I am standing on a vast expanse of palm-lined sand on the Pacific coast of Costa Rica; a hundred baby sea turtles claw their way out of the safety of their nest. Inch by inch, these tiny beings wriggle across the runway of sand toward the ocean. I watch in wonder as they crawl and pause, crawl and pause, in a rhythm of heroic effort and rest. Eventually the surging tide sweeps each one into the shallows and out to sea.
In the softening light of late afternoon, I can’t help but be awed by the fortitude of these animals—their diligence and perseverance, right after emerging from their eggs. It feels like in some small way they are my teachers. They are showing me the innate capacity of living beings, including myself, to meet challenges with great determination, just as the Buddha encouraged spiritual aspirants to be ardent and resolute as we travel on our journey to peace and freedom.
“Buddhist teachers encourage us to make all of life our teacher. When we look closely, the world around us is always offering guidance.”
For years, the natural world has been a rich source of inspiration in my own practice of the dharma. From jellyfish who float with the currents, I learn how to let go. From vampire bats who share their meals with members of their community who have less food, I learn to be generous.
In that spirit, here are five practice reflections inspired by creatures with whom we share the planet.
Bears: Embrace Rest
Bears have the wisdom to know there is a time for activity and a time for resting. In hibernation, their hearts slow to fewer than ten beats per minute. With each breath—about once every thirty seconds—their hearts thump in time. Everything slows down as they rest within the deep sanctuary of a cave, a hollow in a tree, or a hole framed by duff and leaves.
While we humans may not rest for a whole season, we too benefit from attuning to the conditions within and around us. Through embracing a rhythm of activity and nondoing in life and practice, we find our way into a dynamic balance of energy and tranquility. Bears move naturally from the frenzy of fall feeding to the dormancy of winter and back into the promise of spring. We too can learn to move seamlessly between energetic effort and relaxed receptivity, perhaps ultimately finding a spirit of nonstruggle within the effort itself.
Snakes: Learn to Let Go
Snakes have no choice but to let go. Every slithering creature on the planet—from savannahs and jungles to the Indonesian waters where sea kraits dwell—must shed its skin. Shedding allows them to grow bigger and to discard skin tainted with fungus, parasites, or damage. If they don’t free themselves fully, scales left over their eyes can blind them. And if a segment of skin doesn’t slough off, it can kill, maim, or bind them.
Like snakes, we need to let go in service of growth, even if it feels risky to step outside of what we already know. We need to release unskillful habits, unwholesome mind states, and our confining delusions about who we are. But the deepest letting go is not volitional. All we can do is create the conditions to see where and how we cling as clearly as we can. Then, in the light of awareness, wisdom rises and letting go happens naturally. Just as the snake goes from dull-skinned, milky-eyed, and sluggish to bright-colored and energetic, we unencumber ourselves of what is no longer needed and emerge into a lighter way of being.
Owls: Listen Deeply
In the quietest hour of night, a stirring who-who-who resounds through the trees. It’s the call of an owl, a creature of darkness, a seer in the black. To move through the night on fleet wings, you must have sharp senses. Snowy owls can spy a lemming move from more than half a mile away. Barn owls hunt by sound alone in meadows and pastures on moonless nights—they have some of the best-known hearing of anything that breathes. Great gray owls hunt blind, flying low, listening for the faintest rustling of a mouse beneath snow.
Quiet certainly helps owls discern the delicate sounds of evening. Perhaps even more important is their capacity to pay attention and listen intently. Through the practice of listening deeply within, we too come to know what’s true in this moment, including the subtle rustlings of the mind and heart. With each clear moment of inner listening, we find our way through the dark.
Salmon: Persevere
On their long, winding voyage home from sea to stream, salmon leap up waterfalls, fight churning rapids, and swim against currents for hundreds or even thousands of miles. They squirm through beaver dams—or jump-flop right over—and even push through heaps of gravel.
Salmon face many obstacles on their journey upstream, including human construction, predators, fishermen, and the warming of waters through climate change. Our path of awakening is also a heroic journey home against dominant cultural streams. Salmon remind us that we make our way with one swish of the tail, one twist of the body, one moment, one breath at a time, returning again and again to our heartfelt aspirations to find our way home against the odds. Like these fish, we follow in the footsteps of generations of spiritual ancestors who paved the way for us, just as we pave the way for future practitioners.
Eagles: Begin Again
From high in the treetops of the Peruvian rainforest, a harpy eagle gazes intently with yellow eyes. Standing more than three feet tall with a double crest on her head and talons the size of bear claws, the harpy eagle is one of the most powerful birds in the world.
She sits regally, as if she knows she is bird royalty. But even magnificent eagles, with their awesome strength and their place at the top of the food chain, often fail. Unlike other species that have excellent hunting success rates, it may take them many tries to nab prey. More than half the time, the harpy eagle flaps away with empty talons. Eagles, however, don’t seem to doubt themselves or what they can do—they simply begin anew.
In the practice of cultivating mindfulness and kindness, we can channel the example of the eagle. Thousands of times, we direct our attention back to what’s happening here and now and embrace what is—and thousands of times we forget. The eagle can help us remember that even the most powerful among us only succeed through the humble art of beginning again.
Buddhist teachers encourage us to make all of life our teacher. When we look closely, the world around us is always offering guidance—whether through the steadiness of bears, the shedding of snakes, the listening of owls, the perseverance of salmon, or the resilience of eagles. Each creature reminds us that the path of awakening is woven into the fabric of the natural world, inviting us to walk it with curiosity, humility, and care.
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