토론:영적 연습

영적 연습에 대한 새 메시지의 핵심적인 통찰

"Spiritual practice is not to transcend the world or to cavort with angels or to experience unlimited bliss. Spiritual practice is really about becoming re-engaged with Knowledge within yourself, the deeper intelligence within yourself, and to become truly engaged with the world around you and with other people. Here spiritual practice is not a form of escape. It is not a personal obsession. It is the road back to real engagement with yourself and the world. It is the road out of separation. It is the road out of isolation. It is moving your life in a true direction. It is building the necessary awareness and skills. It is developing new habits of thinking and observation. And it is giving you the strength to overcome your past tendencies, many of which you have simply adopted from the culture around you."

The Watchtower as spiritual practice

"Part of your spiritual practice is to cultivate a Watchtower, where you look at the world around you and you look at your circumstances with great objectivity—discerning any problems before they arise, discerning hazards before they come upon you, discerning the nature and intentions of people around you and whether any of them have yet discovered the power and the presence of Knowledge within themselves. This is an antidote to self-obsession and really to obsession of any kind because you cannot be paying attention to your own inner experience and the world around you and be obsessed with other things."

"The Watchtower is a spiritual practice, something you learn to do. You sit quietly and watch the world without judgment and without conclusions. You sit quietly and watch others without judgment and without conclusions, trying to feel the mental environment, listening for Knowledge as you do so. Here you listen to others. Instead of being caught up in your conversation, you listen to hear and to experience their deeper nature and their true condition at this moment. Here you are not judging them. Instead, you are discerning them. You are present to them. And if this is carried out correctly, you will learn a great deal about them in a short time. You will also feel compassion towards them; you will understand them, and you will not deny their humanity."