April 2010     
           Reflection & Practices                        

“Tracking is an essential component of any spiritual practice or discipline. It is an active tool that develops the objective, fair-witnessing mind. In tracking, we focus attention, maintain curiosity and equanimity as we look at whatever is surfacing in our minds or experience in the moment. This cultivates balance, objectivity, and discernment, allowing us to see courses of action that create positive change for ourselves and others. And by tracking our experience, we can integrate it within ourselves.

As we go through life, we often see events and relationships in certain selective ways; we tend to attribute either positive or negative meanings to them. In contrast, when we track, we develop the objective mind, observing without making judgments. To practice tracking in your life, become aware of your intentions, be mindful, and simply notice what is. Pay attention to where you have been, the results you are getting, and if you are ‘on track’ as you head in a new direction.
Track the Five Stages of the Soul

A valuable approach to tracking is found in Harry R. Moody and David Carroll’s book, “The Five Stages of the Soul”. The five stages are the Call, the Search, the Struggle, the Breakthrough and the Return. Each is a logical extension of the preceding one, and leads naturally to the next. The Stages comprise the complete cycle of our spiritual quest. 

Choose an area of your life–such as work, health, finances, or relationships–that you would like to track in order to make a wise choice or decision. For example, if work is an issue, place it before you in your mind, neither denying or indulging in your concerns. Track these concerns with curiosity and discernment as you observe what is necessary in each of the five stages of the soul:

• Where are you being called in your work? What has heart and meaning for you? What would you like to be doing? What specific actions can you take to support the Call?

• What are you searching for in your work? What satisfies you? What contributions do you want to make? What action can you take to support the Search for what is important for you?

• In what ways is your workplace struggling? Are you struggling within it? Do you see any patterns to this struggle? Can you name what the Struggle is for you? What can you do to disrupt the patterns that may be creating the struggle?

• What Breakthrough do you want to create in your work that would lead to a major advance in the organization in the next three months? What plan of action will you generate to make this breakthrough happen?

• The archetype of return is to come back to known experiences and to harvest a different result. What do you want to return to that you have found effective in your work? How can you apply this effectiveness to the current issue that that you are tracking? What would it provide for the organization and your colleagues? What action can you take to implement an effective Return?

Following the cycle of Moody and Carroll’s “Five Stages of the Soul”, you can use the process to effectively track any important issue or transition in your life. Through the practice of tracking, you will learn to align inner guidance with wise action.”