The Healing Powers of Nature

The studies of neuroscience, psychology, and medicine have proven that spending time in the natural surroundings not only helps people reduce stress and achieve relaxation more quickly and thoroughly, but also boosts our immune system. The sounds of nature, such as birds chirping or streams babbling, can help keep people's autonomic nervous system in balance. In addition, strolling on a forest trail can alleviate depression and anxiety.

According to a study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (PNAS), connecting with nature can decrease the neural activity in the subgenual prefrontal cortex (sgPFC), thereby reducing the "repetitive negative thinking" that makes people feel depressed, as well as preventing them from splitting hairs or becoming submerged in depression. This explains why people desire to seek the healing power of nature.

Master Sheng Yen, who had led Buddhist devotees on pilgrimage trips, wrote in his book Pilgrimage to the Land of the Buddha (佛國之旅): "The purpose of traveling is to feast our eyes and ease the tension of our body and mind. Through immersing in delightful natural landscapes and different customs and culture, we fulfill our desire for knowledge, as well as expand our vision and broaden our mind. As a means for education and entertainment, traveling is certainly worth promoting." By applying simple Chan meditation skills while traveling outdoors, people can experience relaxation in nature, while allowing their body and mind to feel peaceful and at ease.

Ven. Chang Zheng (常正法師), Supervisor of the Curriculum Division of the Department of Academic Affairs for Nuns at Dharma Drum Sangha University (DDSU), encouraged people to engage in the "micro Chan practice" while being in nature: "Use encouraging words to guide our companions to apply the principle of 'keeping our mind where our body is; being clearly aware of relaxation of the whole body.' Live in harmony with ourselves and try to open up our five senses—to see with our eyes, to feel with our skin, to hear with our ears, to smell with our nose, and to rein in our body and mind." However, it is also necessary to take the nature of the trip and the people we are interacting with into consideration, in order to build consensus and reduce possible friction. In this way, our family members and travel mates can enjoy Chan practice through a joyful trip.


Applying the method in a seamlessly integrated manner


When traveling outdoors with fellow Chan practitioners, we can make good use of the object of focus (ālambana) nature has to offer for our practice, such as the sound of winds, streams, and rain drops, as well as flora, forests, trails, moonlight, starry skies, and so on. They are suitable objects for practicing "admiring the scene while observing the mind." By opening up our five faculties and taking the five senses (sight, sound, smell, taste, and touch) as our object of focus, we can engage in an outdoor Chan practice in motion, whether watching rain, listening to streams, smelling the fragrance, tasting flavors, or practicing walking meditation.

First, we can settle ourselves down by keeping silent and maintaining our awareness. This involves seeing and hearing things as they are, without labeling them with names, making comparisons, or giving them descriptions. As Ven. Guo Xing (果醒法師), Master of the Meditation Hall of Dharma Drum Mountain (DDM), said, "This is the practice of direct contemplation, or intuitive insight, by using any object of focus found in nature. Master Sheng Yen once drew an analogy between applying direct contemplation and using a camera to take photos. The photos simply represent and reflect the images taken by a camera lens as what they originally are, without having to attach descriptions to them. In the end, we need to let go of the idea of ourselves and the camera itself, entering into contemplation of emptiness."

Jean Li, a professional photographer who spends a good portion of her time capturing the beauty of nature, often needs to wait for the right timing when taking landscape photos. She always takes this opportunity to practice relaxing her body and mind as well as experiencing mindful breathing. According to Jean, when she focuses on the present moment, the end results are often beyond her expectation. Examples include pictures of apricot blossoms flying in the sky or a starry sky that transmit such peace and tranquility to the viewers.


Taking accidents whilst traveling as supporting conditions for spiritual cultivation


For Li Anjie (李安捷), a mountain hiking enthusiast, learning Chan practice not only helped him improve his work efficiency and relieve stress, but has also inspired him to go mountain hiking with a mind of Chan. "As soon as you step out, Chan practice immediately comes in play. It does not matter if I can reach the peak or not," he said. Being outside in nature, he puts into practice the methods learned from the meditation hall, such as natural walking meditation, direct contemplation, walking meditation, and quiet sitting. Once, on his way back from a solo trip in the mountains, his jeep got stuck in a stream, and his cell phone was washed away by the stream. Although scared, he managed to face it calmly. He quickly decided to climb out of the car window and walk to the main road to ask for help. He is grateful to have learned Chan practice, which enables him to remain calm in a dangerous situation and focus on finding a way out of trouble. Furthermore, he has thus learned how to develop his potential when in the face of adversity and challenge.

Traveling and going on a trip for vacation is actually only a temporary break; eventually we have to return to our regular lives. As Ven. Chang Zheng noted, our body and mind accumulates memories, to continue and transform the energy we replenish while being out in nature. Whether commuting to work, waiting for a traffic light, taking a walk, or gardening, we can always take time to engage in micro Chan practice, thereby adjusting and transforming our body and mind.

As Master Sheng Yen said, "When our eyes see all sorts of sights or when our ears hear loud noises, if we can respond with direct contemplation, then we will be able to treat them by acting like lotus growing in the mud, taking everything as they are, whether pure or defiled, while remaining unaffected in all circumstances. There is no absolute certainty in the world. This is the idea of direct contemplation." This is also a method that we can apply and use at any time and place.



Related articles:

The Healing Powers of Nature

Instinct, Direct Contemplation, and Contemplation of Emptiness

The Healing Power of Micro Chan Practice – Trip Preparation

Contemplation of the Four Foundations of Mindfulness

Making Good Use of Natural Experiences for Practice

Planning Outdoor Chan at Ease

Four Ways to Experience Outdoor Chan



Resource: Issue 453 of Humanity Magazine (May 2021), Dharma Drum Publishing Corporation
Translation: Li Siang-ling (李祥苓)
Editing: Keith Brown, Chang Chia-cheng (張家誠)