EartHeart Speak:
​Heartwood Path Glossary

A


Actualized Self. Self-fulfillment, the actualizing of one’s potential. 

Affirmations.  Positive “I am” statements that give support and encouragement for the purpose of personal development.

Algorhythm.  An imaginary formula that converts each person from a state of psychological acceptance of being reduced to a cog in the culture’s economic machine to being instead a whole person living in harmony with nature.

Altruism.  Alleviating the suffering of others, develops in nine stages: 1) directing the mind toward its object of concentration and overcoming inevitable initial distractions, 2) experiencing fleeting moments of mental stillness, 3) re-establishing mental focus, 4) experiencing mental laxity and excitement, 5) overcoming laxity or excitement through awareness—not through thoughts but through the empty stage for one’s thoughts (which is awareness), 6) powerful introspection, 7) ease of awareness, 8) single-pointed concentration, and  9) the blissful pliancy of body and mind that comes through single-pointed concentration.

Amplification. From  Carl Jung, who says dreams originate in the collective human psyche and, a process of amplification, can represent universal archetypes, similar to themes and characters found in literature.

Animal Totems. A symbolic representation of an animal guide in the form of a crest, a totem pole, an emblem, a small figurine, or anything else that depicts the spirit guide for a tribe, clan, family, or individual.

Animation.  From James Hillman, who says dreams are “more than signs pointing to some answer, and are  "phenomenal, like living animals, that have presence, place, and body and can best be understood through a process of animation, which makes them come alive.

Appreciation.  Noticing the good in one’s life, as distinguished from gratitude, which implies a self-imposed obligation––weak or strong–– to offer some form of repayment.

Asanas.  Postures used in yoga.

Association. From  Sigmund Freud, who says dreams, through a process of association, help us with our infantile rage, latent wishes, and repressed aggressive sexual drives, which are often too upsetting for the conscious mind to process.

Attraction. The action, power, or evoking of interest, pleasure, or liking of someone, some thing, or some natural being; and, according to Natural Attraction Ecology, an explanation for why nature does what it does.

AttractiveNaturalBeingImpression. An idea, feel, or opinion formed on the bridge of awareness between a person and an attractive natural being.

Attention Restoration Theory.  In addition to resting, there are four ways proposed to restore one’s attention span: 1) being away from indoor distractions, 2) being fascinated by soft and quiet attractions (where there is time for reflection), 3) feeling like you are immersed in nature, and 4) liking the site for your nature communing. 

Attunement. The making of a portal to the Soul—a blank space in the psyche— where one can place a newly refined level of sensitivity, disengage temporarily from one’s own fascination with the physical world, and eventually accept many “affordances” from the spiritual realm, including an expanded awareness of the magnificence of life.

Authentic Self.  One’s being, one’s consciousness, and one’s genuine essence; 
recalled through therapy or personal reflection  Comparatively, the Higher Self is recalled through spiritual practice; the Authentic Self is individual, the Higher Self is more-than-individual; the False Self puts up walls, the Authentic Self creates healthy boundaries, and the Higher Self helps one let go of them.

Awareness.  Knowledge or perception of a situation or fact. The stage upon which thoughts play.

Axial Consciousness.  A consciousness that is axial (head to tail, cranial brain to enteric brain) rather than unipolar (head or tail, cranial brain or enteric brain; gives one the ability to both think and feel; makes one particularly well suited to making sure that for every right there is also responsibility; makes one realize that to be present in the world means making room within the corridor between the head and the pelvis for the world to be present in oneself.


B

The Beanstalk of Spiritual Development.  Illustrates one of the processes used along the Heartwood Path to become a secular saint and brings into one’s life proper attention to: duty, wants; finding peace, intuition; meeting desires; miracle-making; and ultimate unity.

Beauty.  Qualities in the eye of the beholder that please the aesthetic, intellect, or moral senses; often expressed with the word “I.”

Being.  Your nature as a person/planet, your nature that is inseparable from humaNature.

Biophilic.  Life-loving.

Bioregion.  The setting for the functioning of the whole community; has three goals: 1) to restore and maintain local natural systems; 2) to find sustainable ways to satisfy basic human needs; and 3) to support the work of people seeking to become native to the places where they live.

Breathing Techniques.  1) the cleansing breath to prepare the  muscles for exertion, reduce minor nervous tension, and  focus mental attention; 2) the sighing breath to release pent up emotions and enhance pleasurable feelings; 3) the charging breath to build excitement and relax while in a state of increased pleasurable stimulation; 4) the active breath to improve physiological function, reduce blood pressure and pulse rate, and postpone fatigue; and 5) the fullness of success breath to aid with mindfulness and meditation. 

Burnout.  A state of physical or mental breakdown caused by overwork or stress.


C


Cardinal Directions Along The Heartwood Path.  The Path’s three main prescriptions: Prepare Yourself for Love, Share Love With Another, and Put Love to Good Use. 

Centering. Consciously sitting inside one’s Greater Self  by opening the portal of breath that connects consciousness to all life.

Chakras.  Power centers in the body that enable one’s personal power to become more transcendent, consummate, total, and exquisite.

