Nudism, Compassion and Spirituality

A post I located on Facebook. (Copied here in full as not everyone is on there, and it’s too good not to share.)

Nudism, Compassion and Spirituality

Nudism, Compassion and Spirituality

Friends, wish to share some insights about Naturism and the spiritual values associated with it…What is needed is a subtle shift in the way we perceive things.

Health benefits:
The sweat that we have over the body (as the body is covered with clothes all the time) is the cause of various ailments and when the fresh air & light touches the body, it revitalizes the entire body.

We need to cover the body with clothes during extreme weather conditions and when we do our activities in the world but, we cover the body fully even when clothes aren’t required…This is one of the major reason why we suffer from multiple diseases / ailments.
Nude Sun bathing is very good for health and (if we can sun bath during for 1-2 hours between 7-9 am / 4.30 – 6.30 pm) we need not visit hospitals forever!
Being nude is compassion towards ourselves; being compassionate to our body and mind by not harming them…Love / compassion towards the world in the first place, includes this aspect of loving our body as well…

Spiritual side of Nudism: All of us here are spiritual, I mean everyone of us!

Being naked implies that we are getting used to living naturally, the way we have come to this world and slowly, we will let go of the inhibitions that we initially have towards nudism.
The attraction & desire one gets while seeing someone dressed nicely / scantily, will not be there while looking at someone who is naked…That way, being nude, we get rid of the inhibitions and other undesirable qualities and instill a sense of peace in others mind as well…
contrary to the popular belief, Nudism is part of ancient spiritual traditions / practices, and its been practiced in various degrees, even to this day…Many of our saints / sages (including women) have remained nude because it helped them to keep good health and for their spiritual betterment.
To start with, we do away with liking / thinking about the kind of clothes we need to purchase and preferences for the same.Anything that helps one to reduce the flow of thoughts is immensely spiritual…
We can remain nude @home and at other places with like minded people; that would enable us to evolve and understand the spiritual benefits of being nude in a group; there might be some initial excitation getting to see people naked, that would go away in due course of time.
Being naked does not mean that we get involved in a sexual act. It might happen according to the situation (as otherwise! nothing to feel bad about it; only if one can remain without loosing the vital energy, that would make it a spiritual experience) but it need not translate into sex, and that will be wonderful as well.
Many of our deeper experiences take us closer to higher states of consciousness. Our true nature is happiness and that’s why every human being seek pleasure in the world.

Two (subtle) things we need to be conscious about:

Need to be watchful or alert about what is happening within us at sub conscious level; we have to just pay attention; this awareness/ witnessing has to be there all the time, whatever activities we may be performing in the world…
Secondly, need to train ourselves, not to look back (to the extent possible) at the acts that we have done / events that have happened earlier. That way, we avoid getting to past and we get stabilized in the present moment. And, if we can do that, then anything that we do in the present would make us intensely spiritual…

Being nude and the connection to nature

(Spiritual nudism from a pagan point of view.)

Yes. I’m a pagan. I tend to lean towards the Druid path, but that’s not so important here.
Pagans want to connect with nature, want to live in harmony with nature. That is important to them. Often pagans come together to perform rituals, and at times these rituals are done ‘skyclad‘. This is what it says: you only wear the sky, the air around you. In other words: we’re nude:

Skyclad

Spirituality is important to me, as it is for most pagans. It has nothing to do with religion, even when the connection between the two is easily made. Each can exist without the other, although many will not agree with that statement.

Spirituality, for me, is the touching of spirits. The spirit(s) of nature touching the spirit in me. For that I like to be in nature. You don’t go in the cellar to look for something you know is in the attic. The feeling of ‘nature’ at large is something that keeps amazing me. All that variety, all that power in things small and large, it’s fabulous. It is all there, you just have to open your eyes to it.

It becomes even more so when I experience that natural spirit in the most natural state: naked. It makes a difference. Feeling the ground beneath my feet restores my connection to the earth. Feeling the wind on my skin connects me in the most direct way to air. When the sun shines and warms me, that is where fire comes into play, and when I swim or when it rains on me, the element of water is there.

Of course, you can go into nature fully clothed and experience the spirits that way. Over time though, I have learnt that this would be the same as touching the skin of a loved one with gloves on; making love fully dressed; watching the eyes of a beloved through a reflection in a dirty mirror. That makes it all second hand, indirect, circumstantial.

But in the wind you get cold. In the rain it’s even worse, you get wet and cold.

True, those things can happen. Those things need to happen, they are also things that go around in nature. Not everything is pretty and the way we want, animals don’t stay cute and young – they grow and die. Flowers don’t remain in full bloom – they wither and waste away. So feeling some cold… well, depending on the season (this is where common sense comes in) won’t kill you. Feeling some rain won’t kill you.

This is what make naturism important to me; the direct contact with everything in nature. Feeling the bark of a tree against your bare back when you lean against it is so different from when you wear a shirt. Sitting in the grass with your naked behind: the same thing.

Being naked in nature also shows you your place, whether you like it or not. With your shoes and your gear you can trample through all kinds of rough terrain, disregard nettles and thorns. Naked, you will watch twice where you go because nettles and thorns will sting. You start to be much more considerate of everything there is. And once you’ve reached that awareness, you can reach the spirit of nature much easier than when you go in with your textile suit of armour.

Maybe you don’t like the idea of feeling that weak when you’re in nature. Man, after all, has ‘conquered’ nature, is the ‘master of things’. That is where so much modern thinking goes wrong. Man, master of things, can’t do a thing against an earthquake or a hurricane or a tsunami. Those are the large scale matters that show us our place.

Isn’t it better to start on the small scale, among the nettles and the thorns, to learn where we belong, so we don’t abuse the spirit of the place? So that we understand the spirit of the world, of the universe, as it connects to our own?