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Evolutionary Remembering

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Rupert Marques offered this practice to participants in our October 2023 EcoDharma Exploration. Visit the program page for the full recorded gathering, as well as additional resources: A Seamless Belonging

From the Practice

As you lie or sit there now, if you move and articulate your spine, know that that spine is a gift from our fishy ancestors who first developed that capacity to form calcium into bones and then to articulate it in the way you can articulate your own spine. We were there then.

When you cry or when you bleed, those tears and that blood holds the same salinity of that ocean as we evolved within it. Still to this day, the salt of your tears and blood reminding us of our aquatic origins.

As the humans grew, as we became so successful, other species shrinking away in our presence, as we became stronger and able to dominate whole land masses, ecosystems starting to wear thin, starting to fray away. But still so much of the animal within us, still the movement of violence and domination expressing itself as warfare, possession, competition.

All of your ancestors in that long, unbroken evolutionary line are standing behind you. All those who are yet to be born are standing in front of you, waiting to see what we write in these times. Know the significance of the one thread of your own life as you weave it into our collective tapestry. Feel what you might wish to offer with this life. Our life itself has always been yearning to bring itself through you.

The full transcript can be found here.

Picture of Rupert Marques

Rupert Marques

Rupert Marques has a background in environmental and outdoor education. He has practiced in the insight meditation tradition for over 25 years in Europe, America and Asia, and teaches in Europe and beyond. Rupert also trained with The School of Lost Borders in contemporary wilderness rites of passage and now trains others in this work. He spent 4 years living and working at Ecodharma, a contemplative community in the Spanish Pyrenees dedicated to exploring the role of the Dharma in the movements for social justice and ecological sustainability. He works with individuals and organizations offering a range of retreats and trainings with a particular interest in exploring the intersection of contemplative practice with nature-based practice.
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