Childlife Refuges. Proposed outdoor spaces and associated programs that would be operated to help alleviate a relatively new psychological disorder, HumaNature deficit disorder.

Chora.  The sense of a place that stimulates one’s inner world; when chora is strong enough and the cover that separates the spiritual world from the human world is so bare an attuned person can breach the boundary between these two worlds, the locale is called a “tirtha.”

Chronicle.  A factual written account of events in the order that they occurred, as in the Dream Journal and Waking Journal kept by diligent eartHearts.

Cohesive Ecological Community. Emerges as a result of one’s daily habits; requires people who are willing to respect but challenge one another; depends on people who can develop both short and long-term commitments; requires people who perceive that their joint efforts will make a difference in the quality of their lives; and requires the participation of people who are willing to broaden the possibility of their life choices, widen their circle of involvement, and take the risks that go along with more-than-personal association—which includes spending time away from family and exposing themselves to public controversy.

Collective Resonance.  Felt in the body; contains movement and rhythm; involves emotion; felt as a connection to others; involves a felt sense of movement of boundaries; includes touch and close physical proximity; requires a shift out of the cognitive and intellectual domain; felt as a connection to self; feels calm, grounded, and relaxed; feels like an altered state of consciousness; contains awareness of an energy field; felt as a connection to spirit; and requires total presence.

Commons.  Something belonging to or shared equally by two or more beings. The “tragedy of the commons” occurs when people pollute a stream, foul the air, erode the soil, deplete an aquifer, or exhaust a fishery.

Compassion.  The desire to alleviate the suffering of others; three keys to its development: 1) the development of morality (ethics, morals, and principles); 2) the practice of determined contemplation; and 3) the exercise of understanding; stands on the two pillars of keen observation and nurturing.

Consent. For life to thrive –– not merely hang on but thrive and expand —it needs the consent, or welcome, of its surroundings

Creativity.  Unfolds in four stages: 1) a period of learning, Ego-development, and spiritual initiation; 2) a period of identifying with the Ego and enjoying the bittersweet fruits of the world; 3) a period of looking inward and cultivating the awakening of the extended self-identity beyond Ego (this one is a goals for most eartHearts); and 4) period leading to a transcendence of all duality and all the various drives (often referred to as the period of “liberation”).

Current. Both presence and flow.


D


Deepening Sustainability. Sustainability that is accompanied by the perpetual spiritual development of the mass of humans, a development that occurs in each individual, a development that creates the kind of sustainable integrity that stems from transcending to higher levels of personal growth, and a development wherein each added level gives greater and more enduring depth to one’s character.

Deepest Self.  A wider identification, the realization of the “Deepest Self,” and a deep ecological consciousness all refer to essentially the same perspective—the one that minimizes boundaries and separateness.

Defense Mechanisms.  Come in many forms, including engaging in: abstract but impersonal explanations; expressing one’s feelings to a different, less threatening audience; consciously putting anxiety-provoking thoughts out of one’s mind (consciously and unconsciously); denying an impulse and giving intense energy to expressing in a holier-than-thou manner; perceiving in others what we fail to perceive in ourselves; channeling unconscious anxiety into socially acceptable projects; and insisting that anxiety-provoking material does not exist) (Winter and

Dharma. The set of universal truths that are excellent, cause no afflictions or defilements, and are permanent.

Draw Law. A term coined by the author, refers to the universal tendency of thoughts and things of a like nature attracting to one another.


E


Earth Chakras. Subtle but often powerful vortexes or lines of energy located at various places around the Earth.

EartHearts. Those that follow the Heartwood Path and, as a result become  visionary people who have the following characteristics: wisdom, broad and deep perspective, gratitude, a high level of spiritual development, vision, seekers of justice, and helpful caregivers. 

Eco-centric Elder. Leaders who are guided by nature in their service to people and the planet.

Eco-ethics. Come in four sorts: 1) bio-equality, 2) animal rights, 3) hierarchical (each more complex living entity posses more rights), and 4) stewardship.

Eco-feminism.  EartHearts are committed to valuing the differences and the polarity between men and women. They work to give equal emphasis, authority, power, and responsibility to both sexes. They support a woman for President because, as we all know, we would not have to pay her as much.

Ecozoic Era. A time in the not-so-distant future when humans will enhance the earth rather than destroy its species.

Ecstasy.  An overwhelming feeling of great happiness and joyful excitement; encouraged by letting go of one’s rational mind, which causes a feeling of emptiness that is often filled with three main ways to create a sense of awe: 1) egolessness, 2) naturalness, and 3) timelessness.

Ego. One’s inner world aspect that seeks to control the everyday world of family, social, educational, economic, political, and ecological life.

Eight-fold Path.  Right understanding, right thought, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and right concentration.

Empathy.  Feeling the pain of others.

Empiricism.  Two forms:  mental empiricism, (interpretation and explanation) and spiritual empiricism (mysticism, intuitive illumination, and samadhi). 

Emptiness.  The non-solid and impermanent aspect of things and the lack of mental objects.

