“ The essence of all being is Earth. The essence of the Earth is Water. The essence of Water is plants. The essence of plants is the human being.” Chandogya Upanishad I.1.2
“Evolution is a manifestation of latent potentials. Within each thing is contained all things. In the seeds is the tree, in the tree is the forest. Therefore, intelligence is contained implicitly in the many worlds of nature, not only in our human centered world. Another way of saying this is that consciousness exists in all forms of life. It is the very basis of creation, the power of evolution. Life, creation and evolution are the stages in the unfoldment of consciousness. There is nothing in existence that is unfeeling, nothing that is profane or unspiritual, nothing without a unique value in the cosmos. Life is relational, interdependent, interconnective, a system of mutual nourishment and care, not only physically, but also psychologically and spiritually.”
“Consciousness, therefore, is not merely thought, much less intellect or reason. It is the feeling of being alive and being related to all life. Consciousness as pure feeling exists already in the plant and is hidden in the rock, even within the atom itself. Elemental attraction and repulsion are similar to love and hate, like and dislike. For this reason, the ancient seers of India held that the Self alone exists, that unity is the basis of all existence — that unity of life is the unity of consciousness.”
“By this they meant that every living thing was sentient, that everything was, in the sense of consciousness, human. True humanity which is humane feeling for all life, is at the heart of all life. Plants and animals sometimes show this sense of caring more than certain humans, who have been hardened in their isolates sense of humanity. It is only when we come to look upon all things as human that we are capable of a truly humane existence. Such a lesson is taught to us by plants and herbs whose existence is still grounded in the unity of nature, through which we may return to understand ourselves better. “
“Man/Woman as a microcosm contains within himself all the elemental, mineral, vegetable and animal kingdoms. Within the plant is the potential of the human being. Conversely within the human being is the underlying energy structure of the plant. Our nervous system, it could be said, is a tree whose plant-essence is human. Therefore, plants may communicate directly to that essence of feeling which makes a true human being.“
“The Plant Kingdom exists to bring feeling into a manifestation. On the plant level, feeling exists in a pure and passive form. The animal and human kingdoms manifest this more actively, more separately, but often with less beauty. Consciousness in plants is on a primal level of unity; therefore it is more psychic, telepathic.”
“Life forms are stations for the reception and transmission of forces, through which all are nourished. Each thing exists to nourish all others, and in return, to be nourished itself. In this manner each kingdom of nature serves to receive and transmit life. This life is implicit in light and in the transmission of steller or astral forces.”
“The earth, like a gigantic receptor or radio-station, inhales and exhales seller and cosmic forces, the absorbed essences of which grows and unfolds as life. These forces are not all material, but include subtle energies of an occult or spiritual nature. Plants transmit the vital-emotional impulses, the life-force that is hidden in light. This is the gift, the grace, the power of plants.”
“Plants bring us the love, the nourishing power of the sun, which is the same energy of all the stars, of all light. These cosmic energies emanated by plants thus nourish, sustain and make grow our own astral body. In this way the existence of plants is a great offering, a sacrifice. They offer us not only their own nutritive value, but the very light and love from the stars, from the cosmos whose messengers they are. They bring to us the universal light so that we can enter the universal life. They exist for psychological, as well as physical nourishment. Our feelings, then, are our own inner plants, our own inner flowers. They grow in accordance with our perception of the nature of all life.”
“Creation is light. In the Vedas, the ancient scriptures of India, the great god Agni, the principle of Fire, the Divine Seer-Will, build up the worlds, and makes of creation a series of self-transformations.”
“Plants exist to transmute light into life. Human beings exist to transmute life into consciousness, love. These three- light, life and love- are one, each an expression of the other, three dimensions of the same existence. Plants transmute life into consciousness through perception. Through direct perception, the seer is the seen, the observer the observed. The Sanskrit word for plant remedy is osadhi meaning literally a receptacle or mind, dhi, in which there is burning transformation, osa.” In the Vedas this does not only mean consciousness, this means the animating force present not only in plants, but in all entities in creation. In sanskrit, there is no distinction between human consciousness and plant consciousness, we are all experiencing the same mind.
“The human being is the plant of consciousness. The plant, which effects a similar process on a”lower level” of evolutions, feeds our mind and nervous system to help in the process. As below, so above; all the universe is a metamorphosis of light.”
“In the outer world, a central sun is the source of light and life. In the inner world, a central sun is also the source of life. The inner sun is our true Self, what the ancients called the Purusha or Atman. Plants fringes into communion with the energy of the outer sun, while our inner plant, our nervous system, brings us into communion with the inner sun. Establishing the proper link between the outer plant and the inner plant thus completes the circuit of light and life, and establishes the free flow of awareness in which the mind is liberated — unites the sun with the sun, merges the outer with the inner, creates a festival of delight in living.”
“ The proper usage of a plant of herbs, during which its true power is released, implies a communion with it. The plant, when we are one with it, will vitalize our nervous system and invigorate our perception. This means giving value to a plant as something sacred, as a means of communion with all nature. Each plant, then, like a mantra, will help to actualize the potential of cosmic life of which it is a representative.”
“For this reason, ancient people have had reverence for the plant kingdom. It is not a superstitious awe, nor a mere sensitivity to a beauty, but a reception of the power that plants bring to us. The force is not received simply through ingesting the plant, but in our total communion with it. “
“The sages of ancient India approached healing and herbs with the same consciousness. Theirs was not a science of experimentation, but a form of direct participation. Experimentations implies distance, a division between observer and observed, subject and object. As a result, it is mediated, measured, translated. In dissecting the corpose, the penetration of the soul is missed. Direct perception, or mediation, is the science of yoga. Yoga allows the essence, the thing-in-itself, to disclose itself. When this happens, a full revelation of material and spiritual potential occurs.”
“The seers, through the yoga of perceptions, let plants speak to them. And the plants disclosed their secrets - many of which are far more subtle than a chemical analysis could uncover. Approaching plants in the same way today, not as objects for self-aggrandizement but as integral part of our own unity, the true value of a plant will flourish for our unselfish use.”
“To become a true herbalist, therefore, means to become a seer. This means to be sensitive to the being of the herbs, to commune in receptive awareness with the plant-light of the universe. it is to learn to listen when the plant speaks, to speak to the plant as to another human being, and to look upon it as one’s teacher.”
Thank you Dr. Vasant Lad for this channeled text.
