UNCONVENTIONAL FORMS OF SPIRITUAL PRACTICE

FINDING EQUANIMITY IN OTHER WAYS

Anything that brings us equanimity, inner balance, well-being, harmony, serenity, happiness or joy can be considered spiritual practice. The parasympathetic nervous system is responsible for this relaxation response. It counters the sympathetic, flight or fight, survival response which confronts us every day.

GRATITUDE AS SPIRITUAL PRACTICE

Prayer can either be supplication and asking for something, or giving thanks which arises from having gratitude.  Mostly we ask for things when we pray. When we rather express gratitude for what we have - it becomes a stronger form of prayer. The Creator, the Field and our guides will respond more favorably to gratitude rather than a request - unless we are asking for something on behalf of others or if we are asking for ourselves in order to serve the greater good. When we express our thanks through the container of a simple ritual (lighting incense or a candle or doing any creative ritual of appreciation) it carries more traction and becomes a blessing to the Creator, our guides ... and is also an equanimity practice at the same time.

 

“Reflect on your present blessings of which every person has many, not on your past misfortunes, of which all people have some.” Charles Dickens

 

“We are recipients of unearned gifts.” Robert Emmons

Your gifts are only gifts if you find them thus to be – your heart makes them so.

 

Robert Emmons and other researchers have shown the benefits of a gratitude practice. Such a practice gives promising inner results, including increased equanimity, well-being, as well as enabling our  ability to reach out to others. 

He described measurable physiological effects such as increased dopamine and serotonin - effects equivalent to taking an antidepressant. 

It also increased neuronal density in the prefrontal cortex on F.M.R.I. scans (similar findings have been found in advanced meditators.) 

Gratitude creates a positive feedback loop leading to more gratitude. Emmons regarded gratitude as a sign of emotional intelligence. 

To savor the moment is to have gratitude.

"Savor! Give yourself to the savoring ... You are only to savor it to be worthy of it..." Father Toomy

"Everyone will be called to account for all the legitimate pleasures they failed to enjoy.' The Talmud

Gratitude is good for our karma too.

"Ingratitude, a horrible and unnatural crime." David Hume

Spacious (Big) Mind is about gratitude and joy. Narrow (Monkey) Mind is about survival and focusing on our basic needs. Monkey Mind is more frequently associated with our wants and ingratitude for what we do not have. If we consciously can enjoy what we have instead of focusing on our wants we enhance our ability to be grateful.

Abundance sates, then stales, then dulls interest and appreciation. Abundance has a darker side than scarcity.

Although only an approximation, Survival's Rules of 3 implies; we can live 3 minutes without oxygen, 3 days without water, 3 weeks without food and 3 months without human contact. When we were hunter gatherers we also needed fire. Today's equivalent is energy to drive our technology. These, as well as having shelter, are our basic needs. Most of us have all of them. 

My experiences with the San Bushmen hunter-gatherers taught me that in spite of their spartan, survival like conditions they were happy, joyful and grateful - often even for water alone which was always in short supply.

 Equanimity also arises out of having gratitude.

Spiritual pursuits are to be practiced with pleasure, welcomed with gratitude. 

We are to experience delight of the senses and be absorbed in joy – therein is the Creator.

The route to God is through the senses.

"With song we can open the gates of heaven." The Talmud

"We pray by singing and dancing." African wisdom

African rituals though often serious are always joyful.

"Joy is not incidental to one's spiritual practice, it is vital."  Rev Nachman

 

Be grateful and you will be happy. Happiness leads to great empowerment. Attend to your well-being, especially to happiness, the cause of which is sometimes found in hidden recesses, always in gratitude.

 Gratitude makes us happy and happiness makes us grateful - a positive feedback loop. 

Below is a summary of the gratitude practice that Emmons gave his students as part of the study.

Write a thank you note. 

Thank someone mentally (if no time to write.) 

Keep a gratitude journal of the gifts received each day.

Count your blessings. Write them down.

Pray or Meditate. Mindfulness meditation involves focusing on the present moment without judgment. Focus on what you are grateful for (the warmth of the sun, a pleasant sound, etc.)

Remember the good times. 

