PhotoReading as a Spiritual Practice

by J. Lynette

When I first learned PhotoReading back in 1986, my whole class committed to experimenting with this system in every way possible.  So, I did!  I never would have guessed that PhotoReading would become my way into a spiritual practice.

I always had an incredibly difficult time quieting or stilling my mind.  I don’t know what your experience of life is, but mine was a major swing in thoughts of past to future, guilt to anxiety.  I seldom settled in the present, the "right here and now" part of life. I certainly had read about meditation and had "tried" it in various forms.  I just never felt that I even knew what being centered was all about. One of the first things I noticed after taking the class was a shift in my ability to stay present with the books I was PhotoReading. 

When Paul taught us to PhotoRead, he’d relax us physically, mentally—and then move us into the present moment while we flipped the pages.  I discovered that the rhythm of page turning and saying a chant over and over gradually lessened the distractions I usually experienced.  It was like I was learning to quiet my mind in little 3 minute chunks.  The more I practiced the PhotoReading step, the easier it was for me to let go of the distracting thoughts and just feel peaceful. Believe me, peace felt really really good. 

I also found out the value of setting a strong intention.  As I learned the power of purpose, I also learned that I had to allow the information to come to me.  That process of willing and allowing would eventually become the basis of my spiritual practice.

Even though I grew up in a conservative Christian area, I have always been intrigued by other approaches to religion and spirituality.  After taking PhotoReading, I decided that one of my experiments would be to PhotoRead the Bible.  Now, I am one of the few people I know who has ever regularly read the entire Bible 3 times—in high school no less.  So, I was interested to see what would happen 25 years later with PhotoReading it.  I was PhotoReading one of the large copies with gold gilt edges and very thin paper—so I turned the pages slowly and carefully.  As I did, I started noticing sensations in my body.  Sometimes I felt joy and love; sometimes I felt sadness, even anger. It was almost as though my heart was either expanding or contracting depending on what I was processing at the time.  This was so unusual for me that I would break out of my PhotoReading state and check where I was.  Strangely, the parts had particularly moved me as a teenager seemed to be the parts where I felt the most expansion.  The parts I had never been able to accept as fully were the ones where I felt the constriction.

I knew at that point that PhotoReading wasn’t just about the information.  I knew that I was processing with my whole body/mind or rather my whole being.  My subjective beliefs could be affirmed or challenged.  I wanted to explore more, and I did.

Soon after I became a PhotoReading instructor, I taught a class called PhotoReading as a Spiritual Practice.  I asked some friends to join me around my kitchen table and to bring with them 3 of the most significant spiritual texts they had encountered.  We kept exchanging books as we practiced the PhotoReading step. I became one of the participants, PhotoReading books as they were passed around.  We all started noticing that we were somehow feeling happier and lighter.  We’d take a break and PhotoRead some more, becoming happier and lighter still.  We never did get past the PhotoReading step that day but we left feeling more committed to one another, to ourselves, and to the creative source of the universe. I was moved by what happened that day in my kitchen and encouraged to go deeper.

After that, I experimented with syntopic reading.  I PhotoRead and activated five major religious texts to discover their similarities and differences.  I discovered more similarities at their core than differences.  I PhotoRead and activated books in the same spiritual areas so that I could begin to understand the truth beyond what the authors were saying.

Because I feel so strongly that I am having a conversation with each author whose book I PhotoRead, I discovered new “friends” who helped me arrive at new understandings.  I quickly discovered authors that didn’t work for me any longer.  I also found the ones who touched me so deeply that I still savor their words and thoughts over and over.  They have all helped me go past meaning to truth.

Could I have gained as much from reading them all in my regular reading style?  Not possible.  When I PhotoRead, the words touch my soul.  I take them in to that greater part of myself.  By exposing my mind to all these different minds I have enriched myself beyond measure.  Plus, I simply would never have taken the time to explore and examine all the different expressions of spirituality that I have experienced.

A Finnish PhotoReading instructor who is working on his PhD in Divinity told me he starts each semester PhotoReading 100 books.  He is also learning Latin, Italian and French with the PhotoReading system so that he can read and study important texts in their original language.  Now, that is a spiritual practice.

My recommendation to you is simple.  Find an author who calls to you.  Create a strong purpose that compels you to read his or her work, and see what happens. If nothing happens, there’s always another experiment with another author.  I have also begun to understand letting go of attachments to my results.  I guess that must be another part of my spiritual practice.