The Banyan Tree, The Moana Surfrider,Waikiki,Hawaii… initial message, part 2

The Banyan Tree                                                                  Monday, June 11, 2007

The Courtyard: Moana Surfrider Hotel, Honolulu, Hawaii

Speaking in generalizations, all trees are the same…right? Not! Each tree, like each person, is an individual. Each has a purpose for being. Whether it is to decorate the planet, to supply food or to nourish the earth, each in its own right has a place and time in which to live.

Existing, whether it’s in your world or mine, is never easy, as you’ve have figured out by now. That’s the fate of every being on this plane. Whether it’s me, or you, or the bug that crawls nearby, all are here to learn, to teach, and to grow.

So how is that possible you ask…to learn and to teach? Such a benign question when that’s exactly what you’ve been allowed to do, and in this lifetime. So be it.

Growth is fundamental to all beings. We must stress that this place, this time… your lifetime, my lifetime, is a gift of learning…a gift of life. Since you have come here today to discuss many things, I think I should begin.

I grew to this height after many years, absorbing inside me the information needed to progress on this earthly plane. In all of my lifetimes here on in this world I have learned that each one offers different opportunities and in each, different lessons as well. That said, as I grew many came to sit under me…some to learn and some to teach. I’ve heard countless stories and learned countless lessons, all beneficial to my growth. The years have moved ahead and the time grows short but still the thoughts and all of Nature continue to guide my waking hours. Time does not stand still my friends. Every being must release their earthly realm in time. The benefits gained will only lead us further towards the goals we seek…the oneness with the Great Creator.

That said, the finality of death seems so abrasive, doesn’t it? Yet Nature lives each season long with a purpose, a goal to give, and yes, to receive all the gifts of this world that this planet offers. That’s the way it is and why you must recognize that your purpose here on this plane is the same. You must accept that what you accomplish is so much more than what you attain in earthly means. This does not mean that you should suffer, far from it. The Universe offers so much and all can benefit if one accepts that what they receive must be returned.

As this great Banyan tree I have seen many things, so I have the right, I feel, to express them when they’re needed. You have questions I know and this is reasonable. Yet I, like you, I must give back…encouraging, telling about and also releasing everything that is needed to help both your world and mine.

In each lifetime every being chooses the path in which he searches for truth. This does not mean that a lifetime as a being like me and another like you are different. On the contrary, they are quite the same. Each being, as stated, has a purpose and only through the choices they make (whether it is to be a being such as a tree, a plant, a bee, a dog or yes, even a human) can they learn the lessons they were guided to in the lifetime they encounter.

Often ones are called on to listen, like those that you meet on your many travels. Others are called on to move about gathering information, when and where it ‘s needed. Others such as you are needed to merge into a knowledgeable society therefore embracing the growth that comes through the connection of species still not encountered in your lifetime. Each lifetime offers such choices and each entity or soul must choose what’s right for their progression.

As you entered this plane your choices were made. Your struggle here is not only to fulfill those choices, which at times may be difficult because you don’t remember, but also to become one with the species you’ve chosen. I’m also saying, you must also learn to become aware of others that, unlike you, survive in other worlds quite hidden from your consciousness. By including them, such as my world of the Nature Spirit, the growth that is needed becomes equal to the challenges that are given within this perimeter.

As you know there are many different ways to progress towards the light. Choosing the one that “fits” is often hard, but in reality all must accept certain trials to become what is needed to fulfill this quest. So it is and will continue until you reach that time and space when it’s no longer needed.

You ask… Why should I (Cheri) be more aware than say other humans in my search for these answers? Why shouldn’t humanity recognize what the Natural World does?

Unfortunately, this is a question that even I have can’t answer. I don’t understand why all of you don’t see Nature, and ones like me, as beings like you? Why do you think of us as something different? Why are we less important than the vehicles you drive or the television you watch? Why should our world appear only as a backdrop to the world that’s always there in your mind? That said, I have no clue but ask that you continue to search for this reason.

You wondered when you sat by me (The Banyan Tree) why I appeared different then before. Why my color, once brighter, seems to have faded out of site, so different from the tree you saw before. Your friend Paul wondered about the stone path on my roots and my confinement in an enclosed space, so different from when the world could connect with us (there are also other plants inside the planters) before. Once the beings of your world would run round this great trunk, playing and shouting with joy. The grass was soft under their feet and their vibrations could radiate through the ground to our roots below. We were connected and Nature and your world were as one.

