SEED QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION: How do you relate to the notion that a journey can become a sacred thing? Can you share an experience of a journey where a silence within you helped you hear your heart? What helps be more attentive to the self you bring along?
I love John expressing the feelings and thoughts that are just below the surface each day as we live the sanctuary of our homes. My heart fluttered just a bit in reading this, as I could feel the excitement, the expectation and, yes, the bit of trepidation as I leave my home in the morning. I believe each day is sacred and each day is an opportunity to transform something. Thank you, John, for expressing it so beautifully. Each morning, I, as a practicing Buddhist, chant the mantra Nam Myoho Renge Kyo, to my mandala to commune with my higher self and set the tone for the day. I return each evening to perform the ritual again. This morning and evening rhythm refreshes, invigorates and cleanses my life to start the next daily journey.
I met a very special man 11 (ish) years ago. Though words cannot explain it, I felt a Spiritual connection at our first meeting. Roughly, 9 years ago I read John O'Donohue's book entitled Anam Cara. This book "put into words" the relationship my soul had and still has with him. My Path and his do not often cross (physically) ... But (Spiritually) I do not go anywhere without him. For God so loved me, He blessed me with my Anam Cara ... And, for this gift, I am soooo thankful! Namaste
The journey is the Soul's eternal invitation to connect with the Love that is its essence. Every step becomes sacred. Every breath, a deepening of the connection.
I experienced this over and again on my pilgrimage walking from Rome to Jerusalem. The body disappears. The mind stills; and all that is left is the heart, opened and receiving.
The true journey is maintaining that sense of openness and wonder in what is disguised as "ordinary life". The breath, with yoga, remain my daily practice on this pilgrimage called life. <3
A journey is sacred that proceeds by following one's inner voice or spirit, that engenders learning, growth, and becoming more whole, and likely takes one where he or she doesn't know he or she is going. When I do that kind of journeying, mostly for brief durations during some days, I don't have external goals and I block out external distractions which creates a silence to the outside world that helps me hear and be guided by my inside world. Such journeying is alive for me and helps me be more attentive to my inner self. Such journeying is its own reward.