Enduring Stream.  The ethereal quality of nature, a universal flow of energy, the mystical or spiritual aspect of NNIAAL.

Enlightenment. The end of suffering and the beginning of liberation and awakening.

Entrainment.  The tendency of two oscillating bodies to lock into phase, so that they vibrate in harmony, achieved through affirmations, mind quieting, breathing, the use of mantras, chanting, toning, and drumming.

Ethos. An individual or a community’s practical skills, wisdom, virtue, goodness, and goodwill towards others.

Experiential Education Adage.  “Tell me and I will forget. Show me and I may remember. Involve me and I will understand.”

Expanded consciousness. A movement up to a higher level (branch) of spiritual development; increases one’s integrity; occurs in three steps: 1) the Self becomes aware of the level of consciousness it has at its disposal; 2) the Self begins to dis-identify or differentiate with its present consciousness level and can move beyond it, usually to the next level of depth; and 3) the Self includes and integrates itself to its new level. 

Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing. A psychotherapeutic method that helps with emotional healing and lack of creativity.


F


Felt Self.  When the known self that is a fiction made up of duplicate entities and words is replaced by the wondrous felt self that is made up of one’s body, of the revelations of felt currents, and of the expansion of compassion, one experiences a grounded abiding presence that is also the blossoming of one’s core and a glorious feeling of being connected to all that is.

Feng Shui. Ancient Chinese method based on the belief that unnecessary
 suffering can also be diverted by taking heed of the arrangement of things around oneself according to I Ching life zones and the application of colors as represented on a diagram known as the “Bagua.”

Flow.   A psychological state that allows one to ignore hunger, discomfort, and fatigue as one seems to flow along in an engrossing experience, the complete absorption in what one does.

Four Keys To Human Destiny.  Help with understanding and putting to use the relationship between the energy centers of the earth and the energy centers of the body. The first Key  associates mountain ranges with the spinal column, the second Key associates  mounds or lakes with the joints, the third Key associates the earth’s lines of latitude and longitude with the arms and the meridians of the body, and the fourth Key associates the oceans with the blood.

Four Noble Truths. 1) knowing the specific types of suffering; 2) discovering the sources of one’s own suffering (or another person’s suffering, especially if that person’s hardships affect you or those you love); 3) knowing how to cease the suffering; and 4) stopping the suffering.

Four Pillars Of Happiness. The Happiness Pillar of Excitement is being able to dispense with loneliness, boredom, and depression. The Happiness Pillar of Challenge is overcoming obstacles and making improvements. The Happiness Pillar Authenticity is being able to know one’s true dislikes and true likes. The Happiness Pillar of Courage is facing one’s fears.

Fulfillment. The achievement of something desired, satisfaction as a result of fully developing one’s abilities or character.

Fundamental Establishments. Entities that control human activities—that is, governments, universities, corporations, and churches that tend to lead us to a radical discontinuity between people and Nature.

Future Core Self.  One’s ideal self, as imagined in the present..


G


Gladandgreen Junction.  The metaphorical destination of the Heartwood Path, where one finds spiritual maturity, happiness, the beauty of nature, and environmental sustainability.

Goals and Values Clarification.  Three benefits: 1) it promotes inner peace, self-acceptance, and balance, 2) having a clear sense of priorities helps one use stress energy efficiently; and 3)  such clarification helps one deal with a high degree of uncertainty.

Goodness. The quality of being good morally, virtuous, motivated by kindness and generosity rather than by personal gain; often expressed with the word “We.”

Green Wave.  When one combines stories (represented by a metaphorical yellow wave) with sensations (represented metaphorically by a blue wave) one rides the green wave and, thereby, enters a state of happiness  (because when a sense is satisfied with the consent of other senses the body produces hormones and enzymes that treat you to feelings of pleasure, satisfaction and joy) and one contributes to environmental sustainability (because the green wave develops and strengthens all the natural senses that enables one to love nature and use that love as motivation for actions that protect the natural environment and tip a part of the world back into a state of sustainability).

Grieving Ghost. Negative emotion.

Ground of Being.  God, not as a being, but as being itself; emptiness; luminosity; that which is in you now; the abstract notion of the Good.

Growth Zone. Between being too comfortable—which causes lethargy—and too panicky—which lower performance results—is the Growth Zone, where one performs optimally and has the reserves needed for reflection and personal  development.

Great Chain of Being.  The oneness, the commonality, the seamless fabric that unites the smallest, least complex with the largest, most organized.

Great Work! Leads people to knowledge, willfulness, arrival in bliss, interdependence, effectiveness, peace, selflessness, joy, belonging, truth, care, bonding, financial freedom, health, partnership, and people loving each other and praising and serving The Absolute and Its creation.


H


Heartwood Path.  A series of courses that uses eco-psychology to produce participant happiness, spiritual maturity, and environmental sustainability.

Hermetic Principles. All is mind; as within, so without; as above, so below; all is in vibration; everything is non-dual; everything flows; everything happens according to law; and everything has its masculine and feminine aspects.

Holding Environments. holding environments offer any of the following four kinds of opportunities: 1) a place for doing physical activities; 2) a place for thinking; a place for feeling; and a place for being. 

