Methods

There are innumerable methods for sustaining humanist practice. If you are a baker, your humanist practice would be quite different from the humanist practice of a stock broker in some ways. Your methods for getting the work done daily to sustain your livelihood while promoting inner and outer peace and joy would be different. However, the basic principles would be similar.

Meditation is a good example. I meditate daily. When I meditate at home, I meditate lying down in the middle of my day. Many people cannot meditate lying down without falling asleep. Their method of meditating may be different, but their appreciation of meditation for practice is the same.

Practice focuses on the daily goal of being healthy and compassionate in the moment, beginning with attention to the practitioner's peace and joy. My methods are less important than the actualization of living a peaceful and joyful life in harmony with my environment. In fact, adjusting my methods of practice is a creative necessity as I age and have different needs.

Many good people who seek to live in a practice of compassion and well being get distracted by ritual. Religions are methods. Certain guru-led movements are methods. The problem comes when the method becomes more important than practicing the principles of universal love and compassion. When a method replaces ongoing education and openness to change, practice becomes hollow ritual.