My Spiritual Wellness Practice, as of 7/9/23

Each morning after a cup of coffee, I choose to get out of my usual mode of verbal consciousness (i.e.with random, wandering, verbal, discursive thoughts about the past and future) by visualizing different aspects of what’s happening in nine breathing cycles (see addendum 1).  Then, in my ‘trance’, I mentally say these 37 phrases, and practice these virtues for the next 40-100 minutes. This is my current, evolved version of shorter Buddhist metta (lovingkindness) meditations/prayers that many find to be worthwhile and wholesome; typically only 5 phrases are repeated for oneself, and then for others.

This practice is quite similar to self-hypnosis, or mindful hypnosis, or affirmations, so the phrases are worded as positive virtues, without any negative words. Self hypnosis works well to help us practice thought patterns that work for us, in the game of life, to meet our current goals.  Our sensations and thoughts are our inner reality.  Good, skillful intentions are key for virtuous thoughts and actions to manifest.

Like music, intention can influence our mood, thoughts, and feelings—setting an intention in the morning we set the tone for the day.- Thupten Jinpa

Thomas Merten used the word contemplation for this mode of consciousness:

Contemplation is the highest expression of man’s intellectual and spiritual life. It is that life itself, fully awake, fully active, fully aware that it is alive. It is a spiritual wonder. It is spontaneous awe at the sacredness of life, of being. It is gratitude for life, for awareness, and for being. - Thomas Merton, in New Seeds of Contemplation

After mentally saying each phrase in bold during a breathing cycle, for a few minutes I think about and visualize the related ideas, amplifying ideas, and other wordings from various spiritual traditions . . . and I actually practice those virtues and thoughts in the here and now (as opposed to just thinking about them).  This is prayer for me.    

Mastery lies not merely in stilling the mind, but in directing it towards whatever point we desire, in allowing it to be active as far as we wish, in using it to fulfill our purpose, in causing it to be still when we want to still it. -Hazrat Inayat Khan 

When the mind and body are restless, nothing in life can be accomplished. Success is the result of control - Hazrat Inayat Khan 

     We become what we think about.- Earl Nightingale

1. I will practice gratefulness - I have much // to be grateful for. (2 slashes signifies the time of transition from an inhalation to an exhalation)For me, gratefulness is the most important spiritual virtue to practice. . . the most important prayer to practice, the most important skill to practice, in the The Game of Life. It leads to practice of joy and peace, which are prominent goals for me these days. As I first say this phrase I activate my smile muscles just a tad; this trick works well to facilitate my practice of gratefulness (my main strategy for practicing joy). My body and mind are connected (or the same thing, just from different perspectives). Gratitude is another word for gratefulness; thankfulness means that you appreciate something that another ‘being’ (or a personified God) did for you.  Appreciation is closely related; we should appreciate the diverse components (holons) that make up living systems (cells, bodies, families, communities, ecosystems).  It’s probably helpful and wellness-enhancing (salutogenic) to holons (e.g. people) to be appreciated.

The Nembutsu practice to foster gratefulness, in the Pure Land Buddhist manner, is to chant “Namo Amida Bu”.  In Islam, Alhamdulillah, means all praise and gratefulness to God. This gratefulness aspect of God is Ash-Sha-KOOR, the 35th name (of 99) or aspect of Allah/God.  Repeating one or two names of God while feeling, invoking, praising or manifesting that aspect of God (wazifa, zikr, dhikr), is helpful practice for most Muslim mystics (e.g. Sufis, see addendum 2).

Gratitude begins in our hearts and then dovetails into behavior. It almost always makes you willing to be of service, which is where the joy resides.- Anne Lamott

Gratitude celebrates life with a joyful "yes" at every knot of the great network in which everything is connected to everything.- Br. David Steindl-Rast

Gratefulness is a setting of the heart, one that I can choose like a wavelength on the radio. - Susan Mazrolle.

To be alive in this beautiful, self-organizing universe — to participate in the dance of life with senses to perceive it, lungs that breathe it, organs that draw nourishment from it — is a wonder beyond words. - Joanna Macy

Gratitude places you in the energy field of plentitude. Glow with gratitude and see how awe and joy will make their home in you. - Michael Bernard Beckwith

Take time to celebrate the quiet miracles that seek no attention. - John O'Donohue

 

2. I am grateful that conscious awareness is happeningagain here and now . . . Conscious awareness of things or processes in the environment (e.g. light, sound, odors), my body (over 15 sorts of sensations) and in my mind/heart/brain (perceptions & thoughts) is happening now, once again, after the pause that is sleep. I am grateful that this stream of consciousness, these qualia, is happening again. One of the many aspects of my self, or the helpful model that I have of my (illusory) self, is that I am the subject who is experiencing the awareness. My self can be thought of as an “experiencing self,” or a “sensing self.”  But while in non-REM sleep and while under general anesthesia this awareness, this self awareness, temporarily disappears, and the self that seems to have subjective experiences seemingly disappears.  During sleep afferent nerves continue to deliver information to my CNS, but they are not salient enough to trigger awakening into cousciousness. Buddhists remember this frequent disappearance of a self to support their idea that the self is insubstantial, and should perhaps best be considered a delusion, albeit a crucially important and useful one that seems to make us human. Bacteria, plants, and most animals probably don’t have this sense that they are a separate self.  Awake humans over the age of 9 months usually have this self awareness.  But it’s a skillful spiritual practice to dis-identify with this separate, experiencing self, practice self-transcendent modes of consciousness, and see our essential, inherent, oneness with all else that is happening (the divine Universe/God).

