A Simple But Powerful Spiritual Practice

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A Simple But Powerful Spiritual Practice

 

It is common thinking throughout the world to make a division

between the spiritual life and the secular life. But if all is one,

if God alone is, then perhaps the purpose of our spiritual life is

to recognise that there is no such thing as secular life, that all

life is spiritual. It is a question of where our consciousness is.

The purpose of our spiritual practices is to raise our consciousness

to a point where we recognise the fact that all life is divine.

 

Most of the time our consciousness seems to be in what we could call

a secular level. Is there a simple practice that we could observe

during the day that would help raise our consciousness in a steady

and consistent fashion?

 

We may not be able to find time during the day for longer periods of

spiritual practice, but usually we can find times when we can just

sit—in the kitchen, in the office, no matter where—for a few

moments, and close our eyes and relax. That practice alone will help

to steady our consciousness. If we add to it repetition of God's

name, our mind will become focused, our consciousness will be

raised. And as we are repeating God's name we can recognise that

something is aware of that repetition. We don't create a witness,

because that's just another thought, but whatever is in our mind, we

recognise that something is knowing it.

 

That something can never be grasped, but it is never absent whether

we are sitting quietly, whether we are active, whether we are

dreaming or whether we are in deep sleep. The remembrance of that

ungraspable witness raises our consciousness and puts us in another

dimension. And all this can be done in a few moments.

 

The spiritual life is not, at its core, something dramatic. Except

in very rare circumstances, it is a step by step journey that

continues for years. Some time ago one of our senior devotees passed

away. She was a housewife who for years and years had followed

regular spiritual practices. She didn't seem to be anything special,

but when she was having her health crisis—even though she could have

expected to have many more years to live—she was totally resigned to

whether she lived or not. Swamiji (Swami Chidananda) marvelled. He

said it is a result of her many years of consistent spiritual

practice.

 

So we shouldn't underestimate the inner spiritual power of something

like simply—for a few moments as frequently as we can—sitting

quietly, repeating God's name and being aware that there is an

unknowable witness who is always silently knowing everything.

 

By

Sri Swami Atmaswarupananda

 

regards

Lakshmi