From Ask Surya on surya.org
By Lama Surya Das
Q: What advice would you give people who want to connect with their
spiritual lives but don’t know where to begin?
There’s an old saying, “The path begins right beneath our feet.” It doesn’t
mean we have to look down; it means we have to attend, to pay attention to
where we are and what we’re looking for in life. It means we should look
into ourselves and at our motivations, and raise our sights, spiritually
speaking, and try to connect with the bigger picture. We can begin to do
this in any number of ways: by slowing down a little, by simplifying our
lives, by taking a vacation or sabbatical, or by devoting half an hour every
day to our true selves – our transcendent selves. Making time in daily life
for personal prayer, journal writing, or meditation allows us to connect
with the sacred right here in our own life. Because if it’s not here, it’s
nowhere. The Good Book says, “The Kingdom of heaven is within.” And Buddhism
says nirvana can be found in the here-and-now. So, we have to begin right
where we are, and that’s the good news. The bad news is that it’s so obvious
and close to us that we might overlook it. Attention is the essence of the
matter – attention and openness.
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