What Am I Practicing Now? (Elise Erro/e.e.)

Spiritual practices are designed to lead us into our own experience on the path. We’re always practicing something. An ongoing question is, “What am I practicing now?” Something we may wish to practice is surrender to conscience. We can learn to trust ourselves and can feel if we betray our conscience. An essential part of research into ourselves is to know where we’ve come from since that has taught us how to be. There are protective parts of ourselves that we do not wish to see. A main motivation for practice is to work with the distractibility and reactivity of mind and emotions. Practice is a way of coming back to sanity; it can undo our previous training. It is ongoing training that we give ourselves. Reminding factors help us to practice. Making war on the planet starts with the war we make on ourselves. We can only be kind to others if we are kind to ourselves. Remembering the dharma can be a practice. If we sincerely ask for help, it will come. When we realize we are not practicing, that itself is practice and can bring us back to our intention. Fear and desire can pull us away from our practice and intention. When things are going well, we may revert to our mechanical self. We can lean into uncomfortable things and use them as reminding factors. There are many different practices in the traditions; intention is what makes something a practice. Change happens by itself if we self-observe. There is a fruit to embracing small discomforts. The mind can make the connection that practice is hard, but it can be a way of feeding the heart. There is joy when life is lived with the ideal of serving others. The wish of some teachers who have been ill or in the process of dying has been that their students practice. Elise Erro (e.e.) has been committed to a life of engaging spiritual principles and service through theater, support for the dying, and bringing enjoyment to others as a chocolatier.