By Michael J. Roads
Guest writer for Wake Up World
https://wakeup-world.com/2016/01/31/conscious-connection-bridging-species-through-love/?
Some time ago I had a book recommended to me, The Elephant Whisperer: My Life with the Herd in the African Wild by
Lawrence Anthony. And as the author quickly states, the whisperer is
the elephant! It is a very well written and truly inspiring book. Why I
am mentioning this is that the book is actually about consciousness … although the (now sadly deceased) author might not have realised this at the time of writing.
Obviously enough, it is the true story
of the relationship between a dominant female African elephant and the
author himself. Just briefly, a small, displaced herd of elephants had
become very aggressive and dangerous to the local native villagers, and
the herd was to be shot. Lawrence, who was blessed to own 5,000 acres of
game reserve called Thula Thula, set in pristine bush in Zululand,
South Africa, is told about this and asked if he can take the whole herd
to save their lives. Although this represents a multitude of staggering
problems for him, Lawrence instantly agrees.
In the way of wildlife – without their
human insight into the ways of man – there is no instant understanding
of the great generosity of spirit that Lawrence extends to the herd, and
the dominant female does her best to kill him. After the traumatic and
very difficult move, the herd begins their introduction to the new game
reserve in a comparatively small area that is fenced in with an
electrified fence. This is entirely necessary. In much of his spare
time, Lawrence stands on the safe side of the fence and talks to the matriarch
of the herd. She responds by regularly charging him, only just stopping
in time to avoid the fence. He tells her he understands her anger, and how beautiful she is. Clearly, he loves her.
This goes on for month after month with
little change. Gradually however, she becomes less aggressive toward
him. Nobody else goes anywhere near her, or the herd, as Lawrence
forbids it. They are far too dangerous. Very slowly, with his infinite
patience, a relationship develops
between him and the herd matriarch. I will say no more about this as
you may wish to read the book, which I highly recommend. From my
perspective, the consciousness of Lawrence and the elephant became
deeply connected. So much so that she saved his life on a few occasions
when one of the other elephants attempted to kill him. Remember, these
are not zoo animals; these are completely wild, able to kill a human in
mere seconds. Having previously had two elephants in the herd shot, they
associate humans with pain, terror, turmoil and fear.
Nevertheless, when they reached the stage that the herd was settled
enough to leave the electrified area and be let loose in the huge
reserve, Lawrence would then drive out and, finding the herd, he would
sit in the vehicle at a considerable distance and continue to ‘talk’ to the matriarch.
They eventually reached a stage where she would walk over to him and
touch him with her truck. Based on mutual trust and respect, such a
connection is truly remarkable!
With the relationship established over a few years, Lawrence heard about the terrible plight of the Iraq zoo during the war.
Animals dead and dying of starvation, neglect, bombs and being shot for
food. Lawrence was a very big man with a very big heart, so he flew to
Iraq to help, which means he ended up literally running the zoo,
organising the recovery of many animals with his life at risk daily from
rampaging humans, many of whom were also starving. Lawrence was a man
to admire and respect. He was away over six months, and during this time
nobody in the game reserve caught a single glimpse of the elephants.
When he flew home to his wife and staff
in South Africa, the whole herd of elephants were waiting for him. They
turned up at the gate to his home a few hours before his arrival, led by
the matriarch. When, a number of years later, he died suddenly from a
massive heart attack, the herd came to his home and stood by the gate
without food or water for two days to pay their respects, then they
departed into the depths of the reserve, seldom to be seen again.
The point I am writing of here – and
believe me, I have not spoiled the book – is all about that unique
connection in consciousness. A connection that bridged species differences
and touched two amazing sentient Beings, connecting them on the level
of true reality… consciousness. All life is the vastly diverse
expression of One consciousness. Nature and humanity certainly express
on different levels in the diversity of a single consciousness, but this
by no means makes humans superior. I doubt that many people would sense
the moment of the unexpected transition of an animal they had
befriended; not a pet, nor an owned animal, but a wild animal with which
they had connected. Even if the intuition (conscious recognition) made
the connection, the brain would bring in reason and logic and deny the
possibility of such an unlikely event.
To be fair, such a deep connection in
consciousness is not common; it happens, but seldom to the degree of
trust shared by Lawrence and the elephant. Having metaphysically
witnessed such connections, I am aware that the matriarch held an
awareness of him the whole time he was away. She knew when his thoughts
and actions in consciousness would bring him home to the park, and she
was there to welcome him. Equally, when Lawrence went through his
transition she felt his departure from the physical world of
consciousness. Making their way in a solemn one-by-one queue from their
habitat to his house, the elephants came to honour their friend who had
saved their lives. I have no doubt that on the non-physical level where
this conscious connection is truly based and established, the connection
continues.
Personally, I was sad to read of his
transition, not only for the loss of a great man to the physical world,
but also because I had decided that he was a man I would like to meet.
Now that meeting will have to wait. You might say, “Well, you can
connect in consciousness,” and this is probably true, but for me it is
not appropriate. He has his journey to continue, and he will need time
to adjust to his life in the metaphysical realm. I have no doubt at all
that when a certain elephant makes her transition, she will have a close
and loving friend waiting to greet her.
What delighted me so much in this true story is that the man and
elephant both consciously chose Love. It took a while, but Love
triumphed.
(If you’re inspired to read the book, you can buy or download ‘The Elephant Whisperer’ here.)
About the author:
Born
in England in 1937, Michael Roads discovered at an early age he was
able to communicate with nature and go beyond linear time and space. He
immigrated to Australia in 1963 where he was a beef and dairy farmer,
and prominent in the early organic movement. He wrote the first book on organic gardening in Australia, which was an immediate best seller.
After becoming spiritually awakened in 1986, Michael wrote about his metaphysical experiences and has since published 14 books,
translated into 16 languages. 2018 marks his 27th year of travelling
around the world giving talks and 5-day intensives on unconditional love
and emotional balance.
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