Practices From the Inside Out: Paying Attention and Reflecting

Paying Attention and Reflecting

What spiritual disciplines do we practice? Which of the ways we behave are spiritual practices and which are not?

People ask me quite a few questions about practicing spiritual disciplines. Some people want to know about traditional, classic, established practices. Other people have particular questions about the practices of specific religious traditions.

There are also people who would like to create and practice their own disciplines.

Which practices are most important, most essential, most basic? Where do we start?

For some of us it seems like the most essential spiritual practices are about reading. So much of spiritual life seems to flow to us from sacred texts and documents. Many religious traditions draw insight from reading words written a long time ago.

Understanding and applying the wisdom of sacred words appears to be basic to spiritual life.

Other people believe the most important practices are about deciding what to do. We hope spiritual life will shape and direct how we behave and act in the world. We may want to live more ethically, with more empathy, or more environmentally friendly.

Even if we do not appreciate all the nuances of ancient writings, we want to change the way we live.

There are many skills and practices which are significant to spiritual life. More and more I am becoming convinced our most basic practices are paying attention and reflecting.

Sacred texts from many traditions can be summarized as recommending we pay attention and reflect. Paying attention and reflecting give us insights and questions we can apply in our everyday lives.

The more we pay attention and reflect, the more in tune our lives become with the rhythms of spiritual life.

If they are so important, how do we practice paying attention and reflecting?

What are our next steps?

The Practice of Paying Attention

We paid attention to everything when we were children. We caught the furtive glances and deciphered the coded language. The world captured our attention and taught us deep lessons of life.

As we got older we slowly lost our practice of paying attention. We discovered new distractions and explored the frontiers of our imaginations. Our attention was pulled in competing directions.

My parents often told me to keep my eye on the ball, but there was so much else which was more interesting.

We live in a world filled with demands on our attention. People, sights, aromas, sounds, tastes, memories, sensations, and fears all try to entice us. Social media scream in our ears.

It feels like paying attention is more of a challenge than it has ever been before.

How can we even begin to practice paying attention with all those distractions?

We begin by taking one step at a time. Our expectations of perfection, or even competence, are not helping us.

We do not need to be able to pay attention to everything, all the time, all at once.

Each present moment is a reflection of the entire universe. If we could pay enough attention, we could hear the all the music ever written. The flowers, the trees, the grass have sacred truths to share with us.

The present moment is filled with truths which bring us to tears.

Our first step is often slowing ourselves down. We may choose to walk instead of driving. A deep breath slows our racing hearts and allows us to pay attention again.

We may decide to spend five minutes each day in the practice of paying attention. The world around us will begin to overwhelm us.

The Practice of Reflecting

As we take time to pay attention and observe we feed our practice of reflecting.

If it can be a challenge to pay attention, reflecting seems to be even more of an obstacle. We do not believe we have time for reflecting. It seems like something we can put off until we have more time. Besides, how do we even practice reflecting?

What do we really mean when we say reflecting?

It is easy for us to feel reflecting is a waste of our time. There are so many decisions we need to consider. We are comfortable in our ability to analyze and approach life reasonably. Why do we need to change?

Reflecting is a different way of processing and learning. We are not trying to gain control of information, not trying to master a subject. Reflecting is more about allowing a subject to master us, more about being formed than being informed.

When we reflect we are opening ourselves to the deeper, hidden truths of what we observe.

We look into a mirror or the calm surface of a lake and we see what is reflected there. Reflection gives us an opportunity to see what may have been hidden at first glance.

Like the practice of paying attention, we do not need to force ourselves to become reflective overnight. We can begin one step at a time with five minutes each day.

It is as if we are reminding ourselves what paying attention and reflecting can be like.

Practicing Paying Attention and Reflecting

Spiritual life works with us, and in the world, to encourage us to become more open.

We practice paying attention and reflecting not to become better, but to learn to be open.

There are people who are certain spiritual life is about having a firm grip on the truth. I am more and more convinced spiritual life is about being open.

Our lives are filled with deep, sacred truths. We may be too busy or too distracted to recognize the truths all around us, or within us.

As we practice paying attention and reflecting we become more open to our truths.

We cannot find the deep truths we seek through analysis alone. We may, by paying attention and reflecting, find our way closer to the truths we need.

Are we practicing paying attention and reflecting today?

How are we becoming more open to the deep truths in our lives this week?

[Image by juicyverve]

Greg Richardson is a spiritual life mentor and leadership coach in Southern California. He is a recovering attorney and university professor, and a lay Oblate with New Camaldoli Hermitage near Big Sur, California. Greg’s website is StrategicMonk.com, and his email address is [email protected].