Photo by Polycart / Flickr Creative Commons

Effort gives our practice depth, character, strength and resiliency.
~Roshi Joan Halifax

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The other day I was walking around Pharmaca – my favorite drug store– browsing through boxes of incense, books on spirituality, and CDs by folks like Deepak Chopra and Carolyn Myss.

It reminded me of a time in my life when I wandered stores like that in search of sustenance, buying all kinds of spiritual paraphernalia. It seemed like I could never get enough. I’d whip out my wallet again and again, always believing that the next purchase would push me over into enlightenment.

The thing was, that was all I did. Sure, I’d light the candles, listen to the CDs, read the books, try the yoga mats, but there wasn’t any one practice that I went into deeply into.

I’m not saying that Deepak Chopra and Carolyn Myss are bad. I am deeply grateful for the wisdom they offer and I’ve learned a lot from their teachings.

But there is a qualitative difference between listening to a CD and committing yourself to go deep into a practice, in the company of others.

Now my life is quite different. I actually have a daily meditation practice—it’s become as habitual as brushing my teeth. I often sit with a sangha (community of other meditators) and I have a teacher with whom I check in regularly and who gives me honest feedback about my practice and life.

All of this helps me to hold myself much more accountable than the days when I was trying to buy my spiritual path in a store.

I say all this not to brag to you, but to drive home the importance of depth and commitment when it comes to a spiritual path. Call me old school, but I believe that we don’t get the rewards that come from a spiritual practice until we really do the time and put in the effort.

Shopping just doesn’t cut it.

How serious are you about your spiritual life? Your way of doing this will almost certainly look different than mine… it doesn’t mean you need to get a Zen teacher. Maybe for you it’s yoga. Or chanting. Or even time spent giving loving care and attention in your garden.

But — what can you do to get more serious? Feel free to share your thoughts here…

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