Nature is Sacred

Today we are talking about Forest Bathing, from the Japanese Shinrin Yoku. This episode deals with the benefits of Shinrin Yoku and then gives you instructions on how to practice it. Shinrin Yoku is a Japanese term that literally means “forest bathing.” It is a short, leisurely visit to a forest. It is about open and mindful sensory immersion in the midst of a natural environment. First, let’s look at the benefits of practicing Shinrin Yoku. “The scientifically-proven benefits of Shinrin-yoku include: Boosted immune system functioning, with an increase in the count of the body’s Natural Killer (NK) cells. Reduced blood pressure. Reduced stress. Improved mood. Increased ability to focus, even in children with ADHD. Accelerated recovery from surgery or illness. Increased energy level. Improved sleep.” (http://www.shinrin-yoku.org/shinrin-yoku.html) Second, I want to give you some basic instructions on how to do Shinrin Yoku. You may want to begin with some breathing meditation to bring yourself into the present moment. The point is to be where you are. We want to get into nature and then become fully mindful of it. As Jon Kabat-Zinn has said, mindfulness is cultivated, “by paying attention in a sustained and particular way: on purpose, in the present moment, and non-judgmentally.” Then you may want to sit and/or begin walking slowly. Taking it all in. You want to have an open awareness, rather than a focused awareness, like in mindfulness of the breath. You want to take it all in. Sensory immersion means using all of your senses. Using your sense of sight you want to have an unfocused wide vision. This is a relaxed looking that tries to take it all in. Bathing your eyes in all the beauties of the natural surrounding. Using your sense of hearing, you want to be aware of the birds chirping, leaves rustling, and the water running. This is an open and receptive auditory immersion in the sounds that usually go unnoticed. You may even want to close your eyes so that you can focus on the different sounds. Try to notice the difference in the song the birds sing. Using your sense of smell, see how many different scents you can detect. Can you smell the pine trees, the flowers, or even the leaves on the ground. Using your sense of touch, see if you can feel the wind on your body. You might want to the touch ground with hands. Notice how it feels. You also might want to touch the trees. Notice how they feel. As you’re walking, you might want to notice your feet touching the ground. Notice how grounding it is. Don’t do a walking meditation, which focuses too much on the inner mind states. You are wanting to reconnect with nature. Keep your focus on being with nature. As you walk, walk without a destination. The idea is to freely wander, follow any pull you feel. Focus on the environment. Afterward, I suggest you do a personal debriefing. When you get home, find a comfortable chair and reflect for a moment. Note how you felt while you were doing Shinrin Yoku. And then note any differences in body, mind, and emotions. You may even want to use a journal to help you keep track of your experiences. Please Share the Podcast

Today we are talking about Ecology and Spirituality. In this episode, I define ecology, explore some of our environmental problems, and show what spirituality is important to it. Ecology is a branch of biology that studies the relationship between organisms and their environment. Humankind is just one organism in this web of life. But we have the biggest impact. I name just a few of our environmental issues that we are facing today. Issues such as global warming, the decline in biodiversity, the problem of deforestation, and pollution. We have not been good citizens of this planet. We are literally killing our own life support system. So what does spirituality have to do we this? The problem is that our worldview is self-serving and not in accord with the way things are. We continue to consume as if nature didn’t matter. In fact, we are identified as consumers. This human-centered paradigm is the problem. Spirituality is the cultivation of a deeper or expanded awareness of our union and interconnection with nature, and one another, because we are nature as well. This is our best hope to save the human species from killing itself. Next time you go outside, I challenge you to look at a tree. Truly be aware of the tree. Realize that as you breathe out carbon dioxide, the tree breathes it in. And as the tree breathes out oxygen, you breathe that in. The tree is, in a sense, the reciprocal lung that makes your life possible. When we truly love nature it will make a difference in how we live. And until there is a difference in the way we live, the human species is in jeopardy. Make it your goal to reconnect with nature and begin to really be aware of the interconnection of all things. It will be a truly spiritual experience. Please Share the Podcast

Today we are doing a guided meditation for mindfulness. This episode takes you through the whole process of actually sitting down and meditating. Before beginning to listen to this episode, find a place where you will not be distracted. Turn off your cell phone, or put it on airplane mode. Turn off any other electronic devises. Then begin this episode. Find a comfortable place to sit. Use a chair that will allow your back to be straight. Then gently close your eyes and mouth. Put your hands on your lap in a comfortable position. Then you want to begin to follow your in-breath and your out-breath. You can do this either at the nose or the abdomen. When your mind wanders, simply make a mental note, “Thinking, thinking.” Then gently bring your attention back to the breath. You will find yourself doing this over and over again. That is normal, it is part of the meditation practice. If you have problems following your breath, you can count your in-breaths. On each in-breath count, one, then two, then three, all the way to ten. Then start again. If you lose count, simply start again with one. When you conclude your meditation practice, simply take a deep breath and slowly open your eyes. Then gently begin to move. You can stretch if you need to. Begin practicing meditating about 5 minutes a day for a month. Then add 5 minutes a day every month or so as you gain the ability to pay attention to the breath. If you need to do less time, that is fine to. Don’t judge yourself, it is all about self-discovery. Be gently with yourself. Please Share the Podcast

