what do they mean by natural ?

[nine tailed fox]

guys

 

how many times have you heard this phrase

 

be natural, behave naturally, be your own self etc

 

but i never understood this phrase, because it doesnt make sense

 

what we think natural is , actually just a programming

 

for example if someone has lack of confidence, it could be because of what he faced in his childhood or in life

 

so this is natural for him, because this is what comes automatically through his behaviour

 

but how can this be helpful in life ?

 

 

guys give me your thoughts

 

what are wise people trying to say when they say, be natural, be yourself ?

 

 

 

[MooNiNite]

country bumpkins

Edited September 12, 2013 by MooNiNite

[Aetherous]

If a lack of confidence is learned, and is something that's been added onto "you" later in life, then it's unnatural and isn't who you really are. Your natural state is who you are before that happened, and who you will be after that stops happening.

You're most natural when you're either alone, or with your favorite people, doing things you're enthusiastic about or just relaxing and having fun. Do you know that feeling? Feels good. These people are saying...be like that. That's who you really are. That's your natural state. Have fun, relax, have some interests, enjoy people's company, feel at home anywhere you go with whoever is there.

[Protector]

Fine, just be organic

 

Being natural is not programmed, it's when you turn off your brain and go on auto-pilot.

With that confidence example, it's forgetting what happened in childhood or in life because maybe the person fears the consequences of what might happen. "What if I act dumb? They will laugh, right?" If a person can forget that and just go with the flooooow, that would be more natural. Unnatural would be imagining a scenario and trying to live up to it.

[BaguaKicksAss]

Basically don't act certain ways for others. Dress a certain way, work in a certain field, try to talk a certain way to impress others, that sort of thing.

 

The self confidence thing, one might try to change that for themselves instead of for others. We can make changes we choose, it we feel is leads to more happiness for ourselves.

 

IMO anyways.

[Marblehead]

Yes, what is being natural?

 

First I will suggest that this is going to be different for each individual. When I observe you, your words and actions might be unnatural to me and likewise my words and actions might seem unnatural to you.

 

Was Hitler being natural? IMO, yes he was. (We must not consider value judgements here.)

 

The best way I can state my understanding is to say that if a person has no inner conflicts with what they have thought, said, or done, then they are being natural.

 

I think that if a person is the same inside (how they 'feel') as they are outside (what they say and do) then they are being natural.

 

What causes our "naturalness" has too many variable to even consider.

 

The important thing, in my opinion is, "Are we at peace with our Self (call this our inner emotions and feelings)?"

 

I think that if we are at peace then we are being natural. (But some may think we are out of our freakin' mind.)

[forestofclarity]

In my mind, Zen and Taoist teachings both advise one to act naturally. What does this mean? Do what you want?

 

No, because we have lost touch with acting naturally. Act naturally doesn't mean do what you want, because what we want isn't natural. It is conditioned. We have become warped and deluded. However, at bottom, we are naturally good and wise. Because we are deluded, spiritual teachings can help us plug into that natural mind. Once we do that, there is no problem.

[C T]

"Being natural" -- it has 3 layers, i think. Outer, inner, and innermost. Some like to focus primarily on the outer aspects, some on the inner, and a few on the innermost. Most esoteric traditions direct the adept towards a process which yield fruits from the innermost layers (or at least that's the main intent).

 

A lot has to do with one's motivation. If the primary motives are pure and altruistic, then it follows that excessive focus on the self will drop away eventually, since the practice is mainly to help others 'reach the other shore'. Once the tightness of grasping on to a self becomes loosened, spaciousness and expansiveness follows, and in this ease, naturalness will flower. There is no need to consciously try to become natural, cos this will often be counter to that noble aspiration. Just try to help others, or at least try not to cause distress or bring harm to other sentient beings. This will bring about an eventual shift in motivation. How can wishing others to be happy not produce the fruits of profound inner peace? And, inner peace is the stepping stone to complete naturalness.

 

just some thoughts.

[Tom Lin]

natural = spiritual = be.

 

just be.

 

 

from what i know, natural comes from the root word neter which in Egyptian language meant spirit.

[dawei]

guys

 

how many times have you heard this phrase

 

be natural, behave naturally, be your own self etc

 

but i never understood this phrase, because it doesnt make sense

 

what we think natural is , actually just a programming

 

I agree. What is said about it is gibberish on some level. But what you observe in nature is not gibberish.

 

[i can't define what is pornography.] "But I know it when I see it."

 

popular paraphrase of Potter Steward, opinion in Jacobellis v. Ohio (1964)

[doc benway]

guys

 

how many times have you heard this phrase

 

be natural, behave naturally, be your own self etc

 

but i never understood this phrase, because it doesnt make sense

 

what we think natural is , actually just a programming

 

for example if someone has lack of confidence, it could be because of what he faced in his childhood or in life

 

so this is natural for him, because this is what comes automatically through his behaviour

 

but how can this be helpful in life ?

 

 

guys give me your thoughts

 

what are wise people trying to say when they say, be natural, be yourself ?

I think different people are saying and implying different things when they say to 'be natural' or 'be yourself.'

I don't know for certain what wise people mean and I'm not sure we'd all agree on who they are, but I'll share some of my perspective on it.

 

Most of our thought process and behavior is, indeed as you say, programmed and conditioned from childhood.

And it stretches back through generations as our parents and teaches have been a product of their conditioning and so on throughout the history of "civilized" humanity. And we are further conditioned by our life experience, social mores, cultural factors, and so on.

 

So there is the "me" that is the creation of, steward of, and perpetrator of all of that conditioning. The "me" is, in fact, that conditioning. There are some of us who take an interest in who that "me" is and there are traditions that give us some guidance.

And the process of investigating and understanding the me inevitably leads to changes and may eventually lead to a dismantling of that sophisticated programming, whether gradual or abrupt. When the "me" is seen for what it is, there is the opportunity for very profound change and, in fact, liberation.

 

The one who is liberated is natural. Their actions are a reflection of our true, human nature - naked, aware, free of concerns for security and liberation. And I think you can recognize that, as dawei points out above. I think those people exhibit qualities like love, patience, generosity, compassion, tranquility, contentment, and so on, because these are natural qualities. The "me" takes it's rightful place in awareness, no longer the doer and the thinker but rather a helpful and concerned advocate - a very useful tool. And once the "me" yields to the space and awareness from which it arises, actions and choices become natural. "Me" is no longer interfering with nature and things occur 'of themselves so.'

 

This is what I would currently refer to if I were to describe someone as natural.

[Harmonious Emptiness]

Chuang Tzu says it so much better than I could..

 

but I see it mostly as manners out of appropriate context.. wrote repetition..

 

to analyze it more would over-focus on it rather than curing something that isn't there

[Ish]

Without conditioning, without concepts

[Apech]

natural means without artificial sweeteners, colours or flavouring.

[de_paradise]

Its all programming, 0% natural you. Keep smiling.

[PLB]

If what works well always starts from the bottom and builds up, three different sorts of problems confront the builder:

 

How low is the bottom? How deep do I have to dig to be done with digging? Digging kind of sucks.

 

Where can I go and what do I have to do to get the structure to appear. If it needs to be designed to fit, it is just another program to run. The readiness to build is a keen focus on what the design might be.

 

I am weak. How do I get stronger?

 

Seeing changes as natural is an appeal for information from new sources. If we are just making this stuff up, we are screwed. The listening stops. Desire turns into a gnome in the garden.

 

The only alternative is to work on the basis that there is something to be learned and that something is right there, just beyond the grasp of a sparrow.

 

Everything else is despair.