The Osho Zen Tarot offers a simple image. Here, I recognise much that kills my connection with Nature. The strong bark of the slow-growing oak stands next to the fresh green bamboo with the word ‘comparison’ offered. In fact, when I say that this theme kills my connection with Nature, I am being too specific, because I believe that this theme kills our relationship to everything in life.

If we find ourselves comparing our relationships with partners, family members, our jobs and interests with those of others, holding up standards for ourselves, then we are in the process of killing those things slowly, even if they are wonderful and nourishing. We must find ways of trusting an inner knowing if and when things need to change, rather than relying on comparison. If everything seemed fine and dandy until the process of comparison began, but second-rate afterwards, then things are probably fine. The problem is in the mind.

How can oak be compared with bamboo? The human mind finds a way. Have you ever found your mind, on a beautiful day, in a heavenly place, pondering how much nicer it would be elsewhere? How much wilder, perhaps. Or warmer. More ‘natural’ (whatever that means). Busier with other people, or quieter. Have you found yourself secretly plotting to move to another area, even if you like it where you live? I catch myself doing this sort of thing all the time.

I went through a secret little mind-phase where I thought that I should live in the Highlands of Scotland, rather than down here in the Lowlands. I had internalised so many romantic notions of the bigger mountains, the (even smaller) population density, the gigantic lochs. And this was carried in my mind when I was out in the lush woodlands nearby, sitting by a wee waterfall, walking along a beautiful coastline, or appreciating the sweet isolation when sitting alone out in a wild space. (This wasn’t quite wild enough, said my comparison, even though my body said it was.) What I was carrying in my mind was a story, a poison that served only to distract me from the joy of life.

When these thoughts or images would arise in my mind, I would begin challenging them … ‘but there are hardly any people living down here, it’s also peaceful!’, ‘but the lowlands are just as wild and beautiful, just not as dramatic!’ ‘Maybe we’ll move when we’re older’, etc. And whilst I was mentally sparring off two split personalities in my mind, I wasn’t with the waterfall, I wasn’t with the expansive view of the soft green hills that I love so much. Inner dialogue became my experience, ironically inspired by the beauty of the ancient local glen or a stony coastline where I have attended to so many beautiful moments over the last decade. I adore where I live, so why these stories and comparisons?

This is what comparison does – it distracts, it takes over our direct experience. In extreme cases, people leave their homes or even their partners because of comparison, regretting it when it is too late. (Of course, I am 100% behind people improving their lives if there is a genuine desire or need for change, but not because of the delusion of comparison.)

In my ecotherapy work, I encounter comparison poisoning my client’s experiences of Nature. Especially those who live in cities – there can be something almost apologetic about nature-lovers living in the sorts of places where, in fact, the majority of humankind lives these days (IE urbanised cities instead of supposedly idyllic countryside locations, which in the UK are often unaffordable for working class people, especially in large parts of England).

*Above: the secret fairy pool in Midlothian, Scotland.*

So let it go. Notice your comparisons arising when you are connecting with nature, breathe in and breathe out. Look again at what is here. Try not to get stuck in dialogue with your mind. Perhaps you are just where you need to be right now. Perhaps the Nature in front of you is perfect in its own right. What you think is happening elsewhere is not real, just an illusion in your mind. Reach out and touch that oak tree, that bamboo stem, and know that whatever is in front of you is perfect.

That’s all for now, friends. Thank you for being here – and please check out my Therapeutic Tarot Sessions and my courses embracing Tarot and Nature if you’d like us to work together. You can also sign up for the Tarot Blog newsletter (different to my main newsletter) below to receive occasional email updates (roughly monthly) with the latest posts.

Smiles from Scotland,

Stephen

Five of Clouds (Swords): Comparison in Osho Zen

(Walking) The World