Conversation with Jim Kalnin, author of The Spirituality of Nature – latest in The Spirituality of... series from Northstone

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INSIGHT: Jim, when most people are asked about where they experience sacredness, the holy, or the divine, invariably they include the natural world in the top three things on their lists. How did people describe that connection between spirituality and nature to you, when you were writing this book?

KALNIN: The people I have conversed with over the years about moments of spiritual awareness in nature have described an amazing array of places, as well as all kinds of experiences: from staring at butterflies, to standing in a river amongst spawning salmon, to flying in a single engine aircraft over seemingly unending mountain ranges. Each of these experiences altered the individual’s awareness and brought them to a state of awe.

In some cases, people spoke of having their thoughts drop away and their experience of the world around them increase in intensity. One spoke of seeing the “reality” of the world for the first time. Others spoke of feeling a profound bond with their surroundings, no longer seeing themselves as separate beings cut off from the rest of life. For some spiritual seekers, it seems that experiencing the holy in nature is a separate thing from their appreciation of nature, while for others these are the same thing. Other people simply reported their shift in perspective as a sensation of deep inner peace.

That experience of inner peace, and the bond to all life, seem to be a sought-after state for all kinds of individuals. I have heard writers, artists, business executives, and others say they habitually spend time alone in a forest or on a mountain, when they are about to start a new creative project. Finding our inspiration, or muse, is likely a very different thing for most of us than experiencing profound moments of divine grace, yet I can’t help but think that any deep connections we have to any aspect of creation is also a part of an eternal dialogue with the Creator.

INSIGHT: I wonder if, having heard a variety of perspectives on our relationship with nature, you came to some new personal insights as a result of writing this book?

KALNIN: Some of the discussions I had with other people, as well as the research I undertook, brought to light how vast and diverse creation really is, and how pervasive our spiritual bonds with it. Before working on this book I occasionally felt a deep kinship with and reverence for certain creatures and places in the world. As I talked with people and read informed and enlightened writers, my spiritual worldview started expanding. I eventually started seeing divinity in everything from microbes to galaxies.

The first glimmers of this insight came earlier in my life, but my relationship to all life has changed quite markedly recently. Through the perspectives and insights of others, I have slowly grown aware that I live not just in a town or on a planet, but indeed in the universe.

As well as the expanded perspective came increased feelings of awe and then gratitude. It is a miracle that we are here at all. Sometimes when I am immersed in some task or conversation, I remember that the planet I am on is the only one we know of that supports life, and that the galaxy around it is wheeling through the vastness of intergalactic space. Such insights don’t come often, but they do put a new perspective on the importance of my own concerns, failures, and accomplishments.

INSIGHT: We can’t talk about nature or creation without acknowledging that we are living in a time of dramatic change, in terms of the biosphere. We’ve become accustomed to hearing shocking statistics concerning the kind of loss we are witnessing: for example, every second of every day, a forest the size of a football field is cut down. What meaning does “the spirituality of nature” have in the face of the destruction of the very thing we love and celebrate?

KALNIN: It is our nature to cherish and protect the things we love. Unfortunately, as a race we seem to have lost our love, and our awe and gratitude, for our planet. The more sophisticated and technologically advanced we become, the more alienated we become from nature. Perhaps our only hope of reversing our current destructive tendencies lies in a critical shift in our perception of the world. We somehow have to shift from seeing the Earth as a personal resource, or as an inconvenience, to viewing it as holy ground.

That may be too formidable a task for us, yet I feel it is vital that we make whatever effort we can. Despite the odds, it is vital that we have faith and that we somehow learn to act with compassion towards ourselves, each other, and the rest of life.

In writing this book, I found my environmental concerns creeping into each section. This, I believe, is our spiritual practice: we march in protest, write letters to newspapers and to politicians, recycle more and consume less, plant trees everywhere, and give ourselves time (and permission) to engage with the natural world as it carries on around us. These are all kinds of worship that have meaning in the world today.

INSIGHT: Jim, I like this action-oriented approach to spiritual practice. At the same time, I wonder what it would be like to really view the Earth as “holy ground.” I think that for me it would require a dramatic, life-altering realignment of everything I do. “Why not do that?” I ask myself. Could I tolerate never taking another carbon-emitting jet plane anywhere? Could I take seriously the task of growing and storing my own food, or at least of obtaining my food from my own community? Could I devote six hours a week to political activity that engages creatively with decision-makers and environmental activists? I wonder if there would be no option other than that if I were to truly fall in love with the natural world, as I think you have.

KALNIN: The questions you raise about our potential and the dramatic changes they would require are quite significant, Tim. I think we have no choice but to act in a manner that supports our beliefs and concerns. Despite my growing awareness of and love for all existence, I think I am as far way from making real personal sacrifices for the sake of our environment as you are, and as most people are. That is a daunting challenge for us, yet it is important that we do what we can, individually, and that we continue to have high expectations of ourselves and of our species.

I believe we are very capable of making a quantum leap to a level of intellectual and spiritual enlightenment where we see everything in existence as holy. But, collectively, we are not yet ready. I think we truly are at an adolescent stage as a species, impatient with life, and unable to see beyond our personal concerns. We are clever beings, with our vast knowledge, technological advancements, and diverse cultures and forms of creative expression; yet we live with war, poverty, waste, and numerous other forms of social, political, and environmental imbalance. Our wisdom, compassion, and our clarity of vision are not yet on par with our cleverness and industry.

Perhaps humanity will evolve to a state of bliss without collective activism and personal sacrifice, yet it seems to me that leaving things to fate, or to God, is not really an option. We are the actors in the great play of life on Earth; it is through us that the story unfolds. If only one person manages to alter, even slightly, her or his actions, the world will change. The change may be imperceptible, but it will exist. If a small but substantial number of individuals make similar progressive changes, a critical mass can be attained that affects all of us.

We live in a time of crisis, and in crisis we are known to break from our resistance to change and to invoke our powers of creativity. Knowing this human capability gives me hope and inspires me to battle my own lethargy, my fears, and my addictions to convenience and comfort. It inspires me to embrace all of nature, including those aspects that are not beautiful, awe-inspiring, or cute. It encourages me to actually write those letters of protest and to seek alternatives to riding in jet planes or buying imported lettuces in January. I may only enrich my own life by making such changes and not really influence the course of human history, but that in itself is a worthy goal, and somehow I can’t help but believe that we do each have powers of which we are barely aware.