Member-only story
LIFE LESSON
Crossing the Steppes with Mindful Loving
A narrative about gratitude and appreciation for the Earth
I am sitting on a volcanic outcrop somewhere in eastern Oregon, overlooking what is known by some as the “Sagebrush Steppes.” All along these steppes are mesas and buttes, resembling tables of giants set up for some great picnic. The sun is rising high enough now to warm me as I listen to the Hum and songbirds chirping within it. A cow grazes below. Yama sits next to me.
DISCIPLE: Yama, I am watching the cow feast upon this beautiful land here, this BLM land. It is free-roaming, which I like to see. It is content; it feels part of the scenery. However, cattle trails crisscross this area, the delicate flora trampled, and I know that our livestock is causing environmental problems — like belching methane.
YAMA: Yes, and your point, or should I say, concern?
DISCIPLE: Well, yesterday, after meditating and then thinking about this geological expedition that my son and I are on, how we are traveling with seven vehicles as we cross the deserts of California, Nevada, and Oregon, I guess I was feeling a bit guilty. We are camped on this land, impacting it by just the tracks we make, the wood we burn, the literal crap we leave.
