Sangha of Auspicious Companions

[Listen to Audio!]

Elders fill a special role in any community, having earned the
respect of the tribe for their life-long wisdom, knowledge, and
teaching. They help link individuals to the broader community
as a whole, and connect the past with the future. Not all old
individuals are elders, nor are all elders old. In my family, grandmothers and grandfathers usually filled the role of elders, although certain individuals, like my daughters, were born with wisdom beyond their years, connecting the family through the ages.
This wisdom emerges from lives lived before them over many
generations.

In my life’s work in the forest, I have learned that elders of many species, including humans, also connect the forest, providing an adaptive genetic scaffolding for change and resilience among the whole community. In the forest, the foundational species are the trees, and the elders of this foundation are the biggest and oldest trees. Elder trees provide an anchor for the diverse structure of the many-sized trees in their neighborhoods. These elders are important not just as habitat for the many plant, animal, fungal, and microbial creatures that live in the forest, but also the people who depend on the woods for their cultures
and livelihoods.

A single elder Douglas fir tree, for example, can be connected to hundreds of other trees, either of the same or different species, by the sheer magnitude of its massive root system and diverse fungal community. These subterranean connections form a mycorrhizal network, now known colloquially as the “Wood Wide Web,” with a topology similar to that of neural networks, stream networks in watersheds, and the internet. In the Wood Wide Web, trees can be thought to serve as the nodes of the network, while fungi act as the vertices.

The Wood Wide Web is a busy network, where […] elder trees are able to recognize neighbors that are genetically related, or that are kin, and they can send more or less resources to other trees to either favor or disfavor them, depending on the safety of the environment. I have taken to calling these elders “Mother Trees” because they appear to be nurturing their young. Mother Trees thus connect the forest through space and time, just like elders connect human families across generations.

About the Author: Suzanne Simard is a Canadian scientist, professor and author various books. Excerpted from this article.

Share the Wisdom:

Latest Community Insights

Mother Trees In A Wood Wide Web How do you relate to the connecting and nurturing role of elders, be they humans or trees? Can you share an experience of a time you became aware of an entire ecology beneath the visible nodes? What helps you be a nourishing elder that sustains others?

Jagdish P Dave wrote: I like the difference between oldindividualsand elders as shown by the author Suzzane Simard. As the author says not all individual are elders nor all elders are old. The marking sign of an elder is w…

David Doane wrote: If elders is defined as those having "lifelong wisdom, knowledge, and teaching," then elders are very likely to provide a valuable connecting and nurturing role,being of great benefit to eve…

Share/Read Your Reflections

Some Good News

Video of the Week

Kindness Stories

Global call with Kate Munger!
Join us for a conference call this Saturday, with a global group of ServiceSpace friends and our insightful guest speaker. Join the Forest Call >>

About
Back in 1997, one person started sending this simple “meditation reminder” to a few friends. Soon after, “Wednesdays” started, ServiceSpace blossomed, and the humble experiments of service took a life of its own. If you’d like to start an Awakin gathering in your area, we’d be happy to help you get started.

On our website, you can view 17+ year archive of these readings. For broader context, visit our umbrella organization: ServiceSpace.org.