Spiritual Practice / Conscious Living

A RELATIONSHIP WITH THE INVISIBLE WORLD

“There is no particular way to begin; the beginning will come where an opening is found.”
JUNE SINGER, in SEEING THROUGH THE VISIBLE WORLD

On the road to greater consciousness, a spiritual practice is invaluable. Spiritual practice helps us grow a self that has the courage to live from its own center, while taking strength and heart from being part of a larger whole. The invisible world is there always and communicates with us. Spiritual practice is claiming your connection with that world.

There are many paths and many practices which cultivate a relationship with the realm outside our limited conscious awareness, and many names for that realm. In Jungian psychology -- a path in its own right -- we say that the ego (the seat of consciousness) must enter into dialogue with the unconscious, which includes the Self. The Self is the divine organizing principle which is always presumed to be active in our lives and in the universe. A felt connection between ego and Self, in this view, grounds us and brings us back to a realistic sense of what (echoing the Serenity Prayer) we can and cannot change. From this can flow, in due time, action or acceptance. From this connection too, flows our sense of aliveness.

The language used to describe the path is not what matters most – poetry, myth and mystics speak to the process of connecting with the invisible world in far more eloquent language than psychology. What matters is being in relationship to that larger thing , which surrounds us and lives within us.

A spiritual practice has us setting aside time in our lives for turning inward, for meditation, contemplation, prayer, or meditative, prayerful activity – from quiet walks, to communing with nature, to gardening, to journaling or drawing, to remembering and honoring our dreams, to attending the body, to yoga and martial arts. The possibilities are everywhere. Some of these activities don’t require a meditative approach, but qualify as spiritual practice when that is the attitude with which we come to it.

Deciding on a path is a matter of the heart. In The Teachings of Don Juan, Carlos Castaneda discusses the question of the right spiritual path. He states: “… you must always keep in mind that a path is only a path …” It is not the goal but the process that is the teacher. Therefore, your heart has to be in it. He advises that we ask ourselves, in choosing a path, the question: “Does this path have a heart?” Only that path will take you “home.”

Meditation is an ancient and effective spiritual practice that has much to recommend it. The approaches to meditation are many. The essence of all meditation is the focusing of attention, the cultivation of a centered, precise, deep attention. As East and West have converged in recent times, an important conversation is evolving between spiritual teachers of Eastern practices and the Western world of psychotherapy. Each is slowly acknowledging the importance and efficacy of the other as well as the common ground between the two.

Both therapy and spiritual practice have a place in the process of stepping into the larger life and vision that is ours to live in our lifetime.

Perhaps the truth depends on a walk around the lake.
WALLACE STEVENS