“If you love it enough, anything will talk with you.” -G. W. Carver
George Washington Carver, the great American botanist, said, “If you love it enough, anything will talk with you.” Much more than a nice sentiment, this is a fundamental truth of the universe. But in order to communicate with nature, we need to learn new and subtle languages.
We humans communicate primarily through spoken words or written symbols, which takes a lot of initial training but, once learned, allows very rich exchanges. It also gives us the ability to pass down ideas from one generation to the next, which is vitally important. The teachings of the Vedas, the classical philosophy of the Greeks, and the words of Jesus and Krishna still live in our hearts and homes though written thousands of years ago.
We can, of course, communicate also with animals. As anyone with a pet will tell you, rich lifelong bonds are formed, filled with mutual love and joy. With animals we learn to rely more on nonverbal communication: touch, tone of voice, body language, or mental images. Some people, speaking this language better than others of us, become dog trainers, horse whisperers, and animal psychics.
In his remarkable book, The Elephant Whisperer, Anthony Lawrence shares how he learned to commune with wild, rogue elephants. His part was to be caring and loving. Then, he relates, they taught him how to communicate with them. When he died, elephants spontaneously visited his grave to say goodbye, some walking for hundreds of miles in order to pay their respects.
What about plants? A breakthrough book on this subject, The Secret Life of Plants, showed that surprisingly rich communications take place all the time in the vegetable kingdom. Here, the language becomes even subtler. We need to talk through kindness and listen with our hearts. Yogananda called Luther Burbank “an American saint” because of his ability to feel the common link between man and plants.
An Indian sadhu told me a remarkable story. Two weeks before I met him he had gashed his leg very badly while in the jungle. A companion, trained in herbal healing, raised his hands and began to slowly circle, explaining that he was asking the plants for help since he was unfamiliar with the plants in that area. After some time a tree “volunteered” its healing powers and he made a poultice from the leaves. Now, two weeks later, I could see only the faintest of scars from the gash.
Nor does communication end with the animals and vegetables. Yogananda wrote about J.C. Bose, a leading physicist, biologist, and botanist who showed that a common thread of awareness extends even into the mineral world. Many people communicate with gems and crystals, and the Japanese scientist, Masaru Emoto, has shown that music and thoughts can influence the very shape of water crystals.
And it doesn’t stop there. A principle of modern quantum physics says that the universe at the level of its most fundamental constituents responds to consciousness! Our thoughts reach to the world of subatomic quanta and influence the universal energy field that some call “zero point energy.”
When we consider all this objectively it leads us to the inevitable conclusion not only that we are connected to everything in the world, but also that we can communicate if we learn the right language. If we return to Carver’s statement, we see that the universal language is love. Why? Because it is God, residing at the heart of all things, who is constantly whispering to us through them, and love is His native tongue.
In that love,
Nayaswami Jyotish
17 Comments
Jyotish,
These are very exciting thoughts. Thank you very much for this posting; it’s such a pleasure read. Years ago I read about George Washington Carver that he did not have labels on any of the many, many glass containers in his lab. He could tell what each was by sight. Peter Thompkins book about plants includes descriptions of scientific experiments that showed plants care about those who take care of them and also that metals too share life. Fascinating to think how on every level it can be shown that we are one with all that is.
Dear Jyotish Ji,
Thank you for the Article. Such a lovely message. How great it would be to talk with plants, trees , animals and the nature. You don’t feel alone at any time:)
God and Guru bless us to cultivate the love and embrace it and to be it the medium of communication with everyone and everything in the world :)
Aum
Prem
Dear Jyotish ji,
Thank you for such a wonderful article that reminds us God is not only in humans but in everything we think of insignificant or lower life. This reminds me of poem in Samadhi of Yogananda ji. Your writing helps us to think that we should try to connect with everything with our love.
Jai Guru.
Thank you Jyotish.
Yes, we are SO CONNECTED. KNOWING this, let us all pray for world peace and world harmony. Blessings to all!
Thank you, Jyotish. This article has even allowed me to be more conscious of God as I sit here & strike the keys on the keyboard – – gentle, divine typing works just as well as hitting the keys unconsciously :-) Blessings & Gratitude!
Thank you Jyotish for this wonderful and uplifting post.
Thank you, Jyotish. This was a wonderful reminder of how all is connected. I was out this morning and saw the beautiful sun reflected on the snowy Pikes Peak mountain. I had a feeling of connection with the mountains….though it was at a distance it was also right here. Mary Jo
Living Wisdom School of Palo Alto will be performing an original play in March on the life of George Washington Carver and his amazing, inspiring life! Thoughts are universally, not individually, rooted!
Thank you, Jyotish!
Dear Jyotish,
Thank you for this post. I feel your reminder to commune with everything and everyone around us has helped me to be a little bit more selfless and get out of myself, while contemplating that everything is alive, everything is connected in God. Thank you, many blessings to you and Devi. Much love, Luba.
It’s been my privilege to work with raptors–owls and hawks–and they certainly respond to openness and the Aum vibration. Thank you so much for the reminder of our interconnectedness.
Beautiful, Jyotish, thanks!
This is just to let you know that I enjoyed reading this.
Dear Jyotish ji,
Thank you for this wonderful article and reminder that we are connected not only with every human being but literally everything in this world.
Jai Guru
Namaskar Swami Jyotishji!!
Such an uplifting post! Just a great reminder to be ever more conscious of All Things, in All Ways, at All Times into the Great Ocean of Awareness!
It is such a beautiful post,I had been to Kutch Vipassana Centre at Bada,Mandvi,Gujrat and It is there I first experienced a communion and talking with plants, to check if it was my hallucination,plants replied in a manner secretive and personal to my life’s incidents…During my course,I have found them to be most kind,most giving,most sensitive and loving beings and they all are connected to each other beyond time and space.
Thank you :)
It’s beautiful to see how God flows through his devotees. George Washington Carver gave his life to God and to helping mankind, as did the others. They brought spiritual ideals into the world, and therefore helped to raise man’s consciousness. Thank you so much for this sharing! Mary