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Sadhana – A Spiritual Practice for Life
by Mastin Kipp

 
Editor's Note from David Arenson: What's your spiritual practice or sadhan? Founder of The Daily Love blog, Mastin Kipp shares awesome insights with our readers, as usual.

We don't need to be defined by outer circumstances. Kipp offers tips on how to mould our experience so that that which we perceive becomes greater, our outer world can start to match our inner world. Without a spiritual practice, we can easily lose ourselves.

Sadhana is the Sanskrit word that means "spiritual practice". The goal of the spiritual practice is to calm the mind and bring less attachment to the outside comings and goings of life.

Living with a sense of detachment is KEY to living a spiritual life.

This doesn't mean we don't care, or we are apathetic. It means that we know that life and crazy stuff happens, but it doesn't define us. It means that no matter what happens "out there" we are not affected "in here".

A sadhana practice can be a simple 5, 10 or 20-minute morning and/or evening meditation. Or you could chant a mantra or even go for a walk. The idea is to have a practice that calms the mind and brings more awareness to the breath and to the Divinity in your life. When we have less attachment to the outside world and the circumstances thereof, we are more powerful creators and co-creators of our life.

We are no longer defined on an experiential level by our circumstances, so we can begin to mold our outer world to match our inner world, instead of the other way around. Without a spiritual practice every day we can become lost and so attached to what happens that we get lost in the world.

The great spiritual teacher Jiddu Krishnamurti was once asked the key to his happiness, to which he said, "I don't mind how it goes."

This is a POWERFUL statement. This is the essence of LOVE. Our definition of LOVE here at TDL is "unconditional acceptance of what is". Note, I did NOT say unconditional TOLERATION of what is. There's a difference. We do not and should not tolerate hateful behavior. But we are powerless to change anything without first accepting it.

So, with our spiritual practice we can accept what happens in the outside world without it needing to define who we are. And in doing so, we start to cultivate a POWERFUL perspective that will allow us to transcend our circumstances and truly give our gifts to the world.

What's your spiritual practice or sadhan?

Love,
Mastin
P.S. Please enjoy the quotes below and feel free to visit my blog for more - The Daily Love.

"When you have an emotional reaction to what you see, you are judging. That is your signal that you have an issue inside of yourself - with yourself - not with the other person. If you react to evil, look inside yourself for the very thing that so agitates you, and you will find it. If it were not there, you will simply discern, act appropriately, and move on." 

- Gary Zukav, page 157 from his book "Soul to Soul". Zukav is a best-selling inspirational author and a former Green Beret during the war in Vietnam.

"According to A Course in Miracles, there are only two basic emotions: one is fear, the other is love. You may fear the disapproval of others. Take that risk and you'll discover that you receive more approval when you don't seek it than when you do. You may fear the unknown. Take that risk as well. Wander in there, asking yourself, "What is the worst thing that can happen if this doesn't work out?" The truth is that you will just move beyond it. You're not going to starve to death or be tortured if it doesn't work out... Fear knocked at the door. Love answered and no one was there."

~ Wayne Dyer, page 29 from his book "10 Secrets for Success and Inner Peace."