Download or read book Poetry as Spiritual Practice written by Robert McDowell and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2008-07-15 with total page 292 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "[When we read and write poetry,] it is as if a long-settled cloud in our mind suddenly dissipates, and we are divine once again." -- from the Introduction Poetry is the language of devotion in prayer, chant, and song. Reading and writing poetry creates clarity, deepens and expands spiritual inquiry, and cultivates wisdom, compassion, self-confidence, patience, and love. In author Robert McDowell's words, poetry makes you into a tuning fork of the Divine. But poetry has disappeared over the centuries from religious ceremonies, academic curricula, and public discourse. In Poetry as Spiritual Practice, the first inspirational and instructional guide to combine poetry and spirituality, McDowell restores poetry as the natural language of spiritual practice and invites you to recognize poetry as "the pure sound and shape of your spirit." Vividly illustrated with a wide range of poems from all historical eras and poetic traditions, numerous religions and faiths, and McDowell's own and his students' work, Poetry as Spiritual Practice will reintroduce you to the unique pleasure of verse. And meditations throughout will allow you to integrate reading and writing poetry into your spiritual journeys and daily life. Since many of us have long forgotten, or never learned, the mechanics and terminology of poetry -- trochaic feet and tropes trip us up; we can't tell a villanelle from its shorter cousin, rondeau; and a terza rima may as well be a tanka -- this is also an instructional handbook on reading and writing poetry. An engaging guide through the landscape of world poetry, McDowell argues along the way for the many practical benefits of poetic literacy. Making poetry an essential part of daily rituals, aspirations, and intentions will put you on the path to greater meaning, growth, and peace in your life. At once an engaging technical primer, a profound meditation on the relationship between poetry and the Divine, and an inspirational guide for integrating poetry into spiritual practice, Poetry as Spiritual Practice will become a cherished companion.
Download or read book The Dharma of Poetry written by John Brehm and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2021-01-26 with total page 185 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The author explores poetry as a spiritual practice with example poems from contemporary and historical poets, particularly as they relate to Buddhism. Includes meditations on poems and writing prompts for readers to experiment with on their own.
Download or read book Poetry As a Spiritual Practice written by Catherine Ghosh and published by . This book was released on 2016-06-20 with total page 264 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this reflective collection of personal essays, poems and meditations, fifty women illuminate the powerful role poetry plays in unleashing their spirits. Juxtaposing the waxing and waning of the moon phases, with cycles of concealing and revealing their own voices, the authors tap into an ancient theme to explore the mystical experience of birthing a poem. What is it about the unique nature of poetry that draws fullness of expression from female hearts?How do poems become conduits to what is most sacred within us?This third book to emerge from the "Journey of the Heart Poetry Project" lifts the veil on these, and other mysterious subjects, surrounding women who spontaneously engage poetry writing as part of their spiritual practice.All proceeds from the book will be donated to a nonprofit organization dedicated to empowering women to express themselves through writing.
Download or read book The Spiritual Poems of Rumi written by Rumi and published by Wellfleet Press. This book was released on 2020-09-15 with total page 131 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Spiritual Poems of Rumi is a beautiful and elegantly illustrated gift book of Rumi's spiritual poems translated by Nader Khalili, geared for readers searching for a stronger spiritual core.
Download or read book Everyday Spiritual Practice written by Scott W. Alexander and published by Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations. This book was released on 1999 with total page 276 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Have you wondered, "How do I integrate my heartfelt beliefs into my daily life?" Nearly 40 contributors address this creative dilemma and share their discoveries. Creating a home altar, practicing martial arts, fasting, quilting -- these are just some of the ways they've found to make every day more meaningful and satisfying.
Download or read book Saved by a Poem written by Kim Rosen and published by Hay House, Inc. This book was released on 2009-10-01 with total page 290 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Can someone really be saved by a poem? In Kim Rosen’s book, the answer is a resounding "Yes!" Poetry, the most ancient form of prayer, is a necessary medicine for our times: a companion through difficulty; a guide when we are lost; a salve when we are wounded; and a conduit to an inner source of joy, freedom, and insight. Whether you are a lover of poetry or have yet to discover its power, Rosen offers a new way to experience a poem. She encourages you to feel the poem as you might an affirmation or sacred text, which can align every level of your being. In an uncertain world, Saved by a Poem is an emphatic call to cultivate the ever-renewable resources of the heart. Through poetry, the unspeakable can be spoken, the unendurable endured, and the miraculous shared. Weaving teaching, story, verse, and memoir, Rosen guides you to find a poem that speaks to you so you can take it into your life and become a voice for its wisdom in the world. Inspirational audio download included! Featuring the voices of well-known authors reading a favorite poem and discussing its personal significance: Joan Borysenko, Andrew Harvey, Jane Hirshfield, Marie Howe, Grace Yi-Nan Howe, Robert Holden, Stanley Kunitz, Elizabeth Lesser, Thomas Moore, Christiane Northrup, Cheryl Richardson, Kim Rosen, and Geneen Roth.
