Posted inOther Teachings

Tree of Wisdom

June 27, 2015

Oak and maple, palm and pine—trees are our closest neighbors and most patient teachers… on the common roots of people and trees.

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There is a cabin in the remote mountains of northern New Mexico that stands on the side of a steep, wooded ravine. It is hidden deep among the huge ponderosa pines that thrive in the high air. Near the cabin, one lone dead pine soars a hundred feet into the sky. It has been dead a few years now and is known as the “Corkins Tree,” after the cabin’s last owners, and there’s a story attached to it.

The Corkins lived in the cabin for many years and stayed on even after they had sold the property to a friend of mine. They became good friends with him, and my friend was intrigued by the way the husband always referred to the then healthy giant pine as “his tree.”

“We’re close,” he used to say. “I swear, the day that tree goes, I go too. And vice versa.”

Written by Henry Shukman and originally published in Shambhala Sun magazine, May 2014.

Image credit: Tree-Dawn, by danfador, cc0 Public Domain, from Pixabay.com
Featured Image Credit: Pine Needle, by Didgeman, cc0 Public Domain, from Pixabay.com

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