Links to Other Articles

• Gardening As Spirituality
  A book review by Adam Kirsch
  Ideally, the garden is the site where man engages nature without defeating it, an encounter Borchardt expresses as "the eternal tension between the flower and the garden. ... The order within the flower is prehuman, and governs the flower itself. The garden speaks of human modes of order, where man is master, subduer, and transformer."The key to a successful garden, he insists, is to maintain "the wealth of this tension," allowing the gardener and the garden, nature and humanity, to work in partnership.

• There's Always Time to Pray
  No time for spiritual practice? Try this one.
  By Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat
  ...you can do a spiritual practice that can be easily integrated into the daily rounds of your life. The mantra method of prayer is one such practice. A simple phrase is repeated silently as you go about your regular activities.

• Slow down, disconnect and reflect
  By JANET L. WEATHERS
  What price do we pay for embracing what Thomas Friedman calls the Age of Interruption when partial attention is all we give, and even partial attention is at risk ... Was that my cellphone?

• Just Say 'Yes' to the Moment The Chinese word for busy is 'heart-killing,' which is one reason why Tara Brach, Ph.D., a meditation instructor and clinical psychologist, believes we should all learn how to slow down. Belieftnet Interview by Lisa Schneider

• Worshippers Draw Bead on Rosaries by Mary A. Jacobs. The Dallas Morning News. A new trend: growing interest among Protestants in the rosary. From Anglicans to Lutherans and beyond, there's a growing interest in the physical connection with prayer. It's showing up on Web sites such as www.ecumenicalrosary.org  and www.christianrosary.com . The Evangelical Lutheran Church of America has on its site a "Lutheran Rosary for Lent." The rosary figures in Protestant retreats and classes focusing on prayer and contemplative practices. Publishers say they're seeing many manuscripts on the subject. See also The Anglican Rosary.

• The Path of Practice A far more useful and rewarding approach is to view practice not as an activity we do but as the path we travel on our spiritual journey. It is our way of experiencing spiritual reality. Practice is and always has been here; it is a path with no beginning and no end. We just have to step into it. And, although practice does not require that we leave the realms of reason and sense perceptions, it gives us a much broader base to operate from.

• Quantum Physics Made Fun By Diane Goldner What is it? It's "What the Bleep Do We Know?!", a film about quantum physics. Quantum physics made fun. Quantum physics made relevant. Actually, you could say it's a film about reality. Or you could say it's a film about you, and how you create your life....This physics of the 20th and 21st century has found that the seemingly solid world in which we exist is made up almost entirely of empty space. As one of the physicists says, "In fact, there is essentially nothing to matter at all." Even the particles that make up the nucleus of an atom vibrate in and out of existence. As one of the founders of quantum physics once put it: "Atoms are not things, they are only tendencies."

• Ask the Swami: Detachment for Overachievers By Swami B.V. Tripurari In the Bhagavad Gita, Krishna says that we should do our duty but not be attached to the results. In our own duties or studies, it is difficult to see how we could work if we didn't care for the results of our work.

• Taking Spiritual Transformation Seriously: High Holy Day Workbook This workbook serves as an aid in the process of teshuvah (repentance or returning to our highest selves). The great message of these High Holy Days is that change is possible—we are not stuck That’s why we in the Jewish Renewal community celebrate these holidays with great joy—because we recognize that the ultimate Power of the universe is YHVH, the Force of Healing and Transformation, the God that makes it possible for us to overcome our own stuck places and come back to our highest selves.

• High Holy Days on the Net Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur are the most important of all Jewish Holidays and the only holidays that are purely religious, as they are not related to any historical or natural event.

• Being Peace Audio meditations by Thich Nhat Hanh Short enough to use on the job: Calm Waters (3:22) - Using the metaphor of a mountain lake, this meditation focuses on calming turbulent feelings. A Breathing Exercise (3:11) - How simple attention to breath enhances our awareness and enjoyment of the present moment.

• Opening the Heart Take some time to join Sharon Salzberg in a seven-minute lovingkindness meditation that will open your heart and calm your mind.

• A Guide for the Stressed-Out Soul Spiritual 'first aid' can help you get centered--anytime, anywhere. ...Can you tell the difference between a weekday and the weekend? And if you can’t—if you’re not sure what day it is, you’re stressed out.

• The Path of Practice Practice has always been the heart and soul of the world's religions, and it is also the distinguishing characteristic of today's less organized spirituality movements. It can be something as simple as lighting a candle or a ritual as complex as a Native American vision quest. It can involve the spontaneity of a Christian's flash prayers in the street or the rigorous structure of a Muslim's five-times-a-day prayer. It is Africans and Sufis expressing their yearning for God through dance, Jews studying the Torah, Buddhists doing mindfulness meditation, and Hindus looking for divine signs in common objects.

