Opinion: What does your faith tradition teach about death and the afterlife? csindy.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from csindy.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Jeff Scholes - Agnostic
Jeffrey Scholes, Ph.D., is an associate professor of philosophy and the director of the Center for Religious Diversity and Public Life at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs.
This could either mean the practice that is informed and motivated by contemplation or simply the practice of contemplation. I favor the latter. While hopefully avoiding a mind/body dualism, I find that clearing away the mental clutter that entangles, frustrates and unnecessarily complicates our lives is the essential precursor to good practice. Decisions made without the kind of serious contemplation that can give us a clear sense of who we are in relation to the outside world are haphazard and vacuous. From Plato to Jesus to Muhammad, the practice of contemplation permitted and even directed an awareness of reality. When actions outrun the mind, the appearance of the world becomes reality and those actions rarely serve what is best for us.