Gathering Next Tuesday

With Special Guest Peter Bolland

The next online meeting for paid subscribers is Tuesday, July 1, 7:30pm ET. Joining us will be professor of religion and philosophy, spiritual teacher, author (The Seven Stone Path), and musician, Peter Bolland. Peter has much to share about keeping ourselves spiritually grounded and making a difference in our nutty world. I interviewed him on my podcast in April. You can listen to it here.

Again, these meetings are for paid subscribers. I'll be sending the Zoom link the day before.

Meanwhile, I find myself reminding people of the importance of regular spiritual practice, so I thought I’d paste in part of my opening remarks in Spiritual Practice for Crazy Times, which are, sad to say, as relevant now as they were when the book was published during the pandemic:

In crazy times like ours, we need prayer, meditation, mindfulness, and other practices more than ever. They are not luxury items like a vacation; they’re more akin to necessities. Think of it: When times are tough, do our bodies, minds, and souls need healing, rejuvenation, and nourishment? Do we need periods of silence to neutralize the incessant noise? Infusions of light to counter the dark energies afoot? A stabilizing anchor when the winds of rancor and rage are swirling?

Of course we do.

Yet, when I first started talking and writing about this subject, I was surprised to hear objections from people who normally placed a high value on spiritual practice. Some said they were too riled up by what’s going on in the world to center themselves with their usual rituals. Others said they were too busy trying to make a dent in our many social problems. . . .

To the first set of reasons, I said: Waiting until you’re calm and clear before you sit to meditate is like showering only when you’re clean. Thinking you’re too agitated to pray or do Yoga exercises is like believing you’re too sick to see a doctor or too tired to take a nap. We need self-protection in turbulent times even more than we usually do.

To the second set of reasons, and to the dedicated souls who are working hard to change the world, I say this: Spiritual methodologies are a boon to engaged citizenship and a blessing to our collective well-being. They’re not tranquilizers that turn practitioners into complacent blobs. They don’t make you a grinning blissball who runs around spouting platitudes about God’s will. In fact, deep spirituality can be a foundation for smart, robust action. Think of Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr., and the revered saints in every culture who were also powerful rulers, warriors, and social reformers. . . .

An overly agitated mind is prone to mistakes. If we lack a calm center, rage can turn us into blind ship captains trying to navigate in a violent storm. Ask a business leader or a police officer how he or she wants to be when swift decisions and immediate actions are demanded: frenzied and unsteady or cool and collected? Soldiers retreat to safe places to regroup and restore their strength. Athletes do the same; we call it halftime. Spiritual practice serves a similar function in an active life. It not only provides relief, it produces desirable qualities such as composure, compassion, alertness, and resilience. Over time, it can create an inner fortress—a safe haven, a vantage point for heightened awareness, and a staging ground for skillful engagement.

In short, the spiritual is practical.