Ask HN: What is your spiritual practice (2022)?

Nearly everyday starts with me eating porridge with fruit and then a coffee. I then read a portion of the Bible's Old and New Testaments.

After this I pray the Lord's prayer out loud. I normally pause at hallowed be your name and give thanks to God. I generally pray for my family at give us our daily bread.

I then confess to God where I have let him and others down. I then pray for help to forgive others. I have been stuck on the same issue of forgiving one person for several years now. Funny enough I met the person for the first time in a long time today. As we talked I was aware how much my prayers had softened my attitude towards the person.

I then move to considering the temptations I will face that day and ask the Holy Spirit to help me. I often finish by telling the Father, Jesus and the Holy Spirit I love them.

When the Lord's prayer is your daily practice you learn some deep lessons about the teaching of Jesus and nature of God. You do not start with yourself as the focus. You begin with the Father and the work of his kingdom. You then move to yourself.

I say yourself but I normally pray Our Father, Our daily bread, not My Father, My daily bread. I do this to remind me I am praying along with all God's people.

After this I get washed. It will now be about 8am. It would take more posts to discuss the rest of the day.

I see everything burn in the fire of time. I cannot hold onto anything, for all that I see/feel/think is temporary. Nothing gives lasting happiness. Even the "I" that wants to reach happiness is temporary.

I give birth to thoughts I'm attached to, for I hope to find joy and happiness in them. So convinced to know who I am, I live in a prison of my tendencies.

So, life is my teacher, and living it is my spiritual practice. I'm not afraid to face all of its facts with total honesty. I'm not going to ignore anything or put aside what is painful.

When falling, would you try to grab a rope that is not attached to anything?

Most ideas, thoughts, practices, and religions are that rope. It gives you a false sense of validity, happiness, and hope.

Nothing in this life can save you, for they are burning in the fire of time too. But all can teach you about their nature which is the same as yours. So face them with total honesty.

If you face these facts and get depressed, you are still attached to your thoughts about your version of "reality." Depression is a form of resistance. It is the opposite of excitement. Both show that you are taking sides and not being totally honest.

You are the thoughts, emotions, and body. But you are also way more!

I am a Catholic first and foremost.

When it comes down to the personal philosophy, I believe that a life with a focus on longevity and capability for the purpose of helping and providing for those you love (your family and friends) is most important.

I also consider physical activity and education (either through self-learning or something more formal) under the right pretense are highly spiritual experiences and should be maintained.

I try to keep it simple: “Know thyself”. I try (and mostly fail) to practice Mindfulness all day every day. No miracles happen. It is a slow (sisyphusian ?), and mostly mundane (chemical ?) process.

My main tool is just emptying myself (plus some good books). Paradoxically, the results are not empty, otherwise I wouldn’t be doing it. It’s strangely a very empirical kind a spiritual practice.

I have a few daily practices, not scheduled for a particular time (though I want to change that in the new year)

Sometime in the morning: - Breathing exercises - Meditate 15-45 minutes - Read from A Course in Miracles (ACIM)

Sometimes I repeat the above at the end of the day, but not often. Instead I like to read spiritual texts and watch Youtube videos related to Nonduality, ACIM, and the like.