The leaves could fall in all seasons and become part of the great Mother, a rebirth to follow when the time was right. The birds were allowed to go where they wanted and would nest in our branches. Children would climb, when no one was watching, and anyone could “Hug” a tree without the embracement and loathing that one feels now. Permission was never needed and life was a series of uneventful connections between our world and yours. That is how it was in my youth and I’m so very happy that I was given this, the uneventful life of a living being interacting with others species …both in the same world and yet both worlds apart.

In time, the changes came. Everything became as structured as today. No longer can I feel the feet of humans on our soil. No longer does the vibrations of the islands circulate through us, because you have covered this area (with stone). Although you have used, as you pointed out, stones that are also a part of our kingdom, the essence that was our being, the roots that carried the vibrations, have been lost. That is what happened. The tree that we are now has been put in a tidy box that no one is “allowed” to enter. This is most astounding, because no one owns Nature. Nature is a gift to all and it should be known as such. Shame on you!

Although the plaque that sits in the planter below my branches explains “my roots” (a little Nature joke there) it doesn’t express who I am as an individual. It doesn’t explain what I do and why I’ve chosen to stay. That is why it is incomplete. We ask that you tell others about this and ask that this message be given to all those that search for the answers.

In the countless lifetimes man has evolved on this planet, only recently has Nature begun to slip into a world that is collapsing. Only now have we become less then before. During my time in this world (as the tree you see in front of you) I finally understood many things that were unclear before I entered your plane. I’ve accepted things that are unheard of in our world and have rejected as many more in yours. So it is that now, in this time and space, I ask that you offer us the respect that is so sorely lacking in your world of today.

Many that visit these shores recognize Nature, but only for the beauty that’s right there in front of them. Yet when they return back to where they came from, they go back to neglecting Nature, causing it to suffer abuse in every way.

Knowing that what we do here does influence those that look for ways to maintain the balance between our world and yours, ask those that wish to help to bring about the changes that are needed in this lifetime.

My life as this Great Banyan has come to an end. Not today or tomorrow but sooner then it would have had this hardscape not taken its toll on my soul.

I have seen the ancient beings in the moonlight call upon the moon and have heard the sound of the Sea Goddesses as they play. I have rallied as the sun brought forth its glow on the gloomiest of days. I have reveled in the laughter of young beings, such as yours, as they ran calling under my branches. I have listened and have learned. I have called out, only to be ignored… but have also welcomed mystics who have heard my plea and wept at my feet.

These memories will always be part of this life I have followed as well as the lessons I’ve learned. This has been my choice, as are all the choices, of all beings, in the entire Universe and in all the Worlds. I have chosen well and I accept that what I know shall never be lost. I will carry with me, throughout time, the lessons of this world… because to be granted a lifetime of choice on this world, on any world, is a gift.

One makes or breaks what each must accomplish in their lifetime. I accept my life and those achievements. I also accept what I have lost and by accepting this, realize what I must do to rectify it in the future. Life goes by quickly and yet truthfully this is how it must be. The experiences that one learns could not be applied if one stayed too long.

The Ancients, for as long as they have existed, have seen many things. Yet in their time spent in all the worlds they have visited, they long for, once again, the comfort of a life spent in love, trust, and gratitude. To touch again the check of a lover, to stand on a beach like this one with branches turned towards the sea, to lounge in the air when the current pulls you higher or to swim in the depths of the hidden worlds of the Ocean in front of me.

All places are memories, and each life offers you these… no matter good or bad. Whether you live to fulfill those years or linger but seconds between life and death, all have meaning and with this the memories and lessons needed to fulfill the whole. If so, I wish all that read these words the gift of sight, the gift of awareness and the gift of total acceptance of all living beings on this planet. I have much more to learn and many questions still left unanswered, but when I die I won’t look for a world that’s different but only a different new world, more accepting.

Go in peace. This is my wish for your world and for all the worlds that are to be. I am the Banyan Tree at The Moana Surfrider Hotel, Honolulu, Hawaii