Writing As A Spiritual Practice
(Why I Write Anything At All)
As someone with writing as part of his job, who also writes in his spare time, friends are often curious as to how is it that I have so much material to write about. Some even "accuse" me of thinking too much. But the truth is, I almost never deliberately look for topics to write on. I strive to always keep my heart and mind open and clear, and as everyday life is lived, lessons and insights will seep in naturally. It can be during watching a movie, while taking a breather at the window, during meditation, or in the shower... Sometimes, it's a trickling of small insights, sometimes a flooding of ideas.
We all share this same world, but the more open we is, the more we readily learn. I try to be a natural and selfless "conduit", through which realisations of the Dharma flow through, manifesting form as words. As Venerable Seung Sahn might have described this attitude - Keep a "Don't Know Mind", "Only Go Straight" and "Just Do It!" I don't look much for inspiration; inspiration strikes me instead. The result? I'm as often surprised by the scope and depth of what is written as readers are. With the open emptiness of a "Don't Know Mind", spiritual writing is not just static expression of stating what one wanted to say, but leads to dynamic discovery of what eventually gets written. The outcome will then always be more insightful than the intended. This is how writing can lead to spiritual growth.
Keeping ego at bay or at least minimal, one who writes about the Dharma becomes an effective "medium of the Dharma" - not involving any unconscious trance of course. What is needed is mindfulness instead. The stronger mindfulness is, the more powerful one's writing becomes - because good writing must be true, of the truth, or it would not resonate with its readers, and the truth can only be discovered in the light of mindfulness.
The best writing I'd ever done or came across have always involved little ego. The lesser self-references there are, the more universal the writing becomes, as its appeal widens. Setting a right intention for writing is crucial, or writing would end up as ego-trips instead of being spiritual practice. Every finished article should be deemed satisfactory not because it make the writer feels proud, but because of its proven ability to touch and inspire many readers. One instead feels a sense of gratitude and rejoices that readers have taken the time - not so much to appreciate one's written work, but to appreciate the written Dharma. See the very subtle difference? One also feels gratitude of having had the opportunity of being a successful "conduit" or messenger through which the Dharma was expressed. Motivated by Compassion, one writes to share whatever Wisdom one has. Any other motivation taints the purity of spiritual writing.
Writing is a continual process of change, in which the reality of impermanence can be seen. The person who wrote an article yesterday is not the same as that today. While the truth remains the same, deluded opinions morph and disappears with the deepening of spiritual insights. It can be as amusing as it is amazing when you reread past entries of your ongoing journal. You will read accounts of your patterns of defilements recurring unmindfully and seemingly endlessly, till they weaken gradually and suddenly dissipate with spiritual breakthroughs. It all bears testimony to the truth that there is no enduring self. Clinging to the concept of an existing self-identity impedes spiritual growth and stagnates the quality of writing. Just as there are only thoughts without a thinker, there is only writing without a writer.
The only "things" of
true value that we can truly leave behind at the end of this life are
not material things, but thoughts, or lessons that we'd learnt from
living this life. Likewise, the most valuable treasures the Buddha
had left for us are His teachings. Writing is one of the easist ways
to "leave" these lessons behind for posterity's sake. This should
all the more encourage us to share the Dharma via
writing, though Enlightenment as the actual and complete experience
of the Dharma per se, can never be shared by words.
Together with the practice of meditation, chanting, teaching and actualising the Buddha's teachings of Compassion and Wisdom in everyday life, one may consider writing as part of one's regular practice. Writing is spiritually therapeutic as a process of sorting out wandering and disturbing thoughts, and thus gaining insights into our own nature of being, or rather, our constant becoming. Using the formulation of the Four Noble Truths, after penning down a problem (First Noble Truth), it can be analysed clearly for its causes (Second Noble Truth), the desired outcome (Third Noble Truth) and the path leading to this outcome (Fourth Noble Truth). Writing becomes a method of prescribing a cure for spiritual maladies! In fact, all good writing should have the element of bringing spiritual remedies to light, instead of mere pointless rambling about problems.
