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Blessing; The Art and the Practice
"This book is a treasure....Is there one among us who can possibly ever receive or give enough blessings to others?" ----Caroline M. Myss, Ph.D. "A wonderful, empowering experience. David himself is a blessing, and his gentle book just overflows with them." Robert Thurman, Ph.D.
- GenresSpiritualityNonfiction
338 pages, Paperback
First published May 21, 2001
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
September 7, 2011
This must be one of Spangler’s best books – at least, it’s the best I’ve read so far. It is so exquisitely written and is thus a joy to read.
He covers all the various angles on blessing and gradually approaches the core of its art. He begins by recounting an episode he experienced at the age of twenty, when a woman asked him to give her a blessing. He had no idea how to do so, but knew he couldn’t refuse. He realized already on that occasion that “what was most needed was simple human caring and presence, a wonderfulness of being present to the other”. He understood that “it required nothing more magical or grandiose than meeting her halfway, for a blessing …. is a two-way street: not something someone does for someone else, but something we become together in order that a spirit may flow”.
In this first blessing of his “there was a sense of opening out to a vastness … a sense of something flowing”. The author himself felt blessed by the blessing.
He explains what is and is not a blessing; he distinguishes between blessings and acts of kindness. He comes to the conclusion that a blessing is a “gift given freely”; it carries a feeling of spaciousness.
He also explains the concept of “unobstructedness”. In the unobstructed world synchronicities abound. It is a condition in which “life and spirit flow in an unimpeded way”. The unobstructed world is also found in the “flow state”. In this world there are no barriers between “my heart and yours, my soul and yours, my power and creativity and yours”. It is this state that the author finds to be at the heart of blessing.
There is no single right way to carry out a blessing, no technique.
He divides the process of blessing into four steps: 1) Identification – where you identify yourself as someone capable of giving a blessing 2) Opening – this is opening oneself to the person to be blessed and to spirit, surrender to what wants or needs to happen. Out of this comes a clear sense of what to do. 3) Synthesis – this involves entering the “blessing place”, the state of mind in which one can give a blessing, where we “garb ourselves in the robes of the Blesser”. 4) The actual blessing.
He discusses what he terms “the empersonal spirit” (not to be confused with “impersonal spirit”). This is “the nourishing and transformative spiritual power that radiates from our ordinary, embodied personhood”.
Much of the book consists of wondrous exercises in the art of blessing, exercises which allow us to practice processes of “atonement and reflection”, which will enable us to enter the numinous state which is a precondition of blessing.
I find it exceedingly difficult to do justice to this book, which seems to have been composed not by the ordinary self of the author but by his Higher Self, if not his Soul. This is particularly apparent in the exercises he, or his Higher Self, has created. In all of these you go into your inner world, into your inner theatre, a place of stillness. Some of the exercises involve lighting candles physically, and finally imagining that you yourself are a candle and light yourself. This teaches you how to shift into an appropriate mood of benevolence and compassion, thus enabling you to enter the state required for blessing.
The exercises become more and more inspired and inspiring.
The book concludes with examples of blessings.
This is on the whole an inspired and inspiring book. I recommend it highly,
He covers all the various angles on blessing and gradually approaches the core of its art. He begins by recounting an episode he experienced at the age of twenty, when a woman asked him to give her a blessing. He had no idea how to do so, but knew he couldn’t refuse. He realized already on that occasion that “what was most needed was simple human caring and presence, a wonderfulness of being present to the other”. He understood that “it required nothing more magical or grandiose than meeting her halfway, for a blessing …. is a two-way street: not something someone does for someone else, but something we become together in order that a spirit may flow”.
In this first blessing of his “there was a sense of opening out to a vastness … a sense of something flowing”. The author himself felt blessed by the blessing.
He explains what is and is not a blessing; he distinguishes between blessings and acts of kindness. He comes to the conclusion that a blessing is a “gift given freely”; it carries a feeling of spaciousness.
He also explains the concept of “unobstructedness”. In the unobstructed world synchronicities abound. It is a condition in which “life and spirit flow in an unimpeded way”. The unobstructed world is also found in the “flow state”. In this world there are no barriers between “my heart and yours, my soul and yours, my power and creativity and yours”. It is this state that the author finds to be at the heart of blessing.