Spiritual practice is stepping out of the assumed reality of “me” by understanding what the “me” is and withdrawing energy from its perceptual fixations.- Rodney Smith, “Undivided Mind”

Through our eyes, the universe is perceiving itself. Through our ears, the universe is listening to its harmonies. We are the witnesses through which the universe becomes conscious of its glory, of its magnificence. - Alan Watts

3. I am grateful that agency is happening again here and now. . . that I have continuing opportunities to be an agent, or actor, or extemporaneous musician, or choreographer, or player, or a ‘choosing self’in this evolving Universe.  It’s an awesome privilege to be able to step up to the plate in ‘the game of life’ and try my best to do what I can to improve the evolving universe.  It sure does seem that there is an “I” that has free will to choose the next thoughts in my mind/heart/brain . . . and choose what to say or do in the next few moments.  A major aspect of my sense of self is that I am a choosing self. But, as Buddhism reminds us, it’s hard to pin down a discrete, substantial, continuing ‘thing’ that is my self, or my ego, or my soul. But it seems like there is an I which can choose to dwell on problems, or count my blessings, or move one of my fingers, or give someone a complement.  During sleep or while a human is under general anesthesia this agency, this ability to choose, this aspect of me, this “choosing self”, seems to disappear for awhile.  When there is no more chance that both awareness and agency (my experiencing self and my choosing self) will happen in my body/mind/heart/soul, I will be “dead”.

You are not a passive observer in the cosmos. The entire universe is expressing itself through you at this very minute.- Deepak Chopra

Life is a field and you are born to cultivate it. And if you know how to cultivate this field you can produce anything you like.- Kabir

When you arise in the morning, think of what a precious privilege it is to be alive – to breathe, to think, to enjoy, to love." – Marcus Aurelius

Life, what an exquisite privilege. - Katie Rubinstein

Through the direction and nature of our attention, we prove ourselves to be partners in creation, both of the world and of ourselves. - Iain McGilchrist, “Examining Attention”

May we each discover our own form of spiritual electricity — and light up our world. - Eileen Rivers

4. I am grateful for continuing opportunities to be a lover, especially to love my awesome wife. Today and every waking moment I have a precious opportunity to choose loving thoughts, words and gestures. . . and thereby beautify the here and now that is me happening. I can be a “loving self.” My “relational self” is a key part of my sense of self.  I aspire to be, and often am, a loving husband.  Loving well and joy are tightly associated. Loving well--caring about and caring for the holistic health and wellness of others and God, may be the most important contributor to one’s own joy.  There are many features that can be nourished to create more relationship wellness, or Love, if you will.possible to define quality in great relationships.

     Wake at dawn with a winged heart and give thanks for another day of loving. - Kahlil Gibran

5. I will practice kindness. . . now and in the future. . . I will care about and care for the happiness of others, with my thoughts, feelings, words and gestures. Kindness is one of the top 3 or 6 skills to choose to practice often if one is to love well (along with appreciation and acceptance).

      Making other people happy is a superhappiness.  - Muhammad Yunus

Kindness is in our power, even when fondness is not. - Samuel Johnson

6. I am grateful for the opportunity to be a beloved, and thankful that Linda loves me so well. . . I am, or can be, a receiver of nourishment and loving energies.  I am a beloved, that which experiences thoughts & feelings of being loved. To be an integral participant in two-way love and loving is beautiful, divine and salutogenic (wellness enhancing), and fosters joy and peace. I am grateful that I am a node or nexus in the web of many loving relationships; I both receive and put out/emanate loving energies from many.  I’m grateful to be able to practice a dynamic balance of both yin and yang.

We need to become newly aware of the love that has infused our lives all along, to turn our attention to it afresh with the eyes of a child. - Lama John Makransky, “Love Is All Around”

The organic process that is ‘me’ is dynamic, and oscillates between: yin/yang, beloved/lover, observer/actor, spectator/player, listener/speaker, reader/writer, impotent/powerful, passive/active, watcher/chooser, witness/participant. It seems like each holon in the Universe is constantly evolving in a yin/yang way.  I’m grateful and thankful for my ancestors, extended family, friends, teachers, coaches, and the myriad living and nonliving things in our ecosystem that have loved, supported, nourished and taught me.

7. I am grateful that this body, this miraculous living system, continues to function.  This collection of interdependent cells is extremely complex and ordered.  This body, this subsystem of the vast Universe, is unimaginably far from equilibrium, so it has oodles of negentropy.  That it does is probably way beyond anyone’s ability to comprehend.  But increasing complexity (from simple atoms, to stars, to larger atoms, to molecules, to seemingly small living systems, to our biome) seems to be a feature of the evolving Universe (aka God), to counterbalance the seemingly opposite trend towards increasing entropy and disorder.  Each cell and each microbe in this body is an open system that takes in nutrients and (usually) oxygen, burns the nutrients in mitochondria so as to produce ATP (the energy currency for cellular function), and then excretes waste (unneeded atoms and molecules) out to the environment.  Through reproduction of the information encoded in genes (which get transcribed and translated into proteins) the dance of life goes on and on.  Practicing awe, amazement, wonder, respect, humility, and appreciation for these ineffable ever-evolving processes is the gist of the spiritual practice (prayer) in my life, a major component of my loving of God (aka the Divine Universe).   

