Exploring Nature Symbols in Religious Texts

Exploring Nature Symbolsin religious texts

“The heavens declare the glory of God; and The firmament showeth his handywork.”

(Psalms 19:1)

© Niki Daniels, Feb 2015

Values?

Nature / Planet Earth

What do We have in Common?

Grounds for Understanding between people of different Faiths and Cultures

Values

Nature / Planet Earth

Human Body / Genetics

Action / Things we Do

What do We have in Common?

Human/Abstract (e.g. Time, Music)

Grounds for Understanding between people of different Faiths and Cultures

Prof. Cathy Gutierrez, 'Water in Western Religions' http://witcombe.sbc.edu/water/

Symbol ≠ Sign

“Symbols are any figuration... in image, material, or in language, which is invested with cultural meaning.

The meaning is not limited to one thing -- symbols, by definition, mean many things at once.”


Symbol ≠ Sign

“For example, stop lights are signs. The fact that red means "stop"

and green means "go" is absolutely arbitrary... If everyone agreed to it,

we could replace all of the red lights with fuchsia lights, and everyone would stop where and when they were supposed to...”

“Symbols on the other hand always mean several things at once, and they are tied to a history

and a group in such a way that they are not easily replaceable.”

Symbol ≠ Sign


Source: H20 - The Mystery, Art, and Science of Water http://witcombe.sbc.edu/water/

Chris Witcombe and Sang Hwang, Sweet Briar College

“Long before scientists began to examine its properties, water was firmly established as the mysterious sacred

source of life and its substance and symbology was deeply woven into the fabric of the world's religions.”

Water/the ocean

Source: H20 - The Mystery, Art, and Science of Water http://witcombe.sbc.edu/water/

Chris Witcombe and Sang Hwang, Sweet Briar College

“Water is... mutable and sublime, sustaining and destructive, and

throughout literature water serves as a representation not only of birth but of death, not merely of placidity but of violence.”

Water/the ocean

“Canst thou find out the deep things of God? Canst thou attain unto the purpose of the Almighty? The measure

thereof is longer than the earth and broader than the sea.”

“In each and every heart, the Unseen is seen. You yourself are

the ocean and the boat.”

Waterspiritual life and knowledge

Job 11:7,9 (Jewish/Christian)

Shri Guru Granth Sahib, Siree Rag (Sikh)

“Thou knowest not where is the ocean of thought; yet when thou seest Fair waves of speech, thou

knowest there is a glorious ocean beneath them.”The Mathnavi of Rumi, Volume 1 (Muslim)

Waterspiritual life and knowledge

“Immerse yourselves in the ocean of My words, that ye may unravel its secrets, and discover

all the pearls of wisdom that lie hid in its depths.”Baha'u'llah, the Kitab-i-Aqdas (Baha'i)

“But bear the glad tidings to those who believe and workrighteousness, that for them are gardens beneath which rivers flow.”

Waterrighteousness & salvation

The Qur'an, Sura 2 The Heifer (Muslim)

“He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.”

John 7:38 (Christian)

With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation.Isaiah 12:3 (Jewish/Christian)

Source: The Use of Trees as Symbols in the World Religions Sally Liya (Donegal, Ireland: Association for Baha'i Studies)

Trees“The tree is a universal symbol found

in the myths and sacred writings of all peoples.

The psychologist Jung showed That the tree is part of the collective unconscious of

all peoples, and frequently figures in dreams.”


Trees

“The symbolic meanings of trees in dreams include growth, unfolding,

shelter, nurture. In primal and shamanistic religions, the tree is

regarded as the gatekeeper to the next world.”

Source: The Use of Trees as Symbols in the World Religions Sally Liya (Donegal, Ireland: Association for Bahá'í Studies)

Trees“Trees figure in all of the

Dispensations of the Adamic cycle and in the Revelation of Bahá’u’lláh, where they

are used to explain many Bahá’í teachings.”


Trees

“In some cultures, the tree represents the

life of a human being...”

“A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.” Luke 6:43 (Christian)

Good & Evil

Trees (& fruit)

Trees (& fruit)


“As a tree whose root is exposed dries up and perishes, thus a man who says what is untrue exposes his root, dries up and perishes.”

Upanishads (Hindu)

Good & Evil

Getting at the Root

Trees (&fruit)


“As a tree whose root is exposed dries up and perishes, thus a man who says what is untrue exposes his root, dries up and perishes.”

Upanishads (Hindu)

“Were he not impelled by desire of fruit, the gardener would never have planted the tree. Therefore in reality the tree is born from the fruit, though seemingly the fruit is born from the tree.”

Mathnavi of Rumi (Muslim)

Good & Evil

Getting at the Root

The Gardener/Man's Purpose

Trees

“For there is hope of a tree, if it be cut down, that it will sprout again, and that the tender branch thereof will not cease.”

Job 14:7 (Jewish)

Life After Life

Trees“For there is hope of a tree, if it be cut down, that it will sprout again, and that the tender branch thereof will not cease.”

“He [the Guru] is the fruit-bearing tree, luxuriantly green with abundant shade.”Shri Guru Granth Sahib, Siree Rag (Sikh)

“...he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers... that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall

not wither... whatsoever he doeth shall prosper. Psalms 1:3 (Judeo-Christian)

Job 14:7 (Jewish)

Life After Life

Human Exemplars

Trees

“Look ye not upon the present, fix your gaze upon the times to come. In the beginning, how small is the seed, yet in the end it is a mighty tree.”

Selections from the Writings of 'Abdu'l-Baha (Baha'i)

Spiritual Development is Organic

The tree which fills the arms grew from the tiniest sprout; the Tower of nine storeys rose from a (small) heap of earth; the

Journey of a thousand li commenced with a single step.

Tao Te Ching (Tao)

Mahatma Gandhi

“You must not lose faith in humanity.

Humanity is an ocean; if a few drops of the ocean are dirty,

the ocean does not become dirty.”

Closing Thought