Allspirit

Tag: journey

  • Spiritual Friendship

    Spiritual Friendship
    Spiritual Friendship

    Friendship has
    always belonged
    to the core of my
    spiritual journey.

    ~ Henri Nouwen

     

  • 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.

    More from Joseph Goldstein

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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.

    More from Pema Chödrön

    More Buddhist writings on Allspirit

     

  • 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

    Index of poets on Allspirit

     

  • 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

    Read more poems from Chris Roe

    Index of poets on Allspirit