8. I am grateful that my nervous system continues to function, which allows for my awareness, my thoughts, my agency and my sense of self.  Humans have 100 trillion synapses firing every second, fueled by hundreds of different neurotransmitters that have been created in their 900 billion nerve cells, each with dozens of mitochondria which create millions of atp molecules each second to keep the needed imbalance of sodium and potassium across the cell membranes (through the action of the ATPase sodium/potassium pump that life as we know it needs)  sodium out, out, out//potassium in, in, in. . .
9. .I am grateful that my vascular systems continue to function- the living pipes and infrastructurewhich enable nutrients and oxygen to be delivered to each of my cells, and wastes to be carried away. . May my (our) vessels continue to be shiny, smooth, selectively permeable, uninflamed and elastic.
10. .I am grateful that my heart continues to pump my blood. Pump, pump, pump (during a slow, 3 second, inhalation)// pump, pump, pump, pump.  And/or: down,up; down,up; down,up//down,up; down,up; down, up.  Usually I then visualize blood flowing to and from many parts of my body (right brain, left brain, left arm, left leg, right leg, right arm, left circumflex artery, left anterior descending, right lung, left lung.  I’m grateful for the hearts of my friends and relatives . . .
11. my lungswhich maintain an optimal blood oxygen level (via my 25 sextillion (10 to the 21^st) hemoglobin molecules) . . . and maintain a low blood carbon dioxide level.  I visualize carbon dioxide in the blood (85% as bicarbonate, 15% attached to hemoglobin and 5% attached to the iron in the porhryn ring inside the hemoglobin) in my pulmonary arteries going out to my alveoli during inhalations, then leaving through my airways during exhalations . over, over, over//back, up, out. Then I visualize oxygen going into my lung’s alveoli during inhalations, then, during exhalations entering the pulmonary veins and attaching to hemoglobin and going back to the four entrances to my left atrium.  
12. I am grateful for my gut which stands ready to addnutrients to my blood. Water &food in // wastes out. . . .
13. I am grateful for my liverwhich continues to metabolize and optimize organic molecules in my serum.  Good blood in//improved blood back to my right atrium (my glistening, maroon liver creates glucose, hormones, essential fats and about 12,000 proteins, 150 of which are not made in other types of cells) anabolism//catabolism. . .  
14. I am grateful for my bone marrow which nurtures hemocytoblasts to mature into the 7 types of blood cells; they create over 2 million fresh red blood cells every minute, and countless megakaryocytes (releasing platelets into my blood), macrophages (to collect debris and dead cells for recycling), dendritic cells (to collect and display antigens for other immune cells to analyze) and the dozens of types of other immune cells that keep the peace amongst my cells, my potentially cancerous mutated cells and ‘my’ microbes.
15. I am grateful for the osteoblasts in my 206 bones . .  
16. I am grateful for my chondrocytes that continue to very slowly produce cartilage tissue . . .
17. I am grateful for the fibroblasts that create the extracellular collagen triple-helices in my ligaments . . .
18. I am grateful for my tendons . . .
19. I am grateful for my muscles. . .
20. I am grateful for my kidneys.Each of my 2 million nephrons serves as an inorganic chemistry lab to optimize the levels of inorganic atoms in my blood, and clean it of nitrogenous wastes, urea and oxalate. Good blood in//improved blood back to my right atrium.  Needed sodium back into my blood//excess sodium out into my bladder. (repeat for magnesium, potassium, calcium, Z= 12, 19, 20) . . .
21. I am grateful for my reproductive systemwhich has passed on the genes of my ancestors, and provides me delicious pleasure, happiness, ecstasy, joy, peace and bliss with my wife.  I then practice gratefulness for the reproductive systems of my ancestors and other humans.
22. I will practice joy . . .nowI remember (and thereby relive) a recent joyful time.  Quite often it’s the last time I was enveloped in my beloved’s embrace. For me, joy manifests here and now thru my free-will choice to practice love, gratefulness, kindness, mudita and appreciation.  I'm doing my part, I'm fulfilling my responsibility (or purpose) to beautify this part of space-time, if I'm practicing joy. Some Muslims repeat: yaa-WAA-jid (64), the source of ecstasy, or Al-BAA-sit (21), expansion, ecstasy, joy.

Gratitude begins in our hearts and then dovetails into behavior. It almost always makes you willing to be of service, which is where the joy resides.- Anne Lamott

23. I will practice mudita.I don't limit my joy to times when good or pleasurable things are happening in my life or experience.  A sufficient reason to practice joy is the fact that other sentient beings (other divine, dynamic, living systems in our family, which are not as separate from me as they seem) are experiencing happiness or pleasure. I like to think that I am not a separate being or entity; I am we, I am all.  

Mudita is the virtuous skill of practicing this sort of empathetic (or sympathetic, or vicarious) joy.  It’s fair and wise, and its not cheating in the Game of Life.  I choose to practice joy now because: thousands of couples are embracing . . . or looking forward to their marriage today . . . 2700 fathers are quite happy because their baby was born in the last 10 minutes . . . thousands of grandpas are experiencing the happiness and pride of holding their first grandchild for the first time . . . and hundreds of thousands are singing, dancing or getting massages, etc.

  (Mudita) is a natural expression of our best humanity…[it] cheers for the happiness and success of others and celebrates buoyancy, health, and happiness wherever they are encountered. - Judith Simmer-Brown, in Transforming the Green-Ey’d Monster.

 One of the sanest, surest, and most generous joys of life comes from being happy over the good fortune of others. - Archibald Rutledge.

