The Mundane Way

This post is a reflection on a poem by Meera, a 16th-century poet and mystic of India. The quality that stands out to me in this poem is devotion. It’s a quality I often envy in other spiritual aspirants, particularly those who have a strong attachment to a particular divine incarnation: Krishna, the Buddha, Jesus. Though I grew up in the Christian tradition, in which personal devotion to Jesus is an essential component, I have not often felt a strong connection to any divine figure. Somewhere in his writings Eknath Easwaran suggests that we abandon the search for our own Divine Ideal and instead place ourselves humbly at the feet of them all, letting one of them choose us instead. I find this advice comforting and have reminded myself of it many times, especially when I feel discouraged about my apparent lack of devotion. Still, it sometimes seems that the Divine Ideals are taking their time making a decision. I can say without hesitation, however, that I am devoted to the pract...

“Let each man follow his own path. If he sincerely and ardently wishes to know God, peace be unto him! He will surely realize Him.” Sri Ramakrishna I am comforted and encouraged by the first part of Sri Ramakrishna’s statement. My path, which to me doesn’t seem that unique or strange now, is certainly outside the bounds of what was acceptable in the religious context in which I grew up, and may perhaps still seem strange to many who profess faith in Christianity, particularly in this part of the country. I am continually grateful to have the loving words of great masters like Ramakrishna, Swami Ramdas and my own teacher, Eknath Easwaran, to remind me that there are indeed many paths to God. What is less comforting is the second part of the statement, that one must “sincerely and ardently” desire union with God in order to reach the goal. Despite my strong and increasing commitment to spiritual practice and inner growth, I confess I still lack the deep and all-encompassing yearni...

Jesus was not a Christian challenging Jews. He did not come to proclaim that one religion (Judaism) had it wrong and another (Christianity) had it, or would have it, right. Jesus was a Jew challenging Jews. He did not repudiate Judaism but the obsession of many of its members with the formalities and regulations that obscured the religion’s core principles. He sought in part to bring his people’s minds and hearts back to the central message, the whole point, of their religion. In that way, he was much like the Hebrew prophets of old leading right up to John the Baptist, his precursor. Or like the Buddha, who had much to critique about the crust that had accumulated on the Hinduism into which he was born.  If Jesus had come as a Hindu, he would undoubtedly have challenged the caste system, as Gandhi did, particularly its labeling of some members of society “untouchable.” If he were to come today, as a Christian, what would he find displeasing in this religion that bears his nam...

“...by the work of contemplative love man will be healed.” The Cloud of Unknowing It is work, there should be no mistake about that. One of my biggest misconceptions about the spiritual life--before I actually started living it--was that it shouldn’t involve much effort. Even prayer, which I understood I should be doing regularly, I didn’t think of as work. What “work” I did conceive to be part of spiritual living was more along the lines of a to-do list: read scripture, attend regular religious services, pray. If I checked these things off the list often enough, I was doing alright. If I didn’t, I wasn’t. I had no idea of what true spiritual work looks like--the work of meditation, for instance, in which I try every day to train my unruly mind to attend to the thoughts I choose. Or the work of forgiveness, that searching, humbling effort to see myself in the one I resent, or at least to see that their hurtful actions come, as mine do, from ignorance or busyness or fatigue and...

“It is amazing how many loving desires arise from the spirit of a person who is accustomed to this work.” The Cloud of Unknowing In my best and truest moments what I most want is to grow more and more “accustomed to this work” of loving, of peacemaking, of being a small reflection of God’s light. It is not glamorous work; in fact, it is often barely noticeable except by a few of those who benefit by it. More challenging, I often don’t notice it myself, though I am the one doing it (or trying to). Only God can see the whole of this lifework of sanctification, and that must be for the best. If I were aware of the process any more than I am now, I would likely be as overwhelmed by my failures and missed opportunities as I would be falsely assured by my successes. Better for now to walk by faith and not by sight.

I began meditating in the summer of 2008, when I was 23. I had had no prior experience of meditation, but I was eager to deepen my spiritual awareness. The previous eighteen months of my life had been some of the most spiritually and emotionally difficult I'd ever known. Depression had often drained my passion for life during that year and a half, and my recent marriage had already suffered some heavy blows, due largely to my own seemingly intractable selfish attitudes and behavior. Fortunately, during the spring of 2008 I experienced a powerful breakthrough as a result of some work I had done with a spiritually-focused group dealing with addictions, work that paved the way for my introduction to meditation. One day, a friend in the group who knew I was seeking a method of meditation suggested I read a book by someone named Eknath Easwaran . The book was called, simply, Passage Meditation , and I ordered it online soon after my friend mentioned it to me. When it arrived, I opened...