The experience of Unity through Nudity.

According to the Judaeo - Christian Scriptures:

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. (Gen 1:1)

According to the book of Genesis, God then created animals, fish, etc and the pinnacle of creation, mankind, formed in the image of God. Adam & Eve the archetype humans are conversing with their Creator in a state of pure unity, naked and at one with their environment.

Painting by Titan, titled 'Adam and Eve'

We then move to what is known as “the fall” when they were then tempted to eat from the tree “of knowledge of good and evil” against the Creator's instruction. The outcome was a loss of unity and a state of separation not only from God, but also from each other and the environment.

This loss of unity was symbolised by the invention of coverings to hide what was different between the male and female body.

Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves. (Gen 3:6)

The practice of Naturism can restore that original condition, even within a now imperfect framework.

By the removal of clothing we have the opportunity to see each other without that level of separateness and we soon realise that we are more similar than different and that the human body comes in multiple variations of the ONE theme.


Clothing hides the similarity and brings about undue attention to parts of the body that become tantalisingly hidden. Thus rather than providing “modesty” clothes provide a socialisation of the erotic, which is the ultimate separation.

For eroticism to exist there needs to be an observer and the observed, which in this case becomes an "object" to be played with in the mind of the observer.


Therefore the observer sees nothing in the way of sameness or unity only the desire to possess the "object".

It is not only Judaeo-Christian Scriptures that carries this message of Unity lost. There is also an Indian philosophy that we study called Advaita Vedanta. This philosophy has at its essence that all of creation is one, that in truth, we and all creation are manifestations of the one single Absolute. According to this philosophy one of the tasks in life is to recognise the unity and live accordingly.

We find that Naturism teaches respect for self, respect for others and respect for the environment and as such moves us to reclaim an appreciation of Unity.