By Michael Traynor
When I learned that the oldest black rhinoceros in existence had fallen ill and was near death, I had to witness its passing. There are but a handful now left after a 55 million year run on earth, coming upon the scene as the dinosaurs were exiting. The handful of rhinos left on earth are all in a single small band, located deep in the Namibian jungle off Cape Horn in Africa. This oldest species of mammals on earth will soon be no more. I left Chicago for Namibia in search of whatever wisdom experiencing this moment might have to offer me.
It was a long and arduous journey. One transcontinental flight in a mammoth jet, followed by another, followed by a “puddle jumper” propeller craft, followed by a jeep ride to board a canoe, followed by an overland walk to the final jeep and at last to the sight.
An elderly rhino sat quietly in a big pile of mud and water, occasionally immersing himself more fully in the dirt and rolling around in it. A few other rhinos were in attendance, equally sodden in muck. I gazed in awe, waiting for their wisdom to be revealed.
The elderly rhino asked me “what am I doing here?” I was flummoxed at its ability to speak! The rhino said that they all can speak but rarely do so. It seems after 55 million years, there is very little left that they find worth saying. The wisdom of their species of their species best expressed in their silence. By quieting their bodies and minds into stillness, they reach a state of grace and peace with nature, which reveals the truth of what their species really is. Their wisdom is imparted by example. They personally find it best done while contentedly bathing in a pile of muddy water, but that part is optional.
Flummoxed, I asked the Rhino what I needed to start on their path, other than taking lots of mud baths. He told me for starters, don’t take two jets, a propeller plane, two jeeps and a canoe to seek wisdom. You can propel your body and mind all over the planet, and that will not make you wise, just exhausted. A wise rhino once said that wherever you go in life, there you will find yourself be the same person with the same issues that you left behind.
So instead, BE STILL! True wisdom is found in the quietness of your meditative heart. Seek stillness wherever you happen to be. Based on our 55 million years of experience, we recommend dirty swamps and mud baths. Good luck!
