I’ve just come back from a spiritual retreat, held at the Baden Powell Scout Centre, Sydney. Opened in 1929, the centre is a 36-hectare haven of trees and bush. The retreat was life changing in every way and to add to the majesty of the experience, were the trees. To be in the presence of a 100 year-old eucalypt tree towering into the blue sky with a 1.5 metre girth and enough holes, nooks and crannies to offer home to dozens of birds and small mammals, is breathtaking. Then multiply this huge tree by hundreds more.

The Centre, on a perpetual lease from the NSW government, gives one a glimpse of what the eastern seaboard of Australia used to look like, before land clearing and rampant development. The theme running through this retreat was to recognise God consciousness, whatever God means for you, in everything around you. And this beautiful place breathed God consciousness in every leaf and every dewdrop.
This Centre exists in total contrast to much of what’s happening in SE QLD and indeed large parts of Australia. The fervour to create new housing developments, which everyone agrees is necessary, as there are not enough houses for a growing population, is often pursued at the cost of beautiful old trees and green spaces. These houses are built cheek by jowl, with lots of concrete in between. On a stinking hot summer day, none of that concrete heat generated outwards is tempered by a big cool tree. Because there are no trees at all.
It’s odd, this change of heart on behalf of our local rulers. Twenty years ago when I built my house on acreage, apart from the house pad and the bushfire margin, we weren’t allowed to fell one tree without council permission. Now, clearing trees is a free-for-all. Clearing huge gums and known koala habitat in the name of putting in a tennis court which then changed to income generating tourist cottages, this is acceptable apparently. The losers were the trees, koalas and our children’s children. Once that 80 year-old tree (that’s your lifetime) and known koala habitat is gone then, oops. We can’t get them back ever, in this lifetime. And you’ve just speeded up the known extinction of koalas, who now have nowhere to live.
And the handful of people trying to save our trees and our local green spaces for generations to come are harassed to such a degree they resign from office or end up in court.
We all exit the planet naked and only leave behind memories. You might be remembered with deep love
as a tireless warrior for truth, peace and a green earth. Or maybe you’ll be that vague, depressing memory of that human who was so caught up in financing their coffers, they forgot to leave a living earth behind for their great grandchildren.
Margot Wagner
Yoga Under the Bodhi Tree
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