Spiritual Practices

Spiritual Study

Spiritual Practice: Study spiritual writings a half hour every day. Make a note of all the things you read that can be practiced in the world or within the laboratory of your own consciousness. After a week of this you'll probably have enough to work on for the next week or so, depending on how long you want to practice each one. Studying with an eye toward later practicing what you read will help you progress much faster than studying for inspiration only. What you put into practice and realize as true will be a source of lasting inspiration.

Spiritual Practice: After reading a chapter in a spiritual book, go back and read it again. Note those passages that jump out at you. After going through the chapter again in this way, go back again, this time focusing on those noted paragraphs or passages that particularly resonated with you. Take one at a time and read it over a few times, diving deeper into the meaning.

Then read a sentence or two from the passage, over and over, allowing your deepening calmness to bring out more meaning and understanding. If you repeat it enough to memorize the sentences, close your eyes and keep repeating it. Pause after each repetition and see what comes up for you—thoughts, feelings, judgments, insights. You may want to write them down.

Allow your intuition to give you a deeper realization than just intellectual understanding. Through intuition you can get a flash of realization that will be a permanent part of your consciousness. This process obviously takes time, but even if you did this only once a week, it would spiritualize your consciousness more rapidly than just reading a chapter and then setting it aside without assimilating it.

Spiritual Practice: When studying, as you read each sentence or pair of sentences, ask yourself, “What does this mean?" Keep this question in the background of your mind, even if you think you understand the meaning. If you assume you understand it fully, you won't be as open to deeper insights. “What is the truth hiding behind the words?"

Spiritual Practice: If you're not reading and studying spiritual writings, consider the possibility that you're rehashing the same old thoughts. Read one powerful paragraph, several times a day. It will spiritualize your consciousness and be a step toward improving your life, especially if you act on it or meditate on it.