“When you go into the woods, and you look at trees, you see all these different trees. And some of them are bent, and some of them are straight, and some of them are evergreen and some of the, are whatever. And you look at the tree and you allow it. You see why it is the way it is. You sort of understand that it didn’t get enough light, and so it turned that way. And you don’t get all emotional about it. You just allow it. You appreciate the tree.

The minute you get near humans, you lose all that. And you are constantly saying “you are too this”, or “I’m too this.” The judgement mind comes in. And so I appreciate turning people into trees. Which means appreciating them just the way they are.” -Ram Dass (Mesa Arch, 2020)