24. I will appreciate the strengths of myself- I define a strength as an attribute, virtue or skill of a living thing that puts them in the top 20% of the distribution curve compared to others like themselves. (e.g. other 66 year old men in Lorain County).  Others set a higher bar, which is valid, but decreases the number of strengths we have.  We all have many strengths that we should appreciate, so as to love ourselves well.
25. I will appreciate the strengths of others- Loving well involves often choosing to appreciate the many strengths of the beloved; joy ensues.

Everything flourishes in the nourishment of our appreciation; plants, people, the Earth, moments. When we live with that appreciation, we flourish.- Kristi Nelson

26. May I appreciate the Divine in all beings- It works for me to see the evolving Universe as one, miraculous, ineffable, Divine process . . . to equate the Universe with God happening.  This pantheism (or religious monism) works better for me than monotheism (with one creator being, called God, who is often thought to have a human-like abilities & virtues, who exists (or is happening) and is different from the created beings and things in the Universe.  And pantheism works better for me than humanism or materialism (with a Universe full of inanimate, physical, material things, composed of elementary particles which interact via knowable physical forces). There are no beings (e.g. me, plants, bacteria) or souls, or processes that are separate from God.  The tree, the worm, my sensations, perceptions, thoughts and feelings are beautiful manifestations of God happening in their respective space-times. This attitude of love and respect for the Divine in all beings (regardless of their species, gender, ethnicity, beliefs, etc.) is expressed by Hindus as Namaste.  God, for me, is ever-present, all-pervading (immanent), beyond space and time (transcendent) and the only being or process (Al-A-had, 66, the One Unity. Al-WAA-see, 45, the all-pervading, "yet another magnificent face of Divine Life Energy."). A common Muslim chant is "La 'illaha 'illa allah" -- there are no other Gods (?or beings) than God.

     Every face is the face of God. - the Koran

 Each being is a verse in the sacred manuscript of nature. - Hazrat Inayat Khan.

Seek Him in all souls, good or bad, wise and foolish, attractive and unattractive; in the depths of each there is God. - Hazrat Inayat Khan.  

The one who knows himself truly knows God.- Hazrat Ali.   

My religion is nature. That’s what arouses those feelings of wonder and mysticism and gratitude in me.- Oliver Sacks

10. May I appreciate plants. . . which have the superpower to harness light from our star (receive the kiss of Father Sun) and combine water, carbon dioxide and atoms from the soil to produce oxygen, carbohydrates, proteins, fats and beauty to nourish all lifeforms in Earth’s biosphere.  
11. May I appreciate fungi. . . which enable plant roots to function . . .and which digest cellulose, so as to keep the carbon cycle turning (return it to the Cosmic Library).
12. May I appreciate protista- the kingdom of life with single cells containing membrane bound nuclei and mitochondria.  They were the most complicated life form on Earth between 1 and 1.5 billion years ago
13. May I appreciate bacteria. . . which are essential for dna and protein metabolism in all living things.  There are 38 trillion in the ever-changing holobiont that is my body, and 5x10 to the 30^th on Earth.  They became imbedded within early plant cells to become plastids, and inside early animal cells to become mitochondria. . . the awesome powerhouses that charge up ADP into ATP, the energy currency needed by all life.  They are all my cousins, since we all, perhaps, descended from an universal common ancestor (a membrane bound bacteria or archaea) about 3.8 billion years ago.
14. May I appreciate archaea- the ancient kingdom or “domain” of life which continues, and which is able to live in oxygen-free environments and has different ribosomal proteins and different components in their fatty membranes than organisms in the other 5 domains.
15. May I appreciate the Divine in all places- God is happening/manifesting in beautiful, divine nonliving ways as well . . . in ways which don’t involve metabolism.  
16. I am grateful for viruses. . which have probably always been in every living thing. The ongoing evolution and complexification of the Universe continues to depend upon viruses. About 380 trillion are happening in my body now; about 10x10 to the 31^{st (nonillion)} are happening on Earth. They are non-living, non-metabolizing, always mutating strands of dna or rna encapsulated by proteins. Incorporation of viral genes into nucleic acids of living things has allowed for the evolution of mammals, and perhaps every living thing.

Viruses have enriched the evolutionary options of cellular creatures over the past several billion years by depositing new genetic material in their genomes. - David Quammen

17. I am grateful for molecules(e.g. oxygen, ATP, hemoglobin, chlorophyll, silicon dioxide, water, nitrogen), atoms, the space between the nucleus and electrons in an atom, rocks, clouds, sunsets,
18. I am grateful for thestars. (btw, divine 2^nd generation stars of various sizes, 5-12 eons ago, evolved into planetary nebulae, supernova and kilonova, to create all of the atoms in our solar system). A glass that is half full of water is non-living, but it is divine.  Some would bemoan that it is half empty.  Others would appreciate that it is half full of divine water.  What works for me is to choose to see the glass as always 100% full-- with trillions of divine water molecules (10 to the 41^st on Earth) and trillions of divine molecules of nitrogen, oxygen, carbon dioxide and trillions of other molecules that were created eons ago.  God is manifesting in all places and all times. It works for me to believe that there is no edge to God in space or time. And that God is not a thing or a being or a creator; rather, God is the only process that is happening.  Of course, in everyday life, I need to have a model of the Universe to make it comprehensible, so that I can function.  And this model, which is perhaps a useful delusion, is that the Universe consists of separate things happening IN space.

