I Am Awake Sun, 6th January, 2013
You are listening to the sound of "Ethereal Awakening." That's also the sound of me waking up.
Yes, I have my cup of coffee in hand this morning, but I'm talking about a much deeper kind of awakening, which (surprise) is a spiritual one. A big part of my spiritual journey, including creation of this blog and website, is the integration of my beliefs and actions.
I have believed for a long time in the value of mindfulness, and looking people in the face and greeting them deliberately. But my actual practice has fallen woefully short. After this experience the past few weeks, I have realized that I have been awakening gradually over the last many months.
For me, 2012 will always be the year of the sky. I went around asking people, Aren't the clouds much more interesting and beautiful this year than normal? Are there somehow more beautiful sunrises and sunsets this year? The answer was always, huh? The reality is that I was simply becoming more mindful, perhaps in part due to the fact I was usually carrying the iPhone with its excellent camera, so I was always on the lookout for beautiful moments I could capture through its tiny lens.
The book I'm reading now is another stepping stone on this journey. It's called "Simply Pray," by Unitarian-Universalist minister Erik Walker Wikstrom. I'm still reading it, but the exercise is opening my mind to what prayer is and what it can be. If you had told me two years ago I would be blogging about prayer, I'd say you must have me confused with my mother. :-) But I'm learning, as many have long ago, of the value of prayer as a practice for focusing my mind and heart on what's important - as a practice for waking up spiritually, ethically and emotionally.
Wikstrom outlines the four kinds of prayer, which I'm looking forward to exploring: Naming, Knowing, Listening and Loving. I'll save the definitions for another day, but the Listening one is already teaching me a valuable lesson. The essence of it is that God, or one's equivalent ultimate source, is already talking in a small, quiet voice. We just have to slow down, quiet ourselves and listen closely before we can hear it. In other words, the sky was already beautiful long before my awakening. I must have been sleeping through it.
It's truly amazing what the spirits will say to you when you make space in your life for listening. A few weeks ago I had the most amazing experience while running through the forest. I know it will sound crazy, but I swear I was visited by the tree spirits. This was at Laumeier Sculpture park not too far from my home, and has wide and smooth woodland walking paths which I have adopted as my preferred running trail. There in the forest is a sculpture of a native American tree maiden. The essence of the tale is that she ascended into the tree and become one with the tree god, preferring him to her espoused human husband, and a sculptor has captured it beautifully. The sculpted wooden likeness of her resides high up in an oak tree, with her long maiden hair of natural vines tumbling downward. It's easy to miss, but I happen to see it last fall and so that story was bouncing around in my head that day.
The point is, as a life-long lover of trees, I was open to hearing what they had to say. They are the cathedrals of the natural world and full of diversity and wisdom when you take time to study them. I have too much to say about trees to fit into this blog entry, but the essential point is that I had a very moving experience by simply being quiet and open to new truth.
That day, after my run, I was further blessed with an incredible sunset. I was drawn to it like a moth to flame and captured many excellent moments with my camera. See a sample to the right, which included a sculpture of wooden poles at Laumeier, reminiscent of Cahokia Mounds. I felt the Native American spirits were still speaking and I didn't want to go home until it was nearly fully dark. If only Thomas had been there to play the flute. :-)
May you have a blessed and quiet 2013 so that you can enjoy some deep listening. You never know what the spirits might be waiting to say to you.
You are listening to the sound of "Ethereal Awakening." That's also the sound of me waking up.
Yes, I have my cup of coffee in hand this morning, but I'm talking about a much deeper kind of awakening, which (surprise) is a spiritual one. A big part of my spiritual journey, including creation of this blog and website, is the integration of my beliefs and actions.
I have believed for a long time in the value of mindfulness, and looking people in the face and greeting them deliberately. But my actual practice has fallen woefully short. After this experience the past few weeks, I have realized that I have been awakening gradually over the last many months.
For me, 2012 will always be the year of the sky. I went around asking people, Aren't the clouds much more interesting and beautiful this year than normal? Are there somehow more beautiful sunrises and sunsets this year? The answer was always, huh? The reality is that I was simply becoming more mindful, perhaps in part due to the fact I was usually carrying the iPhone with its excellent camera, so I was always on the lookout for beautiful moments I could capture through its tiny lens.
The book I'm reading now is another stepping stone on this journey. It's called "Simply Pray," by Unitarian-Universalist minister Erik Walker Wikstrom. I'm still reading it, but the exercise is opening my mind to what prayer is and what it can be. If you had told me two years ago I would be blogging about prayer, I'd say you must have me confused with my mother. :-) But I'm learning, as many have long ago, of the value of prayer as a practice for focusing my mind and heart on what's important - as a practice for waking up spiritually, ethically and emotionally.
Wikstrom outlines the four kinds of prayer, which I'm looking forward to exploring: Naming, Knowing, Listening and Loving. I'll save the definitions for another day, but the Listening one is already teaching me a valuable lesson. The essence of it is that God, or one's equivalent ultimate source, is already talking in a small, quiet voice. We just have to slow down, quiet ourselves and listen closely before we can hear it. In other words, the sky was already beautiful long before my awakening. I must have been sleeping through it.
It's truly amazing what the spirits will say to you when you make space in your life for listening. A few weeks ago I had the most amazing experience while running through the forest. I know it will sound crazy, but I swear I was visited by the tree spirits. This was at Laumeier Sculpture park not too far from my home, and has wide and smooth woodland walking paths which I have adopted as my preferred running trail. There in the forest is a sculpture of a native American tree maiden. The essence of the tale is that she ascended into the tree and become one with the tree god, preferring him to her espoused human husband, and a sculptor has captured it beautifully. The sculpted wooden likeness of her resides high up in an oak tree, with her long maiden hair of natural vines tumbling downward. It's easy to miss, but I happen to see it last fall and so that story was bouncing around in my head that day.
The point is, as a life-long lover of trees, I was open to hearing what they had to say. They are the cathedrals of the natural world and full of diversity and wisdom when you take time to study them. I have too much to say about trees to fit into this blog entry, but the essential point is that I had a very moving experience by simply being quiet and open to new truth.
That day, after my run, I was further blessed with an incredible sunset. I was drawn to it like a moth to flame and captured many excellent moments with my camera. See a sample to the right, which included a sculpture of wooden poles at Laumeier, reminiscent of Cahokia Mounds. I felt the Native American spirits were still speaking and I didn't want to go home until it was nearly fully dark. If only Thomas had been there to play the flute. :-)
May you have a blessed and quiet 2013 so that you can enjoy some deep listening. You never know what the spirits might be waiting to say to you.
aaaaaaa
"Ethereal Awakening" by Project Divinity
Enjoy more music from this pure electronic ambient project
Enjoy more music from this pure electronic ambient project