Contemplation

Contemplation is an encompassing term that describes practices that allow us to experience a more meaningful life by concentrating, broadening, and deepening conscious awareness. It includes both meditation and prayer, but extends to other practices as well, such as walking a labyrinth, keeping a journal, reading sacred texts, dance, music, chanting, shamanic drumming, rituals, and yoga, to name some.

One of my favorite practices is the contemplation on symbols, which act as doorways to the spiritual world. If you meditate on an icon of Mary, or a statue of Buddha, you are contemplating a symbol, and using that symbol to transport you to another realm of understanding and experience. Symbols exist in nature and are called “signs.” Think of a “sign” as “sign language.” It is God’s way of talking to you.  Seeing a hawk soaring, crows cackling nearby, rainbows, and the wind are just some of the signs that the divine universe uses to communicate. These signs  are all around, if you just slow down enough to notice them. There are many ways to connect to your inner knowing, your “intuition.”  You can also listen to your dreams, a great way to learn the language of your interior self.

To enter the spiritual world through symbols, and read the language of God through signs, takes a bit of deliberate effort. This deliberate effort is called contemplation. Contemplation is any practice of awareness, any process that awakens you to your inner life. Uncover the knowledge and insight that lies beneath the surface of your very busy mind.

Contemplation almost always begins with a simple centering technique of dropping out of your busy mind, and moving into your breath and your body. Slow down. Take a few deep breaths. Change the channel. Be in the present moment. The mystical and magical world is out there just waiting for you to notice. The Universe has left crumbs for you to follow, signs for you to read, doors for you to open. Contemplation is the active process of slowing down and waking up. Be deliberate in your effort to pay attention and to know thyself. In doing so, you will know the world.