--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: If you think of spiritual practice as…" description: "\"If you think of spiritual practice as unpleasant work - it is not spiritual practice as I know it.\" — Frederick Lenz" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/df8/frederick-lenz-8_ifs_if-you-think-of-spiritual-practice-as-un_480712.jpg" --- # If you think of spiritual practice as unpleasant work - it… ![“If you think of spiritual practice as unpleasant work - it is not spiritual practice as I know it.” quote by Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/df8/frederick-lenz-8_ifs_if-you-think-of-spiritual-practice-as-un_480712.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/df8/frederick-lenz-8_ifs_if-you-think-of-spiritual-practice-as-un_480712.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/df8/frederick-lenz-8_ifs_if-you-think-of-spiritual-practice-as-un_480712.jpg) > “If you think of spiritual practice as unpleasant work - it is not spiritual practice as I know it.” [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Spiritual practice must feel uplifting, not burdensome work. **In simple terms:** Spiritual work should feel uplifting. Key Takeaway Seek joy in practice. Themes spirituality mindfulness joy practice Mood calm inspired Type spiritual motivational When to use this quote - daily meditation - mindful walking - creative expression Key Concepts psychology religion Questions to Reflect On - What aspects of your practice bring joy? - How can you transform perceived chores into meaningful rituals? A Different Perspective Some practices naturally involve discipline and discomfort. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Practice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/practice/) [Religion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/religion/) [Spiritual](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/spiritual/) [Spiritual practice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/spiritual-practice/) [Spirituality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/spirituality/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) ## Related quotes > [We go astray when we think that we can do spiritual work without spiritual power.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aiden-wilson-tozer/we-go-astray-when-we-think-that-we-can-do-spiritual-work-without/) [Aiden Wilson Tozer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aiden-wilson-tozer/) > [You can think of spiritual practice as a kind of spiritual re-parenting ... You're offering yourself the two qualities that make up good parenting:…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tara-brach/you-can-think-of-spiritual-practice-as-a-kind-of-spiritual-re/) [Tara Brach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tara-brach/) > [It is easier to find guides, someone to tell you what to do, than someone to be with you in a discerning, prayerful companionship…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/it-is-easier-to-find-guides-someone-to-tell-you-what-to-do-than/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [It's funny, people who have a lot of sexual energy think of themselves as being not spiritual. They are probably more spiritually inclined. All…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/it-s-funny-people-who-have-a-lot-of-sexual-energy-think-of-themselves/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [I know some teachers say that you shouldn't display the psychic powers and other powers referred to as the siddhas, but as far as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/i-know-some-teachers-say-that-you-shouldn-t-display-the-psychic/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [Selfliss giving rounds the edges in spiritual practice. Many people can meditate very well but they're still very egotistical.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/selfliss-giving-rounds-the-edges-in-spiritual-practice-many-people/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [Zen is the fastest method I know of, aside from mysticism, of dissolving the fixations people have about spiritual practice and themselves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/zen-is-the-fastest-method-i-know-of-aside-from-mysticism-of/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [If you become obsessive in spiritual practice, if you just try and try, you are not going to be happy. You are going to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/if-you-become-obsessive-in-spiritual-practice-if-you-just-try-and-try/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [Tantra is for the advanced spiritual practitioner who is ready to push aside spiritual practice in the name of spiritual practice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/tantra-is-for-the-advanced-spiritual-practitioner-who-is-ready-to/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [Problems patiently endured will work for our spiritual perfecting.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aiden-wilson-tozer/problems-patiently-endured-will-work-for-our-spiritual-perfecting/) [Aiden Wilson Tozer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aiden-wilson-tozer/) > [I have known some good men who have been so addicted to their study, that they have thought the last day of the week…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-owen/i-have-known-some-good-men-who-have-been-so-addicted-to-their-study/) [John Owen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-owen/) > [The men with God's 'go' in them have these three characteristics-a saving experience, the evidence of supernatural power at work, and the spiritual efficacy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oswald-chambers/the-men-with-god-s-go-in-them-have-these-three-characteristics-a/) [Oswald Chambers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oswald-chambers/) > [There's a spiritual current in my work because there's a spiritual current in my life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carrie-newcomer/there-s-a-spiritual-current-in-my-work-because-there-s-a-spiritual/) [Carrie Newcomer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carrie-newcomer/) > [“To men who think prayer their main business and devote time to it according to this high estimate of its importance does God commit…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-m-bounds-3/to-men-who-think-prayer-their-main-business-and-devote-time-to-it/) E.M.Bounds > [“Prayer really does work. It’s a spiritual phenomenon created by an unlimited, powerful God. And it yields amazing results.