The Sermon of the Stones.

The common stones that we see every day, the ones we skip on the surface of ponds and line our gardens and driveways with, are created from the same living energy as we are.

Everything is created from that living energy, which appears to be nothing more than empty space to our small-minded perception.

The world’s brightest scientists suggest that if we could dig down to the tiniest essence of the empty space that fills everything, we would discover imperceptible, vibrating strings of energy. All things, at their core, are thought to be made from these tiny strings of no-thing—even seemingly solid stones.

The world’s mystics and wisdom teachers suggest that the essence of life is an energy of no-thing as well, vibrating at different frequencies or densities. They say that even our thoughts are vibrating energy. As vibrations tend to resonate with like-vibrations, what we are expressing into the world is reflected back to us.

This is why it’s a good idea to have an awakened relationship with the thoughts of our thinking mind.

Because they are so dense, stones vibrate at a much slower rate than thoughts do. They are never in a hurry. Stones are as old as the deepest parts of Earth. They are Earth’s bones. And they have insights to share with us if we can just slow down our thought-full minds enough to hear them speak.

Many of us think we are the most important generation that has ever lived. We act like the future generations don’t much matter. We gobble up all the resources and kill off species after species like they’re nothing—just different colored balloons on a carnival dart board, waiting to be popped for a prize.

We were taught to think and behave this way by people who forgot how to listen to the sermon of the stones.

But it’s not too late to learn a different lesson—to learn how to slow down and hear the stones preach.

I have a stone about the size and shape of a large potato. I use it to prop my back door open in the summertime heat. Sometimes I’ll hold that stone in my lap when I meditate. It’s weighty and feels good, holding me down, anchoring my normally fast and restless mind. Despite it being made of primarily empty space, the stone seems a solid thing. And I try to align my awareness with the mass of its weighty consistency, to slow my mind and become more like it.

A stone carries an energy of consistency. It’s almost impossible for a stone to be wishy-washy. This consistency reflects the living environment of Earth-time, the vitality of our planet. And this is what I want to tune in to when I meditate with my doorstop stone: we are the living consistency of Earth-time as well. This is why I cradle the stone in my lap, to help me slow my mind and to help me remember the consistency of Earth-time that enlivens my blood and empowers the world.

Being the bones of Earth, stones carry the deepest memory within their no-thing-ness. They are the witnesses to the unfolding chronology of Earth-time, and have been since the beginning. Stones are a bridge to knowledge of the original instructions that are woven throughout Earth-time. These instructions infuse all of life with balance and grace.

When we can slow our minds down, welcoming a more meditative state, the stones will share their timeless memories with us. They will preach insights from the original instructions of our planet. There are basically two: everything is sacred, and we are all related.

Looking out at our modern world, it is apparent that we have forgotten the original instructions and how to listen to the sermon of the stones. We misunderstand why we are here. And within our misunderstanding, we have forgotten how to joyously laugh. We are too busy, mindlessly popping balloons, killing the world.

We believe Earth-time is something apart from us—a place to go camping in the summers, perhaps. We believe that machine-time, which stands apart from the living systems of the planet, is more real. This misunderstanding is a cancer on life. How can we be separate from the energy that gives us and the entire universe such vibrant consistency?

Our bones are made from the same substance as stones. Our bones also carry the sermon of the original instructions. And they tell us that we are sacred too, and related to all of life in the most intimate of ways. And if we learn how to slow down our minds and loosen our death grip on machine-time, we can hear the sermon of our bones.

It is then that we will remember that we are Earth-time. And we will remember to laugh together.

This is for Tata Fu-Kiau, who gave the world some good pointers on how to hear the sermon of the stones, before his passing.

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Author: Tod Evans
Image: Deniz Altindas/Unsplash
Editor: Callie Rushton
Copy Editor: Travis May