“When a man walks along the beach and picks up rock and skips it across a lake as the sun shines down, that is God walking across God and picking God up and skipping God across God as God shines down.” - Khan Willie Sawyer II

We are all as continuous with the physical universe, as a wave is continuous with the ocean. - Alan Watts

"Everything is a mirror for God's face"

“May I See the face of the Divine everywhere I turn.”

"Love is the Religion.  The Universe is the Book." ~Rumi.

"All the particles of the world are in love and looking for lovers." ~Rumi.   

“Appreciation can turn our planet into a sacred home and our communities into extended family. - KRISTI NELSON.

Muslims venerate ya-WAA-hid (65)-- the oneness that underlies all differentiated, unique forms. Or yaa-ma-JEEED (48).

 

19. I will practice humility- My thoughts, actions and life are significant, but small in the big picture.  I should always try to recognize and avoid surety, egocentricity, sanctimoniousness, self-righteousness, and self-importance.
20. I will remember my body is small- relative to the Earth (10 to the 21st times bigger than me--a billion trillion times) . . .  and our Solar System . . . and our Galaxy, and our Universe.  (if our solar system was the size of a quarter, the Milky Way would be the size of the USA)
21. I will remember that my lifetime is short- relative to the 200 thousand years since our grandparents walked out of Africa, or the 3.5 billion years since the first life on Earth (single-celled oceanic archaea and bacteria of unknown origin). But, of course, I could be infinite in space-time, depending on one's concept of the ineffable "I".

If the doors of perception were cleansed every thing would appear to man as it is, Infinite. - William Blake

22. I will remember that my disappointments are minor - Our biosphere has sufferred 10 mass extinctions.  Others have much worse life situations and sufferings than I.  Things don't always happen as I think they should, but in the big picture, things are probably evolving as they should, and I’m quite fortunate.
23. I will remember that my knowledge is limited- I habitually see through thick filters.  The big picture is ineffable to my small mind/heart/brain. There are many, many reasons why the Universe (God) is evolving as it is . . .and other beings are thinking and acting the way they are.  Many of those reasons, or forces, are ineffable to the limited thinking of people (mysterianism). God is not just immanent in things we see (and think we understand), but is also transcendent, beyond space and time (and perhaps happening in other ineffable dimensions?)

Knowing is a veneer our minds create and lay over the landscape like a painter’s drop cloth set upon a forest floor. Its uniformity protects us from the pine needles and beetles, but it also obscures them, as well as the soft moss, fragrant soil, and teeming complexity of nature’s bed.- Gregory Kramer

24. I will remember that my models are incomplete- Our mental models are useful maps of reality.  They are codified and limited by our language, and work quite well to help us to survive, adapt, and be agents to change our environment.  Scientific models are great, and are evolving well, but they often are reductionistic (not holistic) and miss the big picture (especially Dark Energy, Dark Matter and metaphysical things, like love, intentionality, beauty, synergy). The Whole System is much more significant and incomprehensible than its subsystems (aka holons).
25. I will doubt my beliefs - Most suffering comes from false or dysfunctional beliefs about things that are happening which we don't accept or appreciate.   Believing that things or others should be different, or that events that are happening should be different, is quite natural and inevitable, but it causes the disappointments and suffering that hurt our inner peace.  "Don't always believe what you think" and “may we doubt our beliefs” are good maxims. Only the closed mind is certain.- anon
26. May I often see my own imperfections. I define an imperfection as an attribute, virtue or skill of a living thing that puts them in the middle 60% of the distribution curve compared to others like themselves; others have different, valid definitions, which have significantly different implications.  We all have many imperfections, and that's natural, normal and OK.  Usually I see through thick filters that disable clear views of my imperfections and my contributions to discord.  Only if I’m aware of my imperfections can I develop the strong intentions needed to minimize them, so as to become more virtuous and skillful in the Game of Life.
27. May I accept the imperfections of others. Other beings and processes are happening the way they are for thousands of reasons.  Who am I to be judgemental or self-righteous?  Practicing those ideas are dysfunctional and diminish inner peace, outer peace and great loving.  Acceptance of imperfections is one of the top 3 or 4 skills to choose to practice if one is to love oneself, another, or God well (along with kindness and appreciation).  It is the key for maintaining inner peace and practicing equanimity (mental/emotional resilience).  Adventurers on the many valid spiritual paths are challenged to foster inner and outer peace.  For the inner peace which comes from acceptance, Muslims invoke As-sa-LAAM (5); their most common greeting is As-sa LAMM ah LAY kum.  Jews often use the salutation, “Shalom” (peace).

"Each moment is a chance for us to make peace with the world."-Thich Nhat Hanh.

28. May I tolerate most weaknesses. . . in myself and others.  It's usually much more skillful to accept imperfections rather than tolerate them.  Tolerance might best reserved for weaknesses (?bottom 20% of the Bell curve), or things like pain, mental and physical illnesses and disabilities, and death.  But, to help humankind evolve well, it's probably skillful to even be intolerant of some choices that our culture declares are clearly bad (e.g. rape, murder). But often, "When we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves." -VIKTOR FRANKL. 
29. May I usually have realistic expectations. . . so as to minimize disturbances of my inner peace.  High expectations lead to disappointment.  But sometimesit’s wise to have high expectations, which foster high achievements.  A healthy balance is wise.
30. May I practice compassion. . . now and in the future . . .for the suffering of others, and say and do what I can to minimize it.  Two people die every second, so many families are now practicing appropriate sadness.
31. May I practice equanimity. . . when I experience pains, sadness or disappointment (which, by my nature I will) may I soon come back to a peaceful balance.  May the keel of my ship prevent it from being capsized. Shit happens; pain happens; potholes in the path happen.  But choosing to often practice acceptance (or at least tolerance) minimizes our suffering and is the key to equanimity.  (Equanimity, along with compassion, loving-kindness and mudita, are the four noble virtues to be practiced in Buddhism.)  

