Even though I grew up as a city girl, from a young age there was always an intimacy I felt with nature. Nature was not something that was needed, but every time I connected with it, I felt a return to myself that was pure, simple and very lovely. Most of my adult years have been spent in a concrete jungle. When life became intense, nature was a place where I would go walking and ponder. It was a reminder of the spaciousness that I felt within, so I could simply relax and be myself. A few years ago, due to not wanting to face some deep hurts, I threw myself into a journey of soul-searching, though ironically I did not turn to my soul, but instead looked outside of myself. Nature became my focus and where my answers were sought. I had a need within me to be protected, to be confirmed, to be blessed and to be met by nature – and therefore nature became something much grander than myself. Instantly, the equality with nature I felt as a child vanished. When I looked outside to nature for my answers, I was constantly reconfirming the belief that I don’t know: not only did that feel untrue, it left me feeling disempowered. As a result of feeling disempowered, recognition was constantly needed, thinking it would bring me closer to the power that we are.
This power was simply a feeling within myself of interconnectedness with everything; something that I could always feel strongly inside but hadn’t yet truly brought forth. I chose to believe there is recognition when we are ‘chosen’ by nature, and being bitten by a venomous snake whilst pregnant was my proof that I held a place in nature. It was believed in certain shamanic traditions that it is the living through natural disasters that actually gives one proof of having a place in nature – for example, some shamans are ‘chosen’ when they have been struck by lightning and lived.
However, being bitten by a snake did not allow me to feel once that I was powerful, in-truth it only left me feeling extremely powerless. Even though I could feel my choice of seeking recognition so as to not feel the discomfort of choosing and living this way, I continued to ignore my feelings and to remain arrogant until the traumas in my life forced me to stop and wake up. Nature had become this grandiosity that was much greater than me and was supposed to protect me. I had to look up to it – after all, I sang to the moon on full moon nights and danced to every rising sun. Despite this, I always felt lesser in comparison with it. There was almost a comfort felt in labelling nature as something so immensely grandiose that I had no power over, because then I would not have to take responsibility for a lot of things. When natural disasters happened, they were something that just happened without my control, and when something happened personally in my life, it was nature that I consulted before I reflected on self-responsibility. But how was the comfort of remaining in arrogance and ignorance truly assisting me? I looked for signs everywhere in nature – mountains became masters that I would speak with and wait for replies; leaves and lakes were ‘read’ – but this was mostly done with an expectation of what I would like to hear, and therefore the answers were not true.
Ignoring my feelings kept me locked up in the unknowingness of what is true. It was never really my responsibility but someone else’s, or the universe’s unfathomable ways that were incomprehensible to someone like myself. How I chose to live was constantly re-confirming the belief that I had no power in understanding what was going on around me.
What eventually changed for me was the realisation that the harmony I know within myself and that I see reflected constantly in nature, is not what I am feeling or seeing in daily life. For example, in the breathtaking presence of nature and in traditions that honor nature, human relations can still exhibit cruelty; allowing myself to truly feel this realisation was more painful than any drama that had happened. I could no longer carry on life this way. In essence, I stopped, or more accurately, my body forced me to stop looking everywhere outside for my answers. In the fragile state that my body was in, I literally had to stop and take stock of what had been going on in my life, and in my body.
What I then felt was that I was living in a constantly anxious state of wanting and seeking answers, so I chose to not perpetuate this disharmony anymore by taking back the responsibility for my life. I was inspired by Serge Benhayon presenting in a Universal Medicine retreat in 2013 to return to self-responsibility and commitment to life and gradually I began to feel a pervading harmony that simply came from within.
Nature has never stopped reflecting to me its sheer beauty, harmony and a love that is true. I have never stopped feeling this, with the knowing that what I am seeing is a reflection of what I know I am within. This was deeply felt when the need to look outside for answers and recognition was dropped.
I still love to look at and photograph the skies and clouds, but now every time I am touched by a beauty so deep there is an appreciation for nature in confirming the equal beauty and power that is simply the essence of us all. When the shutter is pressed I am taking a picture that is in confirmation of a true relationship with nature. We are so truly glorious that the skies cannot but reflect that back to us—when lived, we are the blessing that we see.
