In his classic text The World’s Religions, religious scholar Huston Smith asserts that one of the strengths of Hinduism is its recognition that people are different. Hinduism identifies four basic “spiritual personality types” – reflective, emotional, active, and experimental. Each person will follow a distinct path and practice that best suits their personality type.
Huston Smith describes the reflective aspirants as follows:
Thinking is important for such people. They live in their heads a lot because ideas have for them an almost palpable vitality; they dance and sing for them …. Their minds animate their lives.”
They’re left-brain buddhas! And that’s why, as I have stated before, the meditative, quieting-the-mind practices are so tough for us. It’s not just hard to tame the thoughts and activities of the mind, but it sounds so boring! Sitting and thinking is what we love to do!
But just like Hinduism offers many paths, there are many meditative practices and styles that we can use to help us cultivate mindfulness. If you think you may be one of these left-brain, reflective types, perhaps you might try…
Secular Lectio Divina
Lectio Divina is Latin for “divine reading.” {So yes, I am technically calling this “Secular Divine Reading.” Sorry, rational types ~ but I like the way it sounds with the Latin}. Lectio Divina is a form of slow, meditative reading in which you allow a text to “speak” to you. I learned about this practice while attending a Unitarian Universalist church, and the texts we used included poetry, literature, and scripture from a variety of traditions. So while lectio divina is of Christian origin, it can be adapted to fit into your life practice, whatever that may be.
Here’s how I have adapted this technique for my own personal practice, and suggestions for how you can do it too:
1. Select a text that you will use. I like using books that contain many short readings that I can work my way through; my faves are Thich Nhat Hanh’s Your True Home and Mark Nepo’s The Book of Awakening. You could use any type of text you’d like ~ perhaps highlight or mark passages in novels or other works as you read that you want to take time to reflect on more slowly. You could even use visual sources. The text should be a few sentences, no more than about a paragraph.
2. Get comfortable {I like having a warm cup of coffee with me} and begin with a few moments of quiet breathing to center yourself.
3. Read the selected passage slowly and with careful attention. Linger on the words that you like, or the phrases that appeal to you or “jump off the page.” You may want to read it two or three times. As you continue to read, select one word or phrase that really resonates with you.
4. Meditate on that word or phrase ~ what do these words mean for you in your life right now? What thoughts come up as you think about these words? How do they move you? What can they teach you? Really let them sink in as you contemplate them. Is there something you can learn from these words that you can incorporate into your life or your practice? This step can last as long as you want it to!
5. Spend a few more moments in quiet. You may still ponder the reading, or simply spend a few moments with the breath.
You may find that this practice is a helpful transition to developing a more traditional meditation practice, or it could be an add-on to a seated meditation session.
Happy reading!
You can learn more about the history and traditional practice of lectio divina here.
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top photo credit: Bakingdom via photopin cc
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