Download or read book The Poetry of Impermanence Mindfulness and Joy written by John Brehm and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2017-06-06 with total page 313 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Over 125 poetic companions, from Basho to Billy Collins, Saigyo to Shakespeare. The Poetry of Impermanence, Mindfulness, and Joy received the Spirituality & Practice Book Award for 50 Best Spiritual Books in 2017 by Spirituality and Practice Website. The poems expertly gathered here offer all that one might hope for in spiritual companionship: wisdom, compassion, peacefulness, good humor, and the ability to both absorb and express the deepest human emotions of grief and joy. The book includes a short essay on “Mindful Reading” and a meditation on sound from editor John Brehm—helping readers approach the poems from an experiential, non-analytical perspective and enter into the mindful reading of poetry as a kind of meditation. The Poetry of Impermanence, Mindfulness, and Joy offers a wide-ranging collection of 129 ancient and modern poems unlike any other anthology on bookshelves today. It uniquely places Buddhist poets like Han Shan, Tu Fu, Saigyo, Ryokan, Basho, Issa, and others alongside modern Western poets one would not expect to find in such a collection—poets like Wallace Stevens, Robert Frost, Elizabeth Bishop, William Stafford, Denise Levertov, Jack Gilbert, Ellen Bass, Billy Collins, and more. What these poems have in common, no matter whether they are explicitly Buddhist, is that all reflect the essential truths the Buddha articulated 2,500 years ago. The book provides an important poetic complement to the many prose books on mindfulness practice—the poems here both reflect and embody the dharma in ways that can’t be matched by other modes of writing. It’s unique features include an introduction that discusses the themes of impermanence, mindfulness, and joy and explores the relationship between them. Biographical notes place the poets in historical context and offer quotes and anecdotes to help readers learn about the poets’ lives.
Download or read book How the Light Gets In written by Pat Schneider and published by Oxford University Press, USA. This book was released on 2013-04-25 with total page 316 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "When I begin to write, I open myself and wait. And when I turn toward an inner spiritual awareness, I open myself and wait." With that insight, Pat Schneider invites readers to contemplate their lives and deepest questions through writing. In seventeen concise thematic chapters that include meditations on topics such as fear, freedom, tradition in writing and in religions, forgiveness, joy, social justice, and death, How the Light Gets In gracefully guides readers through the artistic and spiritual questions that life offers to everyone. Praised as a "fuse lighter" by author Julia Cameron and "the wisest teacher of writing I know" by the celebrated writing guru Peter Elbow, Pat Schneider has lived a life of writing and teaching, passion and compassion. With How the Light Gets In, she delves beyond the typical "how-to's" of writing to offer an extended rumination on two inner paths, and how they can run as one. Schneider's book is distinct from the many others in the popular spirituality and creative writing genre by virtue of its approach, using one's lived experience--including the experience of writing--as a springboard for expressing the often ineffable events that define everyday life. Her belief that writing about one's own life leads to greater consciousness, satisfaction, and wisdom energizes the book and carries the reader elegantly through difficult topics. As Schneider writes, "All of us live in relation to mystery, and becoming conscious of that relationship can be a beginning point for a spiritual practice--whether we experience mystery in nature, in ecstatic love, in the eyes of our children, our friends, the animals we love, or in more strange experiences of intuition, synchronicity, or prescience."
Download or read book The Poetics of Adonis and Yves Bonnefoy written by Kareem James Abu-Zeid and published by Lockwood Press. This book was released on 2021-06-15 with total page 171 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book examines the work of two major poets who wrote in the second half of the twentieth century, Yves Bonnefoy of France and the Syrian-born Adonis (born Ali Ahmed Said). In conducting close readings of key moments from their respective poetry, the author illustrates how both of these writers, in their own unique ways, construct poetry as a form of spiritual practice, that is, as a way of transforming both the poet's and the implied reader's ontological, perceptual, and creative relationships with their internal and external worlds.