Hierarchy of Needs. Unfolds in stages:  Maslow’s five stages include  (Stage 1) Biological and Physiological Needs; which, once met, allows one to reach (Stage 2) Safety Needs; which, once met, enables one to focus on (Stage 3) Belongingness and Love Needs; which, once met, makes it possible to arrive at (Stage 4) Cognitive Needs; which, once met, allows one to attain (Stage 5) Self-Actualization Needs. We will be inserting between Maslow’s Stages Four and Five two additional stages: 1) Cognitive needs for knowledge and meaning and 2) Aesthetic Needs for appreciation and search for beauty, balance, and form.

Holistic Perspective. Seeing with eyes honed by spiritual maturity, a vantage point that enables one to see from all possible points of view.

Holon. A thing/action.

HumaNature. A word coined to express the inseparability of man and nature, often used along the Heartwood Path as part of the title of the HumaNatureConnect activities at each waypoint.

Hume-sters. In contrast to Boomsters and Doomsters, eartHearts are Humesters, because they support the following contentions of Eighteenth Century philosopher David Hume 1) desire rather than reason governs human behavior, 2) perceptions are divided into strong and lively impressions, direct sensations, and fainter ideas which are copied from impressions; and 3) ethics are based on feelings rather than on abstract moral principles. 

Humming.  Helps dissolve unproductive thinking,” calms the nervous system as it makes active the parasympathetic nervous system, helps with insomnia and restless sleep patterns, induces helpful deep sleep without dreams, charges the chakras, helps with sinusitis, cleans pathways and blockages, and lowers blood pressure. Humming makes a person capable of resonating with other people, with natural beings, and with the environment and, thereby, heighten feelings of harmony and empathy with other people, with natural beings, and the with environment.


I


Impression. An idea, feeling, or opinion formed from outer-world phenomena without conscious thought, the main conceptions to be logged in one’s Heartwood Path journal and shared with others.

Inception. Starting place of an activity.

Insight. The capacity to gain an accurate and deep intuitive understanding of a person or thing. Improved by: fleshing out the context; organizing the mess; making the correspondences; looking for happenstance; staying inquisitive;  focusing on the out of place; asking “why?”; looking for the motivation; imagining the ideal; and creating an Insight Council (similar to a Dream Council). 

Individuation.  The process of developing and anchoring the individual self.

Instantiations.  Patterns of behavior such as building a shelter, harnessing natural forces, and having encounters with animals––can be perverse (which will produce psychological ill health and a normative judgement against it), domestic (which will do no harm but will not inspire either, or wild (which will produce the most intricately sensorial and inspirational meanings).

Integrity.  Being whole and appropriate.

Integral Immersions. Five ways to attune one’s body to non-rational sensing modalities and to obtain more benefits from one’s nature experiences: 1) Name Your Discomforts — making a list of aspects of your negative emotional residue, if any, that lifted simply by being in nature; 2) Goethean Phenomenology — writing down impressions after observing a natural being over time; 3) Blurry Vision — writing down impressions after using defocalization to observe a natural setting; 4) Lucid Dreaming— writing down your impressions after using lucid dreaming to inquire about your happiness and sustainability; and  Journaling — improving your journal writing by addressing what is, what could be, and what ought to be.

Integral Self.  The definition of who one is when one incorporates both a well-anchored sense of individuality with multiple relationships with the whole.

Integral Stage of Spiritual Development.  Making sure healthy masculine principles of autonomy, strength, and independence do not become, respectively, alienation, a morbid fear of relationships and commitment, and a drive to destroy; making sure that the feminine aspect of flowing does not turn into panic; making sure relationships do not make one lose one’s individuality; making sure connection does not turn into a meltdown; and making sure compassion does not turn into burn-out.

Intimacy. Close familiarity, sounds like what it means “in-to-me-see.”

Introspection.  Adding introspection to the visualization of expansion, contraction, and emptiness leads to the mental conclusion that is crucial to eartHearts: in empty space there is consciousness and bliss.


J


Juvenescence.  The state of being young, healing the lingering condition of unhealthy juvenescence in individuals and society is a purpose of the Heartwood Path.

Justice.  Fairness, equity, and moral rightness.


K


Kabbalist’s Tree of Life. Represents universal forces, including action wisdom, receptive intelligence and understanding.

Kleishas. The five obstacles to the experience of oneness and liberation: ignorance, egoism, attachments to people or things, aversion to transformation, and clinging to life.


L


Law of Personal and Planetary Reciprocity.  While personal well being depends on planetary health, the fate of the Earth depends on the health, happiness, and personal development of humans.


Levels.  Archaic (nature worshiping), mythic (deity worshiping), and rational (reliance on the scientific method) within one’s personal development leads, after the kinds of practices described along the Heartwood Path, to a personal trans-rational transformation.

Lines of Development. Ways to chart one’s multiple intelligences, such as cognitive intelligence, emotional intelligence, musical intelligences, bodily intelligences, and so forth.

