Nature

shanyin

Does anyone else miss or really like nature?

The sounds of birds or the sweetness and stillness of dew in the air in the morning, the sound of water hitting the shore, beauty of forests and rivers, or even a full sky of stars on a clear night?

I just moved out of my parents house. I've had some strange things happen and live with alot of psychological stress and fear. I heard a sound from outside my window the other night and it sounded like ocean sounds and it was serene! haha.

Does anyone live where they get to experience things like this everyday?

BhanteLucky

I cycle home alongside white coral beaches every day. Sometimes I go for a swim in the clear water.

Until last year I used to be an eco-tour guide visiting dolphins, penguins, seals, and sea lions.
Gorgeous.

shanyin

I was on the bus going to a concert in Toronto one time and I was sitting next to an East-Indian Sikh with a thick accent. He said roughly: "When I see the trees and the rivers, my heart is filled with joy" His accent made me giggle inside.

Then he said: "Have you been to Boston? Plenty of Bi***** in Boston." Hahaha

shanyin

Anyway.. seriously I used to of course rely on meditation of course for feelings of calm and serentiy now I find it very difficult but wish I lived somewhere other than the kind of ghetto downtown where I live now with some natural beauty.

BhanteLucky

Oh, and it was in the south of New Zealand, which is nature central.

shanyin

My father and I were watching some TV video of some nature shots in New Zealand, he said 'it must be mind blowing'. Good stuff.

Invincible_summer

I used to (and still somewhat) consider myself a "city person." But then, visiting some cities in Asia sort of turned me off from big cities. Not that there was anything really bad that happened or that I hated the cities, but I just suddenly felt that cities - even with all their amenities and pleasures - could still not compare to the serenity that comes so easily in nature.

I'm not going to live in the woods any time soon, but since my meditation practice has deepened, I've actually gained an appreciation for the pure, organic, patience of nature.

"Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished" -- Laozi


And yeah, I live in Vancouver, BC near a huge provincial park. I'm not too far from the beach either. Lots of opportunities to be closer to nature.

lobster

Does anyone else miss or really like nature?

I may be doing gardening soon . . . I can be a Green Buddha.
Even in a techno sprawl we can listen to relaxing nature sounds . . .
http://naturesoundsfor.me/

BhikkhuJayasara

shanyin said:

Anyway.. seriously I used to of course rely on meditation of course for feelings of calm and serentiy now I find it very difficult but wish I lived somewhere other than the kind of ghetto downtown where I live now with some natural beauty.

shanyin said:

My father and I were watching some TV video of some nature shots in New Zealand, he said 'it must be mind blowing'. Good stuff.

Firstly... unlike James the lucky frickin Giant :P, I only got to experience 10 days of NZ on the South Island back in 2008, and it is a mind blowing place without a doubt. I still have thoughts of moving/retiring there lol but alas they are mostly pipe dreams.

secondly, the more you practice the more you realize that it is not the external world that has control over your mind, you only let it have control.

Ajahn Chah use to say this when people complained about noises or disturbances during meditation -

" Does the noise bother you... or are you bothering the noise".

when you start to have a glimpse of what that means, as I did one night in the meditation hall at a forest monastery when crickets decided to "visit" us while meditating, then whatever noises or disturbances come, you observe your mind and body reaction to them.

you just simply observe how you feel compelled to open your eyes, to see where the noise came from, who/what it came from, etc. You can observe feelings related to that contact of your senses with the outside world. So even in the middle of a busy city intersection, practicing in this way IS meditating.

Cory

I wake up early every morning, and I love the feeling of light fog brushing against my arms and face. The sound of sqirrels playing in the grass, and the birds starting to chirp. I do not live really close to water but sometimes I get a sea breeze coming by my house. I personally love rain. The sound, the smell, how it feels when it hits my arms and face. Just sitting quietly and listening to nature is a good way to meditate.

ZendoLord84

I love nature.

chela

I grew up on the Gulf Coast of Florida. I've been living in northern Kentucky for the past 18 years and I miss the coast, the tangled mangroves, the Spanish miss hanging over quiet creeks, the sound of the palms blowing in the coastal breeze, the sound of the frogs in the spring, the smell of the salt air (especially when contrasted to midwestern city stagnant pollution), the sound of a mass of fidler crabs scurrying across the mud, the sound of the gulls, the look a pelican gives you when you've caught a fish on the pier...*sigh*. If I do this very long, my heart may break.

But now...I have a small backyard garden which is full of flowers (species which can't flourish in the heat of the subtropics). I watch the many birds, my favorite visitors are the nuthatch, the chickadee, the woodpeckers, the wren, the house finches, and their predator family of red-shouldered hawks. Even in the suburbs, we have deer that come through our yard in the early mist and raccoon which chatter about at night. I like to sit out back and watch the bats feeding on insects as dusk sets in. We make short trips to state parks for camping and hiking in the woods (very different than hiking through the brush and swamp in Florida). I love watching the colors come on the trees in the fall (can't do that in Florida). And I live 10 minutes from the Ohio River, which is a nice little body of water to sit near. We have a creek in our neighborhood that is the home to a Great Blue Heron in the spring and summer, which always reminds me of where I grew up. In my "new" state, we have Natural Bridge, Red River Gorge, and the Great Smoky Mountains. I am truly blessed by nature.

Vastmind

chela said:

I grew up on the Gulf Coast of Florida. I've been living in northern Kentucky for the past 18 years and I miss the coast, the tangled mangroves, the Spanish miss hanging over quiet creeks, the sound of the palms blowing in the coastal breeze, the sound of the frogs in the spring, the smell of the salt air (especially when contrasted to midwestern city stagnant pollution), the sound of a mass of fidler crabs scurrying across the mud, the sound of the gulls, the look a pelican gives you when you've caught a fish on the pier...*sigh*. If I do this very long, my heart may break........