Download or read book Poems of Earth and Spirit written by Kai Siedenburg and published by . This book was released on 2017-12-05 with total page 158 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book of nature poetry and practices shows us just how easy and enjoyable it can be to tap into the power of nature to calm frazzled minds and lift weary spirits, even in the midst of a city. Author Kai Siedenburg points to two basic keys: finding small but satisfying ways to connect with the Earth in daily life, and making the most of our precious time in wild places. Her insightful and delightful book, Poems of Earth and Spirit: 70 Poems and 40 Practices to Deepen Your Connection with Nature, helps us do both. Through intimate original poems, we experience loving encounters with trees, the gratitude of thirsty plants quenched by rain, and cross-cultural communication with chickadees. We feel what it is like to walk on padded paws, to take wing, to root ourselves in the earth. And through carefully crafted practices, we learn how to cultivate a direct and nourishing connection with nature that will support and sustain us wherever we go. In this high-stress, high-tech world in which so many of us hunger for more authentic connection, Poems of Earth and Spirit illuminates a direct and scenic path to greater joy, meaning, and belonging. This is a book that keeps on giving-and not just to its readers. A portion of the sales raises funds in aid of TreeSisters, a grassroots network that plants over a million trees a year in the tropics. Advance praise for Poems of Earth and Spirit "Beautiful, heart-felt poems for connecting with the Earth." -Joseph Bharat Cornell, author of Sharing Nature and Deep Nature Play "Brimming with insight and imagination... To spend time with this collection is like sitting by a pure mountain stream; we are filled with peace, wonder, and delight. These inspiring poems and simple practices will help you deepen your connection with nature wherever you are." -Mary Reynolds Thompson, author of Embrace Your Inner Wild and Reclaiming the Wild Soul. "What I want from poetry is what Kai gives me, to see anew and to feel deeply, to be reminded of who I am." -Patrice Vecchione, author of Step into Nature: Nurturing Imagination & Spirit in Everyday Life. More info: PoemsofEarthandSpirit.com
Download or read book 329 Haiku Poems For Your Spiritual Practice written by Adrian Tanase and published by BoD – Books on Demand. This book was released on 2019-01-11 with total page 70 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 329 Haiku Poems For Your Spiritual Practice is a collection of zen haikus that are created to inspire you more in your practice, on your spiritual path. Each haiku (short 3 lines japanese zen poem) is intended to be read slowly and meditated upon. It will bring mindfulness and improve meditation to the one who practices it. The book is organized in 29 categories, all related to virtues, human traits and spiritual terms. May these poems that I wrote with much love, help you with your spiritual practice and guide your heart on the path of beauty and exquisiteness. Namaste
Download or read book Call It Haiku written by vincent tripi and published by . This book was released on 2018-11 with total page 37 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Spiritual Exercise written by Lance Carden and published by Wipf and Stock Publishers. This book was released on 2019-08-19 with total page 72 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is not just a book about spirituality. It’s a celebration of spirituality as a natural and essential element of self-realization and human progress. Each and every one of these poems is a potential epiphany. The poet holds up spirituality as the ultimate goal of all human endeavor and an advance beyond organic life, which is “a carcass of thought used & abandoned, dust to dust, by all that’s ever truly us.” The highest work of the poet, he says, “is to translate what we blindly see as merely matter back into the Spirit sphere.” This book makes much of prayer, spiritual practice, and especially divine Love: “When we live in Love & it’s in us, the world explodes in loveliness.” Each poem stretches one’s thought towards the divine—and is thus a rewarding Spiritual Exercise.
Download or read book A Magical Year written by Susanna Bailey and published by . This book was released on 2021-04 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: What better way to start or end the day than by immersing yourself in a poem, thought, or reflection from the Eastern and Western mystics and sages. Passages featured have been carefully selected to feed your soul, awaken your spirit, and tap into your innate wisdom using inspiration from across the ages, as relevant today as it was when it was first written. Broken into 8 sections, it takes you through the cycles of the year: Beginnings, Purification, Renewal, Fertility, Abundance, Balance, Gratitude, and Endings. Each section opens with creative prompts and questions that invite you to delve deeper into your own self-inquiry process. Choose a section that feels relevant, work through from 1-365, or just dip in whenever you want. This collection of inspirational insights will support you in building a daily spiritual practice to nourish and nurture your soul each and every day.
Download or read book God in the Yard written by L. L. Barkat and published by T. S. Poetry Press. This book was released on 2010 with total page 144 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Through days and nights of L.L. Barkat's year of daily outdoor solitude comes an irresistible voice calling you to spiritual practice. This 12-week course tells a unique story, but it will also invite you to personal growth. You'll find various options for discovery and participation: free writing, writing response, physical and mental play, and blogging (or alternatives).
Download or read book Being True to Life written by David Richo and published by Shambhala Publications. This book was released on 2009-12-15 with total page 177 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Psychotherapist David Richo offers a fresh and inspiring approach to personal growth: we can use the process of writing and reading poetry to move toward greater self-understanding and emotional healing. Even if you’ve never written a poem before, you can learn to use poetry to explore your feelings, your relationships, your childhood, your dreams, and more. Richo explains how the creative, intuitive process of making poetry can help us gain access to our deepest truths, leading us to make connections and explore experiences in a new way, beyond the constraints of everyday language. This book offers a range of practical exercises for getting started, as well as guidance on how to read poetry in a way that can be personally transformative. Being True to Life shows us that poetry is not reserved for a few specially talented individuals but is a deeply human activity that anyone can tap into for greater clarity and insight into life’s struggles, beauty, and mysteries.
Download or read book Dharma Talk written by John Brehm and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2023-09-26 with total page 101 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A new volume of original poetry from the bestselling creator of Poetry of Impermanence, Mindfulness, and Joy. In Dharma Talk, award-winning poet John Brehm explores the perennial themes of aging, compassion, emptiness, nonseparation, and more. At once poignant and humorous, Brehm’s gentle, wry poems remind us that the personal and the universal are not different—and point us to the Dharma of everyday life.
