Do You Feel a Spiritual Connection with the Woods?

[Bushwhacker]

It all makes me wonder..... If today's outdoorpeople claim to feel no connection to the land, then what are they doing out there?

Seeking knowledge, seeing why things work and how they work.
Don't you think it's rather good that scientists are seeking a cure for cancer and AIDs rather than praying it'll go away.

 

[John Fenna]

True magic is just science that has not been explained yet.
Science disproves its old rules on a regular basis - such as an object cannot be in 2 places at once being disproved by more recent "discoveries"...
Give science time and they will find a "rational" explaination for all the "spiritual" stuff that people now take on trust and personal experience.
You cannot blame scientists for being slow - there is a lot of stuff in the universe (or multiverses as they now think they understand...) and they have to "prove" everything by checking it thoroughly...
I connect with the great outdoors on a multitude of levels - spiritually, emotionally and physically etc - and plain enjoy being out there in all its moods

 

[Gray]

I definitely have a connection with the woods/outdoors, I just melt into into it, become part of it. Is it spiritual.......err.......no. I'm not big on science and scientific explanations however I pretty much understand how and why everything works the way it does when I'm out camping etc. I do agree with John, everything that happens has a rational reason for doing so and it's easy to put a spiritual tag on the things we don't understand. IMHO, there's no such thing as miracles, there's is a scientific explanation for everything and for me, it's not spiritual.
just my opinion.

 

[John Fenna]

I definitely have a connection with the woods/outdoors, I just melt into into it, become part of it. Is it spiritual.......err.......no. I'm not big on science and scientific explanations however I pretty much understand how and why everything works the way it does when I'm out camping etc. I do agree with John, everything that happens has a rational reason for doing so and it's easy to put a spiritual tag on the things we don't understand. IMHO, there's no such thing as miracles, there's is a scientific explanation for everything and for me, it's not spiritual.
just my opinion.

Actually - I am a Spiritualist
I just cant see why scientists dismiss as rubbish the stuff they cannot yet understand (they will ... in time )

 

[Andy BB]

Actually - I am a Spiritualist
I just cant see why scientists dismiss as rubbish the stuff they cannot yet understand (they will ... in time )

Nice one John!

Written on your PC, using electricity generated in a power station and transmitted to your house over numerous power lines and substations, on the internet probably bouncing off satellites and servers and software all put together by man, wearing your clothes sewn with metal needles, shoes with thread not sourced from a cat you killed yourself, inside a house built using power-tools and material courtesy of modern science. THe list of modern materials and technology you use is endless, and they all came about courtesy of the science you dismiss so readily....

Now if you use telepathy to reply and telekinesis to put that reply onto my screen, I'll really be impressed

 

[Bushwhacker]

There's also people who can't understand why most of us don't believe the Earth is carried around on the back of a tortoise.

 

[Elen Sentier]

Actually - I am a Spiritualist
I just cant see why scientists dismiss as rubbish the stuff they cannot yet understand (they will ... in time )

Hubby used to work at Rutherford, SO for the PHDs there ... in private, over coffee, where they weren't afraid of losing their funding (not able to pay mortgages, kids, etc), they were by no means averse from spirit and saw even more connections sometimes. Like in one experiment Hubby assisted with, the answer came out (unofficially) as "the only explanation I have for that is a particle moving backwards in time" ...

TV science is nearly always dumbed down below infant level !!!

 

[Bumbler]

It all makes me wonder..... If today's outdoorpeople claim to feel no connection to the land, then what are they doing out there? Trying to run away from society, their jobs, families? Themselves? Trying to prove that they are real men, who can cut it out there? What?
And how can you respect or even claim to love something you feel not connected to?
And if even outdoorpeople feel no connection, then how can they expect the non-outdoorpeople to have that? Let alone respect it?

How about having fun?
Thats the only reason I am out there. I am definately not out there to worship trees or any other part of nature. having fun is justification more than enough.

As for respect and love for nature. Of course I love nature and wan't to take care of it. Like I also love my house, and my car, so I take care of them. But I do not have sprititual connection with those things.
I do not understand the need for having a spritual connectuion with something in order to want to protect and preserve it.

Chill and have fun!

