Giving Things Up With Joy

We are now well into the season of Lent, a 40-day period that begins with Ash Wednesday and ends, April 17, two days before Easter Sunday.

What can Lent involve for those like myself, who lean heavily on Eastern spirituality, particularly the eternal way of Sanathana Dharma, aka Hinduism?

Lent is associated with penance, preparation, and purification of the mind, body, and spirit. Fasting, almsgiving, and abstaining from meat are the three pillars of Lent.

People may also abstain from desserts, coffee, even sex, among a host of other possibilities. In this post, I share some possibilities from the Tantric perspective.

What if we were to give up certain types of thoughts and images? Could we give up particular feelings, too?

When Lent began, a good friend who is my unwitting spiritual director (he does not know it) asked me to observe the Lenten season with the following injunction: be joyful.

He did not say much more; however, his cryptic message offers a lot in its profound simplicity. What can one give up and still be joyful? Put another way, what can we consider giving up joyfully? Are we giving up something easy, or is it something we are deeply attached to? 

The joy involved in letting go is often overlooked, but it is a significant part of the Lenten journey. It's not about deprivation but about the joy of letting go in order to make space for our relationship with the Divine.

If we choose to give up certain kinds of thoughts, or better yet, specific ways of thinking, what does that involve? In this context, consider the difference between voluntary thoughts and involuntary thoughts. 

How does one give up thoughts in contrast to deliberately choosing to think in a certain way? With the former, we let go of the thoughts that spontaneously arise, which is what we do in meditation.  

Giving up thinking in specific ways requires us to examine what forms of thinking bind us to a limited consciousness or, the kind that creates stress and anxiety, or thinking that isolates within ourselves. Giving up these types of thinking is challenging but can offer us authentic joy.

Similarly, how does one give up images that show up in our awareness? That's relatively easy as we practice this in meditation. On the other hand, giving up images that please us is much more complicated. However, what if those images that please us also trigger a certain amount of pain? Can we become more conscious of that entire process?

In many instances, our process becomes about what we choose to do with thoughts and images once they show up in our awareness. It is not healthy to suppress or repress them as they show up. However, to what depth are we willing to explore our typical indulgences of thoughts and images?

Giving something up is just a first step. The discoveries behind the process, depending on how profound it takes us, are really what the spiritual process is about, particularly in Tantra. 

We can support our process with a simple practice that is characteristic of Tantra: absorption! In Tantra, absorption refers to the state of complete immersion in a particular thought, image, or feeling, to the point where one's awareness is fully absorbed in it.  

The following practice can help us integrate our Lenten sacrifices into our spiritual journey. It may sound simple, but it is quite involved.

1. Find the silence and stillness within yourself.
2. Integrate the thought, image, or feeling into that state of profound absorption.
3. Feel the wholeness that results from the integration. 

At other times, practice NOT engaging the types of thoughts or images that lead to the thoughts or images you want to give up, the kind that complicates your life. Similarly, avoid indulging in feelings that feed the thoughts and pictures you wish to give up.

In this manner, a disciplined giving up of things that is also accompanied by discovery and an awareness of depth can lead to joy. Lent is not just about giving up but about transformation. It's a movement towards joy, for Easter is about joy.  

I like to consider myself a Hindu who seeks to understand Christianity better.This approach helps me appreciate the tradition from an outside-the-box perspective. Lent is a time for deep self-reflection, a time to consider what separates us from the Divine. It's not about shame but about awareness and growth. 

Consider the alternative: what is the cost of being separated from Divine Presence? That's the actual price we pay if we do not pay attention to the more profound opportunity of giving up something for the sake of our relationship with the Sacred Other.

SACRED ALCHEMY

https://www.russillpaul.us/sacred-alchemy