On spiritual practices
What are the benefits of a regular spiritual practice? This is a question someone asked me recently and this post is based on my response to this question. Often we are told that a spiritual practice is essential or necessary when it comes to developing consciousness and mindfulness. I disagree. How you develop consciousness and mindfulness isn't important, it's only important that you actually develop consciousness and mindfulness.
You see a very common mistake many people make when it comes to developing consciousness, especially through religion, is that they form an attachment to the practice so that it becomes a habit, a chore, and a performative activity. There are very many Christians for example who go to church regularly, call themselves Christian, but then miss out on the rich mystical teachings of Christianity because they're only interested in the practice. They dress up, go to church, pray, and when the service is over go back to living lives in complete separateness. Many people make the exact same mistake when it comes to Buddhism and yoga.
Then you have the other issue, when it comes to yoga, in that people see yoga as something you do in gym clothes on a yoga mat, which is just one form of Hatha yoga as a practice. Yoga becomes something that you 'do'. The thing is, if you see yoga this way all you're doing is pretending to be an acrobat on the floor and you're missing the whole point of yoga, which is connection to environment and other.
Methodology, community, but no practice
The Qultura community first and foremost is a community for self-determination and working through individual trauma and cycles of karma. Dream weaving is based on connection between self and other, self and environment and also self and community. If you are connected to others, to community and to environment then dream weaving needs no explanation, and if you're paying attention then whatever spiritual practice or soul work you need to do should become very clear to you and not need to be explained to you.
It is this connection which is both magic and yoga, because magic and yoga are the same thing in reality.
There are no opportunities for specific activities or practices because it is not our position or responsibility to tell you how you should live your life. You have to figure that out for yourself. If you want to try out some yoga practices for yourself then there are excellent beginner yoga classes organized at the ROSE. You can also do art and music either within the community, with other community projects or with the Nine Elms Arts Ministry. You can also try cooking, gardening, and also you can get involved in Qultura Connect and see about finding ways of transforming work or some form of employment into spiritual practice. There is nothing wrong with turning a spiritual practice into a vocation or lifestyle choice and going through the steps to getting paid for what it is you want to do whether through employment or some form of enterprise or service to the wider community or society.
The point here is that if you are connected to your natural humanity, connected to environment and connected to community you don't actually need a spiritual practice. If you're paying attention and not taking your Ego or self-image too seriously you can access mystical insight and awareness simply through living your life. There's a lot of people out there in the community who don't go to church, who don't practise meditation or yoga or ritual magic or religion who are spiritually developed and mystically aware. They simply don't make a big song and dance about it.
If you care to check out Qultura methodology on this website you will realize that you are born enlightened, you are enlightened, and the only real issue is whether or not you choose to accept this fundamental truth.