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-kendrick/prayer-really-does-work-it-s-a-spiritual-phenomenon-created-by-an/) [Alex Kendrick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-kendrick/) ## More by Frederick Lenz > [There are places that are very draining. There are places where there is another dimensional crossover but to a dimension that is not powerful…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/there-are-places-that-are-very-draining-there-are-places-where-there/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [You can draw power from everything in your life. In order to do that, everything has to be set up in a proper way.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/you-can-draw-power-from-everything-in-your-life-in-order-to-do-that/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [Everyone will admire you when you do well. What a horrible thing to do to someone.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/everyone-will-admire-you-when-you-do-well-what-a-horrible-thing-to-do/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [Nirvana is a word that means enlightenment, being beyond the illusion of birth and death, the illusion of pain, the illusion of love, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/nirvana-is-a-word-that-means-enlightenment-being-beyond-the-illusion/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [I think the most miraculous thing is learning. I get out of the way and let the students learn. Then you get to watch…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/i-think-the-most-miraculous-thing-is-learning-i-get-out-of-the-way/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [If you choose to draw from the inner well of free will, then you can make choices that are outside your current karmic patterns.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/if-you-choose-to-draw-from-the-inner-well-of-free-will-then-you-can/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [A human being can only absorb a small amount of the mystical kundalini, you can be exposed again and again to it, but it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/a-human-being-can-only-absorb-a-small-amount-of-the-mystical/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [Enlightened people live in very charged states of attention, with a tremendous power circuiting through them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/enlightened-people-live-in-very-charged-states-of-attention-with-a/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [Only alone can you go into eternity. Only alone can you feel the transcendental light. It is not a shared experience because if it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/only-alone-can-you-go-into-eternity-only-alone-can-you-feel-the/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [Balance is the ability to be happy in the midst of the most chaotic or even boring or transient circumstance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/balance-is-the-ability-to-be-happy-in-the-midst-of-the-most-chaotic/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [The sound man, immune as to a sacrifice of straw dogs, faces the passing human generations.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/the-sound-man-immune-as-to-a-sacrifice-of-straw-dogs-faces-the/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [Karma means changing planes of reality or changing fields of attention. There will be perhaps a resulting physical action stemming from the change of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/karma-means-changing-planes-of-reality-or-changing-fields-of/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [You and I are both life. There's just the experience of every moment. We like to call them moments. There isn't really such a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/you-and-i-are-both-life-there-s-just-the-experience-of-every-moment/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [Why waste your time being around people who drag you down? You don't live forever, at least in this life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/why-waste-your-time-being-around-people-who-drag-you-down-you-don-t/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [Everybody here is so caught up in the game of life they don't see death. They don't see beyond their deaths. They are on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/everybody-here-is-so-caught-up-in-the-game-of-life-they-don-t-see/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) [Explore all 4,399 Frederick Lenz quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) ## More Ifs quotes > [Women still, when they have breast cancer, go to work; they still lead their lives. They have to. I just did what I was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/monica-potter/women-still-when-they-have-breast-cancer-go-to-work-they-still-lead/) [Monica Potter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/monica-potter/) > [Most of us are convinced that we are our egos, which is who we think we are. The ego is part of our incarnation.