How to be Mindful of the Spirits of Others

The first fundamental exercise is practicing being mindful of our own spirit. The skill we develop from practicing it helps us with the second fundamental exercise: being mindful of the spirits of others.

Purpose

The purpose of this fundamental exercise is to simply connect with others, spirit-to-spirit, with complete openness, full acceptance, and kind curiosity. It's to turn our attention to the spirits of others and calmly hold it there with no expectations of outcomes.

Benefits

This exercise affirms, heals, and strengthens our own spirit, the spirits of others, and our relationships. These benefits increase as we do this exercise on a regular basis over time.

Resources

As with the first fundamental exercise, we need nothing special to do this exercise. We do not have to do this exercise at a predetermined time. We can do it anytime we choose. We do not have to go to or create a special place. We can do this exercise anywhere we choose. We do not have to learn to sit a special way or do anything out of the ordinary with our legs, hands, or posture. Any posture is fine. There is nothing to buy- no books, special clothing, jewelry, images, or paraphernalia. We already have everything we need to do this exercise.

What to Do

As with the first exercise, remember, in thumotic spirituality we understand spirit in terms of the Ancient Greek concept of thumos. Our thumos, our spirit, is quasi-physical. It is located in the center of our chest, behind our breast bone and between our breasts. We often call it our heart. 

Start by focussing your attention there, in your heart. That's where your spirit resides. Become aware of your own spirit before connecting spirit-to-spirit with another.

Smile and breathe into your heart. When you breathe out smile and imagine, think about, and feel your heart opening and your spirit reaching out to the one with whom you want to connect.

When you breathe in let your spirit stay connected with the other and attend to the connection of your two spirits. Let information from the other flow in. If the other chooses not to connect, that's okay. This is not about forcing unwelcome connections.

When you do connect, form no opinions, just be together, connected, spirit-to-spirit. Take note of but let thoughts, mental images, physical sensations, and emotions come, stay awhile and go. 

Continue for as long as feels right.

Some Spirit-to-Spirit Connections to Play With

Now that you know how  to connect spirit-to-spirit with others, here are some suggestions for things to try. 

Entertain the idea that everything that moves is spirited and alive. Physicists have been reporting for quite some time that everything is in constant motion. Everything is moving. Take that one more step: everything is spirited, alive.

Try connecting spirit-to-spirit with others besides humans. If you have pets, try connecting with them. Try connecting with plants in your home and outside. Try connecting with trees. Hugging is optional.

Find an interesting rock or gem stone and connect with it. Be open to whatever you experience. It's okay if you experience nothing interesting at all.

Experiment with connecting with a stream, creek, river, waterfall, lake, or ocean.

Try connecting with the wind you feel on your face and in your hair.

Mountains, valleys and other land forms can also be interesting to connect with.

Finally, try to connect with Sun and Moon. 

What do you experience? How do they feel to you? How does it feel to connect spirit-to-spirit? What did you learn? 

Add practicing this fundamental exercise to your day, develop you skill, and see where it takes you.

In upcoming posts, I'll share additional practices to try. 

How to be Mindful of Our Own Spirit

Purpose

The purpose of this fundamental exercise is to simply be with our own spirit with complete openness, full acceptance, and kind curiosity. It's to turn our attention to our own spirit and calmly hold it there with no expectations of outcomes.

Benefits

This exercise affirms, heals, and strengthens our spirit. These benefits increase as we do this exercise on a regular basis over time. 

Resources Needed

We need nothing special to do this exercise. We do not have to do this exercise at a predetermined time. We can do it anytime we choose. We do not have to go to or create a special place. We can do this exercise anywhere we choose. We do not have to learn to sit a special way or do anything out of the ordinary with our legs, hands, or posture. Any posture is fine. There is nothing to buy- no books, special clothing, jewelry, images, or paraphernalia. We already have everything we need to do this exercise. 

What to Do

Remember, in thumotic spirituality we understand spirit in terms of the Ancient Greek concept of thumos. Our thumos, spirit, is quasi-physical. It is located in the center of our chest, behind our breast bone and between our breasts. We often call it our heart. 

Focus your attention there, in the center of your chest, your heart. That's where your spirit resides.

If it helps to close your eyes, close them.