Use visual clues such as, notes, objects... to remind you of gratitude.

"Gratitude is the heart's memory." French Proverb

Buddhism teaches us to take our suffering and make something useful out of it. In helping others, we forget our own pain and with gratitude can find harmony and happiness again. Buddhists also have active gratitude expressing meditations; "I am grateful for all those who made this road I am driving on. I am grateful for all the effort that went into the food I am buying today. I am grateful for all the people who I remember and those whom I have forgotten that helped me along the way etc...

Find joy and gratitude in hidden recesses.

To forgive is to open the heart to compassion and empathy. Forgiveness is the allowing of gratitude - it catalyzes it. When we are resentful and unforgiving we hold on to our grievances rather than gratitude's potential. Forgiveness is a huge one of those hidden recesses.

There is no joy as transforming as the joy of gratitude.

Where there is gratitude there is light. 

We need to look for "Light" in terms of our finding joy, happiness, and their equivalents ...  all manifestations of inner peace as well as a gratitude practice.

"There are two ways to live one's life. One where everything is a miracle and the other where nothing is." A. Einstein 

 Gratitude is also an essential part of shamanic practice. Indigenous practices that connect us to our guides are usually done through ritual  rather than prayer alone. They can be requests for healing, cleansing, protection or asking for scripted dreams. Any receipt (or even absence) thereof can invoke gratitude.We must ask to receive but not forget to  show gratitude when we receive - or even if we do not receive. We have no idea to what extent they may be helping our daily lives and what the various adverse outcomes may have been without their help. These effects can be subtle and are often unrecognized. Even when we come up with defeat we need to be grateful - the result may have been much worse without their intervention. 

 This exchange is always ongoing. Acknowledging their participation is key. 

Paying Forward

Gratitude helps us to pay our gifts forward. Giving comes out of gratitude for what we have. Giving can be a gratitude practice because it brings joy to both the giver and the receiver. 

Although sometimes, even though no good deed remains unpunished, it is still a downpayment to our karma, garnishing the soul. Having our gifts thrown back at us sometimes is also test of our spiritual fortitude.

Any who bring joy to another give God joy. Any who act with love for the other’s good and pleasure do themselves partake in God’s rivers of pleasure and good.

S/He who wills to secure the good of others has already secured his own.” Confucius

Practice random acts of kindness. This includes kind words.

“Wherever you turn you can find someone who needs you. Even if it is a little thing, do (or say something nurturing) something for which there is no pay but the privilege of doing it. Remember you do not live in a world all of your own.” A. Schweitzer

“If I am not for myself, who will be for me? If I am only for myself, then what am I? And if not now, then when?” Hillel

Giving opens, withholding closes. In giving; is to receive and to welcome the other. 

What you touch, touches you.

What you let touch you, enhances or diminishes.

We think that when we give, we create a deficit and this lessens our supply. The soul does not work this way. With the soul giving increases our supply. This fits in with the Law of Attraction which is about love and giving out the light of gratitude. 

 

Give without remembering.
Take without forgetting.
Give freely.
Receive openly.
Do all with gratitude.
It is the way of love.
It is the way of joy.

 

MORE CONVENTIONAL (MOSTLY "EXOTIC")

SPIRITUAL PRACTICES 

THE BREATH AS MEDITATION

“Kabir says; what is God, the breath within the breath.”

The flame of the Infinite One 
is the soul breath of the human.
 
Source of my power, 
the breath you have given me, 
the breath (soul, spirit) you have given me is pure.

“A river arose out of Eden forming four river and four winds (Four Breaths of the Creator.) 

They joined to form a singular spirit which animates all creation.” The Zohar

The Four Beings of nature; Still, Growing, Wild and Talking are all animated by the breath of the Divine. Each individual "wind," spirit or breath, at each's own, unique vibration and consciousness. 

 The moment this breath is withdrawn they and we will no longer exist. We are continually being breathed by the breath of the Supreme Being. When we leave the planet and the “silver cord” (King Solomon) that connects the soul to the body is broken, that breath is taken from us. 

