Meditations of John Muir: Nature's Temple

by Chris Highland

Carry John Muir’s wisdom with you in this inspirational guide that features 60 of his most insightful quotes. As a patriarch of the American environmental movement, John Muir helped to give birth to the national park system, the Sierra Club, and a myriad of smaller groups devoted to saving rivers, redwoods, and wildlife. Yet, he is also a spiritual parent who leads us down unmarked trails of the spirit. By urging us to simply be present in the world around us, loving and honoring it as our garden home, his poetic insight liberates life. In Meditations of John Muir , editor Chris Highland pairs 60 Muir quotes with selections from other celebrated thinkers and spiritual texts. Take this pocket-size guide with you on backpacks, nature hikes, and camping trips. Let Muir’s words enrich your experience as you ponder the wilderness from riverbank, mountaintop, or as you relax beside your campfire. Inside you’ll
Muir’s exuberance for nature was the touchstone for his commitment to the earth and all of its creatures. Let him lead you along the ultimate adventure that treks every range of light. Then venture off on your own deertrails of the heart, harkening to his granite gospel that calls for you “to get as near to the heart of the world” as you can.

Genres: Nature, Nonfiction, Poetry, Philosophy, Travel, Spirituality, American

168 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 2001

About the author

Author of Broken Bridges (2020), A Freethinker's Gospel (2018) as well as six natural meditation books beginning with Meditations of John Muir (2001); also Life After Faith (2010), My Address is a River (2010), the novel Jesus and John Muir (2010), Nature is Enough (2013) and other web-published works including poetry, essays and a childrens' book.

A former minister and chaplain in the SF Bay Area, he is now a freethinking humanist celebrant who teaches and writes in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina.

Chris writes the weekly "Highland Views" column for the Citizen-Times and blogs at www.chighland.com.

Reviews

[Eric Sutliff · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sifted through this one during my recent road trip to Maine. Some great points to think on, but words come up hilariously short compared to the real thing. Rock, water, wind, and fire. A few times I had to put down the book and just read the landscape. Now that was something to meditate on!

[Janette Schafer · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lovely meditation book for naturalists

I have often said that the woods are my church. If you are someone who feels that way as well, this book will enhance your spiritual practice.

[Jack Syron · Rating 4 out of 5]

Better than Walt Whitman in my book

[Meghan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful to read and to flip through. Great language and really puts you in his shoes. Thoughtful but not heavy. Good for people loving nature or those who have a bit of a spiritual side. Or both, I would recommend!!

[Kristin Boggs · Rating 5 out of 5]

[ 4.5 stars ]

Beautiful, meditative, spiritual, and awe-inspiring.

This book is compiled of 60 days of Muir’s reflections as he lived and walked among nature, now protected, due to his advocacy, as National Parks like Yosemite, Sequoia, Mount Rainier, and the Grand Canyon.

[Kristin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent collection of Muir's quotes! Compact enough to fit in my pack to be read whenever I'm out in nature!

[Valerie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I adore this book. If you love nature and the quiet collection of a great outdoorsman, this would be a good recommendation for you. I loved the daily thoughts and mindfulness about the world around him. John Muir was a fascinating person and I recommend this book for anyone who wants to learn more about life.

[Marie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Presently you lose consciousness of your own existence: you blend with the landscape, and become part and parcel of nature.

John Muir's exuberance for nature was the touchstone for his commitment to the earth and all its creatures. As naturalist, writer, and activist, Muir shaped the spiritual and physical boundaries of some of our most treasured national parks.

Editor Chris Highland pairs 60 insightful Muir quotes with selections from other celebrated thinkers and spiritual texts. Take this pocket-size guide with you on backpacks, nature hikes, and camping trips. Let Muir's words enrich your experience as you ponder the wilderness from river bank, mountain top, or as you relax beside your campfire under night stars.

[Zarlasht · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful quotes from Muir's work are signed off at the end of each page with prayers and quotes from all religions.

"Come to the woods, for here is rest.
There is no repose like that of the
green deep woods.
Here grow the wallflower and the violet.
The squirrel will come and sit upon your knee,
the logcock will wake you in the morning.
Sleep in forgetfulness of all ill.
Of all the upness accessible to mortals,
there is no upness comparable to the mountains."

Navajo prayer: I am restored in beauty. I am restored in beauty. I am restored in beauty.

