All matter has sentience

My spiritual teacher started the session one day with these words. I was sceptical and confused. We were sitting on the carpet on a hard wood floor and I replied capriciously “You mean to say that the floor we are sitting on has consciousness?”

“Of course!” She replied and smiled at me indulgently. “Not like your consciousness, much slower. But this floor holds you as lovingly as if it were your own mother. And indeed, in some respects we can say that this floor is your mother!”

“What?” I was so astonished; my pen ran off the paper.

She continued. “You are made up of elements from the earth; you have evolved from these elements and they should be honoured as your ancestors!”

Then she went on to tell me that it is one of humanity’s egregious qualities to consider ourselves the special children of the earth; the one that is apart from Gaia’s creation, alone and unique in our consciousness. This probably arose during the childhood of our species, when we struggled for survival during the ice ages. An unlikely candidate for natural selection, no fur, small teeth, soft claws, we stood up on our hind legs and determined that by our ability to manipulate and control things, we would live! And we did, but the skills which were once so essential to survival, are now threatening to destroy us.

I went home that night and pondered this perspective. With each inanimate object which I picked up, I tried to consider it as a sentient being. I spent years struggling with this hypothesis. I could understand how my pets were beings, that wasn’t difficult. I researched some interesting studies about the secret life of plants, how they “scream” when they are hurt, how wood retains the memory of the tree in much the same way we remember our parents. Plants I came to see also as beings.

But rocks? Rain? Mud? Surely these are dead matter, animated by forces greater than themselves? That was certainly what I was taught by science, and I had been steeped in university science for many years. My deep respect for my teacher pushed me on.

Then one night as I was preparing dinner, I picked up my favourite knife. In a flash I realised that this object was not too different from me. It had a birth, (made in England); parents (knife markers); it was honed by the exigencies of life (fire); it has an identity, work and purpose. It held many connections, physical (I could feel its qualities in my hand); emotional (it was given to me by my son) and spiritual (knives and swords are commonly used as metaphors for cutting away unwanted neurosis and blockages). Yes, I concluded! Even a knife is interconnected with the world- as much as I am.

 We would not be on the brink of environmental collapse if we could understand that although we are a unique species, we are not gods. We are interdependent and interwoven with many beings in the co-creation of our world. If we can make the developmental leap from ego separation to sentient interconnectedness, then all of our problems will naturally be solved in wholesome ways.

Try This!

1. Pick an animal and imagine you are living in its body. See, hear, touch, and smell the world from this being’s perspective. Be as intimate in the experience as possible.

Don’t anthropomorphise it; don’t project human fears or aggression into it. Just be the way the animal is being.

2. Now pick a plant and do the same. Live a day in their tissues. Feel what it is like to be a plant.

3. Finally, and most difficult, choose an inanimate object and enter into its awareness. Experience creation from this being’s perspective. It can be a crystal, a cloud or a pond.

4. When you are finished, give thanks to these beings. Remember any kind of deep associative work with another being, done with love and respect, brings blessings and healing to both of you.