Being free of fear (or sadness, disappointment, anxiety, anger, etc.) is not a matter of never feeling it, but of not being flattened when we do. We can feel it and know it is a natural phenomenon, also an impermanent one, which will have its say and be gone. - David Guy

32. May my body be resilient - Resilience (a close synonym for health) is the ability or skill of a system to return to a balance point through homeostatic mechanisms after experiencing a stressor which takes it away from a balance point.May I recover well from stresses, illnesses and injuries.  Some Muslims venerate (and try to model) Ya-'ADL (29)-- balance, resilience, or, Ya jab-BAAR (9)- healing.
33. May I resonate with Divine sustaining forces- . . . (now I reactivate the muscles needed to cause a smile, and try to keep them activated thru the rest of my morning prayers.) . . . may I be aware of, respectful of, open to, venerate, appreciate, resonate with, synchronize with . . . and thereby be fertile ground for all the ineffable metaphysical forces that keep the Universe and its subsystems running well.  Christians and Jews call these ineffable metaphysical forces Divine Grace. Hindus who sometimes personify God as triune honor and praise Vishnu, their name for the aspect of God that sustains and preserves.  Muslims call the personified aspect of God (the Universe) Al MuQEET(39)- the sustainer, nourisher, maintainer. Now in my practice is when I do wazifa or zikr for Al-MuQEET. (either silently, or out loud, to better attune to the vibrational energy of metaphysical sustaining forces.  see addendum 2). . . Others praise/love Al ma-JEED (48)- divine life energy.  Pluralism seems wise; there are many valid ways to appreciate metaphysical forces: gratefulness, thankfulness, piety, prayer, praise, awe, humility, zikr, dance, music, poetry, art.
34. May I resonate with Divine protective forces- May I be aware of, respectful of, open to, venerate, appreciate, resonate with, synchronize with, praise, and be welcoming to the Divine, miraculous, ineffable forces which (perhaps) keep living systems safe.  Monotheists (and sometimes myself) find it useful to name these personified protective forces “angels”, as if they are separate beings.  I often find it useful and effective to imagine that the talisman I rub, or the buckeye in my pocket, or the 4 leaf clover in my wallet act as magnets to attract angelic beings or protective metaphysical forces.In a significant way, our thoughts create our reality.

Positive illusions make us more resilient and more likely to succeed. - Bruce Hood

Now I mentally repeat, 3 or 11 times, the 38^th name of God, Al-Ha-FEEZ (38)- guardian, protector, preserver. May I honor and welcome Al-Ha-FEEZ into my life, here and now. Muslims also praise Al-Mu-HAI-min (7), or Al-MU-min (6)- granter of security, safety.  

34. May I harmonize in the Divine Cosmic Symphony- May I be aware of, respectful of, and play along with all the many vibrating living systems . . . and molecules, and atoms. On a micro scale, everything vibrates/oscillates; nothing is steady.  Sounds are oscillations in the density of air which cause my eardrums to vibrate at the same frequency (20-20,000 Hz. The lowest note I can sing is D2, 73 Hz, which also happens to be the base frequency of my 32” gong).  Microwaves which are tuned to vibrate, “rock”, and rotate water molecules oscillate at 2.45 gigahertz. 

To play well in an orchestra we need to listen well, be in tune with others, keep the shared rhythm, respect the other instruments, and not play too loud.  Each participant in a symphony plays an instrument which plays with different pitches and timbres.  Egocentric, conceited or power-hungry people who aren’t skillful at respecting the other voices in the symphony detract from the beauty of the Symphony. They create discord instead of harmony.  They don’t have the skill of an artistic or skillful Spiritual Musician in the Divine Cosmic Symphony (aka, God evolving, the Universe happening).  May I practice and thereby develop the skills to play on many different instruments.  May I harmonize well with God in all His/Her/Its many manifestations. May I Harmonize well with Saraswati, the Hindu incarnation/aspect/personification of God (music, sound, vibration).

"Real peace is not simply the absence of violent conflict but a state of harmony: harmony between people; harmony between humanity and nature; and harmony within ourselves." - Bhikkhu Bodhi, “Fostering Peace, Inside and Out”.  

Pir (the title given to the guide of a Sufi order) Shabda Kahn says that "a Sufi is one who harmonizes with all things".  Or at least tries to.  Muslims appreciate, praise or invoke As-sa-MEE' (26), which represents God manifesting as sound and music.   

Love produces harmony and harmony creates beauty. Therefore the chief motto in life is 'Love, harmony and beauty'. Love, in all things and beings, the beloved God, in harmony with all in the right understanding, and beautify your life by observing the beauty within and without.- Hazrat Inayat Khan.

Once we see and know for ourselves the toxic taste of disharmony and constantly wanting the world to be other than it is, we know change of ourselves is the wiser response. . . In life, our instruments are the body, heart, and mind. -Georgianna Wasia Reid.

