Making Good Use of Natural Experiences for Practice

The natural world, with its mountains and streams, is in itself a suitable environment for practicing meditation. In the Buddha's time, monastics and laity practiced meditation in the forest to hone their awareness of the body and mind. The Buddha often utilized the truth in nature to inspire and enlighten his disciples. In Chinese Buddhist history, many ancient patriarchs and worthies liked to use plants and trees as an analogy to describe their state of enlightenment. All phenomena are revealing the Dharma. As we contemplate our mind while admiring scenery in the natural environment, even a withered leaf shows us the reality of impermanence.

Nature, including flowers, trees, rocks, hills, streams, and oceans, has unique properties and qualities, and we can make good use of them as objects of focus (dharma-alambana) in our cultivation practice. By watching waterfalls or listening to streams, we can practice the perfect penetration through the faculty of hearing; strolling in the forest, we can practice direct contemplation and the contemplation on earth; on moonlit nights, we can practice meditation in moonlight; and by the ocean, we can watch the waves and listen to the tides to cultivate the Ocean Seal Samadhi (sāgaramudrā samādhi). While being out in nature, listen to all sounds and see all sights without engaging in intellectual thinking, judgments or comparisons, labeling, or descriptions. Try to stop any intellectual activities involving acquired knowledge and personal experience, and just be in the present moment.

As hearing is the most acute sense among the five faculties, the sound of streams, insects and birds in natural environments can help practices that involve the faculty of hearing. Focus on the process of hearing the sound itself, instead of intentionally seeking to hear it. Let the sound come into your ears as it is without differentiating its tone, volume, or distance. Just listen with an even, impartial and ordinary mind. In the beginning, you may only be aware of the sound of water or the sound of bird singing separately. However, gradually, only one sound goes on and continues in your ears. At this point, your mind becomes more and more settled and stable. While direct contemplation requires us to make good use of a plant or a tree by having a close observation of their specific parts or details, smelling the flowers or observing the wind is about experiencing something as it is.

The boundless ocean always evokes a sense of openness. Contemplate and imagine our mind as a vast ocean with infinite tolerance. When we have any thoughts arising, either good or bad, simply take them as bubbles or fish and shrimp in the ocean. We ourselves behave like a vast ocean, indefinitely and universally accepting all.

The moon can also be an object of focus for us to practice meditation under the moonlight. We can sit, stand, or walk outdoors, visualizing the moon shining on our head, shoulders, and all over our body. With the softness and brightness of a full moon saturating our mind, we can relate and connect to the luminosity of the Buddha's Dharma body, thus further revealing our innate Buddha nature.



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
Photo: Jean Li
Translation: Li Siang-ling (李祥苓)
Editing: Keith Brown, Chang Chia-cheng (張家誠)