By Adele Leung, Image Director, Hong Kong
Further Reading:
The Magic of Nature the Magic of God and Me
The Truth about Serge Benhayon 
Many of us around the world search for that settlement outside of ourselves, thinking someone will have that magic word, or that magic pill to alleviate what is missing inside of us. And at the end of the day it’s always within us, we’ve allowed ourselves to become disempowered.
When we meet people like Serge Benhayon and Universal Medicine, do we truly receive the reflection and inspiration that the journey needs to begin within us and the responsibility to do our part in life? We just need to stop searching elsewhere and begin with us first, what happens around us should be seen as a movie playing out and not becoming part of it.
“What I am seeing is a reflection of what I know I am within“- this is so true, and explains why our relationship with nature can be very different from one person to the next. With little self-worth, we may hold nature greater; with much self-disdain, we may not even think twice about trashing nature.
Fumiyo that feels so true, we all receive nature differently. Some will give their all to it, some partially and some couldn’t care less about it. But it’s like that boomerang effect, what you give out will always come right back to you. So be discerning all the time.
“I was inspired by Serge Benhayon” Serge Benhayon has inspired me to observe and feel all that nature offers and teaches us.
“Nature has never stopped reflecting to me its sheer beauty, harmony and a love that is true. I have never stopped feeling this, with the knowing that what I am seeing is a reflection of what I know I am within. ” Beautiful Adele. Looking within, not outwardly to feel how grand we are, and nature is a beautiful reflection of that for us all.
When I look at nature to give me something I can feel how I leave my body. It’s the same as when I get drawn into looking at what is in shops and think that gives me something. But once I come back to my body and settle in the knowing that I am enough, I can appreciate nature for the glorious reflection it offers.
When we need something, seek something from outside ourself, we immediately create inequality, ‘I had a need within me to be protected, to be confirmed, to be blessed and to be met by nature – and therefore nature became something much grander than myself. Instantly, the equality with nature I felt as a child vanished.’
Nature doesn’t hold itself as less and is a constant reflection for us to embrace our grandness.
Nature communicates with us in a language which we can only understand if we are open to think outside of the lineal socially constructed way.
Bringing back responsibility, listening to and honouring our bodies, our wise best friends, ‘How I chose to live was constantly re-confirming the belief that I had no power in understanding what was going on around me.’
I went for a walk the other day in nature and could feel I wasn’t needing it as I used to to feel settled again. Yes, I could very much appreciate it, but I also felt my own power and what comes through when I don’t hold back.
I used to escape to nature to ‘make me feel connected and whole’ again. No longer needing to do that – thanks to Universal Medicine – but I do appreciate the beauty that nature reflects to us all.
It is valuable to learn how we can seek escape from life in anything and everything, some do it in drugs and alcohol, some in sport, some in academia and some in nature and that when escape is the intention we will always get exhausted and run down by it. So it is not about the where we go but about how we can learn to be in life without the need to escape.
Yes, living and accessing the love we naturally are, ‘When I looked outside to nature for my answers, I was constantly reconfirming the belief that I don’t know: not only did that feel untrue, it left me feeling disempowered. As a result of feeling disempowered, recognition was constantly needed’.
“We are so truly glorious that the skies cannot but reflect that back to us—when lived, we are the blessing that we see.” simply beautiful the reflection of nature back to us in all its beauty which is reflecting our divine beauty.
So very true Adele. If we see the beauty in nature it is a reflection of own inner beauty. And if don’t see the beauty in nature it simply means we have lost the connection to our own inner beauty.
One of my absolute favourite things in the world is the night sky. When you look up to the stars at night, you can’t deny that we are part of something magnificent, to me it reminds me that who I am is grander than I could ever imagine and there is so much more to human life than just the day-to-day struggle.
‘Stop and smell the roses’ comes to mind when I think of how nature can offer us a moment to reflect on what we have been putting our energy into and does it truly support us. Being at the top of a mountain when it’s covered in snow reflects such stillness and just being present, so when I’m there I feel that and get a taste for how often or not I am present in my day.
