Practical Saintliness

One of the biggest challenges in developing spiritual character is learning how to appropriately balance the practical and the transcendental. We have to appropriately respond to real situations in the world, but we also have to live in a higher, almost other-worldly, state of mind. Embracing transcendence, but simultaneously down-to-earth.

Consider the following situations.

1) You are walking down the street and you witness someone hurling racial abuse at an elderly man. How would tolerance be applied?

2) There is a huge natural disaster in Japan and you are asked to present a response in a public forum. How would compassion be applied?

3) You can see that someone is doing something self-destructive, but they probably won’t accept any feedback from you. How would truthfulness be applied?

Most individuals struggle to imbibe these qualities, while some endeavour to but without really helping the situation. A rare few manage to intelligently apply the quality in the most progressive way possible. How may one respond if:

a) They neglect the quality

b) They superficially embrace the quality, but don’t benefit the situation

c) They intelligently imbibe the quality and progressively improve the situation

Your ‘To-Be’ list: What are the five qualities that you would like to imbibe in your thoughts, words and actions?

Display these five qualities in a prominent place and ensure you spend a few moments every day (ideally early in the morning) meditating on them.