(c) John, Rekesh 2004-2008. No part of this work may be copied or reproduced without the author's permission
6. Sky (Part 3)
Aliyah reached out her hand and swept it gently through the bush next to her.
“It’s amazing isn’t it? To think that this bush is a condensation of air?”
“What?” Lisa thought she was being ridiculed.
“No, really! This plant is indeed precipitated out of thin air. Its body mass is composed mostly of carbon, taken from carbon dioxide in the air.”
Lisa simply stared.
“Interesting! How much of it comes from the air, do you know?” This from Theo.
“I spent some time studying it,” Aliyah smiled. “Carbon dioxide contributes about ninety-three percent, hydrogen from water about seven percent and minerals from the ground less than a fraction of a percentage!”
“Now this is really far out…” Lisa started.
“No, she’s right!” Theo agreed. “Plants get most of their body mass from the air. There’s even a technique of farming known as aeroponics where plants are grown in air, without soil. And water, composed of hydrogen and oxygen, is a precipitation of these common gases in the air.”
“All right! So there is some correspondence with air and mind when it comes to plants. But I didn’t precipitate out of thin air!” Lisa objected.
“But your food comes from plants, or animals that ate plants. So one could argue that almost all biomass on the earth is made from thin air!” replied Aliyah.
“That is definitely interesting, but your inference seems incomplete,” said Theo. “It takes photosynthesis to create the body of a plant. For that, the plant requires sunlight, water and minerals too. It’s the sun’s energy that makes food what it is and sustains life on the planet, isn’t it?”
“True! Vitamins and minerals help enzymes that build the body of the plant. Their role is more like construction workers,” she replied. “The sun represents the fire element or spirit. So photosynthesis represents the action of spirit where it combines with mind, emotions and matter to manifest all life!”
Lisa looked bored. But Theo seemed to find it quite interesting.
“I see. So your take is that the sustaining energy of life ultimately comes from spirit; mind and emotions are the source of manifestation; matter is the crucible. Is that a fair statement?”
“More or less. Photosynthesis represents the very essence of creation and life, not only from a biological viewpoint, but also from a higher level!”
“I don’t believe a word of it,” scoffed Lisa.
“I almost don’t either,” laughed Theo. “But true or not, it is an interesting proposition. Please go on…”
“There isn’t much to tell.” Aliyah felt a little snubbed.
“Oh, yes, there is!” smiled Theo. “I can’t imagine Aliyah giving up at this point!”
“Well, there is a bit more, I guess.” She blushed a little and continued.
“So far, we were discussing the troposphere. Now going further up, one comes across a kind of barrier called the tropopause. This segregates the air below and that above through a temperature inversion. Quite like the barriers that you feel while trying to meditate, you know, quieting ourselves down, trying to reign in all this barrage of thoughts. But once you manage it, you quickly enter a calmer state of mind.”
“I know what you are talking about. It’s not very easy to still the mind,” Lisa agreed, “but once you do it, you are at peace.”
Aliyah was thankful that Lisa now appeared less belligerent.
“Yes,” she agreed. “Above the tropopause, things really quieten down. Air currents, clouds and thunderstorms are left behind. Instead of temperature continuing to decrease, it actually increases. This layer is called the stratosphere.”
“Yeah! My boyfriend is sometimes found there!” laughed Lisa, nudging Theo.
“And here you find the protective ozone layer,” Aliyah continued. “It is above this that you find what may be called other-worldly phenomena; incursions and visitations from outer-space, like meteors, comets, cosmic rays, radiation…”
“So in the stratosphere you have the analogy of the calm, quiet mind. Beyond that, you start experiencing something new?”
“That’s true. The ozone layer is also a protective layer. Likewise, there also appears to be a shield in the layers of mind that prevents extraneous influences from reaching into ordinary levels of consciousness. The layers beyond this can prove to be strange, even dangerous.”
“I see, so what happens above the stratosphere?”