Lines of Intelligence. Ways to chart your multiple intelligences, such as cognitive intelligence, emotional intelligence, musical intelligences, bodily intelligences, and so forth. We shall present eight forms of intelligence. Think of them as effective ways to build rapport with the world. Without such rapport one’s life experiences would be very monotonous and limited.  With these forms of intelligence, one has the tools needed to engage fully with other people and the world

Lucid Dreaming.  Knowing that the dream you are experiencing is a product of one’s own mind, being able to control the content of one’s dreams.


M


Magnum Opus.  The great work of your life.

Mantras.  Sounds repeated for meditation purposes.

Maximizer of Qualities.  A person who is devoted primarily to qualitative goals such as beauty and love, compared to a Satisficer of Quantities, who is devoted primarily to stockpiling larger and larger quantities of money and possessions.

Meaning.  Generated in the margin between the realms of existence—physical, living, mental, and spiritual; has two specific characteristics, one about quantities and the other about qualities: 1) it is always quantifiable as either singular, plural, or comprehensive; and 2) it  always has the quality of either a “fact” concerning a formed object or process in the realm of space and time (what actually exists), a form (an imagined possibly) or a norm (what ought to be).

Medicine.  In our case, the help a Totem can deliver. Pharmaceuticals, including their pros and cons, are not addressed along the Heartwood Path.

Medicine Wheel. A graphic mystic symbol of the universe that is typically a circle of stones used as an aid to meditation and prayer; said to help one recognize and fill any holes that jeopardize one’s integrity, give one a chance to strengthen one's connection with the Earth, and increase one’s understanding of oneself and one's relationship with all of creation. 

Meditation Elements. Recalling or observing something and practice being nonjudgmental (having no evaluations); considering how you can focus on progressing towards your goals but not be focused unduly on achieving your goals; remembering a time when you had to be patient and how that patience offered a reward; thinking of an aspect of your life that requires trust and focus on having faith that something positive will occur; practicing paying attention to the little things around you in ways that keep you open to new experiences or aspects; and freeing yourself of repetitive thinking about a topic of concern so that you can become “nonattached” to this worrisome topic.

Mercy.  Showing compassion toward someone with whom you have the power to punish.  

Mind Maps. Charts of what individuals and groups are thinking for the purpose of planning. 

Moralistic Attitudes.  Stem from moralism, an often exaggerated emphasis on morality; occurs in people who demonstrate signs of a constricted heart and who exploit morality as a way to repress desire, love, and longing.

More-Than-Individual-Self.  One’s individual self included and presented in a setting.

Musical Vibrations. Repetitions of the rhythms, relationships, proportions, and harmonies that exist throughout the natural and man-made world. 


N


Nadis. Channels for the flow of energy in the nonphysical body, a vital part of the nonphysical, subtle body that is the counterpart to the physical body.

Natural Senses. Includes the radiation senses such as the sense of temperature, the feeling senses such as sensitivity to gravity, the chemical senses such as the sense of appetite, and the mental senses such as the sense of humility and appreciation.

Natural Systems Thinking Process.  Go to a natural place and gain consent to do the activity and, once consent is granted (as marked by one’s continued attraction), ask what the natural attraction can share about universal principles. In doing so, you are encouraged to remain still, come into awareness of any of their fifty-four natural attraction senses (such as the sense of visibility or invisibility or the sense of proximity and space), psychologically assume the perspective of the natural area or a natural being in the scene, and glean from the being or scene information about universal principles.

Nature. When spelled with a lowercase “n” the phenomena of the physical world collectively, when spelled with an uppercase “N” physical phenomena plus its numinous or divine aspect.

Negative ions.  Found in abundance outdoors in nature, Negative Ions are negatively charged electrons which, when breathed in, alleviate depression and stress, boost energy, and create feelings of elation and high spirits.

Nirvana. A transcendent state in which there is no suffering, desire, or sense of self; an ideal or perfect place.

NNIAAL.  An acronym signifying typically overlooked but vitally important components of nature: naturalness, nowness , intelligence, attractiveness, aliveness and love.


O


Oceanic.  Huge, vast, encompassing.

Objectivization of Nature.  Treating nature as a foreign object without sentience rather than as a fellow subject with sentience.

Object Relations Theory.  Postulates that one constructs one’s sense of self from one’s interactions with others, particularly the person who was one’s primary caregiver.

Omphalos.  The core of one’s place—its heart.

Oneirnaut.  someone who has learned to move about consciously in the dream world.

Opposing Forces. The  pull to be singular against the pull to be plural, the pull to be a formed thing against the pull to be formless, and the pull to dissolve against the pull to evolve.


P


Perfect-in-one. Growing up, which many of us never really do, spiritually speaking; conversion to spiritual maturity without expecting to ever be finally converted, perfected, matured, or completed.

Perseity. The quality or condition of existing independently, a false notion because isolation is a meaningless fantasy; every thing, every being is supported by the whole.

Personal Boundaries.  Healthy personal boundaries foster growth rather than stagnation, intimacy rather than superficiality, and interaction rather than distancing.

Phytoncides. These natural chemicals improve the activity of one’s frontline immune defenders, particularly when they are released into moist air and then breathed in.

