Cultivating Spiritual Maturity: The Courage to Practice - Softcover

Thomas, Lalitha

9781942493358: Cultivating Spiritual Maturity: The Courage to Practice

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1942493355 ISBN 13: 9781942493358

Publisher: Hohm Press, 2018

The much-needed message of this book is that spiritual practice is not a weekend hobby or an activity for adolescent seekers (of any age). Instead, the author makes a case for mature spirituality, which evolves from a serious commitment to the Path, and assumes dignity, integrity and personal responsibility for one's life choices. Lalitha proposes a series of "questions that matter" inviting the reader to delve deeply into issues that must be faced or clarified as he/she proceeds on any spiritual path, whether it is characterized by self awareness, contemplation and devotion, or service. Throughout, she argues that the playing field of spiritual maturity will never be separate from one's everyday life�Ž�one's work, relationships, art, physical limits, suffering, aging and dying. Such maturity will, however, always reflect a sacred regard for the highest principles (one's aim), along with gratitude for what is, and kindness, generosity and compassion toward others.

Lalitha is a farmer. Her ashram (spiritual center) is also a working organic farm. She knows the disciplined efforts needed to prepare a ground for planting, to nurture and maintain young shoots, to guard against predators and to harvest a mature crop. As a long-term spiritual practitioner and respected teacher she also knows the risks, the sweat and the fruits of the spiritual path. Cultivating Spiritual Maturity casts unrelenting light on the necessity for input from a trustworthy mentor, teacher or guru. But, the author wisely notes, even this choice requires maturity (i.e., discernment), and involves its own risks. This is not a business for na�ve children!

Among numerous relevant questions, she asks readers to consider:

- "What Path am I on?"

- "What am I really committed to?"

- "What do I call love?"

- "Am I on my deathbed?"

Full of practical help, the book cites dozens of examples relative to spiritual authority, doubt and confusion, a life of practice, and the facing and embracing of death.
Cultivating Spiritual Maturity is derived from recent talks and conversations Lalitha has held with her students and those interested in spiritual practice, making its message fresh, accessible and real. She speaks with compassion, yet is categorically unwilling to compromise the demands of committed, unsentimental work on self. Her book asks questions that point the way.

"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.

About the Author:

Lalitha is a spiritual teacher residing in British Columbia, Canada. She was a disciple of Western Baul master, Lee Lozowick (1943-2010) for over 30 years, an apprenticeship that evolved naturally into her own uncompromising teaching style. Her work stands out with a fierce clarity that both transcends gender and yet remains powerfully rooted in femininity. Lalitha has extensive training as a master herbalist and healer, and is the author of several respected books in the field, including 10 Essential Herbs. She is the author of "Waking to Ordinary Life" and director of Kripa Mandir Ashram, BC

You may have noticed that this chapter is titled, "What Path Am I On?" which grammatically presumes that you are already on a path. I choose my language carefully and that presumption is very intentionally placed. You are on a path, whether you know it or not. I don't just mean that whatever group you belong to defines the path that you're on. My point is both more subtle and more in your face than that.

You may be a housewife, an Olympic skier, a lab assistant, or a tax accountant. You may be a bum living on the beaches of Florida or the Bahamas, or a doctor helping AIDS patients in Africa, or a tradesman building houses or a professor of philosophy at Yale or the local Community College. You may be a Christian who goes to church every day, or one who goes only once a year at Easter, or an Atheist, or a Buddhist or a tribesman from some as yet undiscovered culture. No matter what you do or what group you belong to (in fact often in spite of what group you belong to), you are on a path and you make choices based on certain things that you believe because you are on that path.

When you select which television shows to watch, or whether to watch television at all, your path is at play. When you go shopping for food, for clothes, for vehicles and gifts, your path is at play. Your path was laid deep inside the subconscious mind and directly informs your perception of what is real, and what is not. Your attention is drawn only to that which your mind believes is real, and down that path you stride. We all have a path.

But I get ahead of myself. It might be useful to look at some different types of paths and poke around for a while, seeing what's out there and what we might be interested in.

"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.