Thoughts on Naturalness

*under construction* :)

I explain to you matters
Pertaining to enlightenment,
But don't try to keep
Your mind on them.
Just turn to the ocean
Of your own essence
And develop practical accord with its nature.
- Yangshan
The above is what leapt to mind as I wondered what to write here. It is something found while looking for pieces which others might find inspiring before meditations, and I like it because it suggests that even thoughts about enlightenment are thoughts not to get caught up in nor distracted by. What then would it mean to Just turn to the ocean Of your own essence And develop practical accord with its nature?

Stim Morane: I would add another factor, which is that our minds must be restored to their true context, or ground, which is the whole human nature. Hence my interest in "naturalness".

We often discuss openness and sharing, relaxing, letting go and giving up. Maybe we don‘t quite discuss what/where/who we are giving up TO… That seems harder. What IS the true context of mind?

In places/moments wherein patterns overlap and line up with a precision which goes beyond anything we could have dreamed up or written, it seems what has happened is a strong shifting of attention and awareness from being the center to a kind of vast periphery beyond logic, which feels to have been waiting all along. What appears then makes ’more’ sense, though it often unravels our former notions of how things must be ‘done‘.

Natural light has a nurturing quality, whereas synthetic light drains. Spending a day near the ocean can calm one for days beyond. A tree we take a moment to notice can give support like a friend. 

And we then come in with our 'doing' and 'projects'... 

So when I asked myself "What is natural?" I thought "Well, perhaps many Beatles songs are natural in a way. They seem to not to intrude when one hears them. They are often like childhood lullabyes in their simplicity... like something one has heard in a dream or known all along. A house built with respect for the environment it is placed in, rather than wiping it out, shows affection for something essential.

We can find ways to be open and connected to life rather than as Stim said "blocking it out."

Fefonz mentioned that words like harmony and simplicity are discussed in shallow ways most of the time, and I agree. We get flaky-flighty when we look for signs and TRY to capture moments of flow, synchronicity, and chemistry, or try to manufacture waves to ride. Pila mentioned the undesirability of seeking bliss, for instance.

Surely though, we can cultivate accord with this true context...   

Dao’s question regarding ‘technical’ and specific terminology was something I took into consideration when forming this sort of question for everyone (including myself). My sense is that naturalness is an expression of Sunyata, or emptiness, which we discussed a few weeks ago…not having and not expecting to have a place to land…or center… not expecting to get somewhere definitively.. not expecting to capture or keep. Though at first it sounds like a "fancy buddhist term", as Yakuzza might say, perhaps it can be a position of non-position in a practical way, which helps us to tap into what is essential in our practical dealings in every day life.

I know that for myself, in a conversation with someone I can tell when I'm shutting down. From that point onward there is little likelihood of harmony or a sense of rest. Often this is because I'm looking for a resolution. I'm looking for the conversation to end, and I to come away from it with *something*.  I am standing there with them physically, but in my mind I'm looking down the road or trying to make up for something beforehand. I'm not in the true context of the discussion we are having.

What if I knew there would never be that kind of resolution? That it would remain open?  Sure there are times to walk away. There is death and loss, but even then it is searching for a feeling of release or resolution..a way to place our identity at the center, which may cause us the greatest pain.

So the piece above says Don’t try to keep your mind on them… This to me implies that they (‘matters pertaining to enlightenment [and perhaps daily lives which feel to make better/smoother sense]) arise naturally when we cultivate a knowing connection (accord) with an essence deeper than logic/thoughts and pay attention to not intruding ourselves. The description of an ocean seems particularly helpful, as it surely cannot be contained.

-Eliza