What Does It Mean to 'Practice?'

PRACTICE INCLUDES MUCH MORE THAN MEDITATION

Just as there are many colors and shapes in the fallen leaves that adorn our streets and sidewalks, practice comes in different shapes and sizes, too. Photo by Chris Lawton on Unsplash

One of my favorite Buddhist phrases is:

“Life is practice, and practice is life.”

I’m not certain who said this originally as it appears across a wide variety of wisdom traditions, but it rings true for me deep into my bones.

To those with an average exposure to Buddhist teachings, practice may bring up an image of a person sitting in meditation. And, that’s not wrong…but at the same time, it’s not the complete picture.

The Buddha did teach meditation - that much is absolutely and unequivocally true. But he also taught that there were subsets of practice that would emanate from the heart of meditation; meaning that the more we practice meditation (being fully present, without judgement), the more we would could access the natural expressions of the heart-mind, such as generosity, compassion, kindness, and …