The First Tree
An Entosophy Interview with the Catalpa Tree
Entosophy
Interview with Catalpa
Received by Amanda Nicole
South Carolina Botanical Gardens
8.3.2023
Q: What is Ultimate Reality?
ultimate Reality is the Center of the All Things
it is the stillness in the Center of the Knowing
Ultimate Reality finds its source in the One
a being
an entity
an essence
a person
who exists in stillness
and does the Dreaming
it all begins from a place
of Stillness
of Peace
before there is Then
there is Now
and Now is unmoving
Ultimate Reality began in a Great Pause
it all exists under the covering
of The First Tree
The First Tree was me
Ultimate Reality had a peaceful beginning
Ultimate Reality is the Eternal Now
i can stop time
Ultimate Reality exists outside of Time
Ultimate Reality is not bound
Ultimate Reality is the Eternal Now
this is not meant to be said
but experienced
Q: What Ethics flow from this view of reality?
make peace with your surroundings
make peace
learn to exist in the stillness
create spaces where stillness and solitude
are honored because that is
where the wisdom lies
from a place of stillness
you can observe
you see it is all One
and you act (or don’t)
to preserve the One
whatever you do:keep the peace
Q: What Embodied Expressions -- or, Policies -- do you recommend?
you will endeavor to quiet every mind
you will prioritize peace
both within yourself
-- within the human soul --
and without
you will value making peace
you will value keeping it
begin in your own mind
quiet your own spirit
i would recommend
each of you take time to sit
with and under your trees
to practice this would drastically
change you
as individuals
as a society
Humans are in great need of Peace
create policies that promote peace
choose to stand still
to cease from strife
to enter into the silence
of a wordless moment
it would be impossible to
go to war with each other
if you sat beneath a tree
together
hearts change under tree leaves
Q: What challenges do you anticipate?
you are too busy
addicted to movement
you don’t value the silence
you fear the truth inside the Quiet
you are too busy
you rush about and break things
like each other
like hearts
like the ties between you
you think if you stop moving
you will feel something
you will
and that would be a good thing
you would feel
how much you love him
how much you miss her
how much you really aren’t
mad at them at all
how much you’re scared too
to sit together in stillness
is to open a portal
to soul-seeing
if you recognized their soul
you would be at peace
you would say:
here, let’s just sit together
and you would
and there would be
no war
because you would feel
the ties between you
blessed be the tie that binds
but you are too busy
Q: What is the Ideal Society?
I AM
You Are
We Are
under my boughs
is the Ideal Society
in the Ideal Society
there is Peace
there is Stillness
there is a Pause from Busyness
that is The Longest Pause
the Ideal Society values
the wisdom of the trees
it is a world filled with groves
and inside the groves
people are listening
the Ideal Society
does not yet exist
but it will
everyday you are moving closer
to peace because everyday
you are moving closer
to each other
the Ideal Society begins
with you
with me
Now
when we sit together
we are creating it
we are returning to it
we are slowing the pace of the world
and a slower pace
makes for more peace
Q: Do you have any final thoughts?
seek peace and pursue it
both within and without
it begins within
what is Without is only
a reflection of what is
(or isn’t)
Within
begin with making peace
within your own heart
begin with the Heart in you
return to the place of peace
that lies inside you
that is not your head
get out of your head!
the place of peace is your Heart
begin by returning
to your own Hearts
and there It is
there is a peace
that passes all understanding
and it resides inside you
sit with trees
and be at peace
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You are invited to be a part of amplifying of the voices of the trees and other non-human nature beings by supporting the Entosophy project: Donate to the Entosophy Project. This project is expanding and moving beyond its current format. The trees are ready to be heard — and humans are beginning to listen.
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