Natural Focus

The forms of meditation with which I'm familiar use a primary focus, which may be a form of words (such as a mantra), a visual object, or simply your own breathing. The idea is that you place your attention on this. Then, if you notice that other thoughts have intruded, you gently return your attention to this primary focus.

But why not use the natural world as the primary focus? Then, when you notice that thoughts have come, you can turn your attention back to the breeze on your face, to the smell of the flowers, to the song of the birds. I've mentioned before that being out in nature is a great way to be in the moment, because it makes the moment so alive, so full of energy. So why not use all this power in a meditation?

In a recent post, I described how Chris and I had focussed on the moment while out in the natural world. We focussed our attention on a nearby fountain and began to notice so much more about it. We observed new areas of light and shadow, and extra complexities of sound.

Writing of this reminded me of a post I saw a few months ago on Malcolm Campbell's excellent blog The Round Table. In it, he describes a procedure for the sort of thing I'm talking about, a meditation which uses the natural world as its primary focus. It really is a great idea for an exercise. You can find it here.

(The ongoing discussion on the previous post, The Secret Antidote, can be found here. Feel free to contribute!)

Comments

[Dot Bar]

Oh I'm so tired of spirituality.......

[Secret Simon]

I wonder why you have that reaction?

[Mark]

Excellent suggestion! I love to do this.