One of the resources for the exercises I’m designing is
Lewis Richmond’s book, Aging as a
Spiritual Practice: A Contemplative Guide to Growing Older and Wiser, which
I’ve written about before on this blog. The workshop is not focused on aging per
se, but much of what Richmond has to say about spiritual practice—both in the
book and in this 2012 interview with nextavenue.org—applies I think to adults
of any age.
His own definition of spiritual practice reflects that:
Q. How do you as a Zen Buddhist
priest define “spiritual practice”?
A. I define spiritual practice very broadly and
ecumenically: as paying close attention to the things that really matter. What
are those things? Beyond having a deep sense of meaning, there is also a
feeling of belonging to something greater than ourselves. Research shows that
people with an active church membership or spiritual practice live on average
seven years longer than those who do not. That should tell us something.
Finally, there is what I call a sense of the sacred or the divine, which the
meditations I teach in the book invoke and develop.
To read more of the interview, click here:
To learn more about the Monday, September 18th workshop that
meets from 6 – 8 pm, please email me at madmoon55@hotmail.com.
No comments:
Post a Comment