I’m involved in a lot of different faith communities at the moment, most centered around social media. In all of them, it doesn’t matter whether it’s a christian group, a secular self help group, or a witchy group – everyone seems to be stuck around making choices about their daily spiritual practices.
This question most often comes up around meditation – some people really struggle with it – but it also comes up around navigating the cornucopia of options out there for the spiritual seeker, which I chalk up to the plain old decision paralysis of the modern world.
So much information! So many options! So many traditions! How do I get started, how do I know if I’m doing it “right”? Am I culturally appropriating? Will I go to hell? If I use this herb instead of that herb will satan send his little baby devils after me?! (CUTE!)
It’s enough to make anyone crazy.
Well, I’m happy to tell you that there’s a very easy way to set up a daily practice, and that is by asking a very simple question –
what do you want out of it?
Because the fact of the matter, is that every tradition on the planet has devised systems and techniques and methods to achieve specific results. And those methods WILL achieve those results if you are diligent about practicing them. Monks and mystics haven’t spent thousands of years fine tuning this stuff just to pull off one big con job on all of us spiritual seekers after all. It all works (if you actually do it)
So it’s important to keep in mind that the techniques in Vipassanna meditation produce different experiences than the techniques taught in Tibetan meditation. Shamanistic journeying is a different experience from Christian contemplative prayer. Each have beautiful things to teach, but if they’re directing you towards a chain of experiences you’re not interested in – why do them?
The mystic heretical secret is that ultimately –
It’s all (basically) the same anyways.
It doesn’t matter what you do to get started, all these practices will steer you towards the great Whatever eventually. After plenty of dilligent practice they all dump out at the same cosmic doorstep. Some will do it faster, some will take forever but go deep. Some will bring you fully into the world – some will launch you off into other worlds entirely. Some are fireworks, some are dark wooded paths, some are the Upsidedown, some are a quiet meadow in the morning.
But since none of this actually works unless you actually DO IT, my suggestion is to go with something that captures your imagination and excitement – something you look forward to doing and really speaks to you. Because if it doesn’t do those things, you won’t stick with it. And if you don’t stick with it – you won’t get anything out of it – and then you’ll proclaim that spiritual practice is all just a big universal SHAM, and well – that doesn’t sound that great either (at least to me)
so, might I humbly suggest –
pick something that you find deeply engaging – or even FUN!
(it doesn’t matter what it is)
Some people only want a little stress relief, a little feeling good, a little way to ground into themselves and get through their day with a little more grace. To that I say – AWESOME, do it! Fold laundry, go on a walk, take an intentional break from technology for a minute. Step away from your desk and take ten deep mindful breaths outside or in your work bathroom to center yourself. You don’t need a formal meditation practice or be an adherent to a spiritual lineage to achieve some mid-day chill vibes. You just have to DO IT and step away.
If you don’t want the deep experiences, you don’t need to invest all the time and effort required for deeper practice. There are tons of resources and practices geared around stress relief, taking the edge off of life, basic devotional practices, and various new age therapies that excel as tools for anxiety reduction. You’ll definitely get something out of even the simplest mindfulness or awareness practice, and its not unheard of at all for people to have crazy experiences erupt spontaneously. In general however, you likely won’t achieve powerful non-dual unity with the universe when you practice in this way, as these aren’t the techniques developed over thousands of years to create those experiences. And it’s totally ok and wonderful to not have those experiences if that’s not what you want or it’s not what you’re ready for right now, it takes some people a long time to get where bigger stuff makes sense to them. For others it’s just not their thing, which is also ok!
But if you ARE ready and willing and eager to reorganize your brain in a basic way, or rewire your reactions to emotional triggers, or see visions, or overcome addiction, or build a deeper capacity for emotion, or watch the earth move, or markedly shift the deeply held beliefs that are holding you back, or restructure your relationships, or tap at will into the deep unwavering universal fount of compassion and love, or watch your magic really shape reality, or work through trauma or addiction – you likely won’t achieve those effects with 10 deep breaths in the work bathroom, or folding laundry, or even with basic secular mindfulness practices like MBSR
If you want the deep, crazy, love of the universe you have to put in the deep crazy work – this work is not for everyone, and it’s not easy, and it’s about facing things in ourselves and in our world that have been drawn as demons and devils for centuries.
I can assure you – there are absolutely demons and devils both outside and in, and we have put them there ourselves. Our project in this life is to see the devils we’ve created – to see them and tame them and love them to death.
The beautiful thing is that the crazy universal love of the universe is there too. In spades, it’s there if you look with concentrated effort. It’s there in simpler ways too, which is how so many skim the surface of the spiritual depths without diving deep, and are able to access some relief from suffering. It’s easy to see if you sit in silence, or talk to god, or light a candle. That taste of universal love is there in all the moments of beauty and wonder of our world.
But it runs far deeper, and in deep nondual states the experience of this love leaves a mark in the psyche that is undeniable and eternal. The mystic traditions have spent centuries fine tuning contemplative and somatic techniques to experience this. It’s all there, in the wisdom of those who have come before us. We’ll have our own experiences informed by our modern world, and we might see new connections and discard outdated ideas – but the core of the practices hold steady even now.
All you have to do is pick a practice that you’re drawn to, and dive in deeply, diligently, and allow yourself to sit in awe of all this wonder and beauty and pain and heartache and joy and sorrow and difficulty and pleasure and peace we’ve been given.
god is truly there, in all of it.
the Good Heretic 