So, I went for my walk after the last entry (without my phone), came home and wrote here for over an hour, and for the second time—all my work was erased! It is March 8, and I am a bit skittish about proceeding, but I remember basically what I wanted to share a month ago after my walk. Why are we so addicted to distractions? For the long and more profound answer, read Soren Kierkegaard’s Sickness Unto Death. For the purposes of this entry, I say we are AFRAID. We are afraid to confront our self, and therefore, afraid to be alone, afraid of silence, afraid of stillness, afraid of the within. Afraid of what we may find there, within. Maybe we are that empty shell I mentioned in the last entry. Maybe we have no self of any significance.
But Jesus says, the Kingdom of God is within. And Socrates before him, know thyself. And Lao-Tzu before him, silence is the great mystery that calls us within. All the great wisdom traditions are dead set against our addiction to distractions. There can be no wisdom in distraction because there is no within in distraction. Some today will even deny there is a within for fear of what it would cost to change their life, to get a life!
Well, there is hope. As long as we have time, there is hope. Hope that a transformation may yet take place. For some, the transformation takes no time at all. Hardly any effort. They simply open their hearts, and everything starts. Infused contemplation, it used to be called. It is the nature of a genuinely open heart to be continually transformed. Behold, I make all things new, he says at the end of the Book of Revelation.
But for most of us, it will take some effort, some time, some forming of habits. Some will pray or meditate. Some will do lectio divina. Some will journal or bike or hike. Or do yoga. Myriad practices that will take us within where things will begin to happen. We will begin to “get a life!” What is the best practice of within for you? The one at hand. The one offered. The one that works, that holds your attention, that keeps you faithful to the practice. Probably a synthesis of practices will work best, but for now, START! Start with one. Don’t think, ACT! Five or ten minutes of sitting or spiritual reading or spiritual podcasts. Sitting and listening to music. Really listening. Real presence to whatever practice you choose. And don’t despise small efforts. David Swenson told us at a teacher training that some days all you will do is roll out your mat, come to the head, bow, and . . . that’s it! That’s your yoga practice for the day. Anything worth doing, says Chesterton, is worth doing poorly. Don’t get too perfectionistic, or you’ll never start. Soon I hope to have some guided meditations here on site in audio form. But there are some podcasts that offer such already. Don’t wait for me. Start!
When I was recently in New York, in typically feng shui Fecas fashion, I helped a former student set up a sacred space in his home for prayer, meditation, and “just sitting,” as the Zen tradition has it. A portion of the formal dining room seldom used, lots of light, easily dismantled if need be. But in the meantime, pillows, candles, incense, a bell, sacred objects and texts. His children are young yet. They can be taught to sit and enjoy silence and stillness. A leg up for them in the Within! There is so much Without. Imagine if we built into our home a space and time for Within! This would be a way to take back your life. To free it from distractions and the addiction to distractions. Forging new habits, new synapses in the brain. You cannot know how this will feel beforehand. But the mystics in all the wisdom traditions (some, nonreligious) bear witness in their lives to the efficacy of such practices. Green eggs and ham, folks: you have to taste it to get it. I know nothing more worth getting. Good luck. Good Lent. Love and more love