Beacons of Business - 30

[Guest guest]

Sairam Sisters and Brothers,

We will continue to listen from Andrè L. Delbecq, D.B.A., Director - Institute

for Spirituality and Organisation Leadership, J. Thomas and Kathleen L.

McCarthy University Professor, Santa Clara University, Alameda, CA, USA.

---

"My first spiritual exercise begins at dawn. I am awakened every morning, much

earlier than I would wish, by a four-legged exercise machine. So my first

spiritual practice each day is to be accepting of my dog's enthusiasm for dawn.

No matter how tired I am, I take him for a morning walk. This requires

discipline. It would be easy to be grumpy about Augustus' delight in the dawn,

but I've learned not to be grumpy. I just rise and begin a morning walk along

San Francisco Bay with this wonderful English Mastiff. Then when I return, I

read the newspaper, have a cup of coffee, and eat a light breakfast.

My second spiritual exercise (after accepting the needs of Augustus and walking

mindfully) commences when my wife and I read together the Liturgy of the Hours,

readings from the Psalms together with prayers and hymns. After praying with the

Psalms, I spend twenty to thirty minutes in "apophatic centring prayer".

Centring prayer is Father Thomas Keating's synopsis of a form of Christian

meditative practice. Centring prayer follows the spirit of the spiritual text

entitled Cloud of Unknowing. The form prescribes that the minute you are aware

of a thought or a feeling, you detach from either as gently as a feather

touching a pillow. Then you simply speak a sacred word as a sign of intention

to remain open to the presence of the Divine, letting go of the imposition of

personal thought or feeling.

So my second regular prayer discipline consists of the Liturgy of the Hours

reciting the Psalms morning (and evening) combined with centring prayer.

Outside of prayer, a third conscious practice is to carry mindfulness into the

actions of my day. In the Christian tradition, there is the discipline referred

to as "living in the presence of God". Lawrence of the Resurrection spoke of the

practice. It is the belief that one should commence each task conscious of God's

presence, much as a Buddhist seeks to enter each task "with a beginner's mind".

The intent is to be fully present to the next task, to be fully present to the

next person one meets, and to be present with purity of intention that by doing

so the task or relationship is turned into prayer. For example, before I open my

e-mail I remind myself that I need to be present to the people who are trying to

communicate with me. Before I pick up the phone, I pause to be present to the

person calling. Before I begin writing, I try to be present to the truth and

beauty in the content and to be mindful of those I will never meet who will

read the words."

© Global Dharma Center 2004

http://www.globaldharma.org