A harmonized mind produces harmony in this world of seeming discord. - Paramahansa Yogananda  

35. May I will dance well with God, and all the manifestations of God . . .  in the Divine Cosmic Dance. . . in the here and now. (aka, in this space-time) . . . and in the future. On a macro scale, above absolute zero, it seems true that nothing is stable; everything (all space-time) is moving and evolving; God is always moving.  So my goal in life, as the choreographer of this space-time, should be to move my body/mind/heart/soul well, by often choosing skillful and graceful thoughts, feelings, words, gestures and movements.

     When I am grateful, I am neither rushing nor slouching through my day – I’m dancing. - Br. David Steindl-Rast

     The only way to make sense out of change is to plunge into it, move with it, and join the dance. - Alan Watts

   When before the beauty of a sunset or a mountain, you pause and exclaim, "Ah," you are participating in divinity. – Ancient Hindu text  . . . i.e. you are dancing well with God.  i.e. Loving God well.  When the Divine is seen as personal and triune in Hinduism, it is Shiva (as his incarnation Nataraja) that is the dancer and drummer in the circle of flames-- the aspect of God that is responsible for the incessant change of the Universe, which is, of course, needed for transformation, growth and evolution.  It's skillful practice to honor Shiva by welcoming change, by looking forward to new chapters in the book of life, by surfing the waves of change, by dancing well with all the manifestations of God (aka the Universe).  The skillful Spiritual Dancer in the Divine Cosmic Dance is sensitive to their many partners, and gracefully moves with them to augment joy in the Universe (or other wholesome goals that are sought after or that seem appropriate for the situation (e.g. sadness, compassion, peace, holistic wellness, harmony, loving relations, etc.)

The Holy Spirit dances across space and time.- Rev. Erica Saunders.

Dance from here to the other world—and don't stop. ~Rumi

Process Philosophy (favored by Buddhists, Heraclitis, Whitehead, Watts, etc) posits that "...reality is not a constellation of things at all, but one of processes. The fundamental "stuff" of the world is not material substance, but volatile flux, namely "fire", and all things are versions thereof (puros tropai). Process is fundamental: the river is not an object, but a continuing flow; the sun is not a thing, but an enduring fire. Everything is a matter of process, of activity, of change (panta rhei). - an interpretation of Heraclitus's concepts into modern terms by Nicholas Rescher.

You never step in the same river twice. - Heraclitus

Panta rhei or “everything flows,” stated Heraclitus two and a half millennia ago. This is the fundamental feature of reality. It never stays the same. - Peter Burns

Often I prefer to think of things, entities, organisms as interrelated processes that are incessantly evolving and happening instead of existing.  And I prefer to think of the entire Universe as one big, Divine PROCESS (aka God), instead of as a thing or entity that “exists”.  

36. May I love God well.In these skillful and loving ways, in my choice of thoughts, words and actions, may I appreciate, care about and care for the holistic health and wellness of all aspects of the divine living system that we call Mother Earth.

Every kind of power lies in this one thing which we call by the simple name: love. Charity, generosity, kindness, affection, endurance, tolerance, and patience -- all these words are different aspects of one; they are different names of only one thing: love. Whether it is said, 'God is love,' or whatever name is given to it, all the names are the names of God; and yet every form of love, every name for love, has its own peculiar scope, has a peculiarity of its own. Love as kindness is one thing, love as tolerance is another, love as generosity is another, love as patience another; and yet from beginning to end it is just love. ... True love must have free flow; and to learn that free flow the teachers have taught us first to love from the limited, and thence to advance in love till we attain to the love of God, the Unlimited. - Hazrat Inayat Khan

Love for one person, to whatever depth it may have reached, is limited. Perfection of love lies in its vastness. 'The tendency of love is to expand, even from one atom to the whole universe, from a single earthly beloved to God.' When love is for the human being it is primitive and incomplete, and yet it is needed to begin with. He can never say, 'I love God,' who has no love for his fellow man. But when love attains its culmination in God, it reaches its perfection. - Hazrat Inayat Khan

37. May I often realize the oneness of all . . . now, and in the future.  May I often dis-identify with my self, or ego, so as to better identify with other aspects and manifestations of God.  In a deep, profound way I am one with: the new grandpa in India now holding his first grandchild for the first time, the chickadee at my feeder, the nucleic acid in the virus in my nose, the nitrogen atom in the fiber of this blanket, the propane molecule now burning in our furnace, the copper atom in my gong, the supernovas and kilonovas on the far side of the Milky Way that are now creating new copper and gold atoms.

The work of the spiritual man is to forget his false self and so to realize the true self which is God, and this true self not only in him, but in his neighbor also.- Hazrat Inayat Khan

The first lesson of the mystic is, "Thou art, and not I." It is not only complete surrender to God, it is self-effacement. And what does the symbol of the cross explain? That "Thou art, not me, my hands are not for me, my feet are not for me, my head is not for me, they are all Thine." The saying of the [Hadith], "Die before death," does not mean suicide, it means the death of the "I", the separate self.- Hazrat Inayat Khan      

      I asked the leaf whether it was frightened because it was autumn and the other leaves were falling. The leaf told me, "No. During the whole spring and summer I was completely alive. I worked hard to help nourish the tree, and now much of me is in the tree. I am not limited by this form. I am also the whole tree, and when I go back to the soil, I will continue to nourish the tree. So I don’t worry at all. As I leave this branch and float to the ground, I will wave to the tree and tell her, 'I will see you again very soon'." That day there was a wind blowing and, after a while, I saw the leaf leave the branch and float down to the soil, dancing joyfully, because as it floated it saw itself already there in the tree. It was so happy. I bowed my head, knowing that I have a lot to learn from the leaf. - Thich Nhat Hanh.