.

I grew up in Cocoa Beach, Fl.
Thanks for the mental trip back home.
Your description was right on!

chela

Vastminds said:

I grew up in Cocoa Beach, Fl.
Thanks for the mental trip back home.
Your description was right on!

My pleasure. And you knew that Spanish "miss" was supposed to be "moss". Obviously a Freudian slip. The funny thing is that I've suffered from seasonal affective disorder since moving to the midwest. It varies from year to year, but in the last couple years I've noticed that it hasn't been as bad in the winter. And I've also noticed that in the darkest part of the year, I have very vivid dreams about Florida, specifically the natural part of Florida-- being at the beach and watching the sunset, watching herons hunt on a large ponds, etc. I noticed that these dreams are full of light. It's what I need to feel balanced and my mind is providing it for me when Mother Nature has other things in store.

Bunks

JamestheGiant said:

Oh, and it was in the south of New Zealand, which is nature central.

Milford Sound is the most beautiful place I have been.

Brian

My fiancee grew up in the woods on the shore of Lake Michigan, so the sound of waves, wind, and crickets are very important to her. She has trouble sleeping without them. She finally got a sleep sound app on her phone that plays rainstorms and crickets and other nature sounds, and it's like an off-switch for her. Boom—she's out

Nirvana

The South is beautiful and romantic, but to be frank I like it best when the humidity's 100% and the bugs are skinning everybody alive. Then at least I know I'm not the only miserable one.

Invincible_summer said:

"Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished" -- Laozi

And yeah, I live in Vancouver, BC near a huge provincial park. I'm not too far from the beach either. Lots of opportunities to be closer to nature.

I like your quote from Lao Tzu, @invincible_summer. I hear, BTW, that Vancouver is the second most expensive city in the world to live in (right after Tokyo). I hope the nature areas there are preserved well.

Invincible_summer

Nirvana said:

I like your quote from Lao Tzu, @invincible_summer. I hear, BTW, that Vancouver is the second most expensive city in the world to live in (right after Tokyo). I hope the nature areas there are preserved well.

Yeah, it's incredibly expensive to live here, primarily housing costs. A new 400 sqf apartment in the downtown area can easily go for $300k at least. A house that's a few decades old, even in a not-so-nice area, and in the city proper, can be nearly $1 million. Even the suburbs immediately surrounding Vancouver proper are not that much cheaper. People are looking to the suburbs that are farther out, as they are relatively affordable.

That being said though, we've got lots of green space. If anything, "cultural areas" (i.e. buildings or areas with sentimental/historical value) are being re-developed/re-purposed rather than the green areas.

You should visit!

Wisdom23

Love it ! on a morning i walk about a mile where im not on a main road i love hearing all the bird songs. i will be recieving a book soon that talk about british garden wildlife and how to make the most of it .well looking forward to it.

Yaskan

I love nature. At this point in my life (and practice), I feel like I couldn't live without it. Sure, I have to travel 40 minutes by bus to the closest city, which isn't big itself, but I'll willingly pay that price to be surrounded by fields, woods and rolling hills. Once in the city, it's only another 15 minute bus ride to the beach (by car the whole trip would only be 30 minutes or so). I only have to walk across the street to enter some fields and down the road is a large wood. We can hear the foxes at night and occasionally we see deer coming out into the fields just as the sun sets. I like watching the birds come and go, but the particularly loud ones are rather annoying when they're shouting outside your window at 5am or when the neighbour's rooster gets confused of the time and wakes everyone at 3am :rolleyes:

Cities are terrifying experiences for me with my severe social anxiety. There's far too many people rushing about and it's very loud. I also have a tendency to space out due to anxiety and sensory overload, which obviously isn't very safe and it's happened every time I've been to London, so far. Thankfully, I've always had someone with me to keep me out of harms way, but one can't always rely on the kindness of others.

This actually reminds me of a time I visited a friend in Toulouse, France. We were sitting outside at night and I was astounded at how bright it was. The sky stayed a bright orange for the whole night. You couldn't see any of the stars. My friend just shrugged in a resigned sort of way (having grown up in the same area as me) and said "That's light pollution for you. Pretty depressing really."

So, while those my age have all left (and those younger can't wait to!), I'm quite happy living in this slow, little town close to nature waking up to crows and roosters and photographing the plants and wildlife

how

Every summer my partner & I, take our kayaks for 2 - 3 weeks at a time on Pacific West Coast for exploratory trips. The Haida Gwaii and the North coast are our favourites spots.
It's transforming to leave our little habitats and throw oneself into natures rhythms. Nature is everywhere it's always been and all that changes is our leaving behind the boxes that dampened our senses with dead building materials.
Suddenly further down the food chain, moment to moment alertness becomes a 24-7 practise for the wild offers up human complacency with sacrificial ease. Subject to the vagaries of unpredictable weather for travel and open coast camping, making our way with muscle, we become part of the wildlife and the landscape for these journeys.


They've been some of my best retreats!

lobster

What a great thread. Our urban foxes will be barking/yelping soon. Birds will be up soon. Just listening to an overhead helicopter, which is a form of mechanical wildlife sponsored by the local police. Walked through mud yesterday. Might get my bicycle out soon and head for the hills . . . Can you see moss and weeds and sky? Do you have indoor plants or herbs?

Change the world
http://www.guerrillagardening.org/

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