 

[Elen Sentier]

True magic is just science that has not been explained yet.
Science disproves its old rules on a regular basis - such as an object cannot be in 2 places at once being disproved by more recent "discoveries"...
Give science time and they will find a "rational" explaination for all the "spiritual" stuff that people now take on trust and personal experience.
You cannot blame scientists for being slow - there is a lot of stuff in the universe (or multiverses as they now think they understand...) and they have to "prove" everything by checking it thoroughly...
I connect with the great outdoors on a multitude of levels - spiritually, emotionally and physically etc - and plain enjoy being out there in all its moods

One prob news-folk etc have with science "theories" is that they will insist on saying they're facts when no proper scientist ever says any such thing. A theory is the best guess so far which, again, all good scientists go on to explore further.

I have both a spirit connection and a science connection and don't find they contradict - or only when either is viewed in a very simplistic, inside-the-box fashion. One may well be further ahead of the other though, as you ;oint out John

 

[Elen Sentier]

Love Nature? How "interesting" to "love" something that ensures that all wild animals die either from starvation or being torn to pieces! Even the plants are at it, killing off all competition for the right to access the best sunlight, water or fertile soil. From a human morality position, Nature is sadistic, evil and cruel. Interesting philosophy to base a religion on

Pretty though.......

Funny how especially the con's make the harshest comments and make the most fun of the opponents.
Funny how nonbelievers are so eager to jump in and tell others it's all a load of bull.....

Interesting juxtaposition ...

 

[John Fenna]

Nice one John!

Written on your PC, using electricity generated in a power station and transmitted to your house over numerous power lines and substations, on the internet probably bouncing off satellites and servers and software all put together by man, wearing your clothes sewn with metal needles, shoes with thread not sourced from a cat you killed yourself, inside a house built using power-tools and material courtesy of modern science. THe list of modern materials and technology you use is endless, and they all came about courtesy of the science you dismiss so readily....

Now if you use telepathy to reply and telekinesis to put that reply onto my screen, I'll really be impressed

You are telepathic - wow!
Prove it!
I use what works - I dismiss nothing that is proven to work - even if the science is not understood by myself and many others.
What has Spirituality to do with telepathy or telekenisis?
I see no conection beyond dumb as TV ignorance and prejudice - knocking TV here - not you!

 

[Elen Sentier]

Funny thing these discussions about the outdoors and spirituality... pro's and con's...
Funny how many people get jumpy and nervous when something like beliefs, feelings, the inner self or spirituality are brought up.
Funny how especially the con's make the harshest comments and make the most fun of the opponents.
Funny how hard it is to describe what this spirituality actually might be.
Funny how these discussions keep popping up. How people keep asking questions and seek answers..
Funny how nonbelievers are so eager to jump in and tell others it's all a load of bull.....

Doesn't it all come down to belief?
There are those who believe in the presence of spirits in nature, there are those who believe in modern science. For many those spirits are sheer nonsence, but for the native Americans for instance they were fact. As did and still do many other cultures not living in big societies or concrete jungles. Some believe in the facts of science, but have to revert to take someone else's word for it, believing what is said or written about these facts. And every once in a while they get proven to be wrong.

And yet we all claim to love nature. Than what is this love? Is it a fact? Or maybe a belief? Many would say it is an emotion. But what is an emotion? How do you describe that? But we all believe that these emotions exist, are a fact in out lives. If spirituality is nonsense, since one can not describe it, than so is love. I for one can not describe what it is, even though my heart is full of it. Any of you? And how do you prove it scientifically? Seems quit hard, doesn't it? Certainly earlier men had no way of doing that, so love did not exist in those early days, right? Yet everyone knew it was there. That was a fact....

It all makes me wonder..... If today's outdoorpeople claim to feel no connection to the land, then what are they doing out there? Trying to run away from society, their jobs, families? Themselves? Trying to prove that they are real men, who can cut it out there? What?
And how can you respect or even claim to love something you feel not connected to?
And if even outdoorpeople feel no connection, then how can they expect the non-outdoorpeople to have that? Let alone respect it?

As for me; yes, I do believe in a spiritual connection between man, animal and plant. Each of these have a spirit, a mind, a soul. yes, I do believe that there is even a connection between living organisms and "lifeless" things. I believe there is a connection between man, animal, plant, rock, air, water etc. I believe it is a connection on a very basic level. It is the spirit of these and within these things that connect us. And I confess that that belief is almost religious to me. Not in the shove-it-down-your-throat-way many of the larger religions do, but it is what I firmly believe in.

Nice one John!

Written on your PC, using electricity generated in a power station and transmitted to your house over numerous power lines and substations, on the internet probably bouncing off satellites and servers and software all put together by man, wearing your clothes sewn with metal needles, shoes with thread not sourced from a cat you killed yourself, inside a house built using power-tools and material courtesy of modern science. THe list of modern materials and technology you use is endless, and they all came about courtesy of the science you dismiss so readily....

