... but is it
spiritual?
by
Dick Prosapio © 2003
A friend asked me if my conservation of water was
a, "spiritual thing."
"No." was my immediate answer. Then having thought
about it for five or six ticks, "Well actually, I consider paying
attention to be a 'spiritual thing', central to a life lived with
consciousness. So, I guess paying attention to how much water we
use, besides having a practical basis, is a consciousness raising
activity and thus part of a spiritual life."
I wasn't nearly this articulate in the moment but
I like to think that, given the leisurely pace of thought that
sitting at a computer gives me post event, that is what I
would have said. What I really said was, "Paying attention is
spiritual so I guess that's also a result of having to haul water."
He mentioned the fact that since most people have
water readily available in any amount at any time, they wouldn't
give the use of it a second thought. And he's right of course. My
granddaughter visited us once and used 1000 gallons of it in four
days. Imagine my shock as I looked into an almost empty holding tank
after I had just trucked in those thousand gallons a few days
earlier. That much water usually lasted us six to seven days!
I know I never paid much attention to water use
when I didn't have to haul it so it certainly didn't fall into the
category of a "spiritual" focus. I've always been a conservationist
at heart, turning off lights, picking up trash, seeking the most
conservative gas-using car I could find.
Not always, but most of the time anyway.
I find that most of the "rules and regs" of a
ceremony require a heightened awareness brought about by paying
attention to what is going on. To be sure, some rituals can put us
to sleep. Performed over and over again as a "requirement" they
become just another kind of hypnosis, and I suppose that sort of
thing has its place, but most activity deemed "sacred" has, to me, a
strong element of focused attention, awakeness, as a
requirement.
Take a wedding ceremony for example, whenever we
do one for a couple we, my wife and I, ask that they create
something to say to each other about how they Think about
their relationship, how they Feel about it, and how they
Experience each other in real time. This requires that each
person stop and consider the other; and that's not something
that will take place very often long after the bells have rung. When
we stop paying attention we lose what has the potential of deep
involvement with one another..it's that involvement that is the
truly sacred part of any relationship.
Taking someone "for granted" gets a lot of, mostly
undeserved, bad press. A comfortable relationship, one that
is mostly predictable and therefore safe, isn't therefore
deadening. It becomes like a favorite chair, a place that is
familiar and reassuring. Paradoxically, it is important not to go to
sleep in our relationships just because we are comfortable..I'm
including in this all relationships meaning how we are
with everything around us. Our attention to "all of life" is
the only way we can live in a truly sacred way with
ourselves, each other and with our world. A life of paying
attention, of being awake to every moment, ah; there's a life in
which days do not hurry by in a forgettable blur. There's a life
that is remarkable.
No, I really don't remember what I had for lunch
yesterday, but I do remember the sparkle in my daughter's eyes when
I paid attention to her "daily report" about school. That's the
sacred part.
Dick Prosapio ©2003, All Rights
Reserved
