Nature Is an Excellent Teacher

Monks intent on the path of practice have always been drawn to forests because secluded environments support the development of sense-restraint, fewness of wishes, contentment, love of solitude and introspection – the core virtues of a monastic vocation.

Living in nature demands care and respect for one’s surroundings and a patient acceptance of a world over which one has only limited control. While the man-made rhythms of urban life are busy, purposeful and stressful, the rhythms of nature are cyclical and timeless, exerting a steady calming effect on the mind.

But perhaps the greatest advantage in living in the forest is that the monastic is surrounded by natural processes demonstrating at all times the nature of arising, growth, decay and disappearance. Internal investigation of these qualities is much enhanced when they are being revealed in the external world.

Luang Por [Chah] encouraged his disciples to wake up to the simple truths that surrounded them:

Nature is full of teachings for all of us. A wise person learns from the things around him in the forest: the earth, the rocks, the trees, the creepers. It’s as if all these things are ready and willing to give us advice and teachings … When we consider it well, we’ll see that forms, etc. are only our enemies because we still lack wisdom. In fact, they are excellent teachers.

This reflection by Ajahn Jayasaro is from the book Stillness Flowing, (pdf) p. 462.