PIERCE Principle.  “Being uncommonly happy and working effectively to help save the earth requires an achievable high level of spiritual maturity.”

Pillars of Compassion.  There are two: awareness (seeing clearly, insight) and equanimity (calm abiding, nurturing).

Pilgrimage.  A journey to a respected place, as in the eartHearts’ endeavors to arrive at Gladandgreen Junction.

Potomac Fever.  A psychological condition wherein the “infected,” usually someone who lives or works in Washington D.C. presents an intense desire to be associated with the power and prestige of the United States government. “Symptoms include being servile, obedience, or excessive attentiveness  to those in power or likely to be in power. 

Prana, Same as Chi energy, a real current that  keeps up the activities of the mind and body, maintains equilibrium, and guards against imbalance and disorder throughout the universe.

Protocol.  Official procedures and actions to be followed before, during, and after a practice; for Heartwood Path Activities the protocols are not mandatory but they are highly recommended.

Psychic Personalities. More-than-human aspects of the psyche that offer mature advice.

Psychoid.  Archetypes that exist neither in the mind alone nor in the world alone, “Indigenous Images”  that carry relevance that goes beyond the cultural or collective level, Images rooted in Nature that are powerful for personal growth,  Images that have the capacity to balance and self-regulate, Images that form the bridge between the psyche and matter (which may be two different aspects of the same thing), archetypes that are neither material nor mental but similar to both, perhaps the archetypal feelings we encounter when we form a bridge of awareness between the enteric mind (located at the base of the spinal column and generates feelings) and the formed attractive natural beings used in Heartwood Path Activities.


Q


Quadrants.  Philosopher Ken Wilber identifies four key life quadrants: intentions, behaviors, ethics and physical systems—all purposefully addressed along the Heartwood Path.

Question.  The Heartwood Path answers this important question: “How does one ethically and effectively both save the Earth and improve each person so that there can be happiness in one’s newfound effectiveness?”


R


Recovery.  A return to a normal state of health; begins as one becomes frustrated with repeated crises, and continues as hope increases and one enters into selfless service.

Reflection. Serious thought or consideration.

Relational Power. all aspects of daily life, not as an instrument of control that is external to a situation, but as an intrinsic means to make decisions and thereby expand choices. Existent in all large organizations, relational power is people working together, helping each other out, teaming up for success, forgiving mistakes, and generally sticking together. Relational power is not coercive, domineering, or used to gain an advantage. It is not “power over,” where one side wins and another loses; it is “power with,” where all parties work to seek the common ground. 

Resonance.  The frequency at which an object or a natural being most naturally vibrates.

Rights.  A moral or legal entitlement. There can be no rights without responsibilities.


S


Saint.  In contrast with a canonical saint in the Catholic Church, a secular saint formed after successfully completing the Heartwood Path is a person with the following five characteristics: 1) she has a more-than-individual, ecological perspective, 2) she has the ability to see what needs to be done to secure a magnificent future, 3) she is willing to stand up against injustice, 4) she is driven without burden to help others, and 5) she wants to obtain some basic life coaching skills and resources that can be used to help others become both glad (uncommonly happy) and green (living an ecological lifestyle in a healthy environment and helping others in their efforts to preserve the beauty of nature and secure environmental sustainability).  

Sadhana.  A Hindu or Buddhist spiritual practice through which an individual worships a formed image as a mediate step —a connecting link, an intervenor—in the worship of a formless deity or principle.

Sage. A person who has and shows profound wisdom.

Samadhi.  Two forms: savikalpa samadhi— a type of meditation wherein the practitioner focuses on the mental object of form and becomes a saint—and  nirvikalpa samadhi—a type of meditation wherein the practitioner focuses on mental objects without form, such as thoughts themselves, and becomes a sage.

Seeing. EartHearts  use “the eye of the flesh” to see that which we can sense, hold, or feel; the “eye of the mind” for mental pictures (images that we see only in our minds); and the “eye of contemplation;” as when we ponder significance, moral meanings, and the relative “rightness” or “wrongness” of things, thoughts, or actions. 

Self-image.  Has four components:1)movement—temporal and spatial changes in breathing, eating, speaking, blood circulation, and digestion; 2) sensation—the fifty-four senses, including the kinesthetic sense which allows us to be aware of pain, orientation in space, the passage of time, and rhythm; 3) feeling—joy, grief, anger, self-respect, inferiority, sensitivity, and emotions; and 4) thought—imagining, classifying things, recognition of right from wrong, recognizing rules, and all functions of the intellect.

Self-improvement.  Five ways:1)  review what you liked about the past week, 2) consider what positive occurrences are likely to happen in the next week and  make a deal with yourself and others to promote positive behaviors, 3) make resolutions and conduct assessments of progress towards meeting goals, 4) acknowledge when you are using your own key individual strengths to build up your virtue, and 5) chant positive affirmations.

Shabda Yoga.  The Yoga of Sound, comes in four steps: 1) get in touch with your feelings by articulating what you feel clearly and confidently; 2) soften the sound of your phrase by whispering it three times; 3) say the phrase slowly, confidently, and clearly three times in in your mind; and  4) listen to the silence.

