You might remember the meaning of the character 然 with this easy mnemonic:
A group of happy campers were under the moon (月) with their pet dog (犬) playing with kindling (灬) wood. However, their tranquility was destroyed when they suddenly heard a shuffling sound from the nearby forest.
Using mnemonics to remember the meaning of Chinese characters like has a huge impact on how long to learn Mandarin it takes.