Contemplative practices
The contemplative practices are divided into four groups. Each practice has a short introduction and a link to extended information. At the end of the background information section of nearly every practice, suggestions are given for working with that specific practice (attention on…).
Contemplative practices in groups
The foundation
The foundation of mindfulness and awareness is meditation and loving kindness. Meditation teaches us to focus our attention and to look openly at both ourselves and the world. Loving kindness teaches us to be kind to ourselves and to others. Analytical meditation can help us gain more certainty about questions we ask ourselves during meditation or elsewhere. Currently, a popular form of meditation is sitting, walking, standing or lying with mindfulness (mindfulness training).
Contemplative practices focused mainly on ourselves in daily life and at work
We can practice developing mindfulness and awareness in our daily lives, by means of the contemplative practices creating short pauses throughout the day (this one is very related to meditation), Stop, relax and look (related to creating short pauses and meditation), speaking with mindfulness, dealing with transitions which are continually arising, contemplative observation (observing both the inner and outer situation), finding another way to deal with boredom (which regularly presents itself) or working with emotions (1) and working with emotions (2) (handling emotions in a contemplative way).
Contemplative practices aimed at developing compassion
Developing compassion for others requires special attention. Four contemplative practices have proven to be particularly well-suited for this: generosity (practicing putting others first), discipline (staying with ourselves and our own minds), patience (waiting till the other person is ready to hear what we have to say), and the practice of tonglen. In this practice we learn to open ourselves to other people’s suffering. If we would like to be compassionate towards others but are not sure exactly how to do so, because it for example may require too much self-sacrifice, then compassion in action, balancing oneself and other can help us by examining ourselves.
Contemplative practices mainly directed towards practicing in our daily lives and at work
We show that we have developed mindfulness and compassion in our dealings with others. We can manifest these skills and develop them further by listening to others with mindfulness, speaking with a larger group with mindfulness, giving and receiving feedback, (group)-supervision of body, speech and mind; compassion in action; good at the begin, middle and end; and welcoming and letting go of people and situations.
Choosing a specific practice
The following may be of help in choosing a specific contemplative practice:
- The classification of the groups listed above describes four steps on a contemplative path. These steps can be of help in making a choice. Read more about the four steps on a contemplative path. We also describe a contemplative path in terms of mass, herd and community. That classification gives more information about the characteristics of spiritual or contemplative traditions.
- The contemplative practices are listed below in alphabetical order. This division may be helpful.
- If you would like to work with one or more contemplative practices, it is possible to do so systematically. This system can be found in the description of the three prajnas. The three prajnas together can be seen as a type of learning or processing strategy.