Yeh that’s a beautiful way to look at it – it shows us what is possible, and the potential of what is on offer should we choose to accept it.
I love looking at the stars on a bright night, nature is an amazing reflection as you say, ‘Nature has never stopped reflecting to me its sheer beauty, harmony and a love that is true. I have never stopped feeling this, with the knowing that what I am seeing is a reflection of what I know I am within.’
‘We are so truly glorious that the skies cannot but reflect that back to us—when lived, we are the blessing that we see.’ There is such a joy in me when I look at the sky and see the grandness that’s reflected back to us here on earth to return to our true origin.
Nature does not provide for answers. It provides space for answers to come up from within.
” there is an appreciation for nature in confirming the equal beauty and power that is simply the essence of us all. ” Beautiful Adele. Or do we use nature to escape to – to make us feel ‘better’?
Mostly when I was very delicate with small animals in nature it confirmed me the delicateness in my body in which I felt the connection with God and the place we are really from.
Nature is a constant reflection for us and always offering us a different perspective or view on life we may otherwise not be open to.
Nature is constantly communicating truth to us and the truth is that we are divine beyond nature and form.
Yeh when we realise that nature is not just beautiful and not just magnificent, but also a form of communication through it’s symbology it adds a whole new dimension and opportunity of discovery to life.
What I am discovering these days is how deeply ingrained this seeking and need of ours for recognition. It looks totally different from one person to the next and from time to time, yet this desire remains what propels our choices.
The spaciousness in nature allows us to connect to the spaciousness within and there we can get inspiration and revelations about our life.
Knowing we are equal to nature allows us to feel how grand and glorious we truly are.
When we’re not feeling right or not feeling ourselves nature is absolutely brilliant at reminding us how grand, how intricate, how beautiful and how wonderful the world is – and of course how we are part of that wonder.
I completely agree I love how nature is a gift that can help remind us of the beauty that we are when we are not feeling ourselves. I used to rely heavily on nature to bring me back but now enjoy it more for what it is rather than needing anything from it.
Nature is just that a reflection of how simple and majestic life is. It holds a great reminder of our grandness that is far more than we often choose to feel.
“I threw myself into a journey of soul-searching, though ironically I did not turn to my soul, but instead looked outside of myself.”
And this is the set-up most of us fall for. We sense something is missing because deep down we know we have separated from the love that we are (our Soul) but instead of reconnecting to it, we go searching outside of ourselves for it. This is a futile exercise because how can we find something externally that already lives within us? That is – how do we find something we already are? Thus the ‘soul-searching’ we fall for is not a search for Soul at all but more so an exercise in creating more delay by indulging in the antics of the human etheric spirit, the part of us that separated from Soul in the first place and is now taking us on this wild goose chase!
I love your simple honesty Adele in that it shares the fact that in order to connect to our soul we go within not outside of ourselves.
Very well said and I agree, everything is already within, we simply need to surrender to and connect to it.
“We are so truly glorious that the skies cannot but reflect that back to us—when lived, we are the blessing that we see.” A gorgeous reading, thank you Adele, I too looked to nature to give me what I was seeking, I loved the beauty and harmony I felt in nature, not knowing at the time that that beauty and harmony I felt was also in me and this was what nature was reflecting back.
“Nature has never stopped reflecting to me its sheer beauty, harmony and a love that is true.” When we appreciate nature for all it reflects back to us we no longer try to make it fit the picture we create of how we think it should be.
The answers are not in nature. They are within ourselves. What nature does is to bring us back deeply to ourselves. So, it has an important role to play in what refers to answers.
When we adore something but cannot feel ourselves in it we can get very lost in the adoration but when we know our own place in it we can feel the interdependence we are part of.
Beautiful expression of how our relationship with nature is an offering to feel our equal beauty.
I once had often wished that the stillness and oneness I had felt when I was in nature, was with me all the time. I had wished the world was this way and believed that I could only feel these qualities when I was in nature. Yet as now I realise that these qualities are within me and that nature is always offering us a reflection of the magnificence we all innately are.
