Activate Your Spirit

Let’s be upfront about this. No matter who we are, what we do or where we came from, there are days when it feels like nothing can activate our bodies or our spirits. Nothing can motivate us. Even the strongest cup of coffee doesn’t have what it takes to rev up our internal engines. It’s gotten to the point in my life that on most days I need to toss a cup of English or Irish breakfast tea on top of my espresso eye openers. Without the tea boosting my coffee, I haven’t a chance.

The combination kicks my mind into high gear. No matter how tired or unfocussed I am walking into the day, the world becomes clearer with some coffee and tea in my system.

While some people are of the mind that it’s a surefire recipe for disaster, I can assure you that it doesn’t interfere with my afternoon nap. No matter the time of day.

We do what we need to do to activate our bodies. To get us up out of the sheets and into the day.

Can we say the same for our spirits?

Things happen when we start to meditate. When we don’t rely on movies, radios, televisions, computers or other electronic devices for our daily force feeding of whatever we’ve been told or come to imagine we absolutely must have to exist. Things happen when we stop drinking, using drugs or other chemicals to escape reality. When, awake or asleep, we rest in the dignity of the moment.

In meditation our minds we can give ourselves the gift of not focusing on everything and anything around us. When I was first learning how to meditate it took me months to begin to slow my brain. I was so used to other people’s impressions of our world that I assumed I always had to be in high gear. Even if I didn’t look like I was doing something — anything — I mistakenly assumed that it was my responsibility to always have an answer ready when someone came by and asked me what was going on. Especially at work. Especially with my bosses.

I had no idea how many of the people I worked for were just fine when I said there wasn’t a darn thing going on and asked what was going on with them. Bosses in particular seemed to appreciate being asked about themselves. How often do employees act as if they care about the people managing them? Through meditation I learned to calm down. By calming down I learned to take my focus off of what I have heard others call “my magic magnifying mind”.

Not everything in this world is a big deal. Sometimes the big deal is in ignoring the small stuff.

Long before I entered the monastic life I discovered my existence was better without constant bombardment by the mass media. If I wanted to listen to the news, there was always the radio instead of tv. More often radios, and later computers, were better for listening to music than news that jangles the nerves. So long as it didn’t interfere with whatever I was reading, the radio was fine. Any time the radio started to jangle my nerves, I either changed the channel or turned it off. My life does not depend on the media, no matter what they try to tell us. We do not have to hang our shingles on their every word.

In American society we’re raised to think that after a long day we deserve something to take the edge off. A treat. We’re not told that alcohol has dangerous chemicals. Not just the ether alcohol we’re told about as we go in search of the perfect proof and flavor to suit our needs. The chemicals in alcoholic drinks and drugs can worsen already existing medical conditions such as arthritis and diabetes.

What happens when we remove alcoholic beverages and other chemical substances? Our popularity may certainly decrease. Things happen to us as the chemicals, quickly or slowly, leach from our systems. We become able to think more clearly. Our focus improves. To refer back to what is written above, we become better able to slow down and meditate.

There’s a false belief that we have to be hermits or monks in order to genuinely quiet our minds with prayer and meditation. That’s anything but true. As a monk I was so busy that I had little time to relax enough to let go of my earthly responsibilities. It was almost impossible for me to pray and meditate.

Not exactly what we expect to hear from someone who lived in a monastery, is it?

One of the best things to ever happen to me was my return to the outside world. I was scooped up by a friend. My first month back was spent in a farmhouse on the top of a mountain. There I began to return to myself. It was where I began to really and truly meditate again following years of busyness. When I returned to city life, I was able to maintain the healthy practices begun long before I became a monk.

There may be a lot of monks and former monks and all sorts of theoretical wise guys running around this world who know how to live right. We’re supposed to know the right way to pray and meditate.

That’s baloney.

Anyone who is truthful will admit that they can pass on to the rest of the world what we learned. We can tell you what works for us to activate our spirits. Every person works out their own right way.

My greatest hope is that you sort out what works for you and live it. Always keep your focus on your inner God.