NATURE DEVS - Hinduism Today *** Jai Maharaj posts

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Nature Devs

Hinduism Today
http://www.hinduismtoday.com
January 1996

Take a moment and ponder a natural wonder -- the extraordinary
metamorphosis of a delicate flower bud into a delicious mango, a drop
of water splintering into tetrahedral-matrixed snowflakes or bits of
coral sand seamlessly spun into a seashell. The choice is yours, and
the possibilities are endless. Approach your contemplation with
sincerity, and at least a little devotion, and you will begin to
sense the innate intelligence in the miracles of nature we rarely
take time to notice.

What you may see or detect the workings of is the world of nature
spirits, devasor adhibautasin Sanskrit -- a giant kingdom of beings
subtler-than-physical. Every indigenous culture knows about them.
Residing within the odic/causal energy substratum of life, these
devasassume forms and functions as vast and awesome as the physical
forms that surround us. Some potent, others petite, they explode star
clusters, move ocean tides and make perfume in jasmine flowers.
Others, like yakshis,nymphs, live in forests and permeate the
woodlands with that spine-tingling feeling of freshness and healing
that so thrills humans.

These nature devasare not remote. They are close, aware of our
presence and even our thoughts. An important aspect of rita
dharma,universal law, is to mold one's thoughts, words and deeds to
be in harmony with the abode of devs(Devaloka), as well as the abode
of Gods (Brahmaloka). For rural villagers, tribals and others close
to the land, there is no other way to live. A perfect modern example
is Vishnu Maya Gurung [see front page article]. A respected elder in
her Nepalese village (now deceased), the Deities were as near and
dear to her as closest kin.

The devasserve all of humanity. In the West, as in the East,
communications from devashave been received and recorded. In modern
times, the world of nature spirits has perhaps never been unveiled
with so much force and fact as at Findhorn, Scotland. Here, in brief,
is their story.

The Wonders of Findhorn

Peter Caddy, an ex-senior officer in the Royal Air Force, his wife
Eileen, their three sons and Dorothy, a colleague, had long been
engaged in metaphysical studies and meditation. One surprising snowy
November day in 1962, they found themselves out of work. Undaunted,
they meditated and waited for divine guidance. It came. "Guidance
told us to not only live in the moment, but to enjoy it!" Peter
recalls. "We were told that Findhorn would be of importance to the
world, that there was a plan behind it."

The next thing they knew, Dorothy had bumped into a plant spirit in
her meditation, a pea devaeager to help Peter in his garden. "We knew
the devasto be that part of the angelic hierarchy that holds the
archetypal pattern for each plant species and direct energy toward
bringing a plant into form on the physical plane," Peter said. "Now
here was this Pea Deva offering to help us!" The devatold Peter
everything, from how far apart various plants like to be to how they
dislike getting transplanted. Soon the garden became incredibly
productive. One huge vegetable weighed 42 lbs. A broccoli head was so
big it fed the group of six for four months! Then Eileen received
messages from "God within" reminding her that Findhorn was just not
about gardening and growing giant vegetables! Findhorn was about
providing the world a model of "cooperation" between the plant and
human kingdoms. "True cooperation begins when we realize that man,
the devasand nature spirits are part of the same life-force creating
together," Peter said.

After the sweet pea devabroke the ice, everybody jumped in -- Tibetan
blue-poppy dev, rose dev, rain dev and more expansive landscape and
ocean devs. With every message, whether about pruning or "attuning,"
there came the sweetest brother/sister love. Over the years, they
grew into a healthy and harmonious spiritual community and published
the world's single most powerful collection of nature-spirit messages
in three books: Findhorn Garden, The Magic of Findhornand The Spirit
of Findhorn,published by Harper and Row.

But this intimate inner relationship was not sustained. We learned
years later, when Peter Caddy (now deceased) visited Hinduism Today's
offices, that "hippies" had moved into Findhorn (now called Findhorn
Foundation). Caddy lamented that the standards of living and harmony
were not maintained. As a result, the devasmoved out and
asurasnaturally moved in -- the vegetables shrunk back to normal
size. Caddy said he had been told he was no longer a part of the
community.

Findhorn proves how we can work closely with the devs, and also how
delicate and precious such a connection to their world is. Constant
effort and sacrifice is needed to sustain it. It is no different from
keeping a vibration of harmony and love within the home. If
maintained consistently, devascan come home with you from the temple
and stay at your home shrine to help, bless and gently guide your
family. If disharmony and contention are allowed to prevail, they
have no choice but to withdraw. A Recent Visit to Findhorn

University professor Puvaneswary lives in Aberdeen, not far from
Findhorn Foundation. After reading the book to her children last
August, she visited Findhorn. She recounts, "It was a hazy, warm day.
People from all over the world were there, calm and peaceful. I
learned that Roc, the mystic who met and talked to the God Pan, had
died. So had Peter Caddy. Dorothy only visits occasionally. I learned
that a child there still talks to the devs but is too shy to discuss
it. When I got home, I set up a small section of my own garden for
the devs to live and work in undisturbed and recently noticed a
faint, facial expression on a plant called senecio grey. I was sure
it was a dev taking the shape of the plant, as they can do so easily,
being made out of light.

