How To?

1

  Experiment: The Structure of Experience

1

PART I: THE BIG PICTURE

1.

Why Investigate Spirituality?

6

-

Starting Practice

9

2.

A Rough Map of the Work

11

-

How is it going?

14

3.

The Practice of Gratitude

15

  Getting started

16

  Gratitude in place of clinging

17

  Blessings aren't always in disguise

17

  Gratitude and values

17

4.

Spirituality in Action: An Example

19

5.

What, Why, and How

25

  Just What is Spirituality?

25

  Behavior

28

  Why Follow a Spiritual Path?

29

  How to Develop a Spiritual Life

31

6.

Spirit

38

   Experiments in perceiving spirit

39

  Guided Meditation: A Peaceful Place

39

  Contemplation: the feeling behind reading

40

  Guided Meditation: Interconnection

40

  Giving

42

   Well-being

42

7.

Spiritual Thought

43

 Viewpoint

43

 Beliefs

45

 Understanding

46

8.

Spirituality versus Reason

49

 Universality test

53

-

Miracles

57

9.

The Practice of Embracing

64

 Embracing and satisfaction

65

  To Do: Mindfulness

69

  To Do: Embracing pain

69

 Embracing resistance

70

 Embracing desire

70

 Effects of embracing

72

10.

The Practice of Meditation

77

 Training the attention and mapping the internal topography

78

  To Do: Counting breaths

78

  To Do: Noting perceptions meditation

79

  To Do: Noting thoughts and perceptions meditation

79

 Star Wars versus the Garden

81

 Cross-level learning

83

  To Do: Try Regular Meditation

84

PART II: LETTING VALUES GUIDE BEHAVIOR

11.

We're Born with Values

87

  To Do: Articulating Values

89

12.

Human Topography

93

  The Source of Values

93

  Emotions

95

  Experiment on the Components of Emotions

95

  Exploring Emotions

98

  The structure of emotion

98

  Inner versus outer divinity

99

  Domains

101

  To Do: Inside or Out

104

  Where Meaning Comes From

104

  Mapping thought structures

105

13.

War

108

14.

There May Not Be a God, But There is Definitely a Choice

112

  Investigating Will

114

  What I want guiding me

115

15.

The Practice of Prayer

116

  Praying for someone you resent

117

  To Do: Experiment in praying for someone else

119

  Praying with another person

119

  Prayer versus petition

120

  What you pray to

120

  Getting started

120

16.

Beings and Devices

122

17.

Consciousness and Awareness

127

  The relationship of conscious to unconscious

129

  Exploring the unconscious

132

  Remember your dreams

132

  Listen to your feelings

133

  A Journal of feelings

133

  Attending without controlling

133

  Choice, control, and the unconscious

133

18.

Examining the Old Way

136

19.

Theorems

138

  Giving it away increases it

138

  Using it increases it

138

  Harmony is satisfying

139

  Letting it go lets it grow

140

  Spiritually sound outcomes are win-win

141

  Mistakes will masquerade as truth

142

  Some problems can be prevented, but not solved, ethically

143

  Thought is creative

144

  Spirit is indestructible

145

  Grace is always available

146

  Deeds shape the doer

147

20.

Faith, Lack of

148

21.

Power

150

22.

Spirituality and Conflict

155

  Remembering the spiritual viewpoint

157

  Exploring Criticism Experiment

158

-

Win-win

160

23.

Beliefs

161

24.

Spirituality versus Religion

162

  Why we adopt religion uncritically

163

  Difficulties and abuses

165

  To Do: For those who believe in God

169

  Translating religious jargon into spiritual ideas

169

  To Do: Review old ideas

170

25.

Evil

171

  "Some People Don't Deserve Good Treatment"

171

  To Do: Pin down what you mean by evil

172

  Taking it personally

174

26.

Fear

177

  To Do: Taming fear

178

  Divine versus human authority

179

  Experiments with fear

181

  Unwitting allegiance to human authority

181

27.

Spirituality versus Psychology

184

28.

Coping, Healing and Indulging

188

  The relationship of spiritual practice to emotional healing

194

  Therapeutic approaches

196

29.

Spiritually-Based Healing

199

  Wholeness

199

  Integrity

203

  How spiritually-based healing differs from materially-based healing

204

  Doing consciously what one would otherwise do unconsciously

209

  Healing is hard but divinely supported

210

  Getting started

211

  Scanning the past

211

  Tell a friend

211

  Vent

211

  Alternating bilateral stimulation

211

  Controlling the attention

212

  Live as you wish to

212

  Say "I love you."

212

  Talk to feelings

212

  Make up a story

213

  Enjoy!

213

30.

Symbols

214

31.

Obstacles to healing

217

  Coping as an obstacle to healing

218

  Co-optation

220

  Spiritual Materialism

222

32.

Commitment?

225

  To Do: Relinquish Material Means

225

  Decide whether to commit

225

33.

Gentle Lessons

228

34.

Surrendering Obstacles

230

  List Obstacles

233

35.

The Practice of Correcting Mistakes

236

  To Do: Repairs

238

  Daily Review

239

  To Do: Nightly Review

240

36.

Attachment

243

  Sometimes It's Given and Sometimes It's Not

246

37.

The Practice of Letting Go

248

  Cross-level Learning

249

  T o Do: Start where you're motivated

250

  T o Do: Letting go of the breath

250

  Letting Go of Judgment

251

  To Do: Letting go of judgment

251

  To Do: I statements

252

  To Do: Replace judgment with statement of needs

252

  Letting Go, Pushing Away, Holding On, Embracing

253

38.

Be Where Now?

256

  To Do: It's 10 o'clock. Do you know where your attention is?

259

  To Do: Do it consciously

259

39.

Compassion and Devotion as Practices

260

  Compassion

260

  To Do: Contemplation of compassion

262

  To Do: Guided meditation on compassion

262

  To Do: Compassion in daily life

263

  Devotion

264

  To Do: Experiment with devotion

265

PART III: WITNESSING CREATION

40.

The Source of Experience

268

  To Do: Meditation on the innermost request

269

41.

I am the Seeker. I am the Sought.

270

  To Do: Who am I?

272

42.

The Dream Called Life

274

  To Do: Meditation on nothing

279

PART IV: FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

43.

Visions

281

44.

Popular Notions

284

  Abundance

284

  Acceptance

284

  Anger

287

  Atheism

288

  Attraction, Law of

288

  Chanting, drumming, dancing

289

  Co-dependence

290

  Commandments and Precepts

292

  Confession and Penance

293

  Control

293

  Creating what you fear

293

  Denial

294

  Desire

295

  Drugs

295

  Duty

296

  Ego

297

  Enlightenment, Nirvana

297

  Equanimity and stoicism

299

  Forgiveness

299

  Giving

302

  Goddesses and Gods

302

  Gossip, slander, and lies

303

  Guidance

303

  Heaven and Hell

306

  Honesty

307

  Inferior People

307

  Joy

308

  Judging

308

  Karma

309

  Killing animals and plants

310

  Life after death

311

  Love

312

  Mercy

312

  Mystery

312

  Needs

313

  Paranormal

314

  Preaching

314

  Punishment

315

  Reincarnation

315

  Sacrifice and courage

316

  Self Esteem

318

  Service

318

  Sex

319

  Sin

319

  Sloth

320

  Soul

321

  Suffering

321

  Transpersonal Forces

323

  Truth

323

  Visualizing the Positive

325

SUMMARY

45.

Meditation and World Peace

327

Index

329