A Journey of Intuition In the poetic and photographic contents of this book, we have endeavored to express a point of view which sees Nature and Spirit as symbolic reflections of each other. Each explains and represents the other. But beyond this symbolic understanding, Nature and Spirit are actual realities that mirror each other in ways that exceed the abilities of our rational minds to fully understand. But we can attain a more intuitive consciousness that is deeper and higher than the normal reach of our rational minds, which brings us into closer attunement with both Nature and Spirit. Nature is the world of change, beings, and processes; Spirit is the world of principles, ideas, meanings. It is their oneness that makes the symbolic function of our human consciousness possible. A Journey of Unity The elevation of consciousness and realization of the oneness of Nature and Spirit have been the aims of many mystical, spiritual, and philosophical teachings throughout human history. Today such aims are being advocated as an evolutionary necessity if our species and the earth are to survive the many crises that we face today. We have included a few quotations from contemporary spiritual teachers to support this view. We wish to emphasize that this view is necessary and essential to an evolutionary change of consciousness, and to a manifestation of the harmonious unity of earth-nature. A Journey of Experience To hear, see, and remember our innermost connection to the realities of Nature and Spirit has often been the source of inspiration for poetry, art, and mystical philosophy. In Sanskrit, the terms for these faculties are shruti (hearing), drishti (seeing), and smriti (remembering). These terms do not refer to our faculties of sense perception, ideation and practical memory, but to an intuition and inspiration that is capable of experiencing the identity of Nature and Spirit. These higher faculties are inherent in us and not something we have to learn or acquire. Their emergence is enhanced by our receptivity to the words and rhythms that flow from that plane of consciousness, like an empty receptacle into which the sound flows like a river into the sea. A Journey of Transformation Our aspiration has been to create a book of poetry and photography that may contribute to the universal, evolutionary emergence of these higher faculties of hearing, seeing, and remembering. It is our view that such an emergence is crucial for humanity and the world today. A transformation of conscious-ness is necessary before there can be the radical change of our habits of behavior that is necessary if we are to achieve a sustainable lifestyle. A Journey of Hearing, Seeing, and Remembering In addition to the poetry and photography that are 'read' with the eye, we have also included the dimension of sound with this text, which may help us free the mind and eye from their habitual habits of abstract understanding and open our consciousness to an inner hearing of the Word, in a way that enhances our ability to experience the oneness of Being. The outer hearing is often a more direct channel for inner hearing than reading silently. We have therefore included Quick Response bar codes at the end of each poem which enable your smart phone to access the link to the audio recording of the poem.