I am amazed at how even a very little quiet time, and communing with others’ work can inspire creativity in me.
Below is the short poem that came to me in the shower after trolling through We’Moon ‘09, Gaia Rhythms for Womyn,
a publication by Mother Tongue Ink. This was a lovely Christmas present from a dear friend. It is a 2009 day-journal filled with a compilation of art and writing by women of vision who are bringing the light.
Here is the poem:
Words of Wisdom everywhere,
and none to touch the soul,
till through the truth of experience,
our depths we come to know.
This really speaks to the feeling that has overtaken me repeatedly in the last five years. The feeling that everything I’ve read or experienced from different spiritual traditions has the same essence and passion, just with different language and labels. My journey of incorporating this wisdom has brought me to meditation. Specifically, Kriya Yoga Mediation (Paramahansa Yogananda lineage with Swami Shree Yogi Satyam.)
Here I have found the reason all my external searching has not manifested in great change for me, even though I have been progressing little by little. I have attended the seminars, bought the books and audios, worked through the material and the workbooks. We might say, “I am not diligent enough, I am not applying the learning correctly, I don’t have clear enough intention, I don’t want it enough, I am in some way not good enough.” But, I don’t think that is it for me - or for you. I feel deeply that I have been looking in the wrong place.
The answers are not ‘out there’, no one can tell me. No one can do it for me. I need to experience the truth of the wisdom words for myself - on my meditation seat and in my life. In my life is the deeper work of mediation. This is where my real practice is.
“What truth is my experience revealing to me?”
Coming to know our truth through our inner exploration of our depths is the turn-key to shift from being a ’seeker’ to being a ‘finder’ of truth. I don’t want to be a seekers’ guide in my coaching, I want to be a finders’ guide.
My wish for you, for 2009 - may it be a year of experience and truth-finding.
Have a happy, happy day! 
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Published by DJ December 30th, 2008 in Compassion, Connection, Consciousness, Creativity, Yogic Wisdom
Thank you DJ, for your words of wisdom; I’m greatful for the encouragement. Be well. Wendy
It is true that love and happiness have been sought in malls, shopping bags, credit cards and night clubs. I have been irritated when what should have been a picture perfect moment didn’t have the exilerating feeling I had expected. As experience has shown me. It is within. Peaceful and tranquil moments leave room to see what is truly spectacular. Love comes from within and touches all around if it is nurtured. With each passing month, I am growing to see that the most valuable thing is the relationships we build with all those around us. I can’t wait to feel what this years growth brings in my heart. Love, LM
Wendy, thank you for your comment.
LM, well said. Thank you for your thoughts. Pls come back with what this years’ growth does bring for you.
Wonderful! A very pithy little blog, with ideas that are relevant in my life at the moment. I agree that the significance of “wisdom words” is not real to us until we somehow experience it in our own lives, whether through meditation or some other deeply personal experience. But I also think we need and benefit from all the words and searching “out there,” because it helps us recognize truth/wisdom when we finally encounter it for ourselves. Maybe it is all the external searching that tunes us in enough to hear the call to meditation or whatever other internal focus we may find. Ultimately, it is understanding or internalizing the meaning of the wisdom words that counts, but I think that reading the words in the various spiritual traditions and noticing that the essence is always similar, makes the “a-ha” moment when we finally feel or understand the truth/depth of the words through our own experience just that much more profound.
Claire
Claire thanx for your comment. I think you are right that it ‘maybe all the external searching that tunes us in enough to hear the call to internal focus.’ The challenge for me is to let go of my attachment to the external search and follow the call inward.
All the ‘words of wisdom’ are just fingers pointing at the moon, as it were, that help us recognize the moon when we do finally experience it. Although the ‘fingers’, the ‘words’ themselves are not the moon. As my meditation teacher says, “Truth is in the experience not the description.” I think this is saying that truth lies in the silence that is beyond the manifestation of words.
Ha, and for even more words in this vein, Lao Tzu begins the Tao Te Ching with this line translated as:
“The Tao that can be told of is not the Absolute Tao. ”
or as
“The ‘Tao’ is too great to be described by the name ‘Tao’. If it could be named so simply, it would not be the eternal Tao.”
or as
“The Tao that can be trodden is not the enduring and unchanging Tao. The name that can be named is not the enduring and unchanging name.”
I am not sure of the source of the first two translations. This last one is from the complete James Legge Translation.
We all try as best as we can to describe that which we seek, and to help each other along the way. We each hear what we need when we are ready to hear it.
My ego mind does dearly love to talk to others. Yet I am coming to know that I get nearer the truth when I practice quietly coming back to my center then when I try to describe the center. Clearly that has not stopped me though. So guess I will stop talking now. ;->