Shamatha.  Training for lucid dreaming in three steps: 1) “Relaxing Through Mindfulness of Breathing,” 2) Stabilizing One’s Attention Through Settling the Mind in the Natural State,” and 3) “Vividness of Attention Through Shamatha Without a Sign––which is awareness of awareness.

Shinrin-yoku.  Involves a sort of bathing, showering, or basking in a natural place,  involves much more than a simple walk through the woods,  practitioners use all of their senses to take in the natural atmosphere as a way to lower their level of the toxic stress hormone cortisol.

Sling of the Imagination. A metaphorical model used to illustrate what it takes for one to affect the whole—the whole household, the whole neighborhood, the whole nation, or the whole environment.

Social Ecologists vs. Deep Ecologists.  While social ecologist aim to reintegrate human communities with eco-communities, deep ecologists view any large presence of humans as intrinsically harmful to nature.  Social ecologists tend to contend that humans ought to use political intervention to protect the natural world while deep ecologists tend to favor contemplation over political intervention.

The Soul. One’s deepest individual identity, one’s cove in the ocean of the Spirit.

Soul Steps. Five used in meditation: 1) grounding (quieting the mind), 2) centering (putting your attention on your heart region, 3) attuning (repeating a sound to connect to the divine presence of your Soul),  4) integrating (becoming still and feeling the expansiveness of peacefulness), and, 5) gratitude (basking in the light and beauty of your love).

Soul Work.  Finding one’s place or purpose in the world through transcendence (becoming a worthy representative of the whole), differentiation (demonstrating one’s uniqueness), and ripening (maturing). 

Spirit.  God, Mystery, or the nondual.

Spiritual Practice. Begins in awareness –– a self-sensing of objective reality –– and leads to consciousness –– the “very substratum of all existence.

Stage.  A single degree, step, phase, period, or position in a process.

Stages of Consciousness. For our purposes, there are four main stages: 1) conventional (ego-centric) wherein the person’s awareness is self-absorbed (the key word in this stage is “me”); 2) (ethno-centric) wherein the person’s awareness is focused on that person’s particular group, clan, family or nation (the key word is “us”); 3) conventional (world-centric) wherein the person’s awareness and identity expands to include all people, regardless of race, color, nationality, gender, or creed (the main words are “us all”); 4) the integral stage—the one eartHearts seek to achieve by going down the Heartwood Path—wherein the person’s awareness and identity expands to include everything while not erasing any of the aspects from the other stages (the main word is “all”). 

States of Consciousness.  These include waking, dreaming, and deep sleep, meditative states, altered states (induced by drugs, for example), and peak experiences (which occur during lovemaking, experiencing Nature, and listening to fine music).

Stream. The flow of an entity or energy.

Stress.  Comes in three stages: alarm, resistance, and exhaustion; reduced by making a priority list, eating properly,  relaxing effectively, and exercise. 

Structure. A major aspect in the Realm of Interiority. Structure is either built or it is fundamental. Built structure arises from human efforts or influences. Fundamental structures are those that exist before or beyond human actions and include inner-world archetypes.

Sub-personalities and Psychic Personalities.  The numerous wounded and sometimes hidden fragments of our human psyches, including the immature so-called inner world Loyal Soldiers, the inner world Wounded Children, the inner world Escapists and Addicts, and the Shadow and Shadow Selves––and the mature four facets of the Self, the Psychic Personalities ––the inner/outer world Nurturing Generative Adult, the inner/outer world Wild Indigenous One, the inner/outer world Innocent/Sage, and the inner/outer world Muse/Beloved.

Success.  Most likely at the point where one’s passion, one’s expertise, and a return of adequate financial resources overlap.

Sustainability. Ecological diversity and health that is undiminished over time. 


T


Tattvopadesha. A sequential, logically connected presentation, such as the the Heartwood Path.

Ten Good Precepts. Do not kill, steal, engage in improper sexual conduct, lie, backbite, speak evil words, speak frivolously, be greedy, have anger, or have views that mess up your karma.

Ten-In-Ten Places.  One’s list of ten places with ten minutes of home that are suitable for Heartwood Path Activities.

Ten Non-virtues.  These are the Physical Non-virtues of killing, stealing, and sexual misconduct; the Verbal Non-virtues of lying, senseless chatter, divisive talk, and insensitive speech; and the Mental Non-Virtues of craving/coveting, ill-will, and, having an incorrect world view.

Three “At’s”.  Make one beautiful, good, and true:1) ATtunement with the universe, 2) ATonement (requital or compensating), and 3)  AT-onement or cosmic consciousness.

Three Environmental Messages.  First Message claims impending catastrophe; the Second Message claims green economic benefits; and the Third Message tells of the importance of the natural world to our health, to our learning process, to our happiness, to our spirit.    

Three Graces Along the Heartwood Path.  The Heartwood Path’s Three Graces (Theos/Spirit, Ecos/Nature and Eros/Sex) will transport you on a rite of passage that will make you more susceptible to positive influences and beneficial changes. 

