Why develop a spiritual practice and live from a spiritual perspective?
The short answer is to make your life and the world a better place. But of course, there’s more to it.
Usually, it begins with pain – physical, emotional and/or psychic pain like confusion, hurt feelings, and other wounds of abuse or neglect or being overly kontrolled (kontrol as being dominated over, subject to someone else’s will or whims, oppression. Actual, real control is unrestricted by others and guided towards whatever you are choosing; towards something greater.)
First, we start seeking to right the wrongs in our inner life
You seek out information, ideas, and viewpoints that illuminate what you’ve experienced by describing it, then naming it, and then what thoughts or actions you can take to address the pain, wrong conclusions, decisions, assumptions, and projections.
Learn what the pains are, then learn to practice the remedies.
The practice part is what sets you free, yet it can be the most challenging thing to begin.
The most common objection is something to the effect of – why do I have to do all this, and “they” don’t? Why do I have to be more mindful, or notice what I’m thinking, or be more aware of what I am doing, and others don’t? And why can’t I just change, and be done with it? You know – “one and done”
Sometime after having a practice in place that all becomes – I get to do all this. I get to heal, whether they stay the same or not. I get to be mindful, and participate in my thoughts, feelings, and emotions – my own life. I get to be on my side no matter what. I get to choose to live fully, live and not in reruns of the past, or someone else’s version of me or my past. I get to live consciously - aware of everything and judging nothing. I get to live a fresh, new day, every day, free from the chains and weight of the past and empowered by all the things that used to stop me with self-judgment. I get to grow a greater future by living it today. How does it get any better than that?!
Most of developing a practice involves becoming aware of the unconscious practices you’re living out now, and unlearning so many conclusions, decisions, assumptions, and programming – socialization to “fit in” to a system that inherently keeps you in a state of, “not ____ enough,” and going for conformity instead of going for your own unique expression of the All That Is in your specific, adorable, human form.
No matter how unaware of it, every day is filled with things you do habitually, from the route you take and from work to the thoughts, feelings, and emotions you have about this and that, them and you, life and everything.
That’s your current practice. All the programming, socialization, conclusions you made in grade school, that your mother/father/grandmother/grandfather, siblings, church, school, advertisements, and the media have drilled into you and everyone you know, the stuff you align and agree with to the stuff you resist and rebel – all of that is still unconsciously running you with your unconscious practices.
Implementing your conscious awareness practice is the fastest, kindest way to take your body, mind, emotions, and life back from all those other kontrollers; take your life back for the first time, maybe.
Over time – it doesn’t matter how much time because if you’re not doing something different, you’re perpetuating the same old what you’ve already got – over time, things get easier as in more ease for you, you decompress, have more spaciousness and possibilities are visible to you.
You start to flourish, to be free of past constraints and attachments.
You know what generative things to think/say/do in situations that used to baffle you.
You get over things sooner than you used to and learn more from them.
You catch yourself sooner and sooner, thereby creating more peace and self-love (love is a practice, not an emotion.)
And then naturally, once your head is above water, once your wounds are healing, naturally you express and exude possibilities for others, and for society, and the future.
What starts as a private practice becomes a flow of wellbeing, nurturing, creating greater for all.
Rumi said, “You aren’t a drop in the ocean. You are the ocean in a drop.”
So often natural born empaths, healers, and caring people feel overwhelmed by the problems of the world. And society tells us if we are not doing something to stop the wars and feed the children and all the other systemic problems, we aren’t good enough; we aren’t trying hard enough, and a bunch of other kontrolling lies.
If your profession is in any of these areas, then it is yours to do the best to change and create greater in the area you work in.
But if you are not in the EPA, don’t agree that the waste created by one person/family is the same as the waste of the fashion industry, or any other polluting industry like the petrochemical industry.
Yes, you are a drop in the ocean, but you don’t clean the ocean by feeling bad about it all.
You clean the ocean by clearing your drop, reparenting your younger selves in the loving way your parents weren’t able to do. By healing, with kindness and effective processes, all your younger selves and reclaiming the stories of what happened to you, and be set free by them, not in spite of them.
You clean/heal the ocean by healing yourself.
Your self-healing makes a palpable difference in the world around you, and beyond.
Your thrival contributes to the generative, nurturing, thrival of society.
Organically you bloom into a deep knowing who you are and that you are beloved, and that ripples out to your community and beyond, from the grocery store clerk or barista to your friends and family and out from there.
You naturally take actions to participate and support yourself and others.
Spiritual healing and growth are organically democratic.
The choice is to stay in the unsatisfying sea of conformity, pain, not good enough, or clear/heal your own drop of water, thereby clearing/healing society. Doing your part to raise the vibration and evolve humanity, with ease, and joy, and love.
8/20/24