When leaves have fallen, roots and bark are left, what is intangible such as Tao, is unlimited. Tao has no description. It is a path, a way, or a source of power and balance. It is the whole, the mother of all things. Tao gives the basics of live, to the known, tangible and named. It is beyond form, beyond what is hidden, further than what is present. It has no beginning and no ending. Tao is available as aid to release what is material, and to be able to reach a spiritual peak with only what life delivers. One has to take advantage of what is already there, knowing and being aware of what is important and what is logical. Then pure simplicity is reached, where wisdom and humility come into action. Humility is appreciating what is simple, and wisdom is a matter of choosing simplicity, with non-intention, non-action and non-contention. A tree is plain simplicity, it is the most basic shape in nature, a memory of necessity.
A tree is a selfless living thing. It is harmless, simple, a true example of nature’s beauty. The tree is the protector of the world. It takes our damage (CO2), and makes it beneficial for our survival (O2). This is done subconsciously, we (as humans) keep on damaging the world by creating CO2 and all trees do is what their nature was programmed to do, they by following each of nature’s laws, is valuable for the rest of the world. Trees are an example of life itself. They have a chance of eternity. The problem is that they are dependent on heaven and earth, because they have been there since the beginning, they will be there to the end. They will last until everything of earth (in general) remains. They are the providers, therefore what any other needs. Trees are the beginning of the cycle of life, the bottom of the food pyramid. Innocent and necessary to the rest. Who sees it this way, is in position to take advantage.
A tree serves as a shelter, it literally is a supplier, or maybe an organism that is overused, still it is helpful for everything. It serves as a home for living things, the shelter of life. It is the refuge of the beginning, the mother figure for the cycle to continue, without a tree where to start? It is the support, mostly for humans, which overdo its intentions. Makes life easier, by providing everything. Wood and paper mostly for decoration. It is the source of fire, what humans consider their start, the principal of our natural life. We need trees, but they don’t need humans, it is not a mutual relationship. They basically are our lungs, contribute our air, what we depend on living. A tree only gives us profit, it is the foundation to our needs. Some trees have food, others give us money, and most give air. What else do we need? What else do we want to take of nature? When will we see that trees don’t need us? They are better without us, we just keep on cutting them and damaging the rest of the world. Humans keep on complicating everything for everyone (mostly for them), but is inevitable if we keep on taking the simplicity out, we keep on damaging by innovating and misleading. It is just a matter of live being weary, and just wanting to have its final ending.
A tree is a symbol of wisdom, the ancient path. Its roots are so long that, their start isn’t clear. They prove knowledge just by standing there, by there perception of living each day undefined. Trees have always been there. They have lived and seen mostly everything. For this (and their necessity), they have never been forgotten. A tree is like an ancient master, “Who can wait quietly while the mud settles? Who can remain still until the moment of action? Observers of the Tao do not seek fulfillment. Not seeking fulfillment, they are not swayed by desire for change.” (pg. 17). A tree fits the description given in Tao Te Ching of the ancient masters, “The ancient masters were subtle, mysterious, profound, responsive.” (pg. 17). A tree is not seeking fulfillment, and by these it provokes no desire, which means no change comes from trees. They remain still for all those years, with profound wisdom and simplicity of nature. Trees have no desire, no evil, no selfishness. It serves to everything that surrounds it. It is exemplar of ingenuity and kindness. Trees preserve through many years. All left is their presence, felt by their spirit, or their essence. It stands firm, not following others. A tree gives peace when there is chaos, and is ignorant to good and evil. A tree contains from the rest, to surpass what is left.
In life, trees are a symbol of several things, and as well used as concepts for various things. They are represented by their branches and their roots. Their roots are knowledge, their wisdom compared with their age. Their branches are choices, they are the options we have, either to living, or forgiving. They symbolize what we have for life, that there is a way out and that choices are numerous. A tree then is left to representation, for you to judge it the way you want to. It can be a naïve piece of wood that only enriches materialism. A source of the world, the beginning of a wonderful life. The nourishing mother of what nature extends. The tree only stands there, quietly letting you acknowledge your view to him, your view to life itself. To open your eyes without fulfillment, without selfishness. A tree wants you to wonder more than what you see, to open your essence to simplicity. Remain subtle when ingenuity overtakes, and mostly prove that there is a start to any ending.
