Spiritual practices have a couple of different functions.
Spiritual practices can help improve the dream, making our lives more comfortable, improving the life of our human self.
Spiritual practices can get us “closer” to reality, and thin the veils. All may be recognized as Spirit, while there is still some identification as a me (human self) or I (observer, doer).
This thinning of the veils is a preparation of the ground, or an invitation, for a more clear and thorough awakening. (Although a thinning of the veils is not necessary for such an awakening, as there are many examples of.)
Spiritual practices cannot in themselves “get us there”. They cannot make a clear and thorough awakening happen. At most, they can improve our human life, thin the veils, and invite in a more clear awakening.
And it’s all grace. The ability to do any spiritual practice is grace, as is reality awakening to itself.
Here are some ways different practices improve our human life, and thin the veils.
Inquiry helps us see through stressful stories, and our most basic assumptions about ourselves and life. This reduces stress in our human life, and it reveals reality more as it is.
Heart practices opens up for love, gratitude, empathy and humility, and this too improves our human life, and thin the veils. Reality is love, and these practices help reveal life as love.
Feeling sensations as they are helps releasing wounds and contractions, which improves the life of our human self, and also reduces the “hooks” for identification.
Note: This is sometimes called a gradual and direct path. A gradual path helps improve our human life. It thins the veils, which perhaps makes it a little easier for the simplicity of being to awaken to itself. An a direct path is a more direct invitation for the simplicity of being to awaken to itself, independent of everything else, and without the possible distractions and “side-tracks” of the gradual path. For most of us, there is a combination of both of these.
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– spiritual practices – head (inquiry), heart, belly (emotions, body), life
— (a) improving the dream, more comfortable, better for who we are
— (a) getting “closer” to reality, thinner veils, all recognized as spirit while still identification as a me or I (observer, doer)
— (b) seeing through stories, identifications, reality awakening to itself (seeing through the me + I identifications), prepare the ground for more thorough awakening
— all of these happen through grace
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A few things about spiritual practices.
First, spiritual practices can be organized in a few different categories.