Naturalness

[mamahawk]

Try to be aware of what effect your actions have on he earth. Walk and bike when possible. Make food, clothing, cleaners and other products from scratch using ingredients that are natural (when possible) . When we know the sources of our products, I feel we definitely feel a greater connection to nature as opposed to going to a supermarket and buying it, having no idea how someone may have been exploited in the process of making it.

That being said, i wish i could follow my own advice as much as i can give it. So dont feel bad if you cant do all of this right now. Start small, as ive been tying to do, and with time we can build on it.

Personally ive stopped combing my hair and am letting it freeform dread and have been vegan for about almost 2 years after being vegetarian for 8 years as a way to try and lessen the impact of my actions on the planet.

As for the meditation advice, there is a thing called active meditation which is more about just trying to be aware of our surroundings (sound, smell, touch, feelings, etc.) As a way to try to not get stuck in our thoughts.

Best wishes!

[Deepsoul]

Appreciate all that we have been given and see through the masks of society, emotional ,physical ,and mental with your heart to reveal your true beautiful spirit full of joy and goodness.....

[Sonolil]

.......the moment you stop trying to be natural.

[thriftyarek888]

Drink organic beer, smoke good marijuana, and have plenty of sex with hot ladies. While avoiding like a plague McDonalds, KFC and other fast foods joints.

[Just wondering]

LOL Thrifty

On a more "serious" note, it helps to remember the fearlessness you once felt as a child.

[sandalwood]

dont supress thoughts, desires and emotions
they are a tool for starting the path

cultivate one desire in particular
to move without effort
dont create beliefs
only focus on that basic desire

through letting go of preconceptions of how to be natural
you will let go of whats false naturally
be patient
there is no secret shortcut

[Within Silence]

Plan your whole day in advance, everything you're going to do, say, what you'll eat, how others will respond to what you say. Just wake up with obsessive thinking about all that will happen today, as if you actually know it, get up and know you're in total control of every circumstance of life. Premeditate everything, visualize way into the future all that you believe is going to happen. Try as best as you can to not be natural. Resist the flow of how life actually is, fight against the direction of the stream at every step of the Way.-I'm kidding by the way, but this is how most of us do try to go through life! LOL

Then, once you realize how exhausted you get attempting the above, you will not have to try to be natural, because you'll see that in fact you cannot not be natural, that trying to fight against nature is also part of nature and this is where some seriously important lessons are learned. So no matter what you do its natural.

The attempt to make nature into a set pattern is impossible, because it already is one, and her laws are inexorable and inviolable, if you don't believe this then just break them and see what happens. Life is very simple. You are naturally free to do what you wish, to exercise your right of freedom, and you are also free to suffer in the consequences of doing what you wish. If you flow along with the Way of Tao/Life, then suffering is minimal, if you are in opposition to the Way of Life/Tao then suffering is heightened.

Upon reaching its extreme, everything reverses direction. What do you want?

[Within Silence]

Here is a story revealing the "Naturalness" of the Way of life.

Maybe
There is a Taoist story of an old farmer who had worked his crops for many years. One day his horse ran away. Upon hearing the news, his neighbors came to visit. "Such bad luck," they said sympathetically. "May be," the farmer replied.

The next morning the horse returned, bringing with it three other wild horses. "How wonderful," the neighbors exclaimed. "May be," replied the old man.

The following day, his son tried to ride one of the untamed horses, was thrown, and broke his leg. The neighbors again came to offer their sympathy on his misfortune. "May be," answered the farmer.

The day after, military officials came to the village to draft young men into the army. Seeing that the son's leg was broken, they passed him by. The neighbors congratulated the farmer on how well things had turned out. "May be," said the farmer.
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Notice that the neighbors judged "what is" (what actually happened) as good or bad based upon their perception, but that in fact what was judged as good then turned bad and what was judged as bad turned out to be good. But what this story is revealing is that its all neither good or bad, its just natural!

Also notice that life happens, that the farmer didn't try to let the horse escape, nor did he force it to bring back 3 wild horses, nor did he force his son to try and ride one of them, and also the son had no idea he would be thrown from the hose nor did he intend the hose to throw him, it all just happens. This "happening" is what the controlling mind has a very hard time accepting.

Thus, the farmer lived with/in Tao, in the unconditional acceptance of the Way of the happenings of life. That's why its said; "life is not so much what you make it, but rather how you take it, because how you take it becomes what you make it."

[naturesflow]

Originally Posted by Hermes

Anyone have any advice on how to be natural?

Be still and know yourself.

And smile like Mona Lisa.

[CrystalKitty777]

Be love.