How to choose the spiritual practice that works for me?
There is infinite choice of spiritual practice out there, with meditation, yoga, sound healing, voice therapy, massage etc. Gone are the days when we were limited to whatever the wise sage of the village was bringing forth.
What should we be looking for when choosing a spiritual practice? Could all spiritual practices lead to enlightenment?
The Openhand Way strikes me as something I can apply to all of life and to every practice. I already find my self applying the philosophy and way to a lot of things I do (such as walking, meditation, exercise, dealing with people). It feels like Openhand fills in missing pieces of the other practices I do (like yoga and chi gung). It feels like it takes these things I already do further, deeper.
Angel
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Formless form
I’m glad the Openhand approach works for you Angel.
There are many great spiritual practices available out there and it seems there are many new ones springing up all the time. For me, the key is to realise that for each of us there is a unique pathway and whilst these practices may provide a good basis from which to begin, they are strongest when viewed more as doorways into our own direct self experience.
I know that when I began developing Openhand, I may well have been guilty on occasions of trying to encourage people to take up the new practice rather than encouraging them to develop their own pathway. When I realised this, I found a way of evolving the practice and philosophy to make it much more open so that it will work with all approaches.
So really I believe the key is to follow whatever practice you are pulled to but be careful it doesn’t become a doctrine which tends to take us back out of direct experience. Instead allow for infinite fluidity arising out of the moment and continually follow the inner pull to act which your practice inspires.
I remember one time when I was staying on a reservation in Taos New Mexico, I awoke early one morning and felt a pull to meditate in a dried up river bed just as the sun was coming up. I began with the particular Openhand meditative form I had over the years developed. However after about 10 minutes, I felt an overwhelming pull to stand up and was guided into free flowing spontaneous movements. It was profoundly moving taking me into direct attunement with my soul. Consequently I felt a powerful expansion of consciousness...
“Conditioned behaviour patterns limit people,
the fluid truth of the moment solidifies forming
doctrines, actions that are inflexible.
But if you do not have such doctrines,
then the formlessness of universal consciousness
can flow through you like a fast flowing mountain stream,
continually shaping the best path back to the ocean.
In this way formlessness expresses itself through form
yielding authentic action moment by moment.
Doctrines imprison men, 'formless form' on the other hand
liberates us to experience continual human evolution.â€Â
Openhand
So my advice would be to go with the flow!
Chris
Spontaneity and attuning to the soul
Chris wrote: ".....allow for infinite fluidity arising out of the moment and continually follow the inner pull to act which your practice inspires. "
I love this
Where Openhand works best for me is that it has encouraged spontaneity of my actions letting the energy go where it is meant to rather than where I force it to (after years of regimental practice of different forms!)
Free flowing spontaneous movements make perfect sense. This happens when I find myself dancing and free styling spontaneously in the garden or house. It feels like Spirit knows just what my body needs at that time to rebalance me and guides the movements accordingly. It feels divine when I'm completely in the flow. I'd never fully considered that absolute authentic spontaneity allows encourages attunement to the soul. Powerful!
Thank you for the words of encouragement.
Angel