Lectio Divina: reading as meditation

Reading spiritual texts is an important part of yoga spiritual practice. Svadhyaya, study of both the self and the scriptures, is one of the niyamas or virtuous habits. The Niyamas are the second of the eight limbs of yoga as described by Patanjali in the Yoga Sutras. The Christian tradition also has a tradition of reading the scripture for spiritual practice. The technique is Lectio Divina and can be adapted to the yogic tradition.  I was introduced to it on a course at the Mandala Ashram in Wales by a resident yogini, Madhuri. She changed the classical formula of lectio (reading), meditatio (meditation), oratio (prayer) and contemplatio (contemplation), leaving out prayer (a personal dialogue with God), which comes between meditation and contemplation, and adding preparation. Here are her four stages.

1. Preparation. First you have to calm yourself before reading, otherwise you won’t retain what you’ve read. Ways of doing this could be to savasana or meditation.
2. Reading. You read the text slowly, and if a particular word or phrase resonates, stop.
3. Meditation. You reflect on what you have read, without analysing too much. The idea is not to use the thinking mind, but rather the intuitive one and to be open.
4. Contemplation. This part is silent and resting: seeing what emotions and insight come up. It’s a bit more active than meditation as you can deliberately introduce a thought into your contemplation and see what arises.

I find Lectio Divina is particularly effective after an asana and pranayama practice when the mind is receptive and open. When I did a Sivananda sadhana intensive course, we were told to read 10 verses of Shankara’s Vivekachudamani after our practice. I found I was better able to concentrate then. Also I often journal my thoughts after Lectio Divina.