The Overflow of Practice

As I encounter models of spiritual leadership and ways to be a teacher, I often don’t see myself in them… and so wanted to articulate another model that describes my pathway and way of being in leadership.

The intention I have is to make my life into a spiritual practice that will help to heal my own traumas and wounds, show me a path of exploration, discovery and adventure, and connect me with God — the Great Mystery, so that I can become Self-Realized. I want to take risks and learn from my mistakes. I know myself as an artist of the Holy. As an artist I need to play and be creative.

My love of God moves me to expression and service. I want to always leave behind what I think I know, in order to step into the unknown, the Mystery. And I want to enjoy each moment and bring joy to whatever I do. My practice is about becoming radiant, which means I need to clear the veils that conceal the God-light that wants to shine through. I dedicate myself to this work, daily.

I have a measure for practice. If a practice connects me to the Wholeness of Life, and makes me less judgmental and more loving… then I will explore and cultivate that practice. If a practice separates me and makes me more judgmental, then no matter how interesting it is… it’s just not worth it. So I would have to tweak that practice or maybe just let it go.

Through this measure, I build a practice that works for me, mining the Tradition that I have inherited, receiving its gifts and evolving the raw materials of that Tradition, shaping something new and relevant for me.

Here are two examples.

• Working with the liturgy of the siddur, I found that there were too many words at once. I felt both overwhelmed and unable to find depth in them. And so I began taking one phrase at a time, seeing the sacred phrase as a doorway that might be unlocked through melody, harmony, rhythm, intention, or movement. I let that phrase take me on a journey and then brought all my awareness to the transformation it worked in me. I developed a chanting practice for myself that continues to evolve.
  
  I began to teach that practice and was delightfully surprised that there were others who shared the same challenges with liturgy, and who resonated with my approach. And with my students, the whole process became collaborative. They inspire me to bring more rigor, more whimsy, more curiosity to our shared practice.

• A few years back, I received a communication from Spirit that if I wanted to put Love at the Center, I would need to make the Song of Songs my central text. I divided it into 52 parshiot and connected the Song of Songs to the traditional Torah portions. Each week I asked, “How do I live this?” And the message also said, “You won’t really know what this is till you have done it every week for 3 years.”
  
  I shared this journey with my students and with the world, becoming transparent about my own challenges of putting Love at the Center. It was a grand experiment that has born incredibly delicious fruit.

It’s clear to me that when I am loyal to my own evolving dynamic practice, then my students will benefit. My leadership becomes the overflow of my practice. And I want to become trustworthy, because when someone trusts me, they can receive that overflow.

My idea of leadership is staying true to my own soul’s purpose and inspiration. I never know whether others will understand or come with me. I just want to stay in my integrity and follow that spirit of guidance that will show me the very next step. It may seem like a risky way to live — every day letting go of my attachment to security, affection and control in order to embrace this moment and unlock its potential. Every day I need to connect myself to Source and fill up. My faith is that the world will receive my overflow.