clothes

Clothing: perhaps more than anything else, it is simple to see that clothes are a form of comfort blanket. As a baby, the comfort blanket gave us warmth. It was providing a little cocoon, where we could feel secure, safe. When we are older, our clothes perform a similar function. We feel comfortable and relaxed when we are wearing clothes. And many of us feel rather uncomfortable, exposed, vulnerable, when we are naked.

This is a great tragedy for humankind. We are the only animal that has become uncomfortable being exposed, being unclothed. Our clothes have become a mask, a way for us to hide our physical body, but also a way that we hide those parts of our psychology that we are not comfortable with. We are ashamed of so much within us. We push it into the shadows of our mind and it is held in our bodies, as shame about the body. And we associate naked bodies with sexual interaction. And so many of us have been conditioned to believe that sex is bad, and that to feel sexual desire is bad, and to feel sexual arousal is bad. From all this debilitating conditioning, we have got into a terrible mess. And more than anything else, the necessity for clothing is a reflection of this. It is one of the saddest things about humanity: that we must cover our bodies, out of shame and fear.  

If clothing were used merely for practical purposes, of staying warm in cold times, then it would not be so damaging. But when we put on clothes we are often concerned with our appearance: how are we going to look in the eyes of others? All of this is indicating that we have become obsessed with clothing, and dependent upon it, not only for warmth but for our psychological well-being, our self-esteem. These things are bound up with the clothes that we put on. And of course, we shall only be free when it is no longer so, when we can wear rags and feel totally content and whole; or better still, walk naked amongst our fellow humans, without shame, without guilt, without feeling awkward in any way. This may seem farfetched and yet it is not so.

Already there are places, there are nudist beaches, or naturist resorts, where everyone is naked. And there is no problem with it. It is neither more sexual nor less sexual than a clothed community. People don’t feel more awkward than they do ordinarily, in a textile world. So why not try it one day; going without clothes, being naked, allowing your body to breathe and to be natural. This is the way back to being at ease in the world, being at ease with who we are, with our natural being.