Zen masters say only one thing matters in life - the now, and only one thing matters at death - a peaceful heart. The way to achieve both is vibrantly expressed in the poem "Song of Trusting the Heart" (also known as "Hsin Hsin Ming" or "Faith Mind Inscription"), an ancient Chinese scripture beloved by sages and considered a cornerstone of Zen Buddhism. Written in the 6th century by Jianzhi Sengcan - the third Zen patriarch of China - the poem inspires its readers to experience life without the burdens of attachments and judgements, however the few existing translations are either dated or weighed down with commentary. Tamarack Song, a student of nature and indigenous cultures, adapts these verses to the modern seeker, while staying faithful to the poem's original phrasing. Each stanza is embellished with a striking full-page, original illustration by the Japanese brush-painting master Jan Zaremba. The book starts with a brief introduction to Zen, exploring its obscure origins, then offers one verse for each day of the lunar month. This beautiful little volume will become a daily meditation guide for those looking for refinement and peace in our modern world.

Stepping beyond the shape of a footprint and into the unseen story of the track, veteran wilderness guide Tamarack Song takes you inside the eyes and mind of an intuitive tracker, with intimate stories where Frogs show the way out of the woods, Cats reveals life histories and Bears demonstrate how to find missing people. Drawing from his years of surviving in the wild, apprenticing to native elders and living with a family of wolves, Tamarack reveals how to achieve a level of perception like that of aboriginal trackers by becoming one with the animal you are tracking, whether Fox, Deer, Coyote or Cougar. Sharing his innermost thoughts while following track and sign, the book's adventures merge technical tracking methods with skills such as shadowing and envisioning, while demonstrating animal-reading skills considered outside the human realm. The author explains how to expand your awareness -to learn from nature by becoming nature-and tap in to the intuitive tracking consciousness each of us has inherited from our Paleolithic ancestors. Through his stories from the trail, Tamarack shows the art of tracking not simply as a skill for hunters and naturalists, but as a metaphor for conscious living. By exploring the intricacies of the natural world, we explore not only our connections to the world around us, but, also, our internal landscapes. We learn to better express ourselves and listen, meet our needs and help others. Intuitive tracking provides a path to finding ourselves, becoming one with all life and restoring humanity's place in the Great Hoop of Life. * Explains technical tracking methods and observational skills such as shadowing and envisioning through the innermost thoughts of an accomplished native tracker * Reveals how to track by expanding your awareness and consciousness to become one with the animal you are tracking * Shares stories of tracking Wolves, Bears, Deer, Cougars and many other animals

Animals and plants are in constant communication with the world around them. To join the conversation, we need only to connect with our primal mind and recognize that we, too, are Nature. Once in this state, we can communicate with animals as effortlessly as talking with friends. The songs of birds and the calls of animals start to make sense. We begin to see the reasons for their actions and discover that we can feel what they feel. We can sense the hidden animals around us, then get close enough to look into their eyes and touch them. Immersed in Nature, we are no longer intruders, but fellow beings moving in symphony with the Dance of Life. In this guide to becoming one with Nature, Tamarack Song provides step-by-step instructions for reawakening the innate sensory and intuitive abilities that our hunter-gatherer ancestors relied upon--abilities imprinted in our DNA yet long forgotten. Through exercises and experiential stories, the author guides us to immerse ourselves in Nature at the deepest levels of perception, which allows us to sense the surrounding world and the living beings in it as extensions of our own awareness. The practices in this book strip away everything that separates us from the animals. They enable us to restore our kinship with the natural world, strengthen our spiritual relationships with the animals who share our planet, and discover the true essence of the wild within us.