ONE EXPLANATION ABOUT WHY I'M SO INTERESTED IN SPIRITUAL PRACTICE:

I believe that thinking and doing (belief and action) have a complicated relationship.  In this culture at this time, we tend to think that action springs from belief.  We say that our actions are informed by intention, which is formed through belief.  And I do think it is true quite often - we often decide what to do based on what we believe.  But we also often just act without thinking, or find ourselves doing things that are not consistent with our beliefs.

As an alternative to thinking our way into action, spiritual practice is a way to act our way into a new way of thinking.  Practitioners have always known this, and if you ask a disciplined practitioner, you'll nearly always get some form of this explanation, in addition to the rest of her explanation, which will vary depending on the practice.