The teachings of our brother and sister trees instruct us on our true condition of being. Trees rise up by rooting deeply in solid ground. They shelter and feed the nesting ones. They shade the weary; protect the frail from mighty winds; nourish the soil with their leaves, and hold it safe from rushing waters or erosion. In the rain forest one tree can harbor a whole species of insects.

What tree can grow without soil and minerals? Or continue to live without light and water? Or send forth its seeds without the aid of wind and bird, squirrel and insect? What tree can hide itself from the cycles of growth and diminishment? Trees in their death provide shelter, heat, light, and fire.

Trees appear solitary and individual, rising to the sky, standing unto themselves, yet their lives reflect unspeakable union, cooperation, an interrelationship of being, a co-arising with their companions in the world. In the Fourth Order we recognize this true condition of being, and the healing properties of right relationship. We are dancers in the wind, servants and upholders of life who are ourselves upheld by our fellow creatures. Trees remind us that those who live in their true spacious nature uplift, uphold and love their companions on the way.