– Walt Whitman, “Song of Myself”
“If you want to make good photographs, a camera has to be second nature to you. Devoting too much attention to technical decisions can interfere with your creative processes.”
– Robert Farber, photographer and author
The expression, “It’s second nature to me” is part of our lexicon, and hopefully something you say quite frequently. You and I understand it to mean that something comes so naturally to you that to do it is a piece of cake. But isn’t it surprising, that our language doesn’t have a corresponding expression for our “first nature?” After all, “First things first,” we always say, so if you know what’s second nature shouldn’t you already know what’s first? Is my term “first nature” clear to you? Most of the people I speak it to have no idea what I’m even talking about.
By “first nature,” I’m referring to who and what you truly are; your true Self, or original nature. I’ve capitalized the S in Self to distinguish it from your lower self with a small s, which is your personality, your individuality. The big S Self is transcendental, located in a part of your mind that’s beyond your changing perceptions, opinions, thoughts, feelings, and intuitions. It’s situated at the universal part of your nature beyond your individuality.
If you had grown up in an enlightened society, it would be second nature for you to know your first nature. You would have been taught in elementary school that you have an individual nature and a universal nature. Unfortunately, you grew up learning the three Rs instead of the two natures.
Your first nature is spiritual.
Realization of it, in Sanskrit, is called Moksha, or what we, in English, refer to as liberation or Enlightenment. Your second nature speaks to your individual talents and gifts, the expressions of which come so easily and naturally – there’s that word again. These gifts and talents are to be brought into the world by you, so that you can make a maximum contribution to your society, and thereby make a livelihood – truly a lovelihood – with much more pleasure than simply taking a job that you tolerate at best. Sadly, far too many people take their gifts and leisurely play with them as Saturday afternoon hobbies after toiling for 40 hours in the work week. Are you one such person? I hope not.
In my “Discover Why You’re Here” workshop, I cite four major purposes in your life. The first is spiritual (Moksha); the second is what the yogis call Dharma, the performance of those activities or duties for which you’re most suited, because they involve utilizing the gifts and talents that were provided for you by your parents, and reside as genetic material in your DNA.
Luciano Pavarotti, who was born to an opera singer father, had as his Dharma to sing opera. Many opera critics regard him as the greatest opera tenor of all time. Steph Curry, who sports three National Basketball Association championship rings, has as his Dharma to play basketball. His father, Dell Curry, a Virginia Sports Hall of Fame member, played 16 years in the NBA, ranks 54th all-time in 3-point shots made, and is the Charlotte Hornets’ all-time leading scorer. It’s not surprising that the son was born to play the game. It’s in his nature, plus he was nurtured. It’s clearly his Dharma.
Doing your Dharma, utilizing your second nature, as a full-time occupation transforms the experience of “making a living” into easy and enjoyable play. It’s much easier to do work that involves your second nature than it is to do anything else, because anything else requires more effort; doing what comes naturally to you, what is second nature to you, is virtually effortless. Doing your second nature as your occupation also makes it easier for you to realize your first nature, because you come away from your livelihood with more energy, less stress, and enhanced creativity to focus on spiritual realization.
Awakening to your first nature, in other words, becoming enlightened, gives you tremendous energy, a stress-free nervous system, and lively access to your creative intelligence, making it easier for you to do what you’re here to do – your second nature. As you can see, your first nature and your second nature are linked. My recommendation, therefore, is to link up to your first nature first, so that becoming spiritually awakened becomes like second nature to you.