Longing: the energy of desire. The deep need that can only be quenched with MORE. Many times we see the longing as a restless soul desperate to dive into the deep waters to escape the prison of the island where we feel deserted.

The spiritual practice of longing is to bring out the sacred within and find MORE that is egoless and lustless. It is a deeper practice that allows for a fluid and limitless realization found in the deep waters of the ocean. It is the spark that ignites passion. To have a yearning spiritual practice, one never needs another to light the fire, but instead becomes the spark for others.

To live the spiritual practice of longing is to live an ecstatic life even when in practice it is mundane. Living the spiritual practice of longing is seeing the moon and experiencing the wings of desire that take us there. To live the spiritual practice of longing is to dance erotically with the sun. It is life itself.

Ask yourself if you feel a longing. Which direction is it pointing you? What are you thirsty for? What will quench your thirst? Do you feel the spark? Or are you trying to light a fire with no spark inside?

Our longing is an echo of the divine longing for us. Our longing is the living trace of divine desire. John O’Donohue

Spiritual practice: Shape your yearnings. Write what you long for, draw what the longing looks like to you or dance your longings. However you are called to express your wishes, it is perfect. Ask yourself how this longing expands or limits me. What does expansion feel like, the limitless longing, how do you experience it? Can you see how your longing is a Divine desire?

Meaning does not come to us in finished, ready-made form; You have to find it, create it, receive it, build it. We grow our way to it. Ann Bedford Ulanov

Meaning in life. Meaning in spirit. We all wish to have meaningful experiences, for life to mean something, to us and to others, but is it something that has just arrived or is it something we discovered or can we really practice meaning?

Meaning has parts: seek and create. Searching is simply the act of seeking a new perspective that resonates within. Creating is simply the action of shaping an experience. Everything in our Universe has meaning. You are looking for resonance vibrations to make you fit. Sometimes it is simply the act of creating new perspectives from our act of searching.

A traditional mantra to practice while breathing as a spiritual practice of meaning (try it lying down facing the sky, standing on a rock looking down, any new position to give a new perspective of search and creation)

Breathe In: Wise Old Man

Breathe out: what will we create?

We must remind ourselves that although our lives are small and our actions seem insignificant, we are generative elements of this universe and we create meaning with every act that we perform or fail to perform. Kent Nerburn

Every action, every spiritual practice, every experience has meaning, even inaction. The spiritual practice of meaning is intertwined and interwoven with every thread of any other spiritual practice. The gift comes when we allow ourselves to see with a new perspective through an open mind and heart.

Spiritual practice: For a week, record in your journal the actions taken and the meaning that you experienced and record any inactions with your experiences. After a week, go back and look at each entry and seek to create a new experience by viewing the experience with a new perspective. Can you see it from someone else’s perspective? Can you see it through the eyes of love? Or maybe through the eyes of action when you didn’t take any action? What you learn from this simple practice can change your entire outlook on life.

Existence will remain meaningless to you if you do not penetrate

with active love, and if you do not discover in this way its meaning for yourself.

Everything is waiting to be sanctified by you. Martin Buber

The spiritual practice of meaning is driven by actions of active love. When we actively love ourselves, others, nature, the universe, then we will discover the meaning of each experience.

Spiritual Practice: Create a Book of Meaning. Recycle an old book that you no longer read by pasting down meaningful quotes, acts of love, or photos that contain moments of personal meaning. Write your words of meaning in marker. Do this weekly or whenever you find words of meaning or pictures to include.