Spiritual practice doesn’t seem like what we would want to do on a beautiful day filled with sunshine and free time. We all know that daily spiritual practice takes commitment, energy and focus, and they sound too much like work. We all work, and even derive satisfaction from aspects of it, but usually we see the opposite of work as being pure self-enjoyment. So after having taken care of all the necessary tasks that are a part of our lives, we’re more interested in relaxing or playing than in pursuing a spiritual practice.
Our society places a lot of emphasis on rapid return on investment. This means we want to benefit from our efforts as quickly as possible and receive the maximum reward. You might describe this as ‘instant gratification’, although most of us are more realistic and are willing to wait a bit for the return. Although daily spiritual practice can result in short term gratification, most of the return on our spiritual investment is slow growing with maturity taking a long time.
If daily spiritual practice is perceived as just one more task or as a limited source of gratification, then we’re probably not going to do it. After all, in our momentary view, it isn’t the highest priority or the most pressing issue. And if that’s the case, what do we lose by not doing it?
We are a mystery to our own awareness. We see ourselves as beings composed of a body, mind and spirit that we identify as ‘me’. This ‘me’ is partly under our control and partly automatic with a dividing line that is well hidden. In addition, our view of the world is limited by the six senses (hearing, sight, smell, taste, touch and the mind itself) which serve as the gateways to our experiences. Unfortunately much of the suffering we create in our lives is rooted in our lack of understanding of this ‘me’ and our inability to break the addiction we have to the stream of perceptions that flow from our senses.
If we are willing to invest our time and energy to develop a spiritual practice and to integrate that practice into our daily experience, our understanding of ‘me’ will grow and our control of our sensory awareness will strengthen. With this growth and strengthening, our insight into how we create suffering will deepen and our experience of freedom and joy will increase. But if we don’t make the investment, our understanding and awareness will remain shallow, with suffering filling the space between the periods of pleasure and pain.
Our spiritual practice provides us with a foundation upon which we can build a new perspective of ‘me’ or more precisely a new perspective of ‘not me’. We are so preoccupied with protecting, satisfying, caring for and pleasing this ‘me’ that there is little time or energy left for anything else. But with practice (spiritual practice) we begin to see how bound we are to every experience and thought. We become aware that we see ourselves as separate and isolated beings and learn that the ‘not me’ really represents how connected and interdependent we are.
The first barrier to developing a spiritual practice is lack of desire. Even though desire is the cause of our suffering, it is also one of the most powerful tools we have for accomplishing our highest priorities. When we strengthen our desire for spiritual growth, the motivation and energy to develop a spiritual practice is the direct result. We must recognize that desire can serve as a spiritual tool we can use to accomplish our goals and then discard (easier said than done) when the time is ripe.
The second barrier we must overcome is a lack of understanding of what constitutes spiritual practice. Our world has so many spiritual tools available (meditation, prayer, chanting, healing work, devotional practice, etc.) that we can spend a lifetime just exploring the options. Because we’re so attached to the stream of perceptions that flow from our senses, we turn to the world around us to find a spiritual practice rather than looking inside. All the available spiritual options, when used in productive ways, can support our spiritual practice. We should explore them with the understanding that we need all the assistance we can get. But we must always maintain the perspective that they are tools to support our practice and not the practice itself.
When developing a spiritual practice, the first element that is essential to its evolution is self-inquiry. We must invest time and energy looking into our own being to discover as much as we can about ourselves. This requires penetrating beyond the limited perspective of likes and dislikes to the more substantial aspects hidden within. Our self-inquiry should always be rooted in a spiritual view with love, compassion, wholeness, unity and equanimity as its basis. Over time this continuing self-exploration will strengthen our spiritual perspective and more completely open us to our ‘not me’ aspect.
While sustaining self-inquiry, we must seek out tools that will strengthen our spiritual foundation. These tools, drawn from the vast assortment available to us, should support our spiritual growth and meet the requirements of our individual temperaments. It is advisable to seek out the assistance of experienced and trusted friends when selecting these tools. The input and support of these ‘good friends’ will help us get through the more difficult times of building our practice. We should keep in mind that a spiritual practice can and will change, with the understanding that change should be evolutionary rather than revolutionary.
Our spiritual practice will contribute little to our spiritual evolution if we can’t integrate it into our daily lives. The goal is not just to set aside a time for performing our spiritual practice, but finding ways of making our daily routine and our practice one and the same. If we choose meditation as a spiritual growth tool, then we can meditate when we’re bathing, eating and doing the dishes. If we decide to work with the concepts of compassion and unconditional love, we can manifest them while working, driving or watching a sporting event. The opportunities to apply what our spiritual practice teaches us are as frequent as the moments in our lives. Always remember that practice isn’t the goal. The goal is to open our awareness to the ‘not me’, and that awareness is the spiritual pathway which leads to lasting peace and joy.
Benjamin