Sky: Deep Ecology Practice
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To practice Deep Ecology means reaching out with awareness beyond the limited self to the much larger, interconnected ecological self. This essay explores our connection with the sky.
In Hebrew, the word for sky is ‘shamaim’, or ‘there-water’, a description of the ocean above our heads. Look up, and there are the waters. Humans are like creatures who dwell upon the bottom of the ocean. Most often we experience our lives along the fixed dimension of this ‘ocean floor’, but our world continues upwards, and the currents of those upper reaches affect us continually.
The sky is a part of this planet and our experience of the Earth. Becoming aware of the sky can be a powerful and inspiring experience. We can experience awe and a sensation of spaciousness gazing upon the sky. The sky is always changing, expressing itself differently at every moment: the sunrise and sunset, the long days of summer and darkness of winter, cloudy days and clear ones, still or driven with wind.
Try pausing at some moments in your day and night to notice the sky: its colour and temperature, movement in the wind, what you see there: clouds, birds, sun, stars, moon. What is the sky like where you live now? How does it affect your daily experiences?
I live in a hot country, and the sky is often clear blue. It can be too hot for comfort in the daytime much of the year. People have to seek the shelter of shade. In the country where I was born the skies are often low and cloudy. There was often a feeling of being covered, with water in the air. The sky would sit upon the land, and then on a clear day lift up, in unexpected celebration. I used to live in cities (London, Paris, Munich), where the sky appeared in strips between the canyons formed by the high buildings. Now at the edge of a desert, the sky is huge. When I moved here, I was shocked to feel so strongly that I was on the surface of the planet.
Think about over the places you have lived. What was the sky like in those places?
Some aspects of the sky might remain the same wherever you travel, such as the stars and moon. Our previous home was an attic apartment, and our bed lay under a window in the roof. At night we could see Orion through the glass. When we moved here, I looked for Orion, as an anchor, helping me to feel a little more at home in a strange place.
Experiencing the sky connects us with other people. Loved ones who are far away can look up and see the moon, just as we do. It connects us also with our past and future selves, and others across time. The sky is changeable, but it also has a constant quality that supports this kind of reflection. If you make a habit of noticing the sky, its many elements will enrich you.
Practice 1: Awareness of weather
Often the sky is expressed through weather: heat and cold, stillness and wind, rain, mist, snow, and clarity. Tuning in to the weather is a powerful way of connecting with nature, wherever you live. In modern life there is a tendency to retreat from the weather, and control the rooms we live in, so as not to experience cold and heat, or any discomfort. To connect with greater nature, we need also to make space in our days and nights to experience the weather as it is, without central heating and air conditioning.
This is especially important now, because climate disruption is changing the weather. Unfortunately, because so many of us insulate ourselves from the outside temperature, we are less sensitive to the changes happening, and only extreme events such as storms or heatwaves jolt us into awareness.
How could you increase your awareness of the weather where you are? Feel the condition of the sky and take time to experience the outside daily. Perhaps it is possible to find a place where you can take off your shoes and feel the ground, noticing the temperature and how the ground is at this moment communicating with the sky. Feel the heat and the cold, and notice how they affect you.
If it is raining, could you step outside or open a window for a moment to experience it, and feel the touch of the raindrops returning to the soil from the sky? Or simply listen to the noise from your shelter. Rain is a wonderful time to practice listening meditation, and connect with sky and Earth through your senses.
How are the wild animals around you responding to the weather? Are birds active and in flight, or sheltering? At what times of day are they most active?
Get to know the clouds in your skies. The high icy cirrus, heavy stratus, peaceful cumulus or towering cumulonimbus threatening storms each have their own stories. Watching clouds gives practical information, such as whether it is likely to rain, and is also wonderfully meditative. Their shapes and colors are full of beauty, and their gentle movement is soothing to the mind. Take a few moments when you can to watch the clouds.
If there is wind blowing, feel its direction. Where is it coming from and going to? What are the qualities of this wind: light at playful, or strong and full of energy and purpose? If you can sit and listen to the wind. What it has to say might astonish you.
Practice 2: Surya namaskar
The quality of our skies are also an astonishing expression of shadow and light, and our planetary movement through space. Our lives are shaped by the movement of turning towards the sun, and way from the sun. At night we move into the shadow of our own planet, falling between us and our star. We face out into space, and the sky grows huge. The blue dome of the atmosphere no longer visible, there may be enough dark to see the galaxy’s stars and the other planets of our solar system.
In the daytime, we face the sun, and feel its life-giving heat. Indian yogis developed a beautiful practice to greet and celebrate the sun: Surya Namaskar, the sun salutation. If it is right for your body, try learning this sequence to meet the daytime sky. The movements are an effective way to wake up the spine, building both strength and flexibility. More than this, as we move from reaching upwards to lowering our body the ground and rising back up rooted, the asana express unity, between the human body and the world, the ground and the sky, the Earth and the sun, our consciousness and all that supports us to live.
Practice 3: Sky-like mind meditation
In Buddhism there is a concept of sky-like mind. In the Majjhima Nikaya, Buddha instructs his followers: ‘Develop a mind that is vast like space, where experiences both pleasant and unpleasant can appear and disappear without conflict, struggle or harm. Rest in a mind like vast sky.’
Practicing sky-like mind in meditation is a very peaceful and profound experience. It is often known as open or natural awareness meditation. Begin the meditation by finding a comfortable position to sit in, then allow yourself to come into stillness with a few minutes of focused awareness meditation, following the breath or sounds that come and go. I find that listening to sounds is a good preparation for open awareness.
After settling, let go of the focus on the sounds, and notice your thoughts coming and going. Notice your awareness of the thoughts. Thoughts come and go, like the breath or the sounds, but the awareness remains. The thoughts are like passing clouds, and the awareness, or mind, is like the sky.
From here, rest in this state of awareness, or being. Observe your thoughts when they pass through your mind, but don’t cling to them. Let them go, and rest in awareness. Your mind is vast and spacious, like the sky. Perhaps you might feel the mind become boundless, your mind within a much larger awareness, where you belong and exist peacefully. Perhaps you can simply rest in the meditative state.
You might feel sleepy or spaced-out. This is also fine, and it is quite likely that your body and mind are letting you know that you need some rest. If you do want to continue with the open awareness meditation, take some energizing deep breaths and come back to a state of awareness: not just feeling, but aware of feeling.
Don’t strain after a state of open awareness. Allow it to be there, and if it is not there, try not to judge yourself and your meditation. Rather, accept your experience as it is, with a kind welcome. You can always practice a different kind of meditation, like listening, if it comes more naturally. The sound of singing bowls may be a helpful aid in practicing open awareness, and guidance might support relaxed awareness.
