Читать книгу Prayers for Calm - Becca Anderson - Страница 7

I once had the pleasure of attending a talk by Huston Smith, a preeminent scholar of the world’s religions who first came to the attention of the world when he brought a young Tibetan Buddhist monk—His Holiness, the Dalai Lama—to America for the first time. Smith spoke about the continuing impact of spirituality in our world, most notably on the strife in the Middle East over religious differences. He was at his most joyous when he spoke about his own spiritual practices, which he described to us. They were beautiful in their simplicity. Smith said that, upon rising each day, he did Hatha yoga for some minutes, followed by reading a few pages of sacred text, after which he meditated or prayed for at least five minutes. He would finish his morning ritual by doing a bit of yard work and some composting, which resulted in rich, dark soil and a beautiful garden.

The entire audience smiled raptly as they listened to this great and humble man describe the simple spiritual practices with which he began each day. These were Huston Smith’s personal morning rituals. I loved the irony that this premier academic, who has such a deep understanding of all the religious rituals throughout history, had created such an uncomplicated practice for himself. I left the talk inspired and soon felt compelled to write a book of rituals that add meaning into our lives.

Whether people are conscious of it or not, our lives are centered upon rituals such as prayer. The weekly Wednesday night pizza and movie with the kids is a family ritual. It could be greatly enriched by adding a spiritual aspect—perhaps children could share the highlight of their week so far, and photos or memories could be added to a family album to be treasured for generations to come. The Saturday night date is a romantic ritual, knitting circles are a growing trend, and doing yoga is replacing going to the gym as a spiritual and physical workout. People need ritual to inform and enrich their lives, to deal with stress, and above all, to create meaning in their lives.

Together with seasonal rituals, daily spiritual practices such as prayer and meditation create a life filled with blessings. Many of us were brought up with specific religious practices. Although I was brought up as a First Day Adventist, when I studied history, I kept discovering practices from the past that I felt were just as relevant today. One ancient ritual I discovered was bibliomancy, which is a form of divination developed when books were precious objects made of papyrus or vellum. Bibliomancy is a simple ritual that I have incorporated into my daily life for inspiration “from the gods.” You simply open a book at random and let a word or phrase come to your attention. You thus become inspired in the true meaning of the word: simply to breathe in. I hope you can use this book in this way, for instant inspiration, to find a meditation in a moment, or, most of all, to find a place of calm and serenity you can turn to anytime you need it.