Process Theology or Process Yoga? Part 3b of 3
by Darren Iammarino,
Point 4: (How Do We Practice Process Yoga?) If there are multiple religious ultimates—so more than just God—then there are multiple pathways of salvation or perhaps, one must trod all of these paths. It means we may need meditation as much as we need prayer. However, what needs to matter most with this rebranding of process thought is that we focus on what actually works for most people. What makes people feel a sense of sacredness, connection with self, with community with God, with the World with the Universe itself? What allows us to achieve metanoia, which was the whole point of Jesus’ teaching and in many ways, the teaching of a Buddha or a Krishna.
Due to limitations of space, I will provide a list below and then in later posts, I will go into detail about the various practices that seem to work in the 21st century to transform people’s hearts and minds.
- Paradigm Shifting (possibly the gold standard for a rebranded Process Yoga)
- Yoga (Iyengar, Ashtanga, Kundalini, Yin,..but also Yantra, 6 Yogas of Naropa, basically, completion stage yogas need to be added)
- Guided Meditations! There is no limit to the variations.
- Breath Prayers (e.g. the Jesus Prayer)
- Fixed Hour Prayers (e.g. the Islamic custom of 5 times a day)
- Bead Prayers: praying the rosary or various prayers utilizing malas
- Pilgrimages or Labyrinths (e.g. Hajj, or floor of Chartres Cathedral)
- Retreats (Rumi did say that silence is the language of God)
- Meditation: Seated or zazen and kinhin or walking meditation
- Mantras, simpler the better (e.g. Greek vowel chanting or simply Om)
- Confession or Unburdening
- Periodic Fasting (fasting of the body can lead to fasting of the heart, which can lead directly to a seat at the Lord’s Supper.)
- Divinations (millions of variations, but using stones or Tarot cards are simple examples)
- Qigong (e.g. the eight pieces of brocade series)
- Study of sacred scriptures…note the plurality! Could include lectio divina or maybe even the use of Kabbalistic techniques of gematria etc.
Process Theology and Process Philosophy can transform the mind, but Process Yoga can transform the heart and mind. As long as mystery persists, the divine will still exist…and mystery will always persist. Through theory and practice we penetrate deeper into the mysteries. By abandoning the infinite, one can embrace the infinite journey. Ultimate Reality is a verb. You are a noun. Be like Reality and start creating…be forever in process!
For more ideas on how to put process ideas into action check out Darren’s book Religion and Reality available via the following link: http://www.amazon.com/Religion-Reality-Exploration-Contemporary-Metaphysical-ebook/dp/B00FARXAO6/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1448348364&sr=1-3&keywords=darren+iammarino
If you are interested in audio albums on religious studies, philosophy or history, which feature Dr. Iammarino you may want to checkout the following albums:
CATEGORIES
TAGS