Having a practice has become part of my lifestyle. But does that make me more conscious? I’m not sure it does, but then, I’m not sure it doesn’t. I found myself contemplating this the other day.
What I mean is, does having a practice become an excuse for not really “working” at other times during the day?
The Practice of Ablutions
An example of this is my practice of ablutions in the morning. Yes, it is a ritual that needs to be remembered to be perform, but it can also become a mechanical performance. And after that initial shock of cold water, what remains? Do ablutions carry a reminding factor forward? Or do they go to feed my ego, “What a good girl am I, now that I’ve done my ablutions?”
An exchange with Joseph Azize regarding ablutions resulted in a more nuanced and useful experience of this practice. Each part that is washed now carries a significance or wish. “May I see what I need to see today.” “May I hear what I need to hear today.” “May I breathe consciously today,” etc. The question, remains—what carries forward into the day?
There is no guarantee that I’ll have a moment of remembering based on my ablutions that morning. However, what has happened (and now I’m paying more attention to it) are moments of remembering that connect me back to having this practice. For instance, Jack will be saying something, and I’ll “hear” in an active way, unlike my usual reactive way. Or I’ll have a random moment of conscious breathing and remember wishing for that in my ablutions.
Morning Exercise as a Practice
I feel the same about having a practice doing morning exercise. Anyone who has a morning practice of this sort recognizes it usually makes the day go better somehow. Does it take the place of actively working at other points in the day, though? Well, I admit that sometimes morning exercise is my most conscious part of the day. On the other hand, having done a morning exercise gives me a better chance of “being there” when an opportunity for work arises.
It’s a lot easier to transform a moment of negativity when I’ve cultivated some conscious energy. Or to take a stop when my practice of physical awareness (relaxation and sensation) notices I’m tense, or bumping into things, or zigzagging from one task to another without finishing the first.
I must admit, I’m appreciating that by having a practice, these rituals have become a part of my life. Even if they are now pro-forma, they have infiltrated something in me that supports the sum of my effort-full and effort-less days. So yes, something in me becomes more prone to be conscious by having a practice.
Dear Roberta,
H. forwarded your “Having a Practice” and having read it, I feel moved to respond. First of all, I appreciate your truthfulness in examining having a practice, more of that later. Secondly, it resonates with work that we are undertaking in our group at present, which is studying “Long Pilgrimage” by J.G.B. In it, the Shivapuri Baba stresses the importance of having a practice and is quite detailed about it. As I’m sure you’re already aware, it involves three disciplines. At first glance, your piece covers two of these, Duty (linked with Intelligence) and Morality (linked with discrimination). Spiritual longing (the third discipline exemplified by Worship) is seemingly absent. However, S.B. refers both to God and to Truth as two interchangeable terms, and God-realization is the goal of the third discipline. It seems to me that you are actually working with the three disciplines here; Duty involving carrying out your practices, Morality in “have I done this well enough, can I discern the purpose of this practice?”, and finally Worship, through Spiritual longing, as truthfulness. The beauty of the Gurdjieff/Bennett system is that it allows access to the third discipline to the non-religious, pre-religious and post-religious as well as those following a religion!
Best,
Jonathan Tetley
Hi, Roberta (and Jonathan!), thank you for this post. This morning, with the ablutions, I was aspiring to, literally, incorporate the word that was given on “my’ course to say with the ablutions: “Estafrullah,” or, “God, purify me.” The extension of that was, “Let my thoughts be pure: may I see only purity; may I hear only purity; may I breathe what is pure; may I speak only purity and eat with purity…down to, may I walk in purity.”
Tall order. And a part of our culture recoils from the word “pure”; the “Puritans” were mocked for the rigidity of their practices and beliefs. However, my understanding was (and remains) that the shock of the cold water opens a door that makes incorporation more possible. I am less inclined to snark, judgment, and gluttony if I have done the ablutions with real focus and intention. Sensation, always available, seems somehow more accessible, especially in the parts of the body that have received the shock. I am less inclined to the rigidity that can accompany practice if one succumbs to the illusion that one knows the ONLY way to experience a practice.
Thanks to both of you for pondering this practice–that is holding thought before the emotional center, and, at least in this instance, bringing the two alive in our physical bodies–or so Orage indicated–and I find that understanding of intentional thought useful to me.
Jonathan, lovely to see your comments here. Roberta, thanks for maintaining the practice of thinking intensively about the practices we have been given, and maintaining the discipline of writing about them. I continue to pray for all who are offering, or attending, the Course of Study this year, and sending good wishes to all. Such work is a privilege.
Love to both of you,
Georgia+
Regular Practice or ritual is first its own thing – But later on becomes more like a scaffolding in which are listening, and seeing can take place between the words and actions. It takes a bit of rigger and a bit of opening beyond the practice itself, to create the spaciousness inside the practice or something else can be heard.
Thank you all for these wonderful commentaries. I feel blest to have received them. May our practice(es) continue!
PS, The second Course of Study, (COS-2) is off to a good start. As it turns out, I just introduced the practice of Ablutions this morning to the students. It is always interesting and wonderful to begin to see who has been called to this work we call the Fourth Way.