If it helps to put one or both hands over your heart, do so.

If it helps, imagine breathing into and out of your heart when you inhale and exhale.

If your mind wanders to other things, simply return your attention to your heart.

Be aware of your heart beat. You might or might not feel increased warmth in your heart. Either is fine.

Take note of the thoughts, mental images, physical sensations, and emotions as they come and go. They might express the life-affirming desires of your heart. But let them come and let them go.

Continue for as long as feels right to you.

When you stop, try setting your intention to take mindfulness of spirit breaks periodically throughout the day.

It's that simple.

In my next post I will describe how to be mindful of the spirits of others.

Basic Spiritual Exercises: An Introduction

Practicing basic spiritual exercises is to living what practicing scales is to making music. Just as practicing scales improves our ability to make music, practicing basic spiritual exercises improves our ability to create the art of spirit-centered lives.

While practicing scales is more like preparing to make music than actually making music, practicing basic spiritual exercises is not preparing for spirit-centered living. It is spirit-centered living.

The basic exercises I share with you are those that are helpful to me. If they're not for everybody, that's okay. Anyone can experiment and create practices that help themselves.

The two fundamental exercises are-

Mindfulness of our own spirit

Mindfulness of the spirit of others

In my next post I will present directions on how to be mindful of our own spirit. 

On Spiritual Practices

In the Context of Religion

In the context of religion and spirituality (individual religion) spiritual practices are practical actions in which we engage in order to express our faith.  In my opinion, they are more accurately called religious practices.

Religious practices, corporate and individual, include but are not limited to prayer, attending to sacred writings, devotional reading, following a moral code, confessing one's failures, purifications, making promises to do better, study, meditation, contemplation, dressing a certain way, fasting, vigils, gazing at sacred images, pilgrimage, giving to the poor, humility, obedience to authority, poverty, celibacy. chanting, physical exercise, mantra, and attending corporate rituals.

In the Context of Thumotics

In the context of Thumotics "spirit" is clearly defined as "that which makes alive" and "spiritual" is clearly defined as "of, about, or related to spirit." So, spiritual practices are practical actions in which we engage for the good of our own spirit and that of others.

Rather than being focused on expressing one's beliefs by one's actions, in the context of Thumotics, spiritual practices are spirit-focused; that is, they are focused on the goal of mastering one's own spirit.

The core thumotic spiritual practice is being mindful of one's own spirit and that of others. Only by being mindful of our own spirit and that of others can we know, love, and take good care of that which makes alive.

Other spiritual practices include but are not limited to calming, lifting, expanding, contracting, introverting, extroverting, hardening, softening, and strengthening one's own spirit. 

Directing one's spirit to invest it in thinking, speaking, writing, being mindful of other things, physical action, and loving are also spiritual practices as is affecting the spirits of others.

Put briefly, in the context of Thumotics spiritual practices are about the ability to change one's spirit from one condition to another.

On Spiritual Discipline

Discipline: From Learning to Punishment 

At some point in Western civilization the meaning of discipline was revised. It came to mean punishment rather than learning. To discipline someone meant to punish the person for failing at what he or she was supposed to do according to those in positions of power. Such punishment was considered an effective method of teaching; if not for the person punished, then for those who witnessed it.

Discipline in the Context of Christianity

In the context of Christianity, spiritual discipline was reduced to punishment in order to correct sinful behavior. It included such things as saying so many Hail Mary's and Our Father's. In some cases in involved fasting or giving alms. In serious cases some engaged in self flagellation. In extreme cases it involved temporary or permanent shunning from the fellowship of believers or exclusion from receiving the sacrament of the Eucharist.

The purpose of such discipline was to enforce faithfulness and obedience to the church, the faith, the clergy, and God.

Discipline in the Context of Thumotics

In the context of Thumotics, spiritual discipline has nothing to do with punishment and has everything to do with learning.

Rather than focusing on and punishing behavior at odds with religious doctrine, it focuses on one's own spirit and has to do with learning specific spirit-related skills.

Spiritual discipline is about exercising one's own spirit and training oneself to master one's own spirit. It's about developing spirit-related intelligence.

The specific exercises of spiritual discipline are called spiritual practices, the subject of my next blog post.