Cultivate Peace Daily

I am inviting you to begin a daily engagement of prayer, puja, and practicing peace. Each of these pieces represents an aspect of the spiritual life. Practicing peace is part of our self-development process. It is founded upon meditation, which is part of our self-care and cultivates our capacity for self-control. For some of us, meditation is the only spiritual discipline we engage in daily. Prayer and puja (sacred ritual) involve different sensitivities.

In our Yogic Mystery School, we are, for the first time, consciously exploring the role of prayer in our mystic, gnostic, and meditation approaches, particularly in what we call Absorption, which for us is the most profound experience of Tantra, Yoga, and the Vedas, aka samadhi, moksha. Prayer is a respectful communion with the dimension of Ultimate Reality.

Puja is powerful because it is profoundly healing. The knowledgeable use of sacred gestures (mudras) with mantras (sacred sounds) and contact with natural elements (fire, water, earth) can calm the body and mind, especially when we are deeply disturbed. Puja was indispensable to my trauma therapy process for many years, adding a component that complemented what I engaged with my therapists.

We are entering a complex phase in human history. Today, the official date of the current elections in the United States is significant. It is one of many important dates that will unfold over the weeks leading up to the power transfer. The peace and integrity of this process are not about the American people alone. Broader geopolitics have entered highly charged phases, and the likelihood of global conflict is at its highest point in our lifetime.

Politics, like religion and our personal lives, are usually intimate matters. What binds us together is the human condition. Peace is fundamental to the human condition, for without it, nothing in life can truly be enjoyed, including spiritual practices.

With all our knowledge, faith, and daily practices, we must constantly ask ourselves and seek to answer with ruthless honesty: "Am I truly at peace?" And, if we answer yes to the question, we probe further to discover whether this peace prevails throughout the day. 

Regardless of where we live, who can honestly say that our peace of mind and heart is not challenged daily, especially in these times? Peace is the foundation of all spiritual practice, perhaps the most necessary human condition. Even people who do not consider themselves religious or spiritual will agree that peace is one quality they appreciate among the spirituality the practice offers. For those who consider themselves religious or spiritual, peace is the accurate barometer of a well-lived spiritual life.

ENGAGE A DAILY PRACTICE 
CULTIVATE PEACEFULNESS