SPIRITUAL PRACTICE

Spiritual practice can be Conventional - usually based on Eastern or other exotic practices or Unconventional and eclectic. 

"S/he who sees life as a process of spiritual perfection

 does not fear external events." Tolstoy

Inner practice can allow us to;

"Receive with simplicity everything that happens to us." Rashi

I create the light and make the darkness. 
I send good times and bad times. Isaiah

“No matter how you stir a pot of filth it is always a pot of filth. Better to let the pot be and string pearls for the sake of heaven.” Chassidic saying 

We have to find some form of inner practice to counter the darkness around us - be it conventional or unconventional. We should consider our state of balance as a test of the effectiveness of that practice. 

For some it might be time to be Unconventional and more "Western" in our thinking rather than Eastern. Calming an overactive mind with passive forms of meditation may be difficult. 

We have to find the one or ones meant for us !

“To insist upon a spiritual practice that served you in the past is to carry a raft on your back 

after you have crossed the river. ” 

The Buddha    

“Everyone has access to God but each person has a different access.” M. Buber

"Not Knowing when the dawn will come I open every door." 

E. Dickenson

“Serenity is not a passive condition but an undisturbed peace of mind, active and aware which can be quiet joy, sometimes ecstatic joy,  always deep within spirit and light of heart.” Father Toomy

"A deep sense of serenity and fulfillment (also meaning). A state that pervades all emotions and sorrows that come our way." 

Father Toomy

Having meaning in one's life is also key to equanimity.

“Once what you are living and what you are doing has for you meaning, it is irrelevant whether you are happy or unhappy. You are content, you are not alone in your spirit, you belong.”  
L. Van der Post

Spiritual practice is about attaining equanimity, serenity, balance, harmony, inner peace or well being. However. it should also be about spiritual transformation. Much of the time, with all the challenges we face today, the practice may purely be to subordinate our flight or fight, sympathetic response into a more parasympathetic, relaxation one. 

Balance is achieved by harmonizing polarities. 
Dualities come into harmony by negotiating a third or middle path, a path not of assimilation but a path of coexistence.

When we look at energy systems such as the Tree of Life or the Chakra system the goal is moving out of survival energy centers into those that promote spiritual growth - whether its the right or left side of the Tree of Life or the Sun or Moon energy channels spiraling up the spine in yoga. It is moving into love rather than fear, the sacred rather than the profane, the positive rather than the negative, expansion rather than contraction.

“The Kundalini in the form of latency is coiled like a serpent. One who impels this Shakti to move will attain liberation.”
Hatha Yoga Pradipika

When the sun and moon channels that spiral around the central channel of the spine are in balance one can awaken the dormant serpent, feminine, Shakti energy and cause it to move up the central channel leading to equanimity, balance and altered states of consciousness. 

Ultimately if the feminine, Kundalini, Shakti, serpent energy reaches Shiva, the male principle at the crown chakra the two can fuse resulting in Unity Consciousness or the Oneness Experience. 

Maslow described something similar as a peak experience which many of us have had if only for a few moments. 

This occurs when the Knower (say you) – the Known (say a rainbow) and the Process of Knowing (the dynamic of these two) fuse into one thing and you become the rainbow. 

Nature, which we will discuss as a form of practice commonly facilitates this experience. Nature can meditate us.

Kundalini energy is experienced differently in varying traditions but it is universal. It may be subtle and slow rather than dramatic as it can be when "Kundalini" flows as in yoga practices and indigenous African societies (of which I am more familiar.)

The most needful time for spiritual practice is when you feel you have no the time.

Time cannot be made it must be found.

You must be in the moment and not think of the past or the future.

 Take from the past what you need and leave the rest behind. 

Ancestors live in the moment.

Living in the past and attachments to wants rather than needs are counterproductive to spiritual transformation.

All must be 
done for its own sake, 
not for reason of an outcome. 
All is a journey not a destination and it is a continual arriving.

We never arrive. It is always a process of what the Ancestors call "Becoming" - other traditions - Enlightenment or Self-realization.

There are many forms of transformation just as there are many sacred prayers and holy paths. 

You are to find the one that is made for you.

God most delights when you are most you, when you are being most yourself.

In the eyes of God Himself personal insight is more valuable than Divine revelation for if we depend only upon scriptures and the teachings of masters but have no personal insights of our own, all is worthless.

 

God looks not only to your willingness to His/Her call but to your creativity in responding. This honors and delights Him.

 

Isaac Luria (The Arizal) stressed that each student should have their own unique way of going inward and finding the Divine.

“Meditation is inward work for restoration. It varies in accordance with the character and temperament of each disciple.” The Arizal

The menu is only the menu.
It offers, it describes, it suggests.
When the meal arrives do not put it aside.
Absorb the reality of your choice.
If you do not taste the nature of the Infinite One in your selection, you must choose another dish…
You need to choose the offering S/He has prepared especially and selectively for you.

or

“Do not believe a thing because it is said by an authority or because it is said to come from angels,… gods or from an inspired source. Believe it only if you have explored it in your own heart, mind, and body and found it to be true. Work out your own path through this world with diligence.” 

    

ANY spiritual practice occurs when we are doing whatever we are doing; for its own sake and for gaining inner peace - not to look good, perform or be goal oriented. It should give us pleasure, be frequent and preferably be done at least daily. 

… don’t think this transformation is about having the perfect life, job or mate, marriage or friendship. This is not about perfection, it is about wholeness. It is not about having things exactly as we want but about having them exactly as they are. When we allow things to be, a sense of harmony develops” Adyashanti

This wisdom is possible if one has a regular spiritual practice.