Five Ways to Use Facebook as Spiritual Practice

Posted by on May 12, 2016 in All-One, Extending love to my thoughts, Practices, Technology & Other Love Stories | 0 comments

Five Ways to Use Facebook as Spiritual Practice

If spiritual practice is our intentional awareness and focus on connecting to God, our hearts and our brothers then let’s link it to something we already do every day:  Facebook!  Recently I have heard several stories of folks who stepped away from Facebook because of some of the things that were said or posted. I would like to offer an alternative solution.  Firstly, if your gut says “No more Facebook!” then listen, you very likely need some up close and personal time with your own heart.  On the other hand if you are already a regular Facebook user then why not incorporate your own self and your spiritual practice when you log on.  Here are five ways you can incorporate Facebook into your spiritual practice.

Five Ways to Use Facebook as Spiritual Practice

1. Take a deep breath as you click the Facebook icon on your phone of computer.  Take another deep breath and slowly breathe out as your feed comes into focus.  This allows you to be fully present both with your Facebook page and all that it will share with you and with your very own self.

Open to the wonder at your fingertips.

Open to the wonder at your fingertips.

2. Give thanks for all you will notice, think about, receive and give as you browse your feed. Giving thanks just puts you in a great place no matter what.  It is life saving if you read the unexpected news that your cousin has cancer or your business associate is announcing his split with his wife.  If you are already in the mode of giving thanks for all you see, this allows you to give thanks also for the thoughts and feeling that arise in you as you read the news.  Give thanks for your heartbeat, your tears, your anger or your dismay.  These thoughts and feelings are simply here to let you know how you feel. Feeling and noticing what you feel is a powerful practice on its own.

3.  Extend love to all the thoughts you have that race and clamor through your mind.  Extend love to the background track of thoughts (“I’m tired”, “I’m bored”, “Facebook is stupid”, “I need a faster phone”, “I can’t get a connection”, “I hate my job”) by firstly noticing them and then just say “Hello.  I see you, I hear you.”  In doing this you send a message of calm to your self.  It is like saying “Even though I hate my job” I am safe enough to notice this.  Extend love to the thoughts that arise directly from the posts you read. To the news your cousin’s daughter is having a girl:  I extend delight to this thought.

All the thoughts & feelings you have are worth extending love to.

All the thoughts & feelings you have are worth extending love to.

To the news Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton has done yet another thing that makes you wonder who you could possibly vote for:  I extend innocence to this thought.  To the ridiculous brouhaha about the photo/words/ actions of a total stranger but it makes you mad! mad!! mad!!!: I extend peace to this thought (& to my feelings of mad!). Using Facebook to practice extending love to your thoughts gives you an easy built-in opportunity every single day (or minute or hour, depending on how often you are on) to notice and connect to the truth of you.

4.  Pray for each person who’s post you read.  A prayer is simply an outreach moment to God, to Love, to Truth to ask “Please bless this one.” or you might say simply “Love you!” as you scan the post.  Consider picking the one post that really jumps out at your heart to add to your daily prayers for a few days or a week, or a month.  You know that only a teeny part of the story is posted on Facebook.  What’s the rest of the story? There is pain, joy, triumph.  There is shame, delight, discouragement.  We are on Facebook for the connection, what better way to connect that to offer up a holy prayer or blessing for your friends?

5.  Pray and envision peace for all who are connecting in this way in this very moment.

Imagine & intention peace on earth.

Imagine & intention peace on earth.

Imagine how powerful it would be if the millions of people who are on Facebook each day said one prayer for peace for all?  What if this tool for connecting the world actually was used to bring about the awareness of the peace and love in every user?  What if peace on earth was really this simple and we had just forgotten?

The next time you get on Facebook, or notice someone else on Facebook (hello parents, grandparents and travelers) see this as perfect in every way.  Send a quick benediction of peace to the user and to the folks at Facebook who create and maintain this marvelous tool of connection.  Connecting the world indeed.

#facebookspiritualpractice  #facebookpeacepractice #thankyoumarkzuckerburg

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