As we travel down the road of life, we are all likely to be sidetracked by the myriad of disturbing and distracting things in the world in which we live. For worries and stress related, for example, to earning social esteem, earning a living, keeping friends or finding a partner. So you may be thinking that you need a regular spiritual practice of some kind to calm your mind and discipline your life.
A spiritual practice is a repeated activity or exercise that awakens a deeper experience and provides a connection to the energy of the universe, the higher power that revitalizes us and sustains our journey.
Spiritual practice range available
There are many types of spiritual practice available, each offering a sense of well-being and inner growth. For example, there are various types of complementary medicine, meditation, and yoga that can incorporate a spiritual dimension. You could also mention the spiritual disciplines taught by each of the world’s religions.
Whatever the beliefs associated with them, each spiritual practice is intended to help us get in touch with who we are: spiritual beings. Behind what appear to be differences, for example, in the meditation schools, there is a single goal: the realization of a higher consciousness: one that results from the withdrawal of attention from matters that distract the mind. This aligns with our deepest need to find a shift in attention from the mundane and ordinary side of life to a focus on a source energy that is timeless and deeply satisfying.
“Once experienced, it flows through our lives to heal, empower, and inspire creativity and wisdom. It gives us well-being and allows us to be truly alive.(Paul Heelas, British sociologist and anthropologist).
But given all the demands on our time, we must make a choice. What activity will help the most?
Pragmatic choice of a spiritual practice
Each spiritual practice is related to a certain secular or religious belief. Ideas you can be sure of. Roger Walsh (Australian scholar of psychiatry, philosophy and anthropology) has pointed out that religions contain an enormous amount of popular nonsense but also contain a core of wisdom and spiritual practice of remarkable transformative power.
You can choose an activity based on the spiritual teaching associated with it. But on the other hand, you can pragmatically go for a regular practice that bears more fruit regardless of which tradition it comes from.
Individual suitability of a spiritual practice
What helps one person the most may not help another. The question is which spiritual practice would work best for you? Although they all have a common goal, it can be thought that each one helps spiritual development in a specific way.
What follows are some of the particular ways in which our spirituality can be fostered. I suggest examples of an applicable spiritual exercise or practice for each.
Of course, this short list only scratches the surface of this fascinating field. However, whatever the distance traveled in one’s passage through life, one can find the best spiritual practice. A regular activity that will attract attention for being of special personal relevance at this time.
balance body energy
Controlling the breath as in Pranyama. Meeting and reorientation of strength with softness as in Tai Chi.
Acquire self-awareness and self-knowledge
Keep a personal self-reflection journal. Attend a silent retreat. Undergo a spiritual counseling course.
Bringing to mind one’s ideals
Make a weekly written reminder of the principles, highest values and goals in life.
Disconnect from useless ‘mind chatter’
Empty the mind of its clutter through a form of concentration meditation. Practice awareness of the present moment using MBSR (Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction) meditation.
Recognize the sacred in all things
Recite daily affirmations about the good of nature or people. Religious believers could recite devotional prayers centering on their faith in creation and divine providence.
embracing generosity
Make regular charitable donations. Commit to working a few hours a week by volunteering.
Develop wisdom and understanding of life.
Read and reflect on scripture daily. Focus the mind and explore a deep idea.
Accept the need for personal change
Perform a self-test and say a regular confessional prayer.
Practice specific changes in behavior.
Each week test a different spiritual trait (such as gratitude, patience, forgiveness, or joy)
Cooperating with a higher power
Repetition of a divine name. Praying daily to God for help
extreme practices
Ascetic practices imply the renunciation of material possessions, bodily pleasures, and fame. Fasting, sexual abstinence, and living in very meager conditions come to mind. It would challenge the extreme body-denial aspects of ascetic practices. Surely satisfying our natural needs is good as long as this is not No it means nullifying the spiritual side of life. If so, moderation in all things sounds like a good motto to me.
An example of a simple spiritual practice
The way one eats their food can be seen as a spiritual practice. There is an opportunity to pause before eating to give thanks for what is received, to acknowledge those who grew and prepared the food, and to invite friends to share a meal with you. This is in stark contrast to our current culture with its fast-paced lifestyle that encourages driving into fast-food outlets, greeting a cashier like a clerk, and wolfing down food in isolation while driving to the next appointment.
cheap grace
Dietrich Bonhoffer (German pastor and anti-Nazi dissident) criticized ‘cheap grace’, that is, grace and forgiveness without repentance and discipleship. In other words, acknowledging one’s faults without any sincere desire or effort to change one’s behavior is not good. It is the hypocrisy of the mother.
conclusion
In cultivating deeper experiences and spiritual growth, the best practice is best for each of us. It depends on what each one needs at each moment in terms of developing inner peace, illumination of ideas, liberation or salvation from all the evil that holds us captive, or communion with our Divine Source.