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ram-dass/most-of-us-are-convinced-that-we-are-our-egos-which-is-who-we-think/) [Ram Dass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ram-dass/) > [Histories never conclude; they just pause their prose. Their stories are, if they are truthful, untidy affairs, resistant to windings-up and sortings-out. They beat…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simon-schama/histories-never-conclude-they-just-pause-their-prose-their-stories/) [Simon Schama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simon-schama/) > [If you ask an introvert a question, wait until she thinks about it. Introverts think before speaking, not through speaking. If you want to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurie-helgoe/if-you-ask-an-introvert-a-question-wait-until-she-thinks-about-it/) [Laurie Helgoe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurie-helgoe/) > [Many individuals spend a considerable portion of their lifetimes in terror of one imagined catastrophe or another. The classic is that your immortal soul…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/l-neil-smith/many-individuals-spend-a-considerable-portion-of-their-lifetimes-in/) [L. Neil Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/l-neil-smith/) > [Obviously, if you don't love life, you can't enjoy an oyster.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eleanor-clark/obviously-if-you-don-t-love-life-you-can-t-enjoy-an-oyster/) [Eleanor Clark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eleanor-clark/) > [If I don't have pressure, I don't function.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ferran-adria/if-i-don-t-have-pressure-i-don-t-function/) [Ferran Adria](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ferran-adria/) > [If you restore a car, and you're making money, then you're doing it wrong.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jay-leno/if-you-restore-a-car-and-you-re-making-money-then-you-re-doing-it/) [Jay Leno](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jay-leno/) > [I understand that it's the music that keeps me alive... That's my lifeblood. And to give that up for, like, the TV, the cars,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-springsteen/i-understand-that-it-s-the-music-that-keeps-me-alive-that-s-my/) [Bruce Springsteen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-springsteen/) > [If we gave up our freedom as the price of security, we would no longer be the great nation that we are.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ruth-bader-ginsburg/if-we-gave-up-our-freedom-as-the-price-of-security-we-would-no-longer/) [Ruth Bader Ginsburg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ruth-bader-ginsburg/) > [If my campaign is not in the debate, we will not be talking about how we really fix this problem of endless and expanding…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jill-stein/if-my-campaign-is-not-in-the-debate-we-will-not-be-talking-about-how/) [Jill Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jill-stein/) > [Nothing is so powerful as an insight into human nature... what compulsions drive a man, what instincts dominate his action. If you know these…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-bernbach/nothing-is-so-powerful-as-an-insight-into-human-nature-what/) [William Bernbach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-bernbach/) > [But we are convinced that if we are to play a meaningful role nationally, and in the community of nations, we must be second…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vikram-sarabhai/but-we-are-convinced-that-if-we-are-to-play-a-meaningful-role/) [Vikram Sarabhai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vikram-sarabhai/) > [The thing about hitting kids is, think about if you were doing the same thing to another adult. Hitting your kid is really the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zach-braff/the-thing-about-hitting-kids-is-think-about-if-you-were-doing-the/) [Zach Braff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zach-braff/) > [Reader, if you are gifted with nerves like mine, aspire to any character but that of a wit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-lamb/reader-if-you-are-gifted-with-nerves-like-mine-aspire-to-any/) [Charles Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-lamb/) Browse all 94,303 Ifs quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "If you think of spiritual practice as unpleasant work - it is not spiritual practice as I know it.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Frederick Lenz" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/if-you-think-of-spiritual-practice-as-unpleasant-work-it-is-not/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Ifs" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/if-you-think-of-spiritual-practice-as-unpleasant-work-it-is-not/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/df8/frederick-lenz-8_ifs_if-you-think-of-spiritual-practice-as-un_480712.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/df8/frederick-lenz-8_ifs_if-you-think-of-spiritual-practice-as-un_480712.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/df8/frederick-lenz-8_ifs_if-you-think-of-spiritual-practice-as-un_480712.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“If you think of spiritual practice as unpleasant work - it is not spiritual practice as I know it.” — Frederick Lenz", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Frederick Lenz", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "If you think of spiritual practice...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/if-you-think-of-spiritual-practice-as-unpleasant-work-it-is-not/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/if-you-think-of-spiritual-practice-as-unpleasant-work-it-is-not/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```