Your personal spiritual recipe for happiness...

[txim_asawl]

Originally Posted by Pa'li Makto

That's awesome!! Txim_asawl. The early pagans had the idea by going around nature in their birthday suit so to speak so there was nothing separating them between the animals, trees, grass, sun and sky. You're very brave for going outside and doing this, although it would be a lot easier for people to do this in the wilderness or in their backyard.

It's also still done by neo-pagans, especially followers of Gardnerian Wicca. Gerald Gardner spent a while in India, and my have adopted the practice from Digambara Jains, a religious sect, where monks are forbidden to wear clothing. Gardner introduced the term "skyclad" for the nude ritual practice. The term "digambara" means "sky-clothed", when translated literally.

Living in a very urban environment, true wilderness is somewhere far away - therefore I have to look for little islands of nature nearby, and that could be a park or a small forest. My backyard would not be the best place either, since I live in an apartment complex... that would mean even more unwanted attention than a park...

Originally Posted by Pa'li Makto

My personal recipe for spiritual recipe is to realise that desire for goods leads to suffering and to suppress expressing frustation and anger and instead channel emotions such as these towards practical and positive things such as music or dance. Also I try to look at everything in a positive way, even things like death and loss. My mantra is to try to love everyone, despite their faults as we are all human beings in the end. Also I believe that everything should be treated equally as they have spirits, from rocks and earth, ocean, animals, humans, wind and sky.

A very beautiful and serene way of looking at and feeling things and living beings... it nicely incorporates the unconditional love called "agape" in Greek philosophy. In her book "The Legacy of Luna", Julia Butterfly Hill wrote about her learning agape when living in the redwood tree named Luna for 738 days, in order to keep it and other trees from being cut down. She realized, that Nature, although mistreated by some people, still provides for all, not making a difference - and learning to accept all human beings in the same way means to know what unconditional love is.

And the belief of everything having a living spirit (animistic nature religion... native Americans and other indigenous people know that) is beautiful as well. Actually, I believe in nature spirits, too - when I hug a tree, I envision myself cuddling with the dryad living in it...



Perhaps that is why stories and movies like Avatar, Princess Mononoke or Earth Girl Arjuna call out to me this strongly - and to you, too, it seems.

Wiggling bare toes in greeting at a kindred spirit,

~*Txim Asawl*~