Tag Archives: ancient spiritual paths
Examen of Consciousness
This is such an important practice. I hope you have a listen. When our view of God changes, our view of prayer changes. Many simply stop praying… stop having a devotional habit. But that’s just not good for our souls. Better is to go back through history and find ways of “prayer” that feed us in our newly-emerging way of thinking about God. Examen is one of those ancient ways. Continue reading
Posted in Individual Lesson
Tagged ancient spiritual paths, contemplation, examen of consciousness
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Stirring Up Gratitude: Thanksgiving 2011
Gratitude changes us. It makes us happier, healthier, and better people. In this lesson we cite both the ancient wisdom, and current double-blind studies. You’ll be convinced that gratitude will make your life better. However, it’s not easy work. It’s tough! So, we’ll talk about some practical ways to stir thankfulness in our hearts. Continue reading
Posted in Individual Lesson
Tagged ancient spiritual paths, gratitude, thankfulness, Thanksgiving
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Community Making (2)
1 Timothy 6: 7-10 [Download mp3]
Posted in The Crazy-Making Power of Money
Tagged ancient spiritual paths, community, money
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Community Making (1)
The third ancient practice that helps us defy the crazy-making power of money is community making. The link between community-making and being free of money’s crazy-making power is not immediately obvious, so it requires some background. This lesson may stretch your patience with all this background-laying, and it’s sure to offend people who are both politically Left and Right. I think it’s fascinating stuff, but even so…
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Tagged ancient spiritual paths, community, money
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The Ancient Practice of Giving (2)
Giving as a means to receiving…
Sounds like it misses the point, doesn’t it?
But that’s what we’re saying in this lesson. The proscription of the ancients to be givers has a way of rewiring our instincts; breeding humility and self-forgetfulness, and guiding us, over time, to a deep interior freedom.
It’s counter-intuitive at first, so have a listen. Continue reading
Posted in The Crazy-Making Power of Money
Tagged ancient spiritual paths, generosity, money, simplicity
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The Ancient Practice of Giving (1)
[Download mp3] I’ve heard sermons all my life about giving. It’s one of the better-known spiritual practices. However, I usually heard the sermon in pretty concrete terms. Give and you will receive… in kind. Give money, and you’ll see how … Continue reading
Posted in The Crazy-Making Power of Money
Tagged ancient spiritual paths, generosity, money, simplicity
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The Ancient Practice of Watchfulness (2)
bout 1000 years ago, the Christian Church split into the Eastern Orthodox church and the Western, Latin church. There were a lot of political squabbles behind the split (called The Great Schism), but the main reason had to do with two fundamentally different approaches to spirituality. In simplified terms, the West had a cerebral, philosophical approach to the spiritual journey, while the East had more of a heart approach.
It was a tragic divide, because we need both. It was akin to splitting the human brain into one hemisphere or the other. We need them both!
We in the West need to hear what our Eastern brothers and sisters have to say about spiritual practices… particularly abouthe spiritual discipline we introduced last week; “watchfulness of thoughts.” Continue reading
Posted in The Crazy-Making Power of Money
Tagged ancient spiritual paths, Church history, money, watchfulness of thoughts
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The Ancient Practice of Watchfulness (1)
We’re still on the lesson “Defying the Crazy-Making Power of Money,” but we’re moving now to the practices the ancients have given us to defy that crazy-making power.
Today we begin looking at the ancient discipline of “watchfulness of thoughts.” It’s the means by which we catch our thoughts before they start a chain of events that create the lives we live.
It’s not a difficult practice to do… it’s very difficult to remember to do.
Continue reading
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Tagged ancient spiritual paths, money, watchfulness of thoughts
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Defying the Crazy-Making Power of Money (3)
During these introductory lessons in our “Crazy-Money” lesson, we’ve seen sometimes amusing examples of how money-troubles are usually heart-troubles, and how money-obsessions are a portals into the condition of the soul.
Today, we finish looking at the variants of crazy that money does to us. Once we finish, we’ll turn to several ancient spiritual paths that help us move beyond the craziness. Continue reading
Posted in The Crazy-Making Power of Money
Tagged ancient spiritual paths, anxiety, fear, money
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Defying the Crazy-Making Power of Money (1)
We begin a new lesson today about how money makes us crazy… or how it reveals the crazy we already are.
If you’ve been following the news, you realize that anxiety is in the air during these economically troubled times. We’re afraid. We’re angry. We’re churning and grinding. We’re a lot of things… Peaceful and Free, not among them.
Money, it turns out, is a very spiritual subject. How we relate to it turns out to be a powerful diagnostic tool, revealing some of our deeper instincts and beliefs… about ourselves, God, the universe, and life.
Have a listen. I hope we can find peace in this economically troubled time. Continue reading
Posted in The Crazy-Making Power of Money
Tagged ancient spiritual paths, anxiety, fear, money
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