Practice, practice, practice

In order for me or you to improve our ability to do anything, it is necessary to practice. Maybe some of you, like me, took music lessons as a child, and remember well the hours of practice, much of it not much fun, which enabled us to eventually play an instrument well enough to give ourselves and others pleasure.

In the same way, spiritual practices are vital to our growth in and enjoyment of a spiritual life. This is why all of the great religions of the world, in their wisdom, recommend certain spiritual practices to their adherents. They know that to neglect such practices is to stay at a superficial and ultimately unsatisfying level of faith and life.

Here are some wise words from Wayne Teasdale about the goal of all spiritual practice.

"Spiritual practice is to the mystical life what food and water is to the body. Just as we cannot survive very long without food and water, we cannot survive on the spiritual journey without a contemplative practice of some sort. it is the inner source of nourishment and growth.....

There are as many forms of spiritual practice as there are individuals. Forms may differ, but the goal is the same: integration and transformation. To achieve authentic spirituality, genuine mysticism, we must adopt some form of spiritual practice....

The spiritual journey changes us to the core of our being. If it didn't, it wouldn't be real. This quality of inner change is what I understand by the term transformation: a radical reordering and alteration of our character, and all our old habits of thought, feeling, and action. Spirituality is always meant to make us better by unlocking our potential for divinity, to be like God in some participatory way. This is what the Christian theologians of the early Orthodox church theosis, or deification, becoming like God. It is what Easter traditions mean when they speak of awakening the Buddha nature with us, or the Atman. If spirituality does not offer access to actualizing our potential for this higher form of life, which is what we are made for, then what ultimate value can it possibly have for us?.....

All spiritual practice is ultimately about this inner development that reaches fruition in selfless love, compassion, mercy, and kindness. All the spiritual practices--chanting the names of God, the numerous forms of meditation, spiritual reading, reflection, affective prayer, art, music, dance, walking, drumming, yoga, the martial arts, contemplation--are directly related to self-knowledge and inner transformation. We cannot ignore the overwhelming empirical evidence they offer for the profundity of inner change; they stand as a permanent witness to their value and efficacy to lead us to a complete reversal of the old self, addicted to selfishness and the false=self system. Following this path is not easy, but there is no better way to lasting happiness and tranquillity of heart and mind.

All ways lead finally to a place that transcends all we thought we knew before." (pp. 141, 144, 146, The Mystic Heart by Wayne Teasdale)

I would add another metaphor for spiritual practice. I think it is a lot like gardening. If the flowers of faith are to grow and blossom, we need to prepare the soil of our hearts, plant seeds of truth and wisdom, pull out weeds of beliefs, attitudes, and actions which threaten to choke the flowers of our spiritual life, and fertilize those flowers with the spiritual practices which we find work best for us at this time in our lives.

It is with this metaphor in mind that I have chosen to write the book "Flowers from Gardens of Faith."

In my next blog, I will share excerpts from the first draft of the introduction to the book.

Once again, I welcome your comments. And thanks to those of you who have emailed me individually

already. I am glad the right way to get on the blog finally got communicated. I so appreciate your words of encouragement and wisdom. It makes this project a lot more fun, and the book, I am sure, will be a better one because I am sharing the journey with you and whoever you may wish to share it with as well.