urbanisation, and the many ways in which we pollute the air we breathe and the water we drink. It makes our spiritual endeavour so much more difficult, when we are breathing dirty air and drinking water that has been treated with chemicals. Being in the mountains here, this air and water is reminding me that nature knows best. Nature can provide everything we need, as long as we don't mess it up.

Anyway, I'm thankful to be here. I'm thankful to the mountains, with their clean air and fresh water. It automatically makes me become more alive and at the same time more meditative.