Now if you use telepathy to reply and telekinesis to put that reply onto my screen, I'll really be impressed

Hmmm ... that's extremely heavy slap-back, methinks a button has been pressed here ...

 

[Andy BB]

Interesting juxtaposition ...

I notice, however, you don't deny my observations about "Nature" - by human moral standards - being sadistic, evil and cruel (and would fall foul of all of our animal cruelty laws, come to think of it..)

It is what it is - neither good, nor bad. One doesn't have to apply some metaphysical personage to it, or some "spiritual" linkage to enjoy the outdoors, appreciate its benefits and the advantages of preserving it as much as possible.

 

[Bushwhacker]

At what point does the spiritual connection begin/end, is it just the nice things that are embraced?
Do people feel spiritually connected to toilet paper because it once was a tree or, perhaps, some maggots munching their way through a festering corpse?

 

[santaman2000]

....I have both a spirit connection and a science connection and don't find they contradict.....

As do I. Sadly it would seem this is alien to the majority.

 

[rg598]

Alright, I think this thread went off the deep end. I don't think the OP had in mind a discussion on the metaphysics of spiritual phenomena. I think the question was if each of us personally feels a connection to nature that can be described as a spiritual experience. That's a very personal answer and does not require anyone to prove or disprove the existence of God, wood spirits, quantum mechanics, or anything else. Once we start trying to do things like that, everyone gets touchy and starts insulting the other side EQUALLY. No amount of juxtaposition of quotes changes that.

For me, I feel no spiritual connection. I enjoy being in the woods. I also enjoy shooting my shotgun. You can say I love both nature and my shotgun, but I would not describe my connection to either of them as spiritual. That's me personally. That's just how I feel. No amount of holier than thou rhetoric about the woods is going to change that.

In my experience, I can understand the feeling of being connected to nature. The beauty, solitude, and relaxation can certainly evoke strong feeling. However I also know that when you are trapped in a storm, or trying to keep your fingers from getting frost bite, or have been walking down a mountain all day without finding a water source, those feelings quickly vanish. That is why I liked Nessmuk's quote. I find it to give a more realistic representation of nature.

 

[santaman2000]

....In my experience, I can understand the feeling of being connected to nature. The beauty, solitude, and relaxation can certainly evoke strong feeling. However I also know that when you are trapped in a storm, or trying to keep your fingers from getting frost bite, or have been walking down a mountain all day without finding a water source, those feelings quickly vanish. That is why I liked Nessmuk's quote. I find it to give a more realistic representation of nature.

Oddly I find that being in a hurricane or tornadic activity only hightens the feeling.

 

[John Fenna]

Oddly I find that being in a hurricane or tornadic activity only hightens the feeling.

Same here - "Nature, red in tooth and claw" is at her most impresive when showing her stroppy side
A "Romantic" connection can happen in good weather, a "Spiritual" connection in all weathers...

Thinking of "Romance" ... what was Wordsworth on?
"I wandered lonley as a cloud" ... mostly I seee clouds in great gangs, ready to beat up anything in their way!
"A Golden Host of Daffoldils" - if he thinks that gold is the colour of daffs then he is colour blind or had never seen gold ... or daffs!
Pure tosh with no connection to Nature at all.
"Romance" as in stories with no factual basis!

 

[John Fenna]

I notice, however, you don't deny my observations about "Nature" - by human moral standards - being sadistic, evil and cruel (and would fall foul of all of our animal cruelty laws, come to think of it..)

It is what it is - neither good, nor bad. One doesn't have to apply some metaphysical personage to it, or some "spiritual" linkage to enjoy the outdoors, appreciate its benefits and the advantages of preserving it as much as possible.

Agreed - nature is what it is, neither good nor bad. One does not need to apply human moral standards or "scientific" measurement to it to enjoy the outdoors, appreciate it's benifits and the advantages of preserving it as much as possible.

 

[Swallow]

At what point does the spiritual connection begin/end, is it just the nice things that are embraced?
Do people feel spiritually connected to toilet paper because it once was a tree or, perhaps, some maggots munching their way through a festering corpse?

Actually some do. I've seen a bhuddist monk talking about perceiving your food as an ambassador of the universe (given it contains sunlight for example).

Nice is a judgement. And it's judgements that separate. I'm no fan of the word religion but some dictionaries give the root of the word as being re-ligament which can be taken to mean re-connect or another way of putting that is "without separation". There's an awful lot of de-ligion (sic) in the world, but nearly all of it orginates between our ears.