Genuine Spiritual Practice
Some people mistakenly believe that having a spiritual practice means sitting on a cushion in meditation for hours a day, maybe even chanting, praying or visiting a church, synagogue or mosque. But having a spiritual practice is much more profound than that. A true spiritual practice involves bringing what you learn into your daily interactions, noticing yourself as you think, touch, drink, speak, eat or look.
In essence, having a spiritual practice involves being conscious, awake, and aware of who you are, how you behave and how you interact with others when you are not actually in your formal practice.
Genuine spiritual practice happens in the world “out there,” not just on Friday nights at prayer, Sundays at church or daily on the cushion.
Your real practice occurs in the everyday mundanities of life.
If we are aware, we have the capacity to notice when we are not treating someone as they should be treated, when we find ourselves outraged when simply being irritated would have been sufficient, when we find ourselves impatient for no apparent reason.
Life is what dishes up the lessons and if we’re awake and conscious, we can catch ourselves. It’s only then that we have a fighting chance of a different outcome. That’s when the rubber hits the road and we can actually gauge the health of our practices.
Start where you are. Just start. Choose practices that resonate with you personally be it prayer, meditation, church gatherings, chantings, whatever speaks to you. Commit yourself to your practice and be faithful to it. Over time, you will begin to notice the subtle but very profound shifts in how you show up in the world.
If you’d like to add meditation to your spiritual practices, join Maggie for her Beginner’s Meditation Class LIVE via Zoom every Wednesday evening from 6:30-8 PM. Register HERE to receive your Zoom link!
For a full list of weekly meditations, gatherings and Dharma talks, check out the Satsang House Event Calendar for dates and times.