At the end of January, I went to New Zealand for a meditation tour and the 1st Annual Earth Citizen Peace Festival. As part of the tour, we visited a forest of Kauri trees in the Northland area of the North Island. While the whole forest was amazing—it bathed you in life-enriching energy—the highlight was a tree our Maori guide called the Father of the Forest.

This tree was 2500 years old; it was the oldest tree in the forest. As I gazed at it and connected to its energy, I could feel a connection to the whole forest through its roots. The Father Tree’s energy was not directed toward anything, did not say anything specific, or match any preconception that I had. Standing there, however, I felt at home; it felt right. As Ilchi Lee, who designed the tour, has often said, being in nature, especially in New Zealand, helps us feel our own naturalness. That’s exactly how it was. I fell in love with my own pure nature and the nature of the entire planet.

We only spent a few minutes at the Father Tree, and when we had to go, I didn’t want to leave. I could see myself being the crazy lady people would see sitting at the end of the wooden path leading to the tree, day after day, chanting jibberish sounds of love and life that flowed from my heart.

They dragged me away though, so now I use my memory to remember what I’ve recognized as my core power and purpose. Because of the Father Tree, I can reconnect to that consciousness and energy more easily, and then express those vibrations in my daily life. In the rhythm and flow of those vibrations, my ego becomes weaker. I am faced with the blinding light of truth, and my small concerns don’t matter so much.

While a picture could never fully communicate the energy of this amazing tree that has survived many human generations, I hope you can glimpse a little of it here.

The Father of the Forest