When “Natural” Isn’t Noble

How a Distorted Idea of Nature Is Derailing Our Lives

Let me begin this post by admitting something. I’m tired. Tired of how conveniently the word natural is being used to justify nearly every impulse, craving, or action—no matter how harmful or degrading it might be. Scroll through social media or sit through a modern-day motivational seminar and you’ll hear it repeated like gospel: “It’s natural to desire.” “It’s natural to be angry.” “It’s natural to feel lust.” “It’s natural to be selfish sometimes.”

Now, I’m not denying that these things occur in us. Of course they do. But the real question is: Are we meant to act on everything that comes naturally?

Let’s flip this a little: Is everything that occurs “naturally” also beneficial, virtuous, or worth pursuing? If you feel rage, should you punch a wall or scream at your parents? If you feel jealous, should you sabotage your colleague’s work? If you feel attracted to someone, does that mean you should immediately pursue them, regardless of circumstance?

You see the absurdity.

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What’s Really Natural?

In today’s world, “natural” has become a cop-out. A license. A way of escaping the responsibility of choice. Yes, we are born with instincts. With tendencies. With emotions. But we are also born with a capacity higher than all of these—the ability to reflect. The ability to choose which part of us we nurture and which part we let go.

Modern messaging, however, is doing the opposite. Instead of encouraging us to become better, it tells us that we are just fine the way we are. That whatever we feel is valid, no matter what. That all emotions, all desires, all impulses are sacred just because they arise “naturally.”

But there is a massive difference between what is natural to a conditioned mind and what is our true nature.

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Distorted “Nature” and the Fire Within

Take material desire. Is it natural? Yes. Is it also the single biggest cause of anxiety, restlessness, and dissatisfaction in the world today? Also yes. A hundred years ago, people desired food, water, and shelter. Today we desire brand labels, celebrity status, and five-digit follower counts.

In the name of ambition, desire is glorified. In the name of manifestation, it is spiritualized. But nobody asks: Where does all this desire actually lead us?

The Bhagavad Gita offers a sobering answer. Krishna says in Chapter 3, verse 39:

Wisdom is covered by the constant enemy of the wise in the form of desire, O Kaunteya, as if by the fire that is never satisfied.

Krishna does not mince words. Desire is duṣpūreṇa analena—an unquenchable fire. One that destroys wisdom. And yet we’re being told in Instagram reels and self-help books that this fire is something to stoke further.

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Lust and Anger: The Other “Natural” Invaders

Take lust next. Most people shrug it off. “It’s natural,” they say, “Everyone feels it.” No argument there. But does that make it harmless?

Today, we’ve made a virtue of vulgarity. There’s pride in being bold, in flaunting your desires, in reducing everything to body and looks. But if lust is “natural,” so is decay. So is death. So is addiction. Do we celebrate those too?

Again, Krishna speaks clearly in the Gita, calling lust the gateway to hell (Bhagavad Gita 16.21). Strong language, yes, but one that matches the gravity of the issue.

Similarly with anger. It’s often excused with lines like “I’m just being real,” or “I’m just expressive.” And yet, how many relationships has anger ruined? How many decisions has it destroyed? How many people live with regret, saying things in the heat of the moment they wish they never had?

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Nature Is Not an Excuse. It's a Starting Point.

Let’s be honest with ourselves—if “natural” meant “acceptable,” we wouldn’t have law, ethics, or civilization. Society would be reduced to people acting out every feeling, however raw or destructive.

But true humanity begins not in embracing every natural impulse, but in transcending the harmful ones.

A river flowing wild is not beautiful—it’s dangerous. It’s only when its flow is channeled that it brings life. Similarly, our emotions, desires, and instincts need guidance. They need direction. And that’s what the great sages of India emphasized. They didn’t say, “Destroy your nature.” They said, “Refine it.”

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Spiritual Life: The Real Elevation

The brilliance of India’s spiritual culture is that it never condemned desire outright. Instead, it offered a higher desire. A spiritual one.

Desire is not the enemy. But the direction of desire matters.

Desire for fleeting pleasures leads to restlessness. Desire for truth, connection, and the Divine leads to peace. Krishna doesn’t ask us to suppress everything. He asks us to sublimate it. To engage our energy in service, in love, in higher consciousness.

This is what makes the sages different. Why do we revere them? Because they experienced joy that was not dependent on craving, acquisition, or validation. They weren’t dead inside. They were fully alive, but without the burden of needing more.

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What’s “Unnatural” Today Might Be the Most Natural of All

Here’s the irony: In today’s world, self-control is considered unnatural. Simplicity is outdated. Restraint is boring. Spirituality is “too much.”

But is it really?

If someone lives peacefully without anxiety, without hate, without greed, without fear—shouldn’t that be considered the most natural way of being?

We must stop equating frequency with truth. Just because something is common doesn’t make it noble. Disease is common. That doesn’t make it desirable.

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Listen to Your Conscience

In the quiet moments, when you’re away from noise and screens, your heart already knows the truth. You feel the difference between fleeting pleasure and lasting peace. Between a restless scroll and a prayerful silence. Between giving in to impulse and standing firm with integrity.

You don’t need a motivational speaker to tell you what’s “natural.” Your conscience already whispers it to you. Loudly, sometimes. We just need to listen.

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Final Thoughts

Let’s not be deceived by distorted definitions. Let’s not be seduced by philosophies that excuse every behavior in the name of nature. We’re not animals. We’re not slaves to our instincts. We are souls. With the gift of reflection, and the chance to live a life of real meaning.

Krishna didn’t teach suppression. He taught transformation. And there is nothing more natural than the desire to return to our true self.

Let’s stop justifying weakness and start walking the path of strength. That, I believe, is the most natural thing we can do.