|
|
|
|
|
|
Rebecca :
In your Preface, you welcome your Readers home from wandering across deserts, oceans & plains, home to Southern Africa, where you live. Tell us about how you came to write a travel book about your favorite places, as well as offering meditations at the end of each chapter.
Gail :
One lazy Sunday afternoon in February last year, I was lying on the sofa waiting for the great Muse to fill me with some ideas, some sort of inspiration for a new book. I knew that I wanted to write something, but the question was what?
We had just got back from a hike in the Drakensburg Mountains, & I was filled with the joy & wonder of nature. My husband & I travel a lot. So, from the word Drakensburg evolved the word travel, from the word travel, the word book. But I decided I did not want to write a travel guide with a list of maps, hotels & restaurants. I wanted to give the reader something of the essence that I had felt in those beautiful mountains with the clean, clear air, the eagles wafting on the breeze & the absolute stillness & peace that I had experienced. & so it began. The 1% inspiration from the Muse & the 99% perspiration from me.
The idea for the meditations evolved a bit more slowly. I realized as I was writing, that each experience was a meditation in itself. A meditation on the special nature of a specific place, it's attributes, it's beauty, & the uniqueness of that specific environment. From there, I decided to relate a specific place to a specific chakra. The Okavango Delta is for me, an ideal example of the first chakra.
Rebecca :
In an enclosed area in the Kruger National Park you got to see a couple of lionesses walking by. How did you feel behind that fence that kept you in & the wild outside? From time to time, most of us get a feeling of being on one side of the fence, how do you connect that feeling with your meditations?
Gail :
Believe it or not, the fence afforded me more of an opportunity to “get down there,” so to speak, than if it hadn't been there at all. Because of this fence I was able to walk in the same grass, smell the same smells, feel the same soil under my feet as those lionesses were feeling. To move unseen as
they were moving. They stalked the buck, I stalked them.
A fence is a boundary. In today's modern world, I think that we have forgotten the value of boundaries. Boundaries are not necessarily negative. Rather, boundaries can be positive. They give us a space to move in, a space to express ourselves within certain norms. This encourages values, morals & integrity. Without the electric fence between us, I would not have been able to have this experience without putting my life in danger. The same holds true for life & for the lions. Although they roam wild & free, they are also bound by boundaries in order to survive harmoniously in nature. They are territorial, so one family group will not infringe on another.
Rebecca :
What are chakras? Tell us about the significance of their colors & how meditating on our chakras can be helpful in our crowded, noisome lives.
Gail :
Chakras are energy centers within the body that follow the colors of a rainbow from red at the bottom of the spine, to violet on the crown of the head. When certain parts of our body are weak or ill, these energy centers vibrate at a low frequency, the colors become dull & we are negative & listless.
When we are healthy these centers vibrate at a high frequency, the colors become bright & we are positive & energized. Some people have the gift of being able to see these energy centers in another human being, but for those of us who cannot, there is a type of photography called Kirilian photography which is able to pick up these energy centers & their corresponding colors.
We all live in a stressful environment. to one degree or another & due to stress, these energy centers become unbalanced. As a result we feel tired, weak, depressed, & if this situation continues over a period of time, the result is very often illness. Strokes, heart attacks, ulcers or even cancer. To put it simplistically, if the wiring on an electrical appliance is faulty, & there are blockages in the flow of electricity, then the appliance will burn out.
By making a habit of putting ourselves in a peaceful environment, especially in a natural environment, we can reduce stress levels & be better able to cope with the busy lives that we lead. At the back of my garden, under a tree, I have made a place for meditation. It has a pond, benches, wind-chimes in the branches & is surrounded by flowers. I make a point of sitting under this tree at least once a day. This is the sanctuary that I turn to when the world becomes too worrisome for me to cope, like when my credit card is denied for the third time in spite of the fact that I know I have deposited enough money into it!
Rebecca :
How would you invite traveling Readers to practice meditation on their summer vacations?
Gail :
Meditation is not only sitting crossed legged on the floor contemplating your navel & emptying the mind. Though this is, of course, a form of reducing stress & controlling the thoughts & worries that plague us.
