Spiritual Friendship
Friendship has
always belonged
to the core of my
spiritual journey.
~ Henri Nouwen
Spiritual Friendship
journey
Insight Meditation
Excerpted from Insight Meditation
By Joseph Goldstein
The insights of insight meditation are intuitive, not conceptual. Intuitive in this sense does not mean some kind of vague feeling about something; rather, it means clearly, directly seeing and experiencing how things really are.
For example, you are sitting in meditation, watching the breath. All of a sudden your mind settles into a different space. Even if it is just for a couple of moments, you feel a deeper kind of calm and peace. Instead of struggling to be with the breath, you begin just to rest with the breath in a very calm, effortless, way.
That is an insight through direct experience into the nature of calm and tranquillity. You do not think about them or reflect on them. You know that daffodils are yellow because you have seen them. You know the nature of calm and tranquillity because you have felt them in your heart.
There are many such experiences, and many levels of each one; and each time we know them directly, it is as if we open to a new way of seeing, of being. This is insight.
But often our mind becomes so excited by each new experience that we start thinking. “Look at that. I’m so calm. This is great Or we start reflecting discursively on impermanence or suffering or whatever the particular insight-experience has been.
We need to take a lot of care. If we fail to note such reflections and become caught up in them instead – and Dharma reflections can become extremely compelling and interesting – they themselves become a hindrance to deepening insight. Sometimes people become obsessed with Dharma thoughts, with reflections about genuine insights they have had.
So try to differentiate clearly between true intuitive insight and thinking about it. Knowing the difference can save you trouble and delay. You do not have to worry about later finding words to communicate your insights. Our mind very rarely has a problem coming up with the words. Simply staying present with each new arising appearance allows the whole Dharma journey to unfold.
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Inconvenience
From: Comfortable With Uncertainty
By Pema Chödrön
When you start to take the warrior’s journey, you’re going to find that it’s often extremely inconvenient. When you start to want to live your life fully instead of opting for death, you discover that life itself is inconvenient. Wholeheartedness is a precious gift, but no one can actually give it to you. You have to find the path that has heart and then walk it impeccably. In doing that, you again and again encounter the inconvenience of your own uptightness, your own headaches, your own falling flat on your face. But in wholeheartedly practicing and wholeheartedly following the path, this inconvenience is not an obstacle. It’s simply a certain texture of life, a certain energy of life.
Not only that, sometimes when you just get flying and all feels so good and you think, “This is it, this is that path that has heart,” you suddenly fall flat on your face. Everybody’s looking at you. You say to yourself, “What happened to that path that had heart? This feels like the path full of mud in my face. Since you are wholeheartedly committed to the warrior’s journey, it pricks you, it pokes you. It’s like someone laughing in your ear, challenging you to figure out what to do when you don’t know what to do. It humbles you. It opens your heart.
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The Morning Side Lyrics
Song Lyrics on Allspirit
Steve Winwood
Winwood/Jennings
You meet every kind of person moving toward the morning side
You see the good and the bad, the eyes are sad
You play every midnight gambler before you see the light
On the morning side, the morning side
You feel every heat and passion moving towards the morning side
To earn one more second chance, you learn the dance
When you finally climb the mountain, you see the other side
It’s the morning side, the morning side
Now my life has changed and now my eyes can see
Now I’m living on the morning side
Now I’m letting all the sunlight into me
Now I’m free
And I know I’ll never pass that way again
That dark journey to the morning side
On the morning side I feel my life begin
Let’s begin
Index of Lyrics on Allspirit
Uphill
By Christina Rossetti
Does the road wind uphill all the way?
Yes, to the very end.
Will the day’s journey take the whole long day?
From morn to night, my friend.
But is there for the night a resting-place?
A roof for when the slow dark hours begin.
May not the darkness hide it from my face?
You cannot miss that inn.
Shall I meet other wayfarers at night?
Those who have gone before.
Then must I knock, or call when just in sight?
They will not keep you standing at that door.
Shall I find comfort, travel-sore and weak?
Of labor you shall find the sum.
Will there be beds for me and all who seek?
Yea, beds for all who come.
Read more poems from Christina Rossetti
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Kindred Spirit
By Chris Roe
Walk awhile upon my journey
And steal a place in my heart,
With your eyes
Upon these words,
You, kindred spirit,
Can touch my soul.
The above poem is from
In Search of Silence
a collection of 45 poems written by Chris Roe including 7 watercolour prints by his brother Paul
Visit Silent Flight Publications for more details
Read more poems from Chris Roe
Index of poets on Allspirit
Eternal Journey
By Chris Roe
As the crimson flame of life
Breaks slowly
Above the horizon,
The white frosted meadows,
With trees and hedgerows
Of sculptured ice,
Speak loudly
Of your presence.
Once more
Upon this journey,
As another day begins,
Without effort
Or intrusion,
Through the peace
And tranquillity
Of your silent voice,
The moment becomes eternal
And the journey
Begins again.
The above poem is from
In Search of Silence
a collection of 45 poems written by Chris Roe including 7 watercolour prints by his brother Paul
Visit Silent Flight Publications for more details