Hi Terry, you asked the group who had sacred practices....something routine. I'm a fan of sacred practices and will adopt what seems to suit my beliefs:
Contemplative Prayer - daily group contemplative mediation...
Lectio Divina - meditative reading ( usually this means Scriptures but I use it for any reading that I consider 'sacred') not everyday but occassionally
Two practices from a Zen teacher - " Find your feet" and "take your temperature" ( thoughts, body, and feelings)...do this daily, periodically.
Wisdom, this is a good post and I'm happy you have started a discussion. But we need everyone to identify themselves. No hiding behind a mask.
Note I jumped the gun on Gail's very good post. She was not using a different name it was the system.
Thanks Gail for starting the discussion.
Hi, Wisdom. Sounds like you're deep into spiritual practices, and that's cool. I do some of the same, but my focus is more on Mindfulness: breath, body scans, etc. However, I do some Lectio Divina and Examen. I also do breath prayers, coordinating some text with my breath such as the Jesus Prayer, the yoga so/hum, etc. I'm not currently with a group, but there are some Centering Prayer groups in the area. I might join one of them.
I practiced the Jesus Prayer many years ago for many years. Now I use a prayer/chant by Thich Nhat Hanh - Peaceful, Happy, and Light.
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When I was in seminary, for one of my courses, we each had to develop a contemplative practice for ourselves and then journal about it and turn in the journal periodically. The practice I developed was to start my day by reading some spiritual literature, do 10 to 15 minutes of yoga type stretches and then walk silently for 20 to 30 minutes. No stimuli, just paying attention to my internal workings. Sometimes I would pray or sing out loud. I've kept this up (mostly) for the 10+ years since I graduated and I find many surprising thoughts or ideas would come up. My spiritual director has made an additional suggestion that I have added in which is to pay attention to my body and any messages it has for me. Since I am an Enneagram 5, I don't pay enough attention to my body so this has also been helpful.
That said, I also worship with Quakers, which is a very different contemplative practice than solo meditation. I just led a workshop on the differences between Quaker silent/waiting worship and meditation. The following is my conclusion of the discussion we had: Quaker worship is somewhat similar to meditation, and some of the tools of meditation are helpful. However, Quaker worship is usually more of a communal experience than meditation.
