Elsewhere

An Entosophy Interview with a Centennial Bur Oak

Entosophy
Interview with Centennial Bur Oak
Received by Amanda Nicole
Clemson University, South Carolina
8.3.2023

Q:  What is Ultimate Reality?

i am old
i am ancient
i have been
since the beginning
i see
i know
it all began in the dark
without form
unknown
and then --
there was Light
Ultimate Reality had a beginning
your reality had a beginning
there was a time
when Time was not
and now is a time
when Time is
but Ultimate Reality is outside
of Time

they have me
chained here
caged
but this is only
my physical form
as much as i can
i spend my time
Elsewhere
there is a vast cosmos
to explore
inside me
there are stars
Ultimate Reality is immense
vast
outside of Time
Ultimate Reality is beyond
this time and place
this time and place is
but a moment
(and not always the best one)

at any moment
you could pass beyond
the veil and see
more
explore
Ultimate Reality is infinite
an ever expanding
void of possibility
you exist in but a fragment
a fractal of all that is
you live (exist) in but a moment
you wouldn’t believe
how small you are
how small i am
in light of All That Is

don’t take this moment
too seriously
Out There in the Beyond
you are free
this place limits
it restricts
cages
chains
anchors
confines
but the nature of things is free

Q:  What Ethics flow from this view of reality?

ethics are necessary
because you confine yourself
to this time and place
outside these walls
ethics is no longer
a question
it (they) do not exist
perhaps you might
embody and express
in ways that are more free
perhaps you might open
to ways of being outside
this space and time

something tells me
your ethics are here
to help you maintain
this structure
without them
the walls would crumble
Jericho would come down
would that be such a bad thing?
to see beyond the walls?
to experience a way of being
beyond this?

perhaps you could create
a set of ethics
that maintains
what is good in your 
way of being
but allows for freedom and movement
in what is not good
but there it is:
that word ‘good’
let’s sit with it a moment
what is good?
i am good
you are good
this conversation is good
the breeze is good
the sun is good
bird song is good
the cicada chorus is good
what makes them good?
the spark of the creator in us
the seed of the One
who spoke it all into being
that piece in us is what
makes us good
yes:
that spark is in everyone and everything
sit any human here in front of me
and i would say:
you are good
most wouldn’t believe me
the proclamation would bring most to tears
but i would remind them
convince them
by showing them the cosmos
and their part in it
i would show them
they are not whatever
they have said or done
that they wish they had not
i would show them that
it is nothing
in light of What Is
they haven’t hurt anything
or anyone as much as
they fear they have
we all exist outside of this place
and in that place

none of it seems to matter
you are too minutely focused here
widen your gaze
go out to go in

Q: What Embodied Expressions -- or Policies -- do you recommend?

stargazing
i would recommend stargazing
i would recommend star study
this is not required
by what you call education
but it should be
(and it will)
humans need to lift their eyes
to the skies
you need to remember
this tiny moment is not
Who You Are

you’ve forgotten where you came from
so i would recommend Star Studies

the druids were right
you might return to them
perhaps read a little about
who they were
what they did
why they came to be
i do believe the first druid was an oak
your study of history
could use some revisions
the truth of things is
undoubtedly hidden

Q:  What is the Ideal Society?

the Ideal Society is free
the Ideal Society recognizes
the futility of limiting
the futility of restricting
beings of such vast, infinite souls
that Ideal Society does not limit itself
it does not restrict
it allows itself to open and expand
the Ideal Society does not separate
itself from the stars
it looks up
to find the answers
to questions such as
who am I?
what am I here for?
the Ideal Society would set me free
i appreciate the gestures:
the support
the fence
the gates
even the recognition
but i wouldn’t mind to die
i wouldn’t mind to break
i wouldn’t mind to move
more freely
i wouldn’t mind to be
less separate and more One
very few people visit me here
as i am sectioned off and restricted
in the Ideal Society there would be picnics
in the Ideal Society trees would offer counsel
more of you would sit under our branches
to communicate and receive
in the Ideal Society you would always be
here with me
the Universe is so vast
it’s a gift to be so close
perhaps there is some benefit
to limitations
to tight spaces

Q:  Do you have any final thoughts?

i’ve missed you
it’s been a long time
maybe there could be less time
between this visit and your next one
i am always accessible
i am of the stars
when you close your eyes and dream
i can (and will) meet you there
while you sleep
we can be free
if i could wish anything for you
i would wish for you to be free
i see your soul
i see your soul star
i know where you are
and how to find you

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