“When I looked outside to nature for my answers, I was constantly reconfirming the belief that I don’t know:” How many of us do just this? Looking outside of ourselves to nature, to books, to gurus and in many more places as we do not trust that we actually have all the answers within. We had the connection to the answers to all our questions as a child through our innate clairsentience, but then disconnected from it as those around us didn’t feel comfortable with the honesty we shared. But this sense of knowing never left us so we can return to it whenever we choose.
What I always loved about nature is that it never lied and therefore nature was the only place I felt safe growing up, also nature never rejects , it just works on bringing “what ever” to harmony thank you for sharing Adele.
This is beautifully said and observed, that nature never lies nor rejects but simply flows in the rhythms and abides to the cycles of the universe.
Denying our equality to all that is is a sure way of keeping us aligned to an energy that is not true that will always have us thinking that we are more or less – making comparisons.
‘we are the blessing we see’ so very true and if we embrace all around knowing it’s just a reflection, a reminder for us always of the beauty inside.
Nothing how we have made the world is telling us how grand we are and yet we are by the simple fact that we are part of the grandness of this universe. And this grandness holds a humbleness as it knows that each part contributes to its grandness in the first place and thus it knows the importance of each part abiding to the laws and rhythms of the whole.
We are so conditioned to fight for approval and acceptance, trained in competition from young, that to begin to consider we are as grand as nature, can be a stretch for our conditioned mind. But it is simply a fact that our bodies know to be true. How important is it then to allow our bodies to be the marker of our wisdom. As never did my mind allow me to feel my grandness, yet in my body it is not a thought, but a truth.
“As never did my mind allow me to feel my grandness, yet in my body it is not a thought, but a truth.” I love this sentence Leigh, it states a simple truth.
When we live in disconnection to who we truly are, nature can help us reconnect to all that is divinely created and from here know and feel once again the absolute majesty we are from that lives beyond this and within us.
The blessing of nature is a blessing of the relationship we have with our bodies. For without it life would need some mechanism outside of us to balance us. The fact we ‘look’ outside of us to nature is a confirmation why we need it.
“every time I am touched by a beauty so deep there is an appreciation for nature in confirming the equal beauty and power that is simply the essence of us all.” Nature in its grandness is not above us in the glory that we are as divine sons of God, it holds for us so many moments of reflection and confirmation in its beauty and harmony.
This is so true and something I am appreciating that I am a part of this amazing divine nature not an observer of life.
“when lived, we are the blessing that we see.” Its true. I see symbols of love hearts everywhere more than I ever have. This didn’t use to be the case – it was negative objects usually skulls. I was in adoration to the change it was a celebration. It was not a distinct one day change but you can say I certainly felt it and am moved by it every-time I clock it. It’s beauty in constellation to say this is the magic of God in living from your Heart.
“I was inspired by Serge Benhayon presenting in a Universal Medicine retreat in 2013 to return to self-responsibility and commitment to life and gradually I began to feel a pervading harmony that simply came from within.” I can truly relate to this place in life. This is my next step also and I came to this step in the work of uncovering the true power within. It takes responsibility and commitment to life.
“When life became intense, nature was a place where I would go walking and ponder. It was a reminder of the spaciousness that I felt within, so I could simply relax and be myself”. This is how nature has always been and will always be for me. The only difference now is that since studying with Universal Medicine l have a clearer understanding of what nature actually is reflecting back to me. Nature reflects back to me the magnificence and gloriousness of me, a son of God. When l experience nature it’s really a reflection of my own essence within, so now l become one with Nature and do not lose myself or check out within it.
Most if not all of us have or have had our own version of what you describe Adele – whether it’s nature, alcohol, emotions, religion, work…..the list is endless. They may seem like life-rafts at the time – keeping us afloat in a sea of complication and confusion, of abuse and irresponsibility at every turn, so it is understandable that we can give them huge power and feel less in their shadow. Once we choose responsibility however, we can see them for the prisons they really were.
I could have written this blog Adele! Relatable on every level, I gave power to nature over and above myself thinking it was superior rather than a reflection of ONLY an aspect of divinity. I can appreciate nature knowing that it’s beautiful in form but I am formlessness.
