BodhiSeed
After a nudge from Euripides in another thread, I thought I would start a separate thread to let us share the tools we use on our particular path. I'm hoping to learn of some new things and to be reminded of some tools that are gathering dust that I need to pick up again.
This is my original response copied from the thread Euripides started:
Like you, I went on a twenty year search for a spirituality I could live with. I've finally discovered the secular side of things (literally meaning 'this generation'); I don't worry about rebirth, reincarnation, or resurrection of any form. I'm just concerned with becoming a kind and compassionate person who makes a difference in the world in small ways. If pressed, I would label myself a secular Buddhist. But I concentrate on spiritual principles and the practices that help me develop and live by these principles.
My greatest teacher has been Nature itself. I spent two years taking a daily, local walk and keeping a journal. I would look for something different or new each day, drawing a sketch in my journal and writing about it (often learning something new). Overall, the experience reinforced the natural cycle of change and impermanence. When things got unstable or chaotic in my life, it was hard to feel like life was personally taking things out on me; all around me was evidence that this was the natural course of things. My walks led to other practices; I created a sacred wheel that focused on the moons, elements, minerals, animals and plants specific to my locale and seasons/climate. The symbolism of each item was personal; each solstice or equinox I lay it out and use it as a contemplative tool to see what areas I had grown in and what areas needed work.
My toolbox holds other practices that help me navigate life: a twelve-step framework from an agnostic viewpoint, lojong slogans, journaling, looking at tarot and oracle cards from a 'now' rather than future perspective, chant/kirtan, meditation (basic sitting as well as tonglen and metta), contemplative reading (mystics of all religions), yoga and having friends who are also spiritual explorers (especially those who think outside my box and from whom I can learn).
This is my original response copied from the thread Euripides started:
Like you, I went on a twenty year search for a spirituality I could live with. I've finally discovered the secular side of things (literally meaning 'this generation'); I don't worry about rebirth, reincarnation, or resurrection of any form. I'm just concerned with becoming a kind and compassionate person who makes a difference in the world in small ways. If pressed, I would label myself a secular Buddhist. But I concentrate on spiritual principles and the practices that help me develop and live by these principles.
My greatest teacher has been Nature itself. I spent two years taking a daily, local walk and keeping a journal. I would look for something different or new each day, drawing a sketch in my journal and writing about it (often learning something new). Overall, the experience reinforced the natural cycle of change and impermanence. When things got unstable or chaotic in my life, it was hard to feel like life was personally taking things out on me; all around me was evidence that this was the natural course of things. My walks led to other practices; I created a sacred wheel that focused on the moons, elements, minerals, animals and plants specific to my locale and seasons/climate. The symbolism of each item was personal; each solstice or equinox I lay it out and use it as a contemplative tool to see what areas I had grown in and what areas needed work.
My toolbox holds other practices that help me navigate life: a twelve-step framework from an agnostic viewpoint, lojong slogans, journaling, looking at tarot and oracle cards from a 'now' rather than future perspective, chant/kirtan, meditation (basic sitting as well as tonglen and metta), contemplative reading (mystics of all religions), yoga and having friends who are also spiritual explorers (especially those who think outside my box and from whom I can learn).