Today we are talking about Starting a Mindfulness Meditation Practice. This episode deals with what meditation is, what mindfulness is, and how to begin to develop it. Spirituality, as I have defined it, means cultivating an expanding and deepening awareness of our connection with and interconnection with nature, both the inner nature of our mind and the outer nature of people, animals, plants, and the world. This mean that working with our awareness is of utmost importance. Our awareness is shaped by how and what we pay attention to. The first skill we need to develop is our ability to pay attention. This is where mindfulness meditation comes in. Meditation is training the mind to be mindful, to be aware of what is happening as it happens. Jon Kabat-Zinn tells us how to cultivate mindfulness: “by paying attention in a sustained and particular way: on purpose, in the present moment, and non-judgmentally.” The easiest way to begin is to learn to focus on your breath, either as it enters and exits the nose, or as the rising and falling of the abdomen. First, set a timer for 5 minute. I recommend the Insight Timer app. Second, sit comfortable, but sit straight. Third, close your eyes lightly. Fourth, but your hands on your lap. I use the Cosmic mudra for my hands. Fifth, take a deep breath – relax – you relax into mindfulness. Sixth, carefully feel the in-breath and the out-breath – don’t control, just observe. Seventh, notice when your mind stops focusing on the breath – note “thinking, thinking.” Eighth, when you mind wanders, gently and lovingly bring your attention back to your breath. Ninth, repeat until the 5 minutes is up. Take some time and consider what you have learned about your mind. Does it seem like a monkey jumping all around, or a butterfly fluttering from one thought to another? “I can’t meditate.” You are right. Your mind is out of control – This is your first insight. Most people think they can’t meditate because they are aiming for the wrong goal. The point of meditation is not to control your mind, or to clear your mind. You’re not trying to eliminate your thoughts, but notice them. The point is to observe your mind, to learn how it operates. Get curious about your mind, not judgmental. Mediation is not a quick fix, but a marathon. Like muscle training, it takes time to develop your ability to pay attention. Be kind to yourself, you are learning a new skill. Please Share the Podcast

Today we are talking about Wisdom in the School of Life. This episode deals with our idea of what a school is, what wisdom is, and the four main traditions that we draw wisdom from. What do you think of when I say the word school? Ancient schools were not just about learning, they were about self-cultivation. Think of Socrates, Lao Tzu, and the Buddha. They didn’t have classrooms. All of life was the classroom. What is wisdom? Wisdom is the proper application of knowledge. Knowledge is important, but know what to do with that knowledge is vital to a happy and fulfilling life. There are four main traditions that I draw on. The first is Spiritual Naturalism. It not only takes nature as all that exists, but that nature should be our Ultimate Concern. Nature is our ground of being, it is in nature that we move, live, and have our being. The second tradition is Religious Humanism. “Humanism is a progressive philosophy of life that, without supernaturalism, affirms our ability and responsibility to lead ethical lives of personal fulfillment that aspire to the greater good of humanity. The lifestance of Humanism—guided by reason, inspired by compassion, and informed by experience—encourages us to live life well and fully.” (Humanist Manifesto III) The third tradition is secular Buddhism. Secular Buddhism is not a religion, but a wisdom path centered in practice. It is skeptical of any teachings that are not supported by scientific and psychological evidence. Secular Buddhists don’t believe in a literal rebirth after death or the supernatural (such as heavens and hells). It is one way to think about the Buddhist way of life beyond the confines of traditional Buddhist religion. The fourth tradition is Philosophical Taoism. Taoism is about living in harmony with the flow and rhythm of nature. It later took on religious and supernatural teachings, hence the designation of Philosophical rather than Religious Taoism. The practical application of viewing life as a school is to view each obstacle as a call to wake up, pay attention, and learn from it. It is powerful means to changing your relationship to it and freeing up your creative mind to approach it differently. Please Share the Podcast

