NATURE  
THE LAST OF THE BLOGS ON SPIRITUAL PRACTICE

Dave Cumes (Inner Passages Outer Journeys)

Because of the multiples polarities Nature and more especially wild places are rooms with many doors and windows to spirit that can facilitate an active form of sensory meditation.  The Buddha confirmed that spiritual transformation was about finding the middle way - the balancing of polarities and the forces around us - light and dark, positive and negative. 

 Nature has all of these; sun and moon, hot and cold, hungry and satisfied, thirsty and quenched,  invigorated and exhausted, terrified and tranquil.

And

The Ancestors

It is in the balancing of these forces that the magic exists.

Nature can meditate us by its sounds, sights, sunsets, sunrises, smells and rhythms of the moon cycles and seasons. Its with these and the "mantra" of the bush that we can entrain ourselves to the language of Gaia. 

However, many of us use nature as a platform for working out, excitement or performing; jogging, cycling, windsurfing, canyoneering, rock climbing, kite sailing etc. Although this can be stress busting and will sometimes lead to transcendent experiences this is more easily found with an inner intention - preferably alone or in silence. 

Even our language often has a militaristic or a macho tone to it. We bag peaks, run rivers, master our skills and conquer mountains... 

Connecting with the Earth Mother by default must be more of a feminine, intuitive experience.

A Oneness Experience occurs when 

The Knower, The Known and the process of Knowing

fuse into one thing - so called Unity Consciousness which could also be described as Maslow's Peak Experience or even as a mini-Samadhi. For instance this mystical encounter with Yosemite Valley described by Bunnell, one of the first non-natives to have ever seen it.

These experiences are common in nature.

Anyone interested in the concept of Wilderness Rapture and using nature as spiritual practice can download the summary pdf of Inner Passages Outer Journeys from my web site (now out of print) or borrow it from our office or even find it on Amazon. Nature is a powerful catalyst for spiritual transformation if entered with inner intent. My experience is that by going into wild places and being "Inward Bound" transcendent experiences are common - the longer one is out there the better - five days is ideal.

 We can also find the "Magic of the Ordinary" in nature that is all around us, walking on the beach, in a park or gardening but done 

for its own sake 

and not to look good or achieve anything at all.

This rapture is...

The Ancestors

It certainly helps to have awesome vistas

The Ancestors

Nature is the Creator's masterpiece and it is easy to find harmony, peace and equanimity in the Garden of Eden archetype.

Wilderness an amazing template for change.

So for the more adventurous among you; a backpacking experience, a cabin in the woods or anything that allows as little between you and nature or wilderness as possible is likely to have the greatest impact even if not necessarily being the most comfortable.

Click to highlight and the play

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