     A common Muslim chant/zikr that I often repeat is: La 'illaha 'illa allah-- there is only the One/God/the Universe.  The Hindu & Buddhist chant of OM can help us resonate with the One/God/the Universe. I take a deep breath, then . . . Oooooooooooooooommmmmm . . .  as I flex and circle my head three times.

 After (or during) this practice, I often do a shortened version of these practices for at least one loved one.  But I don't know what their mental/emotional/spiritual/physical goals currently are, so I start with, “May (their name) skillfully practice the thoughts, feelings and actions that work to optimize their joy, peace and progress towards their other wholesome goals."

I suggest that you make up your own mantram phrases, to repeat in a trance, as a prayer that actually works to achieve your current goals.  In addendum 3 are a few others to consider.  Namaste.

*   *   *

Addendum 1: There are dozens of helpful techniques to transition into the here and now without discursive thinking or judgementalism (i.e. practice mindfulness, prayer or trance).  Formerly, I would count my breath (e.g. 3 or 4 on inhalations and4 or 5 on exhalations) or repeat a mantram phrase with each breath (e.g. I have much . . . //to be grateful for).  For the last few years, during 3 inhalations, I mentally say and/or visualize: "Flattening" (of my 2 hemispherical diaphragms), and "down, out"); during those 3 exhalations I say and visualize, “in, up, relaxing (the radial muscles of my diaphrams)”.  During the next three breaths I say/visualize, air “in, down, over”,into the alveoli in the 2 lobes of my left lung, //air “back, up, out”. Then I visualize the air in and out of my right, and then both lungs.  For the last 3 breaths I say/visualize, air “in,flattening, belly out// belly in, relaxing, air out,” as my mental focus follows a back and forth path in my body along one half of an oval.  Some find 4-7-8 breathing to be quite relaxing and helpful: mentally count 4 on inbreaths, then hold for 7 counts, then exhale for 8 counts.  Sometimes I visualize figure 8 breathing: starting at the back of my left chest I count 1,2,3, coming around to the front, then 1,2,3,4 coming across and back to the back of my right chest.  Then complete the 8 by 1,2,3//1,2,3,4 around the right chest then back to the starting point.

Addendum 2: There are many valid, helpful styles of repeating a divine name of Allah/God. What works for me these days is to: flex my neck, then, on the inhale, I extend my neck back and circle it counter clockwise to the 9 o’clock position, where I exhale and mentally (or outloud) say the first syllable.  At the 6 o’clock position I say the 2^nd syllable.  At the 3 o’clock position I say the final syllable and continue it to 12 o’clock, then flex down to 6 o’clock.  I repeat this with each breath/incantation 11 times.  My way to keep count, that minimizes distraction from my focus, is to briefly focus on my left little finger by activating the muscles which would cause it to flex.  With the 2^nd repetition I briefly focus on my left 4^th finger, etc, around to 10.  And then I do one more. Zikr done in a group is also, evidently, quite effective and nourishing.

Addendum 3: May (I) skillfully Play the Game of Life. i.e. choose thoughts, words and behaviors which work to get you and your loved ones closer to holistic wellness, or joy or peace, etc..  A skillful Spiritual Athlete has many different plays in his playbook to choose from, to get him closer to his current goals in the Game of Life.  

May (I) Struggle well in the Greater Jihad. In Islam, the Greater Jihad is the struggle in a Spiritual Warrior to overcome the barriers in himself to loving God (and all His many manifestations) better.  Our main enemies are the dysfunctional, habitual tendencies within us, not beings or things outside of us or separate from us.  God's "will" is for us to struggle well in this Jihad by skillfully choosing virtuous thoughts, feelings and actions for the good of all (i.e. selflessly, humbly, lovingly, piously).  The Spiritual Warrior has many different weapons, or types of arrows in his quiver, to puncture holes in the curtain of our main delusion-- that we are separate beings in space and time, apart from the other divine manifestations of God (aka other beings and things and phenomena).  We are called to "fight" this Jihad well, and not let the counsel (inner voices) of metaphysical "Devils" take us off course.  Jews, Christians and Muslims believe we will be judged by God on our efforts, and may be rewarded with eternal life in Heaven.  Many Hindus and Buddhist believe in karma, that our thoughts and actions determine the quality of our rebirth in future lives.   I'm pleased that this belief works for them, but it doesn't seem to work for me.  I'm less inclined to worship a personified God who has characteristics of human beings, e.g. who is judgemental, or 'who' has a will, or can hear or see us, or who is omniscent, or was/is a creator of things and beings which are then separate from "Him/Her".  Pantheism works better for me than monotheism, but most theologies are valid and helpful.

May (I) Embrace the flow that is the Universe

May ( I ) Be safe

Here are some metta phrases that work for Melvin Escobar, a Buddhist in Oakland :

May (I/you/all beings) be safe and protected, free from inner and outer harm.

May (I/you/all) be happy.

May (my/your/everyone’s) body support the practice of loving awareness.

May (I/you/all) be free from ill-will, affliction, and anxiety.

May (I/you/everyone) love (myself/yourself/themselves) as (I am/you are/they are).

May (I/you/all) be happy and free from suffering.

May (I/you/all) find peace in an uncertain world.

May (I/you/all) find ease on the middle path between attachment and apathy.