Spiritual practice is the core of our transformation, and it requires what can be called the contemplative attitude, a disposition to a life of mystical depth. Spiritual practice often means meditation and other forms of inner exploration. It can also mean prayer. Silence, solitude, and mysticism — the seeking of illumination and wisdom — are further parts of the contemplative experience, a process of our ultimate evolution, our unfolding to higher states of consciousness.
— Wayne Teasdale, A Monk in the World