Question by Oscar B: Spiritual Exercises – Does anyone have a simple list of how to carry out spiritual exercises?
I am interested in carrying out the spiritual exercises as practiced by the Jesuits. However I am a hindu and my current circumstances do not allow me to join a Christian group.
Any basic advise from some one would be much appreciated.
Best answer:
Answer by JP
Naked jumping jacks work for me.
Add your own answer in the comments!
sit alone quietly….shut eyes….talk to God about everything…
pray for salvation
Here ya go!
Enjoy, and good luck
http://www.nwjesuits.org/JesuitSpirituality/SpiritualExercises.html
Hope this helps!
Good luck, and may God continue to shine on you.
-Shalom
http://www.nwjesuits.org/JesuitSpirituality/SpiritualExercises.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spiritual_Exercises_of_Ignatius_of_Loyola
I am not a Jesuit, but i regularly meditate and meditation is GREAT at drawing you closer to God and the spiritual world (in a sense, enlightening yourself)
Read from and meditate on what you read in the Bible every day
A basic advise is to find a place that is peaceful to you. You can be anywhere and talk to God.
1. Go out into public and observe your internal criticism of everyone you see. Do NOT try to resolve it. Just observe. As the people walk past take notice: are they fat? Skinny? Ugly? Pretty? Scary? Fake? Arrogant? Weak? A waste your time? Better than you? Worse?
Just, for once, pay attention to how much you judge everyone you see in EVERY situation. Do this for a few days…not “minutes”. Again, do not try to resolve or correct your judgments. Just familiarize yourself with your internal, mental babble. Observe what is called your “preconceived core of beliefs”.
2. This time, a few days later, do the same thing. Except…you are to be a NEWBORN BABY. This means…no preconceived notions about anyone you see are allowed. You have to force your mind to not be able to derive meaning from words, letters, symbols, etc.
You are a baby, remember? That means nothing to you. Since you cannot make judgments about anyone, you are to just observe THEM for what THEY are. You see, you will have learned from the previous exercise that you are not seeing the world as it is, rather you are seeing it as YOU currently are. BIG DIFFERENCE. From the first exercise you know that you are seeing other people as you are. You are seeing them in the way that your mind is PROGRAMMED.
Just observe. You will notice your eyes will open wider as you take it in, just like a baby. A baby doesn’t judge anyone, they can’t. So, neither can you. Good clothes, bad clothes, good hair, bad hair, dumb voices, cool voices….none of that has any meaning. In other words…forget EVERYTHING the media and society has trained your brain to believe and react to. In this task, if you do it correctly, you will feel relief. Relief from what? Relief from YOURSELF. You will begin to see people as they are, rather than how you are. It is like a breath of fresh air to close down the media created mind programs in your “task manager”…so to speak.
3. This time, same task, except you are to say one thing in your mind. For everyone you see, say ONLY ONE THING….”She/He has feelings too”. That’s it…no other mind babble. JUST..”She/He has feelings too.”
It doesn’t matter if they look “nice”, “mean”, “rich”, “poor”, “sexy”, “gross”, “tough”, or “wimpy”……”SHE/HE HAS FEELINGS TOO”.
You are NOT to “expect” ANYTHING. Do not do this and expect to “like people”. Do NOT do this and expect to “smile at them” after saying to yourself that they have feelings. If you do that, you FAIL.
If you do that, that is robotic and mechanical. You are trying to have the “ends” justify your means…in eternity there is no end, so how can you have the ends justify your means? Rather, let your means justify your means, and you will always have the correct “experience” of what you perceive to be an “end”. Do you understand? If you anticipate a “good experience” or “smiling at them and they smile back” you FAIL!! ROBOT…NEXT????
If you happen to smile, which is likely, as a RESULT of saying that in your mind, this is MUCH different. This is the same principle that Christ understood when he said to not “mindlessly mouth words”. Basically he was pointing out the fact that most were functioning like robots. Anyway, if you HAPPEN to smile at someone as a RESULT…it will be an AUTHENTIC smile. This means it will not be forced, awkward, or aggressive. If you go into it TRYING to create a “good situation”, you are now out of touch with life.
This is obviously and exercise in SYMPATHY…essentially meaning that we are all in the same boat. SAME..SITUATION…sympathy.
If you experience TRUE sympathy…NOT PITY!….SYMPATHY…you will then experience grace.
Grace is not accomplished by the human “ego”. Grace is a state that you reach when you allow the love of spirit to take command of your ego. This doesn’t mean that Love/Spirit “controls” your ego. Rather, it makes it function correctly. When you realize that you are truly no better or worse than anyone else, regardless of the corruption you see in the world, THEN and ONLY then will you begin to heal.
You have heard the statement, “BE the change you want to see in the world”, right? THAT is your answer. Only that.
However, if you blame the world, then that is the change you want to see in it, correct? If you want power over it, then lust for power is the change you want to see occur in the world right? If you lust for “power” you will then meet others who also lust for it…and began lusting for it BEFORE you did…catch my drift? It is the Law of Attraction my friend…Law of Attraction. You manifest your reality.
BE THE CHANGE YOU WANT TO SEE.
Do you want to be loved? BE LOVE.
Everything else is just a result. If you get caught up in “procedures” and “details”…you can lose yourself. If you lose yourself, no amount of details or “information” will help you. So, FIND YOURSELF FIRST.
This is my opinion and is not universal truth.