Wherever You Go, There You Are June 21, 2011
Posted by nrhatch in Life Balance, Meditation, Mindfulness.comments closed
A Spiritual Journey is not uniform in application nor mapped out with precision.
What works for me may not work for you.
Each traveler must decide what tools to use and what information to absorb, leaving the rest on the side of the road.
The goal being to use an internal frame of reference rather than relying on the constantly shifting opinions of others.
No one else has sufficient perspective to offer you true guidance on your journey.
You must stop looking “out there” for answers . . . and learn to look within.
Imagine that you’ve decided to head around the world to an exotic destination, like Fiji or Tahiti.
Before departing on such a time-consuming and expensive trip, you likely would research the destination on-line or purchase a Travel Guide to get an overview of sites to see, restaurants to try, and hotels to frequent.
You would not allow the Travel Guide to make decisions for you. Instead, you would use it to educate yourself about the infinite possibilities you might wish to explore on the trip.
Once educated, you would choose how best to spend your limited time and travel dollars on the trip . . . based on your own unique preferences.
Travel Guides help us evaluate available options. Often, the ideas of others will spark interest and enthusiasm for experiences travelers might not otherwise have considered exploring:
Hmm . . . who knew you could swim with sharks??? That sounds exciting!!!
Of course, no matter how many Travel Guides you read, there is no substitute for experiencing the journey yourself.
Life’s like that . . . as is the journey within.
Spirit Lights The Way is a Travel Guide to the Spiritual Journey, or perhaps like a College Catalog which outlines courses available to take “on line.”
After perusing the contents:
* You might enter the Garden of Creative Visualization to picture your life as you wish it to be, in order to attract those things into your life.
* You might enroll in Stress Reduction 101 to free your mind of troubling thoughts which never seem to lead anywhere.
* You might experiment with Meditation or Yoga to silence the mind and access the still, silent wisdom within.
* You may choose to practice Mindfulness to develop the innate capacity of your mind to remain calm and stable amid chaos and confusion.
At the outset, your mind may be agitated and choppy, and unable to reflect things with accuracy.
In time, the surface stills, allowing you to see things as they really are.
Quote: God is the breath inside the breath. ~ Kabir
No rules. Just write!
Related posts: Backwards Living * Our Internal Compass * Access Your Inner Wisdom * Cultivating Happiness, Not Hedonism
Misty Water, Croaking Toads June 21, 2011
Posted by nrhatch in Life Balance, Mindfulness, Nature.comments closed
When we want to access happiness and inner peace, we need only be present in the moment ~ to see what is there to be seen, to hear what is there to be heard, to feel the joy in being.
Don’t just do something. Sit there.
Feeling a bit overwhelmed by my To Do List, I stepped outside into the misty night air for a breather.
Lights from the moon reflected off the surface of the lagoon. Croaking toads or frogs (I’m never sure which) serenaded the silence of the still night.
Fish splashed up and out of the water, creating ripples that undulated toward the shore.
A breeze ruffled the graceful palm fronds, and gently kissed my cheeks. Crickets, joining the night chorus, trilled in the background.
Peace filled the air as a lone jet flew by far overhead and cars rumbled in the distance over the draw-bridge to the adjacent island.
As the pressures of daily life receded, a smile gently tugged at the corners of my lips.
Quote: In the silence of not doing, we begin to know what we feel.
No Rules. Just Write!
What about you? How do you access the bottomless well of peace within?
Spirit Lights The Way 