My friends and relatives too have had nature devaexperiences. One
friend, when she was a girl, used to play with fairies who lived in
the cups of flowers. Another Hindu friend was pained one day when she
saw a man chainsaw down a giant old oak tree that all the
neighborhood children used to love to climb and play in. That night
the tree devacame to her, so sad his "home" was destroyed, not
knowing where to go. My Taoist cousin told me that one day, when she
was staring out the window at a weeping willow tree, the Chinese
Goddess Quan Yin appeared inside the tree -- her silken tresses and
the willow branches were one. Even my own daughter when she was
little used to talk to me about her invisible friends." Sidebar: They
Talk!

Yes, nature devascan talk. When they do, it is always with great love
and intelligence. Dorothy Maclean (left), one of the Findhorn
"settlers," and friend "Roc" (right) received messages from nature
devs in meditation. Roc saw elementals clairvoyantly, even conversed
at length with them, including the legendary woodlands God, Pan. Here
are a few communications they published in the book Findhorn
Garden,along with a few from Hindu tradition. From the Findhorn Devs

I and my subjects are willing to come to the aid of mankind in spite
of the way he has treated us and abused nature, if he affirms belief
in us and asks for our help.
- Pan, God of the elementals

The elemental and devic worlds are far more powerful than the human
kingdom at the present time, for they are still within attunement to
the energies of God. God is not only the God of human beings. He is
the Lord and Lover, Creator and the Nourisher, the Seed, the Promise
and the fulfillment of all forms of nature and of the earth and of
the cosmos, and beyond. To see this, you must attempt to see with His
vision, know with His love, live with His life. It is as simple as
that. Not a complex pattern.
- Findhorn devs

Just tune into nature until you feel the love flow. That is your
arrow into the dev world.
- Findhorn devs

There are no individual egos with us; when you love one beech tree,
for example, you love all beech trees, connected with the whole genus
of beech. If the human kingdom could learn this quality it would mean
the end of war and rivalry, competition and strife.
- Landscape angel

Let each garden be different and unique as is each soul. Man's trend
should be to unity, not uniformity. Each to his own talent.
- Tibetan blue poppy dev

Today man manipulates the plant world for his own selfish purposes,
treating it in the same commercial way as he does car components. You
get better results from a child if you use love, not force. Although
force may bring quicker results, it starts a chain reaction of other
[negative] effects.
- Foxglove dev

Man is beginning to realize how much forests are needed by the
planet. But he covers acres with one quick-growing species, selecting
trees for economic reasons. This shows utter ignorance of the purpose
of trees and their channeling of diverse forces. At present the
planet needs more than ever just what is being denied it -- the very
forces which come through the large and stately trees.
- Monterrey cypress dev

Happiness has an especially good effect on plants, as do children at
play. The greenhouse is invaluable. However, plastic frames cut out
valuable rays.
- Landscape angel

As with your bodies, we are the result of millions of years of
evolving patterns. Imagine the effect of an atomic bomb on our
volatile media after aeons of ordered perfection!
- Spirit of the wind

Humans! Never content with their lot but always wanting to be as good
or better than their neighbors. Comparison seems to us a noxious
thing. God made each of us and each of you as we are, to be a
particular expression of life.
- Good King Henry dev

What an integral part of the planet I am -- longed for and hated,
fierce and gentle. I am part of all living things, even your physical
self. If you would rule us, first rule yourself, your own tempestuous
nature and arid outlook.
- Rain dev

Man is destroying himself because he thinks he is separate. How can
you possibly not know that when the wind blows it is part of you,
that the sun is part of you with each sunbeam? How can you be so
dense as not to know that if one suffers, the whole consciousness of
the earth partakes of that?
- Lord of the elements

From a Hindu Shastr

Trees serve as homes for visiting devs who do not manifest in earthly
bodies, but live in the fibers of the trunks and larger branches of
the trees, feed from the leaves and communicate through the tree
itself. Some are permanently stationed as guardians of sacred places.
- Hindu Dev Shastr, verse 117

In our gardens, Lord Ganesh sends His power through fruits and
vegetables, the ones that grow above the ground, to permeate our
nerve system with wisdom, clearing obstacles in our path when eaten.
The growers of them treat it like they would care for Ganesha in His
physical form.
- Hindu Dev Shastr, verse 438

As the cow and goat, as well as the herb, the tree and the
vegetation, can read the thoughts of us all, chanting and singing
should occur while tending to their needs.
- Hindu Dev Shastr, verse 439

Her upon whom the trees, lords of the forest, stand firm, unshakable,
in every place, this long-enduring Earth we now invoke, the giver of
all manner of delights.
- Atharv Ved 12.1.27

More at:
http://www.hinduismtoday.com/modules/smartsection/item.php?itemid=3566&keywords=tribals

Jai Maharaj, Jyotishi
Om Shanti

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