Breath meditation allows us to connect to that small microcosmic part of us made in the image of the Divine animated by His/Her breath. Think of how desperate we become when we feel we cannot breathe and get air.

Connecting with the breath or “wind” (in Hebrew) or spirit (Moya in Zulu) can facilitate active, sensory meditation and connect us more powerfully to the breath of the Divine that is animating us. 

Pranayama – the yoga science of breath – describes many ways in which to do this. The diaphragm, the main muscle in the body for ventilating our lungs can move energy from the lower chakras into the heart and the other higher chakras above it.

 

The breath that is in all beings emanates from the sacred well spring making us one – not the same but all one.

The breath that created us is the same breath that created the worm and the stone and thus we share a oneness.

We are wrapped in the embrace of the winds; 
the mystery of the north-wind, 
the inspiration of the east, 
the clarity of the south 
and the wholeness of the west.

The sages taught that the mystery of who we are is contained
in the four winds and that without them none of creation would exist.

God’s breath is heard in quietness and felt in stillness. 
Beware the noises and clamor of ego which drown out the Divine whisper.

The Buddhist Thich Nat Han would teach breath meditation with a simple mantra; 

"breathing in, I know I am breathing in and breathing out, I know I am breathing out." 

Whatever way we do it, following the breath is a powerful technique for achieving equanimity and balance.

Other mantras he used included...

As the in-breath grows deep,
The out-breath grows slow.

Breathing in makes me calm;
Breathing out brings me ease.

With the in-breath I smile;
With the out-breath I release all tension.

Breathing in I know I am alive;
Breathing out, in this present moment.

Breathing in, there is only this present moment.
Breathing out, it is a wonderful moment.

I highly recommend you watch these links on Ujjayi (Victorious) breathing below which can put you in an alfa, relaxed state of consciousness very quickly. It can be used at any time and I use it frequently. It is easy to master. In the first video she unfortunately weakens the "Ocean" or "Darth Veda" breath's accentuation on the exhale by talking through it. In reality it can be louder and is easier to do on the exhale than on the inhale. Importantly, the longer the exhale the more intense the relaxation response. Lengthening the exhale comfortably is key.

The second link describes doing it during Ashtanga yoga which may not apply to you so ignore that part of it but use the technology. She describes it more succinctly. Both links are good and Ujjayi is great for finding balance in sudden, stressful situations to create a speedy relaxation response.

Ujjayi Pranayama in 3 Simple Steps - YouTubeYouTubehttps://www.youtube.com › watch

How to Practice Ujjayi Breath in Yoga - Breathing ExerciseYouTubehttps://www.youtube.com › watch

For those who want more information on this important technique Wikipedia has a nice review.

 

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 MORE CONVENTIONAL (MOSTLY "EXOTIC")

SPIRITUAL PRACTICES 

It requires dedication and discipline to stay in the mid-stream of the river of life. We cannot think our way into this state of balance – spiritual practice in whatever form is essential. This is also how we find the middle way of the Buddha.

The Four Noble Truths of the Buddha are ...

The Truth of suffering.

The Truth of the cause of suffering.

The Truth of the end of suffering. 
The Truth of the path that leads to its end.

The First Truth - the Four Rivers of Suffering 

Uncontrolled Birth. 

Uncontrolled Sickness.

Uncontrolled Aging.

Uncontrolled Death.

Buddhism has remedies and various meditations for helping us control these as well as ego, shadow and monkey mind.

The lighter we tread with the mind, 

the higher the soul will soar.

Use the mind, do not let the mind use you.

The mind must mind what the mind minds best.
Use it to support the soul and the heart’s wisdom.

Functional MRI studies have localized "Mind" (as in Monkey Mind) to the primitive areas of the brain. This is linked to a sympathetic, survival, stress response. Most of us, without spiritual practice and a method of going inwards, default to this area of the brain. Folks with OCD, PTSD, anxiety and depression tend to dwell here almost all the time. Nothing creative happens in this space.

 Spacious (Big) Mind, Buddha Mind, Christ Consciousness resides in the prefrontal lobe which is linked to the parasympathetic relaxation response. Advance meditators default to the prefrontal lobe and seem to have more neuronal density here as well. 

