We’re drawing to the end of the spiritual tools described in the book “Transcending the Levels of Consciousness” by David R. Hawkins M.D., Ph.D. So far, I’ve written about kindness, reverence, asking for knowledge, looking with intention, forgiveness, humility, and selfless service. Each of these tools, as I have stated, are simple to apply towards your journey of spiritual enlightenment. Today, this next spiritual tool is the accumulated result of the prior tools.
Spiritual Tool #8
Make one’s life a living prayer by intention, alignment, humility, and surrender. True spiritual reality is actually a way of being in the world.
I recently heard someone claim how most people see God as a spiritual butler charged with the task of getting things for us and cleaning up our messes. I heartly agree – even I have been doing those same things too!
I would like to draw your attention to is the term “living prayer.” No western religious institution ever prepares its congregants to ascend to this level.
To some prayer is a means to tell God how sorry you are for the bad things you perceive you have done which will keep you out of heaven. In other circles, prayer is the routine where you remind God of any of a multitude of promises found in the bible which after some 3,000 years, your bible search program says belong to you. In some parts of the world prayer is the time where you extol God for all the curses He has heaped on your enemies. These definitions are far from a “living prayer.”
Your religious training will probably recall how the disciples of Jesus asked him to show them how to pray. Not many remember what the stated intention of the disciples were for asking Jesus to teach them. Yet, the ego is again at the forefront of this development. The disciples saw how John had taught his disciples pray and they wanted to be like them (or better).
Jesus saw through the disciple’s ruse and directed them to a higher level of consciousness. What many believe to be the Lord’s prayer is actually the disciple’s prayer to spirituality. Jesus was not trying to show them how to successfully pray but how to be a living prayer.
You know how living is a 24/7/365 business, whereas prayer is a one-time deal. When you mention “living prayer” is turns people away because they feel how there is no possible way to be praying all day long! While the apostle Paul even exhorts us to pray without ceasing, the ingrained perception of prayer only occurring at a certain time of day for a certain period of time is hard to break.
The primary item which must be overcome is intentionally eliminating the monologue of prayer and align with the dialogue nature of prayer. This means you will have to surrender to the notion that you are the only one who has a speaking role.
A dialogue has two components: the verbal and the non-verbal. Many think that talking is what a dialogue is all about. Get your point across and your done. A dialogue requires humility to allow the other to offer their thoughts. This is not as easy as it seems, particularly when a false premise is made. The ego is going to do everything in its power to defend the false premise, regardless of who made it. Most dialogues dissolve on this one issue.
The non-verbal aspect of a dialogue is thought to be the time when you mentally rebuttal what has been said. Often people miss the entire meaning to a response simply because they tune out the other person while they prepare their argument to what was just said to them. The ego is willing to play the prosecutor/judge just to keep a position of superiority. Do you seriously believe this is how God deals with you in prayer? Oh…I forgot! Monologues don’t permit a rebuttal.
The non-verbal element in a dialogue is “presence centric.” It is humbly accepting the other into the space of your life. It is allowing the energies from the other to mingle with your energies. It is receiving the equality of service being offered which transcends the limitation of words.
While listening is a vital component here, sensing is just as important. Sensing requires you to focus your attention less on what is being said and more on how what is being thought is affecting the other. I’m not saying that you need to become a mind reader. Words are limitations. They are the lowest form of communication because they lack an absolute meaning and thereby don’t have the ability to accurately convey the fullness of a thought.
Your spirit will sense a matter long before you have the words to describe it. Being a daily living prayer is living in The Presence sensing more than talking. It requires intentionality. Brother Lawrence wrote in “Practicing the Presence” about his daily journey as a living prayer in The Presence. He discovered how the ritual of prayer could not satisfy his desire for God’s presence. He began to seek and uncover the Presence in everyday tasks. He has become the model of living a spiritual reality in the world through humility and intention.
Since you’ve gotten this far in the spiritual tools, this one should be a piece of cake to implement. Being a living prayer in this world is simply living the spiritual life in The Presence.
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