CHAPTER 1

Spirituality Is the Experience,Noticing Is the Practice

"Every day I listen to the dirt. What are you telling me? What do you need? Whatdo you want to give?"

—Dirk Gianinni, fourth-generationfarmer in Salinas, California

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Maybe I Really Am the Center of the Universe

Spirituality is a commonly used word these days, and it has many differentmeanings and perspectives. If you google "spirituality" without any furtherdefinition, you will get nearly 100 million references. Christian spiritualitybrings 5.6 million results; Sufi spirituality, 4 million; Buddhist spirituality,8 million; Hindu spirituality, 12 million; and so on. It is a topic of someinterest.

While definition and use vary, we can safely say that spirituality is somethingabout having an experience beyond ourselves, within ourselves. It is aconnection with an entity beyond our personal reality of heart, body, and mind.Whether we call this other reality God, or this "other" is some aspect of thecreation or even solitude, we seem to yearn for connection outside ourselves.

As we noted in the introduction, spirituality has not always been the purview ofthe individual. All cultures throughout time have valued some sort of spiritualexperience as part of the framework for their common life. Historically,organized religion has been the place for integrating the development of aninner life, community, and service to humankind. Most cultures would haveunderstood these as part and parcel of one another. But they are nowincreasingly segregated. Harvey Cox shares these thoughts on the increasedinterest in spirituality apart from religion:

"Spirituality" can mean a host of things, but there are three reasons why theterm is in such wide use. First, it is still a form of tacit protest. Itreflects a widespread discontent with the preshrinking of "religion,"Christianity in particular, into a package of theological propositions by thereligious corporations that box and distribute such packages. Second, itrepresents an attempt to voice the awe and wonder before the intricacy of naturethat many feel is essential to human life without stuffing them into ready-to-wearecclesiastical patterns. Third, it recognizes the increasingly porousborders between the different traditions and, like the early Christian movement,it looks more to the future than to the past.

As a spiritual and religious leader, I would add to Cox's comments. Deep in theAmerican cultural DNA is the inalienable right to pursue happiness. This is afounding principle, one of our non-negotiables. I wonder if this conviction hasevolved over time to mean that if we are not happy and personally pleased withlife, then we are being denied the right to be fully who we determine ourselvesto be. More communally minded cultures do not place the same value on personalhappiness and satisfaction that we do. Ancient spiritual practices originated inthese kinds of highly communal contexts, but the American quest seems to havedisconnected spirituality from its roots and reframed it as part of ourindividual pursuit of happiness. The conflict comes when we want a community'sspiritual offering, but do not want the accountability that being in communityusually involves.

As I write, Arianna Huffington (whose online news outlet The Huffington Posthosts some of the most important religious and social conversations in America)is working with app wonks on creating "GPS for the Soul," so that with a brushof the finger, a person can come back to his or her inner center after havingveered away. On the current website there are many ideas, personal stories, andencouraging words, not necessarily religious or connected to a divine energybeyond ourselves. They are intended to reconnect a person to "that place" withinwhere we find peace and a clear sense of self. Huffington notes her originalhope: "That one day someone would create an app that would gauge the state ofyour mind, body, and spirit, then automatically offer the exact steps you wouldneed to take to realign all three aspects of your being." I will leave thereader to ponder this next electronic solution to all of life's challenges. Butif it were just a matter of reading an idea perfectly tailored for one'sspiritual make-up to regroup the grounding of the soul, why are we stillsearching?

Our American mindset pursues happiness and we think we can buy it. Yet the mostgrounded and wise spiritual teachers and practitioners usually have the leastamount of stuff and are not typically looking up spiritual wellness on theirsmartphones. But for the average American, the practice of spirituality, in itsmost primal form, has come to mean the individual pursuit of happiness, offeeling better through various self-selected mental and physical practices, notnecessarily connected to other people, a religious tradition, or even a divinepower.

Spirituality has come to include any and all self-stylized options for apleasurable inner experience, stress-reduction, or mental clarity. It issometimes a means to an end, rather than a way of being in touch with eternalthings. More deeply, though, perhaps it is a yearning for the reintegration ofself, others, and service to humankind, or the discovery of one's purpose inlife. While extreme individualism seems philosophically ideal, it does notalways work out practically.

It is helpful to be aware of why spirituality personally interests us. What dowe hope to gain by developing the inner life? If we are not clear on thisquestion, we run the risk of perpetuating our dissatisfaction by not committingdeeply, at least for a time, to a single spiritual way or practice. Commitmentin and of itself bears the fruit of spiritual depth and inner peace. The pursuitof spirituality can, however, become like any other addiction: something wepursue for the high it delivers in a given moment.

The Spiritual Practice of Noticing

A meaningful spiritual experience that can become a spiritual practice is"noticing." It is a simple concept, I know. Yet how often do we move throughlife not noticing much at all? If we wish to move beyond a temporary goodfeeling that leads to ultimate joy despite life circumstances, we must beginwith where we find ourselves. And so the first step is to simply noticeyourself.

If you are unhappy, acknowledge it. Often in our efforts to feel better, we runto the next thing, trying to get away from the experience of feeling bad. If youare content, pay attention to that too. Noticing, elevated to the level ofspiritual practice, helps us hold still and take stock of where we are. Theearliest experiences of this practice only need to be momentary. When you areready, you can begin to sit for longer...