The Mundane Way

The growing awareness of one's imperfection that comes with spiritual progress is not a shame-filled experience, but a pure, humble and healing awareness. It comes as we begin to glimpse, very faintly, the vastness of divine love, the depths of peace, the unshakable faith of those precious few souls who know God face to face. In these glimpses, we realize that the perfection to which we are called is so far from our current state that to feel ashamed seems silly. The task is so nearly impossible that it's a wonder we're on the path at all.

I am drawn to the idea that I may be "used" by God in many ways of which I am unaware. This possibility regularly quells the ego-driven notion that I should be doing something "special" or more "spiritual" than what I'm already doing in my daily life. Instead of getting up in the middle of the night with my young daughter, or changing the oil in our family's cars, or bringing home enough money to allow my wife to stay home with our children, I should (so my ego says) be volunteering at a homeless shelter, leading a meditation retreat or protesting mountain top removal. Of course any of these things have their place and they all meet real needs, but I'm not sure they are more important, more spiritual or more meritorious than the other activities. I don't think God does the same kind of spiritual accounting that I do. Nevertheless, I must acknowledge that the "God works in mysterious ways" principle can be a cop out. God will use...

“If you die a little bit every day of your life, you won’t have too much to worry about on your final day.” Fenelon Die before you die. I read that somewhere a while back. Die before you die . Suffer the sloughing off of old thoughts, resentments, fears, calcified guilt. Allow the withering of your self-will, your craving for selfish pleasures large and small, your demands for certainty and comfort beyond what you can reach through faith. Absolute certainty and comfort come only after the ego dies. Pursue the death of the ego, but not fanatically. Keep in step with God, whose pace will seem slow at times. When it does, that is good. It means you are allowing him to carry you. Imagine a small child walking beside her father. Though the father walks slowly, the child must hurry to keep up. But if he picks her up, she no longer seems to be moving quickly, though her rate of progress has not changed. If you try to outpace God by walking on your own, you will tire out and may lose your...

“One should not reason too much; it is enough if one loves the Lotus Feet of the Mother.” Ramakrishna This hits me today. I was just thinking (there I go again!) about how I have such trouble keeping my attention on the mantram whenever I try to repeat it. I believe part of the reason is I start thinking about the mantram: how important it is to repeat it regularly, the benefits of doing so, how I might find more opportunities to do it, and so on. Of course, the minute this kind of pondering begins I’ve lost the mantram itself. What’s so damned frustrating is I often don’t even notice that I’m getting pulled away before I’m down the rabbit hole again. Ultimately what drives my distraction is fear. I am afraid, or rather my ego is afraid, of the emptiness, the void into which it seems the mantram will carry me. Absence of thought equals absence of self, and absence of self equals nothingness, a blank. So the reasoning mind sees it. And in a sense it is true, the great ones say. But...

"At once the spirit sent him out into the desert." Mark 1:12 This statement immediately follows God's declaration of love for and approval of Jesus after Jesus is baptized by John. Maybe God wanted Jesus to be aware of his favor before he entered the challenging period in the desert. Don't take difficulty as a sign of God's absence or displeasure. It may be just the opposite.

“The situations we struggle with that are the most difficult for us are also the ones in which we need mindfulness the most.” Jon Kabat-Zinn As Eknath Easwaran says frequently in his talks, pain is necessary for growth. In times of difficulty or uncertainty, spiritual practice becomes a lifeline, and if I allow challenging circumstances to drive me deeper into my practice, rather than away from it, I will be making the most of my pain. Someone told me recently something to the effect that it is not getting an answer that does me good but seeking an answer. The desire and the search are what shape my thoughts, my character, my life. This does not mean I need to spend a long time struggling with, pondering or grasping for a solution to a particular problem. It means I am to remain open, curious, unattached, willing to take the next step in the process but equally willing to find the path blocked and to turn in another direction. As one person, describing their way of discerning G...

As much as I benefit from having a routine, I seem to benefit just as much from having occasional breaks from the routine. Stepping away from my daily and weekly rounds offers perspective, giving me a broader view of my path and where I might be headed. Without this vantage, it would be extremely difficult to reflect meaningfully on my life and make the needed adjustments.