Three-leggedness.  Yearnings individuals have that, once realized,  result in a better future: freedom, creativity, and presence. 

Three Rings of an Expanded Environmental Movement. The First Ring of traditionally funded, direct-service, nonprofit, and conservation organizations; the Second Ring of individual docents and other volunteers; and a Third Ring of networked individuals, families, associations and communities using social networking to connect people to nature and each other.

Toning. The vibratory power of the voice made by making long, sustained sounds, without the use of melody, beat, or rhythm; the use of the voice to express sounds for the purpose of release and relief, or to resonate the physical body and the etheric fields (the vital forces that permeate the body). It is a non-verbal sound, relying primarily on vowels. Toning is not chanting. It does not use words. Not using words is compatible with nature’s lack of words.

Tough Ethics. No matter how logical or well-reasoned we are, and no matter what is said in ancient revered texts, if the behavior caused by our modes of thinking and moral codes causes ecological collapse, all is moot because, not only will the world as we know it cease to exist, the codes, thoughts, and texts will perish along with us. How can a moral conviction or an abstract thought be viable if its practice causes its own demise?

Transcendent Stages of the Mind. (each preceding stage includes the former stage(s): the Preceptual Mind, the mind made up of precepts (which means sensory impressions); the Receptual Mind, the mind of both sensory impressions and simple consciousness (there is no self-consciousness yet); the Conceptual Mind, the mind of precepts, recepts, and concepts (self-consciousness begins with concepts); and the Intuitive Mind, the mind of precepts, recepts, concepts and intuition. 

Transformative Practices. Exercises that create a marked change in the practitioner.

Triad of Transcendence:  A way to recognize for the need for ecological balance, unrestrained global discourse, minimally coercive forms of government, the “feminization” of society on earth, and acceptance of the “deepening” of ecology. The three-part way to grow spiritually:  1) know thyself by looking within, 2) view everything as thyself, and 3) unify opposites. 

Triple A Happiness. Happiness that is abiding, abundant, and authentic; and arises from a three-part circularity of environmental sustainability, personal maturity, and easy and lasting assistance of others.

Truth. The quality or state of being true, in accordance with fact or reality; often expressed with the word “It.”

Turiya.  The field of spacious consciousness considered vital to the development of yogic power because it encompasses waking, dream, and deep sleep states in concurrent continuity (at the same time, over time).


U


Unio Mystica.  A profound feeling of oneness.

Unity Mudra. A hand gesture used with mantras that is like the V” for Victory sign but with the two uplifted finger held together.  

Universal Principles Of Integrity. Long-revered and wisely accepted  fundamental truths that lead to a state of being undivided and appropriate.


V


Vak. The sounded “speech of all things” –– the underlying “language” of nature, which emerges in four increasingly subtle levels (listed here in reverse order of subtlety, as is the custom): 1) audible sounds, 2) images and thoughts, 3) perception, and 4) awareness.    

Validity of Claims. Sincerity is the criterion for testing claims in the realm of intentions, truth for the realm of behaviors and the physical fit of systems (such as how hands “fit” on arms or how big blue stem grass “fits” on a prairie), and appropriateness for the realm of ethics and morals. 

Varieties.  Being varied or diversified, has to do with gender differences, the variety of your feelings, the variety of your spiritual preferences, and the variety of experience.

Veils of Separation.  Seven common illusions that make us feel separate from life: 1) conforming to one’s tribe at the expense of one’s individuality, 2) forgetting one’s individuality and unique emotional repertoire, 3) seeing the world primarily only as solid objects in a “real world,” 4) having feelings and emotions that have not been healed and released, 5) masking one’s ability to relate profoundly to another, feeling one’s individual belief system, thoughts, theories, hypothesis, and mental computations, 6) blocking one’s access to other worlds, other realities, other time periods, and other dimensions of awareness, and 7) creating rigid ideas of one’s identity.

Vision statement.  Precedes a listing of goals, a written proclamation for what one wants to do with one’s life, beginning with “I see myself ...”

Vision Quest.  A purposeful rite of passage wilderness trip that occurs in five stages: 1) preparation, 2) letting go of your old self, 3) revealing the living seed of a new life 4) rejoining your community and 5) after the trip, taking on a project, while enlisting the help of others.

Vis Medicatriz Naturae.  The healing power of nature, includes what music and toning—two aspects of nature—can offer in the way of fostering personal happiness and planetary health.

Vitamin N.  The tonic of nature.


W


Webstrings. Natural attractions that tie together all the aspects of nature in the “web of life.” 

Wheel of Life. Psychologist Bill Plotkin depiction of human development stages.

Whole Character. One’s holistic mental or moral qualities as honed by one’s intentions, ethics, behaviors, and physical systems.


Wu Wei.  The implicit order of the universe.


X


Xerotic.  Dry.  Like the mountain trails above my home after California’s largest wild fire ever.


Y


You. Refers to people in general or the person being addressed, as in the important question: “Have you grown up fully?”


Z


Zzzz.  Be sure to tend to your dreams after sleeping.


Knock. Knock
Who’s there.
Zax.
Zax who?
Zax all there is, folks!