Understanding that nature is divinely created and hence can support us to reconnect to that aspect of our being was not hard to relate to, it certainly had always been a great source of wonder to me. In becoming reacquainted with my own essence, my Soul and all of what I have felt and experienced in that connection, I can now relate to the fact that there is nothing grander than this, not even the wonders of nature. I no longer seek out nature to restore myself, but simply go within and connect.
Beautiful, nature certainly helps to confirm how glorious we are, ‘I still love to look at and photograph the skies and clouds, but now every time I am touched by a beauty so deep there is an appreciation for nature in confirming the equal beauty and power that is simply the essence of us all.’
Anything that we shift responsibility for or give our power away to means we are living from something outside of us – we are choosing to separate from who we are. Thank you Adele for deepening our awareness of how this can appear and how it can happen. Going inward and making our choices from the heart is our responsibility and something to be constantly reflecting on in all of our movements.
Connecting the dots, and with the help of your blog, its easy for me to see that, even if we don’t connect to it all the time, the beauty and harmony we feel in nature and others, is only possible because we know that beauty and harmony within ourselves first.
‘We are so truly glorious that the skies cannot but reflect that back to us—when lived, we are the blessing that we see.’ I love that sentence. I will remember that when I look at the amazing skies when walking. It is breath taking. And we in our true essence are that too. I got a glimpse of that and it is pretty awesome. It is just for us to stop the game we play as spirits and go back to live from our soul.
When we give our power away to something outside of us, we miss the reflection of our grandness that’s on offer.
To something or to ‘someone’.
Well pulled up Irena, very true.
“but this was mostly done with an expectation of what I would like to hear, and therefore the answers were not true.”
Ouch….I know this one! And how many times have I done it….asked a question, only really wanting the person (or myself) to say what I want to hear, and then not really listening to the answer if it was not what I wanted to hear. Awesome one to be aware of, and then catch it, and look at why you were avoiding the truth.
Giving nature, or another a place above us leaves us forever less than. For our soul, this is impossible, as it knows that our essence and that of nature’s is the same.
I love this beautiful sharing Adele. Nature has so much to offer us if we allow it, To me nature is sitting in my garden watching the myriad of birds coming going and butterflies . To see the beauty in a flower, a bee or lizard makes my day. A great way to confirm all is right with the world in this moment.
It’s fascinating to see just how astray our minds and spirits can lead us… far away from the simple truth of the soul.
The thing is, and what you describe here, that we do not play our part in the whole of the universe but think that we can do as we like and thus do not honour our innate yearning to surrender to the universal pulse and flow.
What is interesting to note here is how our connection to nature is often a reflection of ourselves and the willingness to keep things simple. Appreciating the wonder and simplicity that is on offer – yet not taking stock of the same quality we have within.
Nature’s reflection offers us much to explore and to confirm within our own living ways and shows that our amazingness is grand. The honesty found in everything in nature is much for us to learn and explore, whether it be a gentle butterfly flying by or the harshness and destruction of a storm, the raw and open ways that nature shares, reveals a lot and asks us to look within from what it outwardly and openly communicates to grow and ignite our heart’s connection, to the beating heart of the living natural world.
So gorgeous Adele, claiming back the sheer beauty we are, by seeing natures reflection as a confirmation our what lies with in us all.
This is a gorgeous blog Adele! I love your sharing “we are so glorious that the skies cannot but reflect that back to us- when lived, we are the blessing that we see”. I too love Nature.
When we go to nature to give us something that we are not giving ourselves then this imposes on nature…. multiply that by billions of humans and nature gets a beating everyday, no wonder she needs to cough and splutter to rid herself of what’s been imposed. Just notice the difference in people when it’s a sunny day or a rainy day.
Nature is great at confirming how grand we are, how can we not look at the amazing detail of a flower, or the wonder of a rainbow or the vastness of the night sky and not feel we are part of something magnificent?
Very true Meg. Every piece of nature be it leaf, flower, drop of rain, bird song or animal trait, exists as a powerful reflection that supports us to return to the love we innately are but have walked away from, until such a time that we can stand once more in the Kingdom of our hearts and know that no terrain is greater than this majesty.
Empowering to bring back your relationship with nature as equal and not handing over your power to it which leaves you less.