Writing has the ability to heal because it is essentially mental cultivation involving mindfulness, honesty, sincerity to the world and oneself. It is a constant personal challenge to always bare my "soul" to the world via writing and posting what was written on the net. The moment one has no dark secrets of any kind to hold back must be a moment of celebration - a moment without defilements to be ashamed of, without an ego to need protecting. I'm writing my way there, word by word... Will you join me? Why not start now? Yes, "write" away!
A Brief History of Writing: Writing has never stopped playing an essential role in my life, since a somewhat accidental yet intense spiritual experience at 15, which changed my life with the sudden heightening of awareness. It transformed my writing at school from being mediocre to outstanding, from being plain to insightful. There was a giant leap of progress, which I became aware of, from the very moment I put a pen to paper in class. This was right after the last week of school holidays, during which the experience occured. As much as I was surprised, my English teacher and classmates were astonished by the change in quality of my essays, which had since dived into previously absent depths.
The only plausible explanation for the increase in depth of my writing was that my mind had changed irreversibly - it had awakened... not totally of course, but to a higher "notch" of mindfulness, to a clearer way of perceiving life, the world, and how I interface with it. The teacher had predicted that I would become a writer. Years later, following my heart (and not his expectations), I'm now working as a Dharma editor-cum-writer. Writing has thus blended with my work and spiritual practice. What's next? Carry on practising the Dharma (and writing) of course - till awareness is heightened infinitely and timelessly, no matter what it takes - for there is no worthier goal. Enlightenment itself!
-Shen Shi'an:
Together with the practice of meditation, chanting, teaching and actualising the Buddha's teachings of Compassion and Wisdom in everyday life, one may consider writing as part of one's regular practice. Writing is spiritually therapeutic as a process of sorting out wandering and disturbing thoughts, and thus gaining insights into our own nature of being, or rather, our constant becoming. Using the formulation of the Four Noble Truths, after penning down a problem (First Noble Truth), it can be analysed clearly for its causes (Second Noble Truth), the desired outcome (Third Noble Truth) and the path leading to this outcome (Fourth Noble Truth). Writing becomes a method of prescribing a cure for spiritual maladies! In fact, all good writing should have the element of bringing spiritual remedies to light, instead of mere pointless rambling about problems.
Writing has the ability to heal because it is essentially mental cultivation involving mindfulness, honesty, sincerity to the world and oneself. It is a constant personal challenge to always bare my "soul" to the world via writing and posting what was written on the net. The moment one has no dark secrets of any kind to hold back must be a moment of celebration - a moment without defilements to be ashamed of, without an ego to need protecting. I'm writing my way there, word by word... Will you join me? Why not start now? Yes, "write" away!
A Brief History of Writing: Writing has never stopped playing an essential role in my life, since a somewhat accidental yet intense spiritual experience at 15, which changed my life with the sudden heightening of awareness. It transformed my writing at school from being mediocre to outstanding, from being plain to insightful. There was a giant leap of progress, which I became aware of, from the very moment I put a pen to paper in class. This was right after the last week of school holidays, during which the experience occured. As much as I was surprised, my English teacher and classmates were astonished by the change in quality of my essays, which had since dived into previously absent depths.
The only plausible explanation for the increase in depth of my writing was that my mind had changed irreversibly - it had awakened... not totally of course, but to a higher "notch" of mindfulness, to a clearer way of perceiving life, the world, and how I interface with it. The teacher had predicted that I would become a writer. Years later, following my heart (and not his expectations), I'm now working as a Dharma editor-cum-writer. Writing has thus blended with my work and spiritual practice. What's next? Carry on practising the Dharma (and writing) of course - till awareness is heightened infinitely and timelessly, no matter what it takes - for there is no worthier goal. Enlightenment itself!
-Shen Shi'an: