Sauna in the garden misty wet with rain

Someone asked me to summarize what the big deal is with Saunas, and I simply replied:

“No guru, no method, no teacher.  Just you and I in nature.”

I’ve heard folks say that their sauna is their church.  Sauna is a spiritual experience in Finland. Van Morrison surely wasn’t speaking directly about the sauna experience when he wrote this masterpiece, In The Garden, yet with any masterpiece, lyrics can be applied in multiple context:

I wish I had a live link for you to experience the richness of this song, especially between rounds:

but a nice outdoor sauna is surely a Sweet Thing:

The fields are always wet with rain
After a summer shower
When I saw you standin’
Standin’ in the garden
In the garden

Wet with rain

You wiped the teardrops from your eye in sorrow
And we watched the petals fall down to the ground
And as I sat beside you I felt the
Great sadness that day

In the garden

And then one day you came back home
You were a creature all in rapture
You had the key to your soul
And you did open
That day you came back

To the garden

The olden summer breeze was blowin’ gainst your face

Alright

The light of God was shinin’ on your countenance divine
And you were a violet colour as you
Sat beside your father and your mother

In the garden

The summer breeze was blowin’ on your face
Within your violet you treasure your summery words
And as the shiver from my neck down to my spine
Ignited me in daylight and nature in the garden

And you went into a trance
Your childlike vision became so fine
And we heard the bells within the church
We loved so much
And felt the presence of the youth of eternal summers
In the garden

Alright

And as it touched your cheeks so lightly
Born again you were and blushed
And we touched each other lightly
And we felt the presence of the Christ within our hearts

In the garden

And I turned to you and I said

No guru, no method, no teacher
Just you and I and nature
And the Father in the garden

Listen

No guru, no method, no teacher
Just you and I and nature
And the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost
In the garden

Wet with rain

No Guru, no method, no teacher
Just you and I and nature and the father and the holy ghost
In that garden, in the garden, wet with rain

Yeah. Alright.

No Guru, no method, no teacher
Just you and I and nature and the father In the garden