I am very blessed to live in the household where I live, and have the husband that I have. My husband and I are both lovers of spiritual writings, and together we possess a magnificent library of spiritual books from all religious traditions. With such a treasure I feel like what a jewel thief would feel like if he were lot loose at Tiffany's Jewelry Store in New York City--very fortunate

Through my readings in a wide variety of spiritual traditions, I have come to see that the differences between them are rather small and what they share in common rather huge. Every spiritual tradition has its mythologies, with creation myths, and stories which teach morality and right conduct. They also have a God or gods to whom love and devotion are encouraged. It is through the feeling of love for the deity that the individual is raised beyond the ego, deepened and purified. In the Hindu tradition this devotional spirituality is called Bhakti Yoga. People who feel this depth of love for the deity often say that they feel as though they are in direct communication with that deity. Whatever they pray for manifests for them. When my devotion is deep, I myself have this feeling, as though I have a direct telephone line to God, or the Divine Mother, who cares for and loves me just as a parent loves and cares for a child.

The deity also serves as inspiration and role model, as the devotee strives to develop the qualities of the divine loved one within himself. In many mystical traditions, the devotee comes to learn that there is no separation between the deity and himself. The God whom he worships outside of himself is actually the very Self in the center of his own being. The devotee comes to learn that God, the guru, the teacher and the Self are all one, and the best way to access the teachings of the divine is to look within.

Many spiritual traditions also stress the importance of being a part of a spiritual community or sangha. The Buddha taught that there were three jewels that were the basis of Buddhism: the Buddha, the Dharma and the Sangha. The sangha is a community of like-minded individuals who come together to support one another on their spiritual paths. The Buddha believed that no man is an island, that all people are dependent upon other people for their lives and their sustenance, and beyond that we are all dependent on nature, the sun, stars, trees, food, minerals, etc. for our survival. We are inseparable from the commmunity of beings. We should pray for everyone in the world to heal from suffering and support each other with love on our various paths in life. The church, temple, synagaogue, ashram are all holding containers for this spiritual community.

Beyond all this, which is magnificent in itself, the various spiritual traditions teach us how to purify our thoughts and quiet down the chatter of the mind. If this is the only thing we learn from spirituality, it is sufficient to make it the greatest teaching on earth. At the center of all religious traditions is the mystical core. The essential teaching of the mystical traditions is imparting tools for quieting down the chatter of the mind or ego. The purpose of doing this spiritually is to hear the voice of God within oneself, or more precisely to become one with God, or even more precisely to realize that we were never separate from God. The individual ego is like a bubble on the surface of the ocean. That bubble, forgetting that it is really a part of the great ocean, thinks it is separate, and labors under feelings of separateness and isolation. All the bubble needs to do is realize that he himself is the ocean. This is the same with human beings. All we need to do is dissolve the ego bubble, which is nothing but our thoughts of separateness and become one with the ocean of the divine.

Meditation is the most important tool for dissolving the separateness and quieting down the inner dialogue. In meditation the individual sits quietly on the floor or in a straight-back chair, and looks inward at him or herself. As she attempts to quiet down the thoughts that arise, she starts to become self aware. Rather than being wrapped up in her thoughts, she becomes aware of herself as the thinker. She is now one step removed from those thoughts. She comes to realize that she is not her thoughts, that the thoughts arise of themselves, stimulated by some haphazard association. She comes to see that her mind is out of her control. She is now looking for moments of inner quiet and to enlarge the quiet spaces between the thoughts. Why does she want to do this? Because she experiences in those quiet spaces a feeling of calmness and inner peace, and even happiness.

She now has a desire to deepen her meditation practice and to gain control of her mind. She or he starts to learn meditation tools that have been taught by all spiritual tradition to help accomplish this. Some of these techniques are: watching the breath, also known as Pranayama in the Hindu tradition. Even a simple exercise like counting the breaths in the fashion of inhaling to the count of five, holding the breath to the count of five and exhaling to the count of five can be very effective at helping control the mind.

Another important meditation technique is the use of mantras. A mantra is a religious phrase, often containing the name of a divinity in it, which is repeated over and over again, like a continuous inner prayer. The mantra helps to control the mind by focusing it in on this phrase. Also since the phrase often has spiritual significance, it helps to remind the meditator of his spiritual practice and keeps him or her focused on the divinity. An aid to the use of the mantra is holding a mala, which is a string of beads, or rosary. The mantra helps to ground the mind, and counting the beads on the necklace as one chants one's mantra helps to ground one to the mantra.

All religious traditions employ mantras, and here are some examples of mantras from various traditions: From the jewish tradition: Shema, Yisroel, Adonai Eloheinu Adonai Echad. Here oh Israel, the lord our god, the lord is one. From the Hindu tradition there is the very famous Gayatri Mantra. Om Bhur Bhuva Svaha, Tat Savitur Varenyam, Bargo Devasya Dimahi, Dhyo Yonha Pracho Dayat. Earth, Midworld, Heaven, let us meditate on that most excellent light of the Divine Sun that it may illuminate our minds. A simpler Hindu mantra is So Hum, inhaling So exhaling Hum, meaning I am That. From the Christian tradition: Lord Jesus Christ Have Mercy on Me, and Hail Mary Full of Grace, the Lord is With Thee, Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. Holy Mary Mother of God, Pray for us Sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen. From the Tibetan tradition: Om Ah Hum Ah La La Ho, and Om Mane Padme Hum. From the Moslem tradition: Allah hoo.

Another very valuable meditation technique is Mindfulness Meditation. The Vietnamese Monk Thich Nhat Hanh is a famous teacher of this technique, also known as Vipassana Meditation. Here one practices mindfulness, or being completely aware and present in all activities that one undertakes. When one is eating one is aware of the teeth chewing the food, and says to oneself in the act of chewing, "Body chewing food in awareness." By being aware of oneself and not performing these actions automatically, one becomes fully engaged in the present moment, which is one of the primary goals of spiritual practice--living in the present. I regard this as one of the signs of good health, not dwelling on thoughts of the past, nor having anxiety about the future, but living wholly in the present moment.

It is very important to practice mindfulness when engaged in relationship with other people. Thich Nhat Hanh teaches that the most important thing you can do to show the person you are with that you love them is to be fully present and available to them. This means that when your partner talks to you, your thoughts are not wandering off to the bills you have to pay, but that you are actively listening to what they have to say. This being present and available is the best way you can show your love to anyone you are with.

I am including this article on spirituality in this newsletter on homeopathy, because I believe that it is not possible to separate physical and emotional health from spiritual health. They all go together, and by exploring your own spiritual tradition you may learn a lot about what it means to be spiritually healthy and learn time-tested techniques that can help you achieve your goal of wholeness and health.

Spring 2003