Today we are talking about A Spirituality of Nature. This episode deals with what spirituality is, what makes a practice spiritual, and how to cultivate it. What is spirituality? Spirit is from the Latin spiritus, which in turn is derived from the Greek word pneuma, both mean breath. Breath was seen as the vital principle of physical life, they didn’t know about the brain. Consciousness is the vital principle of mental life. Spirit is sometimes used for consciousness. So spiritual deals with a deepening or expansion of consciousness. But consciousness of what? Our union and connection with reality. Many interpret this reality as God. But naturalists, following the available evidence, hold that the natural world is the only reality that we experience. So spiritual deals with a deepening or expansion of consciousness of our union and connection with nature. Since this connection is interdependent, that is, works both ways, we can use the word “interconnection” to express this. So what is spirituality? It is more than just having a deepened or expanded consciousness of our union, it is actually aiming for it. Spirituality, then, includes the idea of intentionality. So we can say, spirituality is the cultivation of a deeper or expanded awareness of our union and interconnection with nature. We cultivate this deeper or expanded consciousness through spiritual practices. Spiritual practices are “spiritual” when they cultivate this deeper or expanded consciousness of our union and interconnection with nature. There will be further episodes exploring many of these spiritual practices. Please Share the Podcast

Today we are talking about I Don’t Know mind. This episode deals with being humble about what we think we know and realistic in evaluating the evidence. The four wisest words anybody can say is “I do not know.” More people have been killed by false certainty than by almost anything else. May I confess something. When I was 19 years old I was certain of what I believed. In fact, my friends used to call me “Mr. You’re Wrong.” Now some 30 years later, I look back and realize that my beliefs were not certain. Most turned out to be wrong. I heard someone once say, the larger your pool of knowledge, the greater your shores of ignorance. The more you know, the less you know. How true that statement is. The best means to knowledge is science. Science isn’t perfect, but it is the surest means of knowledge. This is because it corrects for biases and blind spots. You can’t say that about religion or philosophy or political ideologies. A claim that cannot be falsified should not be accepted. If it can’t be falsified, then you can never know if you are wrong. It is beyond the evidence, and hence, beyond the truth. This is the strength of Agnosticism. Don’t believe beyond the available light. Accept a claim if there is sufficient evidence for it, reject it is there is little or no evidence, and suspend judgment if the evidence is inconclusive either way. It is not a shame to not know, it is a shame to be certain of what is really unknown or unknowable. This applies to people too. Be careful investing your personal identity in a religion, philosophy, or ideology. My advise is to learn from all, cling to none. Another thing is to not mistake what is possible for what is probable. What is probably is tied to evidence, while what is possible is a matter of logic. There are many things that are logically possible, but are not probably. That is because there is no evidence for them. The reason that “I do not know” is so powerful, is because it keeps us open to the truth. The minute we know, we stop searching. Once we have the answer, we stop asking questions. Never become close-minded. Please Share the Podcast

Today we are talking about Two Kinds of Knowledge. This episode deals with two kinds of knowledge, conceptual knowledge and experiential knowledge. Conceptual is knowledge about something. Experiential is knowledge of something. Conceptual knowledge deals with objective reality. This is the realm of science and rational inquiry. Experiential knowledge deals with subjective reality. This is the realm of emotions and intuition. In talking about conceptual knowledge we use what is called day language. This is the language of mathematics and literal facts. In talking about experiential knowledge we use what is called night language. This is the language of myth and metaphor. It is important to remember that there are two kinds of knowledge and, hence, two kinds of speaking. Both are valid in their proper domain. But we should not confuse the two. The Genesis creation myth is not science, it is night language. We know this because there is talking a snake and later a talking donkey. This is not to be taken literally. Science tells us what exists, personal experience tells us what it means. There is no conflict if we keep them separate. We want scientific facts as well as psychological well-being. We are entering an era where there needs to be a convergence of science and spirituality. Where they overlap, where they differ, science is almost always the surer way. Please Share the Podcast

Today we are talking about Nature as Ultimate Concern. This episode deals with nature as all that exists and as the ground for reverence and spirituality. Don’t believe beyond the available light. Follow the evidence as far as it takes you and then stop. There have been millions of experiments, but there has never been a supernatural answer. Every single question we have asked nature, nature has responded with a nature answer. Eliminate God and the supernatural, what is your Ultimate Concern? Self, Humankind or Nature? Nature should be our Ultimate Concern, because we are nature. Donald A. Crosby has written an excellent scholarly book about this entitled, A Religion of Nature. So what do you call a philosophy whose Ultimate Concern is nature? I prefer to call it Spiritual Naturalism, but it is also known as Religious Naturalism or Sacred Naturalism. It really doesn’t matter what you call it. Many Religious Humanists are Spiritual Naturalists. Nature is all that exists. Nature is the Something Greater Than Ourselves. Nature is Reality, therefore it is sacred and worthy of respect. Nature is All-Powerful and Everywhere Present. It can serve as the basis for a spirituality and philosophy of life that is ethical, compassionate, and fulfilling. Please Share the Podcast