Interestingly those who practice gratitude appear to have a similar default on MRI. We will include gratitude later as an Unconventional form of practice. Spacious Mind is the gateway to the Field, dreams, our guides, the Creator and our own creativity.

The most profound sound of all is that of silence - not the silence that is the absence of noise, of quietness but that in which we hear the longings of our heart and ponder our response.

Mind Meditative

  Passive vs. Active 

 Most of us are more familiar with Passive, Eastern meditation. This form differs from the Ancestors’, more Kabbalistic concept of Active Meditation.

There is a difference between passive meditation and active meditation.

Passive meditation makes the effort to calm the mind from inner stimulus. 

(Attaining a "clear, blue sky" or "water in a calm pond without ripples.")

"Do you have the patience to wait until your mind settles and the water is clear. 

Can you remain unmoving until right action arises by itself." Tao te Ching

 "Stop thinking and talking about things and there is nothing you will not be able to know." Zen saying

Passive meditation seeks to disengage from mental activity. 

Active meditation engages mental faculties to a directed focus. Imaging is part of this form.

Using imagination for spiritual transformation - moving from where we are to where we want to be.

Active meditation actually animates and intensifies inner thoughts to help concentrate, reflect and contemplate. It is rather to ponder and focus until one is lost in the thought of imagining or sensing and becomes one with it. 

They also differ in purpose. Passive is done for oneself to better one’s state of being.

 Active is to use the imagination to spiritually transform.

Through meditation with imagery we connect mentally, emotionally and spiritually with that perfection we ultimately will embody.

Active it is also for loving the Divine, to know Him/Her, to experience Him and to come into the realization of our own Self, made in the Creator’s image.

The Sufi poets' devotion to the Divine, Bhakti devotional yoga, and David the Psalmist. 

"Search for me with all your heart."

 

Imagery can reprogram the subconscious positively, helping us to Self-realize.

Guided imagery with active imagination, usually driven by music is also a successful method of enlivening  our Inner Healer. The Inner healer is part of the soul and has the unbounded, divine potential to heal if we enable it. 

  
We need to see ourselves in a new way, not just as someone striving and trying but as someone already having succeeded; not just intending or wanting but already at the desired level, free from all negative energy.

Active imagination is also a way of telling our guides and the Great Spirit the details of what we need (preferably in order to help others.) Because of the cosmic law of free will we must give permission and ask to receive. Active imagination gives the "Field" the context of that detail.

Vipassana or mindfulness meditation is a Mind-Active meditation – focusing on internal and external sensations to keep away from the flow of our thoughts.

Food and wine can also be a Zen like meditation - being in the moment with each morsel. 

Thich Nhat Han taught a slow walking, one foot in front of the other, form of active meditation usually done in nature.

Body meditative

can be Active or Passive. 

Active

as in Yoga asanas, Tai Chi, Chi Gong etc. 

Passive 

when it is done to us, such as massage, acupressure, ... or any form of body work that induces inner peace. 

 We need to enjoy and be in joy to the best of our bodies' abilities. One can do yoga or Tai Chi in a chair or lying down. 

Pranayama or breath meditation

is distinctly sensory and active. The asanas or postures in yoga and pranayama - two of the eight limbs of the yoga path are sensory. This may be one of the reasons for yoga's success in the West. Some of us have difficulties with the challenges of passive meditation to quieten the mind.

There are many other ways of having an active and sensory meditation. Drumming or playing an instrument, painting, writing, surfing, hiking or dancing can be active, joyful, embodied ways of going inward if they are done for their own sake and not to groom the persona.

The Ancestors teach that we should try to feel it in our bodies! 

The senses are used to create a supportive climate.

From my flesh shall I behold the Divine.

Embodied meditations enlist the senses to distract from and stop Monkey Minds babbling incessancy.

The soul's fulfillment is through the experience of the senses. 
The souls conservation is not of the mind. It is best heard with the senses.

The route to God is through the senses.

We are to experience delight of the senses and be absorbed in joy – therein is God.

"Joy is not incidental to one's spiritual practice, it is vital." 

Rev Nachman

Each to our own.

You are to find the one meant for you!