Posts Tagged ‘spirituality’
The Quiet
When was the last time you experienced quiet? Stillness? I love the mountains and the woods as these are places that it seems easiest to pause, to be still and listen to the quiet. Sometimes the best time to experience the quiet in the wee morning hours when all is silent or when the snow falls and there is a certain hush throughout the neighborhood. Why do I think this is so important? When we are quiet and at rest, with no outside distractions, we hear that voice inside us that much clearer. You know that voice for which I am referring. It is telling us something new or helpful if we listen, but it is not always easy to hear and it is not always clear but it is there to guide us. We begin to hear our heartbeat and our breath and then that voice and we know we are closer to God. He uses this time to send us unfiltered thought and guidance. We just need to be still and be ready to listen to the quiet.
Posted on Monday, November 21st, 2011 | No Comments »
To Be Human is to Be Spiritual
Yesterday in Parade Magazine, there was a report of a lengthy survey on religion and spirituality written by Christine Wicker. The long and short of the article is that we, as a nation, are considering ourselves as more spiritual than ever before. I go a step further, although I don’t have statistics to prove it. That is, we have always been spiritual. That’s why I started to write my book Zen Master Next Door nearly five years ago.In our huge world, we are all connected. Everything and everybody’s actions impact everyone else. Just think about it. We cannot survive without others, or without what grows on the earth, or the water that refreshes us, or the warmth of the sun–or a fire. If we made more time to listen to others, no matter who they are, and listen to ourselves, we might learn something. If we made time to see how this world works and how it is aligned with our Creator, we might make better decisions. Religion is good, but spirituality takes us further.
The short stories in Zen Master Next Door are about you and me in our everyday life trying to make the best decisions we know how. Slowing our pace, putting the blackberry down and listening to what a child has to say, could really be enlightening. Just think if we could see God in different ways–hearing Him in voices of those we meet and in the breeze wafting through the boughs of a tree.
But, today, the frenetic pace we seem to have accepted creates our largest barrier in our spiritual life. Our material “needs” are a giant step backward in our quest to learn about ourselves, our fellow man and our God.
To be human is to be spiritual, and I’m joyful more of us are recognizing what we already possess.
Check out Zen Master Next Door at http://www.edwardgkardos.com/
Posted on Monday, October 5th, 2009 | No Comments »
