Shyamatara Das

In the Service of the Divine Mother

Keeping a Gratitude Journal

September 7, 2020 By admin 1 Comment

Journal, Pen and Coffee MugOne of the very first things that I learned to do when I began to change my life was to begin keeping a gratitude journal. This incredibly simple practice can have a profound effect on one’s happiness and well being.

In fact, for the time and effort invested, this may be the single highest leverage activity in which one can engage for happiness, spiritual development and good mental health.

The process is simple. Find the time each day to write down three things for which you are thankful. Lots of folks seem to find the most benefit in doing this practice in the evening or just before bedtime. You don’t need a fancy blank book or app. Just grab a notebook and pen, reflect for a few moments, and list three things from that day that make you feel grateful.

It is truly as simple as that, and it seems easy enough as well, but at first it may be more challenging that you anticipate. The first few days it may be pretty easy to come up with things to write, but then you may find yourself repeating items – which is alright, but the real power of the practice comes from finding new things each day for which you are grateful. This is because you will find yourself actively looking for things throughout the day that you can write down in your journal that evening. As we are on the lookout for positive things, we gradually train ourselves to expect positive things. This single shift in attention has dramatic effects.

Here are just a few of the most common benefits that have been documented in studies of this sort of journaling practice.

  • Better Sleep
  • Healthier Eating
  • Lowered Risk of Heart Disease
  • Lower Symptoms of Depression
  • Lower Stress Levels
  • Improved Interpersonal Relationships
  • Less Focus on Materialism
  • Increased Generosity
  • Improved Self-Esteem
  • Improved Sense of Agency Over One’s Life

Fairly dramatic measurable results are found in studies within the first month of beginning a gratitude practice.

I learned about this practice while watching a “self-help” documentary about the Law of Attraction. I cannot recall who made the suggestion, or which movie it was, but I remember thinking “this is simple to do, so why not try it?”

Along with another practice called the “mental diet” which I’ll describe in another post, this habit did more very early on in my spiritual journey to change my attitudes, perceptions and the quality of my life than any other activity I can name. For me, the most significant result has been an easing of episodes of depression that had plagued me for more than 50 years.

I’d love to hear about your experiences with gratitude, or your questions. Feel free to email or leave a comment on this post.

Filed Under: Blog, Daily Practices Tagged With: Attention, Change Your Mind, Essential Practices, Gratitude, Habits, Journaling, Law of Attraction, Positivity

Praying the Divine Office

September 6, 2020 By admin 1 Comment

Liturgy of the Hours BooksI was introduced to the Divine Office by a lifelong friend who is a Catholic Priest. From time to time he has come to visit our family for a few days, and he always brings several beautifully bound large volumes with him for his daily prayers. I was fascinated and intrigued by all of the ribbons and the elaborate process involved, but thought of this prayer as a somewhat arcane practice, reserved for the clergy.

At some point I considered praying the Office (also called the Liturgy of the Hours) as part of my Lenten practice one year, and did a little research. Unfortunately, a lot of the material online seemed more complicated and daunting than helpful.

I was eventually lucky enough to find a resource called Universalis. In addition to the website, there is also a smartphone app which makes it simple to add this ancient and beautiful prayer tradition to one’s day. My own practice is to pray the Office of Readings combined with Lauds (morning prayer) first thing in the morning, and then Vespers sometime during the evening.

Initially, I prayed the Hours only during Lent, and by the time Holy Week arrived, was satisfied with the prospects of putting the practice behind me until the next year. For some reason here in 2020 I continued the practice after Lent ended, and it has now become a habit that I intend to observe, if the Lord wills it, for the rest of my days. Beginning and ending each day with this deep dive into the Psalms helps to bring a longer-term perspective and a sense of centeredness to the flurry of life and its daily activities.

This practice has also given me a deeper understanding of the nature and context of Judeo-Christian scripture itself, and of the character of the God we Christians worship.

If you’re interested in praying the Office, I would highly recommend the Universalis website. There’s no cost for the web version, and both the desktop and smartphone apps are very reasonably priced. If you pray the Office of Readings with Lauds, you’ll want to set aside fifteen or twenty minutes for it, and Vespers is a bit shorter (maybe five or ten).

Do you have a formal daily prayer practice? I’d love to hear your experiences, resources, and questions.

Filed Under: Blog, Daily Practices Tagged With: Christian, Daily Prayers, Devotions, Essential Practices, Prayer, Psalms, Resources, Roman Catholic, Scripture, Universalis

Calm Down and Do Your Practice

September 4, 2020 By admin

Murti, Candle and Incense

Welcome from Shyamatara Das. This website is a way of sharing some thoughts, spiritual practices, techniques and resources for living a full, beautiful life. I plan to include content focusing on a wide range of topics: service, bhakti, meditation, plant-based cooking and more.

It is my hope that we can get to know each other, and learn from each other.

You can contact me by email to admin@shyamataradas.com.

The photo above is a small murti, a candle and some stick incense as I have them set up each morning for prayer time. I’ll be describing some of my own habits and practices in detail here as we go along. They vary from time to time, but what I have found to be most important is to recognize the value of a regular daily practice of some sort. The best practice for each of us is the one that we will actually do each day.

It’s not always easy to find a good way to live in the world. When things are difficult, when I feel inpatient or frustrated or confused or overwhelmed, I try to remember this advice from Krishna Das. “Just calm your ass down and do some practice.”

Each time we pray, or chant, or meditate, or contemplate, we plant a seed. By Grace, some of those seeds take root, and grow, and eventually produce good fruit. Spiritual development is, more than anything else, this process of ripening.

Welcome, once again. I thank you for visiting this site, and look forward to getting acquainted with you.

Oṃ Tāre Tuttāre Ture Svāhā!

Filed Under: Blog

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ༀ་ཏཱ་རེ་ཏུཏྟཱ་རེ་ཏུ་རེ་སྭཱ་ཧཱ།

Oṃ Tāre Tuttāre Ture Svāhā

Mother of Liberation, Guide and Protect Us

Contact

admin@shyamataradas.com

About Shyamatara Das

Bookmarks

  • Daily Word from Unity
  • Devadas Daily Kirtan
  • His Holiness The 14th Dalai Lama
  • Krishna Das
  • Liturgy of the Hours
  • Love Serve Remember
  • Senator Jaiz Zen Audio Journeys
  • Tara Mandala

Topics

All One Attention Behind the Veil Bhakti Centering Prayer Change Your Mind Chant Christian Daily Prayers Devotions Durga Essential Ground of Being Essential Practices Facebook Live Gratitude Habits Hindu Inspiration Journaling Kirtan Kriya Yoga Law of Attraction Manifestation Meditation New Testiment Poetry Positivity Prayer Psalms Resources Roman Catholic Samadhi Scripture Self-Realization Silent Mantra Spirituality SRF St. Paul Sub Ek TM Unified Field Universalis Yoga Yogananda Yogoda

Photo Credit

Website Background Photo: Mount Kailash from Barkha Plain by Jean-Marie Hullot