Wild Tigers: the Time to Act is Now – Just 3,000 remain in the wild. 100 were poached in India in 2013. A century ago, over 100,000 roamed 30 nations; today, they hang on in 12, disappearing from 93% of their range. (ens-newswire.com)

Less than 400 Wild Siberian Tigers Walk the Earth. (Please help save them.)

I believe that nature is a conduit for transformation.

When we touch the base level—the natural—life takes on a beautifully interconnected and mysterious texture. The action of walking through a forest becomes a more nourishing activity (why?) because there’s a genuine meeting between the mind and our roots—the realms of our ancestors.

The South Korean Siberian tiger expert Sooyong Park said:

“In the city, we humans believe we are gods, but out here in the woods, we remember that we are the same, we are equal”

Park was known for being one of the most intense observers of nature, particularly through his practice of inhabiting a four foot covered hole in the earth for months at a time in the frigid cold, just so he could truly become part of the landscape. Through his practice, he became an expert on finding the beasts of the woods—the quarter ton predators known as Siberian tigers.

Park was so good at what he did, blending into the scenery, that a family of curious tigers actually stood on top of his hole and broke through the brittle ceiling one day, their claws and legs weighing heavily on Park’s body, until they ran off in shock. It was a fearful and wildly exciting moment for the biologist.

But there is a sad twist to this, of course, as there is with any interaction between modern, “god-like” man, or what I consider small mind man, and the beasts of the world. Due to the decimating practice of poaching, there are less than 400 wild Siberian tigers left on earth.

If you are interested in helping, please visit the WWF’s website to see the amazing work they’re doing to protect these awe-inspiring creatures.

The Romantic English poet William Wordsworth wrote a poem I enjoy called “The World is Too Much with Us.” It reminds me of the state of my human environment. It also guides me toward remembering the inherent wisdom of the “natural” that lies beyond the facade of my thoughts and the modern world that is a direct reflection of the small mind:

The world is too much with us; late and soon,

Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers;

Little we see in Nature that is ours;

We have given our hearts away, a sordid boon!

This Sea that bares her bosom to the moon,

The winds that will be howling at all hours,

And are up-gathered now like sleeping flowers,

For this, for everything, we are out of tune;

It moves us not.—Great God! I’d rather be

A Pagan suckled in a creed outworn;

So might I, standing on this pleasant lea,

Have glimpses that would make me less forlorn;

Have sight of Proteus rising from the sea;

Or hear old Triton blow his wreathèd horn.

Once again, to find out what WWF is doing to save tigers, visit wwf.panda.org.

Note to reader: “god-like” here does not insult the divine or those who sincerely respect life, rather it’s used to describe the times when we feel separate and thus better than the earth and the engine of evolution (energy) that gave us life.

Editor: Lynn Hasselberger

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