The Way I Perceived Nature from the Point of View of Chinese Folk Religions - Essay Example

There are different approaches to this issue, offered by prominent people or various institutions. So, I decided to look at the nature through lens of a system of beliefs that is not common to me and gain first-hand experience.

First of all, it must be noted that while sitting on the bank of the river, I used my imagination to think that everything that is around me may be home to a particular deity, as is proposed by Chinese folk religion (Taylor 299).

I tried to envision how gods could dwell in the trees or the rocks. I also took a close look at the river, thinking about it not as a huge amount of water that was flowing from an elevated platform towards the ocean, but as some kind of a miracle. I thought that if I try hard enough I will be able to imagine the god of the river and maybe interact with it. In addition to that, while sitting on the bank, I felt that I was ready for some fantastic actions. Indeed, I thought that the surrounding area is full of different deities and that some interesting might happen to me as well.

That is why I looked at the forest and the river, hoping that I will be able to communicate with the gods that live there and they might give me a quest to complete. There is no doubt in the fact that if a person perceives the world in this way, then the latter becomes a rather interesting place to live in. Finally, I looked at the nature that was around me and felt that there is much more than a simple set of natural objects. I felt that under certain conditions, a person might feel that the place where I was sitting can tell a story.

I think that it would not be an exaggeration that this was as close as I have ever been to understanding a different worldview. Even though I knew that there would not be a fancy half-transparent figure floating in the air dressed in ancient Chinese clothes, I felt that there is truly something more to the scenery. In other words, having spent some time together with nature I developed a better understanding of the Chinese folk religion which is deeply rooted in contemplation as well as personal experiences (Yao and Zhao 158).