Meditation can also be an active involvement in all that surrounds us. When I travel, especially to a place that I have never been to before, all my senses are heightened. Sight, smell, touch, hearing & taste. My awareness of the world around me becomes heightened. Nature is very generous & giving. It gives off energy freely.
So when you travel, see the fields & the flowers, acknowledge them instead of just whizzing by in an air-conditioned vehicle.
Breathe in the air. Smell it. Taste it. Every place smells different. Touch the trees. They will be grateful for your caress, & in return fill you with a wonderful sense of being. Stroke the petals on a flower. Feel their silky texture. Listen to the wind dancing through the trees. Pay attention to the birdsong. Move out of the mental framework of mundane routine that dulls the senses, & experience life around you fully & spontaneously.
Rebecca :
Along the Hogsback, of the Amatola Mountains, after you pass a children's camp called “Hobbitins,” you found a pine forest. Your love of forests shines through in your descriptions of this particular journey. Who did you see along that path to the “Big Tree?”
Gail :
When I set off that morning, I never intended to walk through the forest. I was just ambling along. I came to the path & could hear a waterfall below, so I thought, “Well, I will walk to the waterfall and then come back.” I didn't come back. The forest captured me & I kept walking along the path, following the pointers, which are, by the way, pictures of little hogs.
Spontaneity! Nobody knew where I was, & I walked alone with no supplies. At first I was a bit nervous. But it was a great lesson for me. We are so afraid of being alone. I confronted that aloneness.
The fact of the matter was that I wasn't alone. I was surrounded by life. Not homo sapiens, the kind that I am so used to having an interaction with. But another form of life. Nature at it's best. If you listen carefully, the forest does talk to you....
As for who I saw along the path to “Big Tree?” Mr. Mushroom & all his cousins. Very colorful bunch that lot! Some of them can be extremely shy, others are absolute show offs! Sour Plum, Lemonwood, White Stinkwood & Assegai trees. Although they are of different hues, they all seem to get along very well & live quite amicably in the same forest. If only homo sapiens could do the same.
There were the vervit monkeys, of course. Naughty lot! And they make such a noise, shattering the peace & quiet. But then I know some people like that who have qualified in noise pollution. Last but not least was grandmother “Big Tree.”
Rebecca :
You speak of vervit monkeys with such casualness, as another would speak of cats or dogs; as I do about chipmunks & blue jays. Tell us about vervit monkeys. Monkeys are critters the New World doesn't have. Are they common in the wilds?
Gail :
Monkeys. Well...I think that the equivalent in North America would be raccoons, or skunks. Those little critters that raid your dustbins at night? We have monkeys of all varieties, all over the place. They are a pest & nobody particularly likes them. They have become so proficient that they can open cooler boxes at camp sites. They also know how to open cereal boxes & milk cartons. Farmers shoot them on a regular basis because they destroy crops. So, I guess that to us they are a bit like cats & dogs, except much more of a nuisance. You can't help but love them. They are after all, our closest cousins.
Rebecca :
I was on your site browsing through excerpts of one of your other books: The Firstborn of God: Resolving the Contradictions in the Bible. This is a learned exploration of the two separate themes in the original how-to book of the modern era. Since the dawn of recorded history, about which you will read in my review of Leonard Shlain's The Alphabet Versus the Goddess, the writings that were amassed into what we've come to call The Bible, have influenced the way we think about ourselves & our place in the scheme of things.
Is The Firstborn of God a long book?
Gail :
I totally agree with the Leonard Shlain. Why? In Meditations I write about the natural progression in our own individual lifetimes, as well as throughout human evolution. We start out being right brain dominant, that is feminine, then at about the age of five start delevoping the left brain masculine. The letters of the alphabet are part & parcel of this development. (see pp 10-11, 23 & 35-36 under evolutionary & human development).
I believe that a large majority of the world's population has entered adolescence, where the right brain kicks in again. (see pp. 48-49) This is why we have so many demonstrations. These are, in effect, adolescence rebellions that started in the 60s.
Some, however, have advanced to early adulthood (see pp 62-64.) I believe that in the next century we will see more of a balance between right & left, hence the interest in the last century towards more knowledge of the Goddess to balance out the God. Right & left again.
