On a bright, moon-lit night, while walking back to my kuti in a forest in Thailand, I spotted a huge scorpion that had come out of hiding from under a rock.
Out of curiosity, I pointed my flashlight directly at it for a moment, then continued to walk the path back to my resting place for the night—being mindful not to accidentally step on any dangerous creatures on the ground.
As I entered my kuti and lay down on my sleeping pad on the hardwood floor, I closed my eyes but struggled to fall asleep.
The piercing sounds of active insects in the forest were disturbing the mind, so I first had to figure out how to tune them out.
Thankfully, this wasn’t the first time I slept among the trees, and I was eventually able to calm my mind enough to dull the cacophony.
Why is nature so peaceful?
Well, it’s not.
Nature is cruel.
Despite its cruelty, nature also provides an ideal environment for finding peace—though nature’s actual nature isn’t peaceful.
This is because nature provides an opportunity to develop mindfulness.
And mindfulness is what nurtures the development of quietude and inner strength that’s needed to discover peace.