There is no single right way to carry out a blessing, no technique.
He divides the process of blessing into four steps: 1) Identification – where you identify yourself as someone capable of giving a blessing 2) Opening – this is opening oneself to the person to be blessed and to spirit, surrender to what wants or needs to happen. Out of this comes a clear sense of what to do. 3) Synthesis – this involves entering the “blessing place”, the state of mind in which one can give a blessing, where we “garb ourselves in the robes of the Blesser”. 4) The actual blessing.
He discusses what he terms “the empersonal spirit” (not to be confused with “impersonal spirit”). This is “the nourishing and transformative spiritual power that radiates from our ordinary, embodied personhood”.
Much of the book consists of wondrous exercises in the art of blessing, exercises which allow us to practice processes of “atonement and reflection”, which will enable us to enter the numinous state which is a precondition of blessing.
I find it exceedingly difficult to do justice to this book, which seems to have been composed not by the ordinary self of the author but by his Higher Self, if not his Soul. This is particularly apparent in the exercises he, or his Higher Self, has created. In all of these you go into your inner world, into your inner theatre, a place of stillness. Some of the exercises involve lighting candles physically, and finally imagining that you yourself are a candle and light yourself. This teaches you how to shift into an appropriate mood of benevolence and compassion, thus enabling you to enter the state required for blessing.
The exercises become more and more inspired and inspiring.
The book concludes with examples of blessings.
This is on the whole an inspired and inspiring book. I recommend it highly,
February 7, 2025
New age crap. I couldn't finish it. It takes something very sacred: the act of blessing, of connecting to the Holy Ones, of bringing Their power and attention down on us and through us, then goes and removes the Holy Powers, and leaves humans at the top of the cosmic food chain. It's garbage. Nice, patented love and light garbage. Mention a God once in awhile, any God. Otherwise, I want to know exactly Whom you're calling on for these "blessings." This type of shit, regardless of what religion one practices, whether one is monotheistic or polytheistic, is debasing religious practice. Oh I'm sure the author is of the "spiritual not religious type." you know how that translates? It's "I'm too full of myself to commit to a tradition." You'd be better off reading hentai porn than this crap.
May 10, 2023
I came to this book through Catherine MacCoun's On Becoming an Alchemist. Both are delightfully practical and grounded, and this is what I loved most about Blessing. What a beautiful human practice blessing is, that we can draw ourselves into stillness, hold space for ourselves and others, and be part of the flow of love.
March 17, 2024
I found the first half of the book to be very informative and resonating with a lot of good and universal teachings, but some of the exercises got a little too esoteric for me on the back end. Might be one that I dip back into at a later date.
January 27, 2014
There's a Unitarian Universalist joke where the punchline is "what's a blessing?" Now there are many Unitarian Universalists who know what blessing is and even how to engage this spiritual practice, and there are some with no interest, and there are those who would like to learn. And so, Unitarian Universalists who want to learn, like everyone else, turn to books and teachers and videos.
Spangler's volume is for folks who are curious about the spiritual practice of blessing or who would like to learn how to be a blesser and create more blessing in this world. The exercises that compose the third part of the book make it especially useful as an adult or youth faith development curriculum, or for use in constructing a retreat around blessing. Recommended.
Spangler's volume is for folks who are curious about the spiritual practice of blessing or who would like to learn how to be a blesser and create more blessing in this world. The exercises that compose the third part of the book make it especially useful as an adult or youth faith development curriculum, or for use in constructing a retreat around blessing. Recommended.
June 22, 2019
Great book for giving an indepth view of what blessings are, and how to bless using creative visualisation. You may not be familiar with the latter but the author explains it all, and it has the effect of initially slowing down each blessing (which is a good thing as one doesnt want to bless in a quick, offhand or trite way). A superb book about something we may do glibly, or leave to others to do. Highly recommended.
April 21, 2017
This is a lovely, beautifully written book about putting the concept of blessing or invocation of grace into daily life. The slant is toward a more inclusive and non-traditional use of the term "blessing" (in keeping with the author's leanings), but it's not so new-agey that it won't appeal to the mainstream or more traditional reader looking for inspiration about bringing the sacred into daily practices.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews