Beloved Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh left his human form on 22 January 2022. His recorded wisdom and loving smiles continue to enlighten us about the connection of all life. This excerpt from The Heart Sutra: the Fullness of Emptiness by Thich Nhat Hanh expresses so beautifully what he learned from communicating with a leaf.

In the late 1970s, students taking my beginning classes on animal communication urged me to write a book on the subject. The first edition of Animal Talk: A Guide to Communicating with and Understanding Animals was born. Getting it published to reach an interested audience was another story.

I watched a video with a well-known guru who often shares practical wisdom about life.

In answering a person’s question, he stated how human life is much more complex than other species and how we have more choices and are at the top of the species pyramid. I bristled at his words extolling the separation of humans from other species in this common notion of human superiority.

Many people in the Western world consider themselves as separate from the rest of Nature, human spectators alienated from the whole web of life. They often do not recognize our interdependence with all beings on Earth and that animals, plants, minerals, and all the natural elements have much to teach us about balance and integration of spirit with form.

I’ve received a few emails recently asking about helping wild animals that illustrate what may not be helpful from animals’ perspectives.

When people first start training as animal communicators, they are often unsure and hesitant about relaying the communication they receive from animals. I commonly had to coax students to say what communication they got, since they weren’t sure it was “right” or that they got anything at all and didn’t want to look foolish.

Enjoy this clear and insightful Guest Blog by Nancy Windheart

One of the topics I’m asked about frequently as an animal communicator is, “Do animals take on illness for people?”

All of us who are close to animals and love and honor them as fellow beings may have encounters with our domestic and wild animal friends that are downright mystical.

Soul to soul connections go beyond whatever bodily form we happen to be animating. Souls and energy fields can merge ecstatically or in profound peace, and joy.

I made a pilgrimage to the giant sequoias of the Sierra Nevada in California. I visited Alder Creek Grove, joining a group from Save the Redwoods League who helped purchase the property to preserve the largest remaining giant sequoia grove owned by private landowners.

The enormous physical size of whales echoes the enormity of their consciousness and why they are here on Earth.

Being in the presence of whales and communicating with them reveals not only their physical role in the web of life but their vast spiritual awareness and benevolence.