[Abigail · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a lovely little collection of meditations on nature, though at times Muir tends to over-romanticize or, for lack of a better term, hyper-worship nature. He reveres the natural world over everything else, and while I’m sympathetic toward such tendencies, it’s a very fine line to walk, especially since Muir was quite a religious and Godly man.

[JoAnna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Three-line review: We began reading this book aloud to each other while hiking the John Muir Trail a few years ago, but didn't finish it before finishing the hike, so we started over again and finished it within two days this summer. These 60 short cuttings from Muir's writings were well-selected and great fodder for conversation as we drove across the country. The only thing that would have made the book better would be an arc to the selections so reading several in a row had some sense of continuity.

[Mickey · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like to read little devotions or meditations at night before going to sleep. I picked up this little book from the John Muir National Historic Site, which I recently visited. I knew John Muir was often thought of as the father of the national parks, and as an ardent outdoorsman. But what impressed me no end was how lyrical his writing is. This is absolutely beautiful prose. He writes often of how he encounters God in the outdoors. Each meditation is uplifting. I wish there were more of them. 60 is too few - I would love to end each day of the year with one of these little gems.

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am an admirer of John Muir from years back for his work in conservation as well as his heart for the outdoors with which I identify very strongly. While this book is composed of 60 quotes from Muir, I found it a bit of a letdown from the heart that shows through in some of the other Muir books. The accompanying quotes from other authors did not seem to connect for me. I came desiring to capture a bit more of Muir's heart but was left wanting.

[Tom · Rating 4 out of 5]

John Muir's descriptions of the natural world are sublime, but at the same time show an intense respect and reverence for nature and all of it's power and beauty. Some of his wanderings and hikes in the Sierras, Alaska, and Yosemite National Park provided the backdrop for thoughts on the forests, valleys, mountains, and animals in which he became so enamored. This book is a brief and easy to read compilation of his thoughts and indeed will give the reader pause for reflection on Nature.

[Tara P. Boone · Rating 5 out of 5]

For every hike we take, I have read a passage in this book and made notes of the trail, people I am with and how the passage relates to my current life circumstance. John Muir was a visionary, and as a fellow naturalist I am almost giddy with excitement to read his works and imagine what he must have seen in our country's unspoiled wilderness.

[Bertha · Rating 4 out of 5]

I made sure to read this while out camping in nature. very spiritual written words for the divineness of nature, and now I have to get all the other books in this series of the other founding fathers of naturistic writing.

“Presently you lose consciousness of your own existence: you blend with the landscape, and become part and parcel of nature.”

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.25

Nature is one of my most sacred places. John Muir is a kindred spirit in these wanderings.

"The winds of God's grace are always blowing; it is for us to raise our sails."
- Ramakrishna

[Becky Griffus · Rating 5 out of 5]

He put into words how my heart feels when I am out in Nature. I hear the trees. I feel the wind, I see the water flow. All is right in my world.

[Jeff · Rating 4 out of 5]

Visit our National Parks!

[Stevefk · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ok. Not more than that. I've read much better nature writing. Try Loren Eiseley, if you want great writing that brings you to an expanded view of the world.

[Will · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great, curated, thoughts and essays of John Muir on Nature.

[Clint Carlson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read in little bits while camping or hiking!

[Neha · Rating 4 out of 5]

Made me want to leave everything behind and just travel, which I neither have the money nor the willpower to do.

[Tez · Rating 3 out of 5]

A beautiful collection of John Muirs quotes about nature. He puts into words what I feel when I am out in nature. 💚

[Mary · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some highlights of Muir's ponderings. I found a few that were valuable.

[Joseph Inzirillo · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nice compilation of Muir’s thoughts while he explored the wilderness. Some rather deep associations with church and the mountains which I found fascinating.

[Juliemarie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Random like snippets of writing with intraspaced words from other wise mentors. Favorite part where he is describing falling into a avalanche. Easy read

[Becky · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must buy to reread over and over. Powerful imagery and breathtaking writing.

[Ann Cat · Rating 5 out of 5]

I mean, how could you not love a lover of our fine earth? His enthusiasm (perhaps a lil crazy) is catchy and endearing. I heart trees. And all things good and gentle. Salve for the soul.

[Collin Aull · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Doubly happy is the person to whom lofty mountaintops are within reach, for the lights that shine there illumine all that lies below.”