Underwater Wild by Craig Foster and Ross Frylinck, 2021,
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Boston, New York.
This beautiful book of under sea pictures illustrates the
authors’ observations about life on our planet.
The photographer became still and spent the time to comprehend the
minute actions of life and death happening around him.
The photo caption for one image says, “The jellyfish
corralled a small fish and harpooned it.
Then the tentacles retracted and placed the poisoned fish inside the
jellyfish’s translucent stomach. This is
extremely advanced behavior for a creature without a centralized brain. So perhaps a centralized brain is not a
prerequisite for advanced behavior?
“But there is another, even more fascinating idea. Perhaps the brains, or neural networks, of
animals (including humans) are actually tuning mechanisms for a larger mind or
consciousness that resides outside the physical body? This possibly would explain the many strange
and wondrous experiences reported by humans that don’t seem to be coming from
inside their heads. The seemingly simple
box jellyfish was a wonderful reminder to me that our world is so multi-layered
and complex, always full of mystery and intrigue.” [p. 131.]
The author uses his own words to describe something you may
have experienced yourself. Would you use
different words for your personal account of living?
I remember in my youth, some authority figures ridiculed the
song, Rocky Mountain High. As if
everyone should get a High from what they were peddling instead.
The author here relates their experience of “primal joy” in
nature. He says, “I’ve noticed that the
cold water, together with the giant three-dimensional floating underwater
forest, can bring on a very strong response.
The brain is flooded with natural feel-good chemicals that also expand
consciousness. This experience can seem
strange to the modern psyche which is trapped in the small world molded by the
corporate-industrial complex of today….”
“The overriding message that came with these experiences was
one of unification. The sense of
belonging to one united entity was very useful in forming strong bonds within
the group, and with the animals and plants that supported life. It made people care about the group and the
environment, sometimes before their own individual needs…”
“When we are not given access to these experiences, some
people retreat deeper and deeper into their own egos. This can create intense feelings of
loneliness and lead to anxiety and depression.
Primal joy is a very powerful antidote to these modern super-predators
of the mind, as it lets us experience our wild-born nature.” [p. 152-153.]
When meeting the indigenous people of the San group, they
wondered how they lived with joy even during troubling times. What was the answer? “…their secret had something to do with the
way in which they could drop the feeling of being separate individuals and open
up to a wider reality in which they felt connected to their environment. He described this as an ‘ego death.’” [p.
168.]
It is interesting to read and hear other people and their
descriptions of inner feelings. To deny
their experience is futile. You can try
to translate it and relate it to your own life events. Maybe we both are talking about the same
thing. Maybe we agree.
I can say that I have benefited by stilling myself and
letting nature happen around me. It’s
beautiful to see, hear, smell and feel the wonderful intricacies of
creation. Praise the Creator.