I have written a book on this whole evolutionary & human development that I have not yet published. Maybe I will get back to it sometime. Meditations gives a short synopsis. I am very happy to see that another author has identified this progression.
Ah me! Yes The Firstborn of God is quite long. This is what I refer to as my magnificent obsession. Took me 14 years to write. I started out a very angry young women out to prove that God was female. Luckily I realized the error of my ways. I had become as biased as the thing that I hated. Big trap! I ended up looking for a balance, but needed to find the feminine influence, spiritually, socially, politically, & it had to be in the Bible, otherwise, I realized, nothing would change. References outside of it don't make much of an impression. My bottom line will not be accepted by many. But, it is something that I can live with, something that makes sense to me. That was also important. Because in spite of joining all sorts of new age groups throughout the years, I could not let go of my heritage. Only trouble was, I did not like what my heritage was saying to me. So, I took a good look & found that there are passages that comply with my spiritual, social & political views. Hard to find, but they are there, & most preachers don't quote from them on Sundays. I was overjoyed when the Archbishop read from Proverbs at the Queen Mum's funeral. Proverbs 8 is one of my favorite pieces in the Bible.
Rebecca :
In your chapter on Coastlines, you talk about the great seas that caress Southern Africa's shores, & the wonderful journeys to be discovered. What is the dolphin's secret?
Gail :
The dolphin's secret is to play. We have forgotten how to play. Play means being spontaneous & reacting to life around us in a joyous fashion. To have a sense of humor & laugh at ourselves.
Rebecca :
In your Last Word, you write about the similarities between enlightened beings on our earth & the Bushmen of the Kalahari Desert. Who would you consider an enlightened being & when did those similarities register with you?
Gail :
I have three favorite enlightened beings, actually four, if you count Yoda. They are Mahatma Gandhi, the Dalai Lama & Nelson Mandela.
The similarities between these men & the Bushmen are that they have no malice, no spitefulness. They are not judgmental & they have no desire to control others, but rather to work in harmony with others towards a greater good. No matter how rich, poor, important or unimportant a person is, they treat all with the same degree of respect & dignity. Did you know that Nelson Mandela always makes his own bed? Even when he is staying in a hotel? Needless to say, I constantly remind my children of this fact.
Rebecca :
Are you saying you know of no enlightened women?
Gail :
Yes there are, but in this spiritually & politically male dominated world I thought that these three “people” have had the most influence in the last century, & what is more, they have embraced the more feminine principles of right brain functioning being compassion, community service & forgiveness. Hopefully, in the future, women will have as much spiritual & political influence. Princess Diana was well on her way and I think would have been a person to reckon with in the years to come. Especially her work on land mines. Something that is a very personal issue with me. My husband does a lot of work out in the field in Mozambique. Before survey teams can go out, before setting up camp, before any work can progress, the land mine removal teams have to go in. Once they are finished, you dare not step off the paths they have cleared because there is a good chance that you will stand on a land mine. So, the loss of Princess Diana effected me personally.
Rebecca :
Gail, you write so vividly about the places you seen & the creatures you've encountered, Elephants, Lions, Monkeys, Dolphins et al. You bring them alive in a landscape few of us have ever seen. Have you thought about producing a video or CD of your book? What are you up to next?
Gail :
I haven't thought about a video or CD for the simple fact that I love words. Words stimulate the imagination, enhance our thinking patterns & exercise our minds. So, for the moment I think that I will stick to books. I hope that this book will inspire others to look around them & connect with the bounty that surrounds us.
I believe that the 21st century is going to be the century of planet Earth. We have got to start taking better care of her.
Recently a huge ice cap broke away from the Antarctic & is starting to melt. As sure as God made little green apples. islands in the Indian Ocean are going to disappear in the near future, & people will loose their homes.
As for what is next, well...it is another lazy Sunday afternoon & I will lie on the sofa waiting for the great Muse to fill me with some ideas, some sort of inspiration for a new book...the lady is known to take her time.
Rebecca :
Do catch my reviews of Gail Evans'
Meditations In My Favourite Places &
Meditations In My Favourite Places In Southern Africa.
Rebecca Brown
(Published 4/7/02)
|
|
|
RebeccasiReads.com
