SPIRITUAL EXPLORATIONS – 193

WE ARE EXPLORING THE PRACTICE OF DELIGHT

+ When you do things from your soul, you feel a river moving in you, a joy.

-- Jalaluddin Rumi, translated by Coleman Barks

+ Fellow explorers, we are now in the process of transitioning from spiritual practices to heavenly attributes.  Delight is a practice which comes close to getting us into a miraculous, mysterious and marvelous heavenly rhythm.  The ten preceding practices will continue to be essential. Delight grows and grows as we practice, practice, practice all 12 spiritual practices: Stillness, Silence, Solitude, Simplicity, Detachment, Discernment, Devotion, Delight, Humility, Healing, Holiness & Heavenliness.

The intention here is that these Journey of the Soul practices of Delight & Heavenliness become so ingrained that we can experience the 9 heavenly attributes of Abundance, Joy, Wisdom, Beauty, Love, Truth, Peace, Justice & Freedom moment after moment, breath after breath.   We have been exploring heavenly realms.  We are about to go further and deeper into these realms.  Tell your friends. 

+ Delight is not one of the 37 Spirituality & Practice practices BUT put Delight in their Search Engine and you come up with 85 items including 67 quotes, 16 books, 1 practice, and 1 film as of 6/14/16.  Go to http://www.spiritualityandpractice.com/search/?q=Delight.  However, it is clear that Mary Ann & Frederic Brussat are big fans of Joy. Therefore, put Joy in their Search Engine and you come up with 2057 items including 867 quotes, 835 books, 160 practices, 11 teachers, 24 arts links, 29 e-courses, 98 films, 26 blogs and 4 traditions as of 6/14/16. Oh, and Joy IS one of the 37 spiritual practices. You can also be inspired by their Twelves Gallery on Joy. 

+ Joy will come up again very soon in these explorations since it is the second of the 9 heavenly attributes we will be exploring.

+ I would love it if you offered a guest post on this practice or any practice.  And, I have work to do on my Delight page.  Maybe you can help.  Send an email with the subject “Delight” or “Guest Post” to John@abundancetrek.com.

+ You can always find a link to any of the Spiritual Explorations posts by going to http://abundancetrek.com/sepostsaccess.html

SPIRITUAL EXPLORATIONS -- 65

WE ARE EXPLORING THE PRACTICE OF SILENCE

+

Earth, Teach Me

Earth teach me quiet ~ as the grasses are still with new light.
Earth teach me suffering ~ as old stones suffer with memory.
Earth teach me humility ~ as blossoms are humble with beginning.
Earth teach me caring ~ as mothers nurture their young.
Earth teach me courage ~ as the tree that stands alone.
Earth teach me limitation ~ as the ant that crawls on the ground.
Earth teach me freedom ~ as the eagle that soars in the sky.
Earth teach me acceptance ~ as the leaves that die each fall.
Earth teach me renewal ~ as the seed that rises in the spring.
Earth teach me to forget myself ~ as melted snow forgets its life.
Earth teach me to remember kindness ~ as dry fields weep with rain.

-- An Ute Prayer

< http://beforeitsnews.com/alternative/2012/07/an-ute-prayer-earth-teach-me-2409214.html

+ With this post we begin exploring the second of four journeys of spiritual practices, the Journey of the Heart. During this exploration there will be posts on the practices of silence, discernment and healing.

We have been on the Journey of the Mind so far.  This Ute prayer is a good transition as it emphasizes practices we have been exploring: stillness, detachment and humility.  These practices will continue to be essential.  Without plenty of mindfulness, the Journey of the Heart cannot get very far.  Nor can the Journey of the Body or the Journey of the Soul which  will come after this journey.  I am so glad you are exploring with me. YOU are fantastic, wonderful, fascinating, delightful. 

Or, as Christopher Robin said to Pooh: “Promise me you'll always remember you're braver than you believe & stronger than you seem and smarter than you think.”

Once again, I want to thank Elizabeth Lesser for the categories of The Mind, The Heart, The Body and The Soul and for the wisdom and practices she offers on each of these “landscapes” as she calls them in The Seeker’s Guide: Making Your Life a Spiritual Adventure.

+ SpiritualityandPractice offers many resources on the Spiritual Practice of Silence and a photo and quotes gallery.

+ You can always find a link to any of the Spiritual Explorations posts by going to http://abundancetrek.com/sepostsaccess.html