• Restoring Spirituality To Music — And Life By  Seth Rogovoy. Forward. NY "For me, writing music generally tends to be something of a sacred experience," said Asia, who is a lay-leader of a small, Conservative minyan in Tucson. "Those of us of a religious nature know that when you're 'in the zone' artistically you're doing something that's not just you. As a religious person I call that a religious experience. I don't know what non-religious people call that; maybe they don't want to make that connection."

• Zen In Motion The Japanese have an expression – ‘dusting out the joints’ – breaking down the calcium deposits between your bones. And aikido does that very well. It’s also a great way to process stress. Practising aikido also teaches you to control your ego and, since co-operation is necessary, work for the common good. Eventually, you become the same person both on and off the practice mat.....

• Spiritual coffee breaks help revive the soul By Sharon Harvey Rosenberg From Torah to yoga classes, professionals make time for quiet contemplation. Throughout South Florida, an increasing number of professionals are tapping into a deep well of spiritual, meditative and religious rituals to cope with the every day pressures of work and life.

• Carving Out a Sacred Space in the Home Families use icons and shrines as focal points for prayer and meditation. 

• The Nature of Faith By Caroline Myss. Explores the nature of faith and offers seven steps to developing your own inner strength.

• Scrapbooking as spiritual practice As its popularity has grown, scrapbooking has been adopted by members of other faith groups and is sometimes referred to as "faithbooking" - the chronicling of "the fingerprints of God" in people's lives through photographs and Scripture. 

• Be Still, And Know That I Am God:  Concert Halls Rediscover the Sacred Three popular composers are reuniting classical music with contemplative spirituality. By Martha Ainsworth. The popularity of John Tavener of England, Arvo Pärt of Estonia, and Henryk Górecki of Poland is interesting because they reject values typically associated with contemporary classical music.... “Holy minimalism” (a term none of the three care for) is to music what contemplative spirituality is to prayer. To most of us, prayer involves addressing our words to God; but to the contemplative, prayer means listening in receptive silence.

• Finding Comfort Amidst Chaos By Pema Chödrön. If we spend our lives seeking pleasure and resisting pain and uncertainty, we miss the wonders of the present moment. Inspired by the Buddhist tradition of the 108-day retreat, Pema Chodron's latest book is a collection of teachings, each of which is meant for individual reflection..... instead of looking for fruition, we could just try to stay with our open heart and open mind. This is very much oriented to the present. By entering into this kind of unconditional relationship with ourselves, we can begin to connect with the awake quality that we already have.... [read more]

• Embodied Prayer Prayer can involve our bodies as much as our minds, as we communicate with God; bless, honor, and petition God; rage in the presence of God; and show our devotion. We can show and express with our bodies what we say and express with our minds.

• Spirituality on a String A history of prayer beads in world religions.By Maggie Oman Shannon and Eleanor Wiley. Traditionally, prayer beads have consisted of strings of similarly sized beads, seeds, knots, or even rose petals and beads made from crushed roses, from which we get the word "rosary." The Sanskrit term japa-mala means "muttering chaplet," which refers to prayer beads' function as a means of recording the number of prayers muttered. Since counting prayers was initially so important, each religion embracing the use of prayer beads developed its own symbolic structure to follow.

• Praying Bead by Bead How to incorporate prayer beads into your spiritual practice. By Maggie Oman Shannon and Eleanor Wiley. Use prayer beads to: Begin a new day, Walk in the present moment, Ground your practice, End the day, Battle addictions, Celebrate achievements

• A Guide to the Mystical Path: Teachings from the early Christian monks for the modern mystic. By John Anthony McGuckin. The earliest writers tended to divide their spiritual teachings into three basic categories, suitable for the stages of the first searchers, young monks of several years' standing, and finally, the more advanced. The instructions were usually arranged as short paragraphs, meant to be learned by heart and meditated on over and over again for a day or even a week until the paragraph had opened like a fruit on the tongue of the monk and revealed its inner flavor to the searching mind. The same practice was adopted in regard to phrases from the Scriptures, especially the Psalms.

• Religious Discrimination: Keeping the Faith at Work Lawsuits charging religious discrimination on the job are on the rise -- but courts are uneven in praising them. Find out why.

• Process of Spiritual Growth Directions for spiritual practices toward personal spiritual growth.

• Dashing Through the Snow With all our rushing about, what happened to the season to be jolly? 'Tis the season to be uptight. The season to be hurried. And for too many, the season to be worried. Here are some steps to follow if your find yourself dashing through the snow and in need of inner peace...

• Tenets in Common: Virtue-Mastery at Work Many wisdom and faith traditions share core tenets.... Even if you shudder at the thought of spirituality at work, many of these "Golden Rules," stripped of their pigeonholing as strictly spiritual thoughts, can be applied as interpersonal mastery practices.

• On Spiritual Disciplines at Work by Erna Dennis, LPCC. Excerpted from an address by Gregory F. Augustine Pierce, co-publisher of ACTA Publications.

• How To Develop a Spiritual Journal Description of one spiritual practice.