Nature in Consciousness
How Experiences in the Wilderness can permanently change our Consciousness.
Dr. Boy van Droffelaar
When a person retreats into the silence of the wilderness, away from the noise of the city and the hustle and bustle of obligations, a different reality reveals itself. Nature, pristine and unruly, then no longer becomes a mere backdrop in which we move, but a presence that speaks to us directly. Those who live for days with nothing but the ground beneath them, the sky above them and the sounds of birds and animals around them, discover a different rhythm - one determined not by clocks and calendars, but by wind, light and shadow.
In such circumstances, something can happen that is difficult to put into words. Boundaries that we take so much for granted begin to blur: the separation between body and environment, between human and animal, between self and world. A sense of connection emerges, an experience of unity in which nature is no longer opposed to us, but reveals itself as something of which we ourselves are an expression. Consciousness expands, as if reminding itself of a forgotten origin.
I had such a moment along the Imfelozi River in South Africa. For hours I sat alone, looking across the water. Then an elephant appeared on the other side, and two herons migrated along the sky calling loudly. It was as if nature was greeting me, as if whispering, ‘you belong here, you are welcome, you are one of us’. In that moment, something fell away from me. The perspective of an outsider, someone observing and naming nature, dissolved. What remained was a deep sense of coming home, a realisation that I was not separate Nature, but an inseparable part of it.
Such experiences are not new. Religious leaders, mystics, philosophers and poets have sought the wilderness for centuries to get closer to themselves and the secret of existence. Indigenous cultures have rituals in which young people go into nature to become adults; a transition that cannot take place without the ordeal of solitude under the stars. Psychologist Abraham Maslow spoke of peak experiences: moments of sudden insight, intense happiness and a profound experience of oneness that can change lives permanently.
But how should we understand such experiences? Within the prevailing materialist worldview - in which everything is reduced to matter and mechanical processes - feelings of connection, awe or transcendence remain difficult to explain. They are quickly dismissed as subjective experiences, with no real meaning. Yet more and more people are witnessing such encounters, and research shows that these moments actually lead to lasting changes in life attitudes and values.
The philosophy of Analytical Idealism offers a fruitful perspective here. According to this thinking, consciousness is not something that happens to arise from the brain, but rather the ground of all reality. Everything that exists is a form or expression of one universal consciousness. What we experience as ‘I’ and ‘other’, as ‘human’ and ‘nature’, are different gestalts of the same primordial current. Our personal identity is maintained by boundaries and separations, but these boundaries are porous and can dissolve. When that happens, we experience the unity that has always been there.
From this point of view, empathy becomes not just a moral duty, but a natural recognition: the other is an expression of the same consciousness that also lives in me. Death loses its character of absolute finitude and appears as a return to universal spirit. And nature can no longer be seen as mere resource or possession, but demands humility and reverence because it is a living manifestation of the same cosmic consciousness.
The stories of people going into the wilderness confirm this. They speak of being reborn, of rediscovering their deepest values, of a silence that purifies and strengthens them. They tell how they learn to listen, really listen - to nature, to the other, and to themselves. They discover the joy of being fully present, of letting go of fear and trusting intuition. What they experience is not just a personal emotion, but a shift in their way of seeing: from an ego-system consciousness to an ecosystem consciousness.
Thus the wilderness proves to be a teacher of stature. She teaches us that we are not separate from the world, but that we are in the middle of it, embedded and connected. It confronts us with our illusions of isolation and control, and opens us to a reality in which everything is intertwined with everything else. Those who truly allow themselves to be touched by nature discover that life is not a random confluence of blind forces, but a meaningful whole in which we are at home.
Perhaps that is the deepest gift of wilderness: reminding us of who we are. Not separate selves fighting for their place in a hostile world, but expressions of a universal consciousness that shows itself in endless forms. In that experience lies a source of wisdom, compassion and inspiration that can help us live differently - less from ego and possession, more from connection and care for the whole of which we ourselves are a living part.
Boy Van Droffelaar, PhD
