In previous posts on this blog I have extolled what I believe to be the potential of using mindfulness in general and mindful meditation in particular to enhance one's spiritual life (popularly referred to as spiritual formation). The goal of spiritual formation (or as Dallas Willard calls it - spiritual trans-formation) is to transform one's character into the character of Christ. This involves a transformation in thoughts, desires, behaviors, and ways of relating to God and others.
I have heard it said (though it may only be a legend) that when Michelangelo was asked how he created his famous statue of David, he stated, " It is easy. Just chip away the stone that does not look like David." I propose that spiritual trans-formation is a daily moment-by-moment process orchestrated by the Holy Spirit's chipping away all that is not Christ. Our one and only responsibility in this endeavor is to be available and responsive to this 'chipping away' process. But how we do this is the question. I believe it is through an enhanced awareness. After all, how can you change what you are unaware of? Awareness, it seems to me, is a primary way to be available to the Holy Spirit's desire and power to create change in us. Without it, we have a tendency to be 'auto-pilot' responders. Let me explain.
Suppose I have a lustful thought (remember this is just hyperbole). My auto-pilot tendency is to splash some color on the thought to make it more vivid in my mind. Then I may chase the thought, following it through all the twists and turns it may take me. The potential result is captured in James:1:14-15
But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin; and sin when it
is fully grown, brings forth death (ESV).
James uses a fishing metaphor here. When I was a boy, my father would take me bass fishing with him occasionally. He had a favorite fishing hole in this tiny cove on a lake in the piney woods of East Texas. I remember that his favorite lure was called the "tiny topwater." When he cast it out and began to slowly reel it back in, this brightly colored and feathered lure would splash just across the surface of the water. Those unsuspecting bass, laying down in their protective environs would see that delectable looking morsel and be "lured" out of their hideaways. And when they went to take a nibble, they were hooked! Fish fry!
We can be lured by our auto-pilot tendencies. It could be said that this auto-pilot responding is a function of one's sin nature and learning from others' sin natures (Deut. 5:9-10). The solution to auto-pilot tendencies is moment-by-moment awareness. And this is where mindful meditation practices come in. Probably, one of the most frequently mentioned benefits of mindfulness meditation is the cultivation of our awareness. As I breathe-in and breathe-out, my mind has a tendency to wander (we might say it is lured away by innumerable random thoughts). Each time I become aware that my mind has wandered, I gently bring it back to my breath. And through the miracle of neuroplasticity, I create new neural pathways for awareness. I enhance my ability to be aware in the moment.
With this enhanced awareness, I can then be more immediately aware of any time that I am having thoughts, desires, behaviors, or failures in relating ¹ that do not portray the character of Christ. Mindful awareness could be proffered as a way of more volitionally cooperating with the Holy Spirit in regulating oneself (i.e., as I become more aware of a sinful behavior or pattern of behaviors, I can choose to evoke the power of the Holy Spirit in changing that behavior).
Deepok Chopra said, "a person is a pattern of behavior, of a larger awareness." What do you wish to pattern your behavior after? If the answer is the character of Christ, then the cultivation of awareness is, I believe, a tool you want in your spiritual formation toolbox.
¹ For a wonderful treatment of our failures in relating, see Chapter 10, Transforming our Social Dimension, in Dallas Willard's Renovation of the Heart (NavPress).
