A Red State
Today, when I walked my dog through one of my favorite nearby parks in SF, I saw a man in the distance gazing up at one of the many beautiful trees. He was looking at the tree in total awe, a soft smile playing across his lips. As I respectfully approached him I realized I was witnessing a man witnessing God. The moment felt holy, hushed, magical. He broke his darsan with the tree momentarily, when my dog sat on his feet, and the shaman-like man said:
“Can you believe how incredible this tree is? How it twists and turns? The bark? Just look at it. Beautiful, beautiful. I talk to this tree. I love this tree. I am in love with this tree. I moved to an apartment a few blocks away so I could be closer to this tree, to all the trees in this park.”
I smiled deeply and told him, “these trees appreciate your appreciation, and believe me, they are talking right back”. He looked me in the eyes, smiled, and walked past me a few feet till his eye caught the next glorious branch of another exquisite tree, and he stopped and gasped and fell In Love, again.
I felt blessed for having seen him. Reminded. Walking through this park daily I almost always admire its beauty, but this man reminded me to do more - to go ahead and open my spiritual thighs to this park, to allow myself to fall in passionate love with the trees and the birds and pine cones and even the dog poop and random cruddy human litter.
But back to the trees. Last summer when I was teaching a workshop at Omega, I was asked to try and describe something that happens when you turn “red”. I blanked, but said something utterly wacky like this:
Some people, when they walk by a beautiful tree, they don’t even notice it. Some people walk by a beautiful tree and nod in appreciation. Some people walk by a beautiful tree and stop to hug it compassionately (what people would normally refer to as “tree huggers” and “green” peeps). A Red One will walk by a tree and not just nod or hug, but, well, hump it… passionately. That’s right, Redvolutionaries are “tree humpers”. I’ve already designed the t-shirts.
When you allow yourself to turn red (not to be confused with this past election) you can’t help but want to make crazy wild naughty love to All of Existence because at some point, no matter how brief, you’ve been fist fucked by mother nature. You’ve been spread open by the stars. You’ve been tickled, teased, and turned by every atom in the Universe and all you can think about doing is returning the favor. Again and again and again.
Now, obviously we Red Ones are not dripping in this pumpin’ red-hearted state every minute, but this direct infusion of orgasmic cosmic love juice is our raison d’etre, and we continuously look for ways we can allow it to fuel our days, our sweaty nights, our over all consciousness, and the planet.
That’s right, in case you may be thinking right about now that this all sounds pretty and nice, but also like an inebriating distraction from reality and the troubles of the world, and by the way won’t it scare the children? - let me say that this sort of seduction of and from the Sac(red) is incredibly, remarkably, deliciously healing for the planet (and for the children who get to grow up in a love-saturated world). I mean really, what could be more important, especially at this chaotic yet hopeful time, than to “make love” as much as possible with as many things, people, places as possible? I’m talking energetic love here folks, but physical touch is always beautiful when done with respect and authenticity.
So, we Red Ones have jacked up “spiritual activism” to “ecstatic activism”. Naturally.
As Lalita says in Daniel Odier’s book, Tantric Quest “Ecstasy, the continuous experience of the divine through knowledge of our own nature, is our natural state.” You get it? Ecstasy is you at your mostest (red dictionary), it’s your spirit taking naked pictures of you, it’s the divine doing you till you come undone.
And all it takes is the willingness to make a tree blush.

November 12th, 2008 at 5:08 am
this made me think of Mary Catherine Gallagher in Superstar.
She did love that tree.
November 12th, 2008 at 8:53 am
at some point, no matter how brief, you’ve been fist fucked by mother nature
That made my day. Have you been listening to “Wish” by Nine Inch Nails lately? (Trent Reznor thinks that someone will put on his tombstone, “Sang fist-fuck, won a Grammy.”)
November 12th, 2008 at 10:35 am
When the tree-humper shirts get made, I so want one.
November 12th, 2008 at 3:27 pm
He broke his darsan with the tree momentarily when my dog sat on his feet and said:
“Can you believe how incredible this tree is?
Wow - you have a talking dog? That’s so awesome!
Sorry… couldn’t resist.
Truly tho, dogs have a special appreciation for trees, or at least watering them, so I wouldn’t be surprised if those were the dog’s sentiments as well as the man’s. heehee
I have been that person gazing at the trees. Or architecture. Or the stars. Or wildlife. Or the scenery when I’m trying to drive. Makes for dangerous road trips and hassles from cops that think I might be drunk, but it’s a gorgeous way to live.
November 14th, 2008 at 4:31 am
Maybe a little more (or a lot more) passionate than my own reaction to nature, which is more reserved than yours.
But just as committed.
November 14th, 2008 at 2:46 pm
I am this way with architecture and books. Some buildings make me want to become a part of them, to be as close to them as humanly possible, to become one with them.
A lot of times, this is fairly difficult to do and it gets frustrating so I keep my deepest, most sincere sentiments to myself.
November 17th, 2008 at 9:16 am
I never know how to describe my love for trees or stars or the moon or the dog poop but you described it so well!…I sometimes really do want to hug those beautiful trees…and right now in Central Park there beautiful!
December 12th, 2008 at 7:43 pm
my mate Roe directed me here.. sayin’ your account of this tree reminded her of the time i witnessed god in the sky..
i really appreciate the heck out of this, for loads of reasons.
Thanks.
-kim.