Does a boundary exist between the plants in the garden and myself?

I harvested a huge purple cabbage at the end of a workshop on "Communicating with Plants". The discovery of the cabbage lady inside inspired the participants to create this picture. Such a simple and elegant way to communicate the essence of the workshop! Through practicing awareness, a person can blend with the energy field of a plant or the garden to the point that the boundaries between disappear.

Deer live in the forest surrounding our property. I travel their path as I walk through the woods and out into the meadow where the garden resides. My arrival usually startles them as I come down the trail. I found that if I walked quietly and did not look at them directly, that they would not run away. Then I began to notice that my movements did not spook the shy Blue Herons up in the fir trees near the garden. Nesting geese on the nearby pond would just look at me with acknowledgement and then go about their business. Hummingbirds began to come up to my hose while I was watering and take a quick shower and then sit on a nearby wire and dry off and preen their delicate little feathers.

The wildlife’s gradual acceptance of me was particularly soul-satisfying. I became aware that I was a part of the landscape – integrated with the natural world. It felt in a strange way, as if I were invisible, yet at the same time very alive.

Shortly after sunrise, I arrive in the garden and water the plants by hand. The day is just waking up and the light is exquisite on the jewel-like dewdrops lacing the tiny plant hairs. As I water, I observe the changes that have taken place from the day before. Just like children, plants grow during the night when they are resting. Just like children, they like to be acknowledged and appreciated.

Taking the time to connect, to pay attention and notice these changes is an important part of communication with plants. They like it when you smell them, touch them, and even kiss them! This type of affection, whether expressed in words or held in the heart, opens a pathway for a two-way energy to flow. I am blessed by the garden as I watch the living canvas of the Divine Artist unfold before my eyes. I in turn become open and sensitive to their needs. If a plant is struggling, I'll use Therapeutic Touch to clear their energy fields and ground them. I discovered this to be very beneficial one year when the leaves of the raspberries were turning yellow. Within 24 hours their leaves had started to turn green. I found it important to ask for help from the master architects of the energetic template of the raspberries (the devas), too.

This type of energetic communication is called co-creation or co-operation with the plant kingdom. I learned about this from Dorothy Maclean, one of the founders of Findhorn in Scotland in the 1960's. She tuned in to the devas of the plants for guidance and the results were extraordinary. I was hesitant to try it myself, but in 2003 I began experimenting with the raspberries and then with other plants in the garden. Gradually, I learned that there was an overarching deva for the garden and the greater landscape.

The acknowledgment of the larger community became integrated into a centering prayer that I do before entering the garden each morning. I hold in my awareness the gratitude to the unseen beings and energy that I feel are supportive of the sacred work of the garden. This has grown to include my great grandfather, teachers, guardian angels, and the Great ones who are in service to our growth into Love and Light.

My intention to communicate and become intimately involved with the garden, has led to some profound experiences. One day I was watering a flowerbed and without realizing it, became one with the garden. Time stood still and there was no separation. I had merged with the whole dynamic system— in the flow—an expression of energy that was watering the plants. I was a part of the living canvas that was being created in the moment. I was no longer watching it like an object watching an object. My mind was relaxed and at peace and there was communion.

This communion is the ultimate communication. There is no "other". In the full experience of the moment there are no boundaries between the garden, and myself - we are just the "Holy We". This sacred awareness is a color that has been added to my palette, and I have the choice to use it as I practice painting myself into the living, loving canvas of Now.

"This is a subtle truth: Whatever You Love You Are" — Rumi