Sera Beak
[ 25 June 2008 ]
Last night I went to a talk by Sera Beak. Until last week, I had never heard of her — but was miraculously introduced to her by an iCiNG reader! Thank you, ss!
When I first looked her up, I came to her website. The picture in the middle? A photograph of a young woman in a cowboy hat standing in the “Talk To God” booth at Burning Man. It resonated with me, because I had done that exact thing — wearing almost the exact same hat — two years ago, on one of the most physically, emotionally & mentally gruelling weeks of my life.
I had a read through her blog, Spiritual Cowgirl, liked what I saw & reserved myself a place at her upcoming talk.
Alright, so, who is Sera Beak? She’s a Harvard scholar who has been studying & investigating religion, spirituality, God & divine truth since she was 11 or 12 years old. She is the author of The Red Book: A Deliciously Unorthodox Approach to Igniting Your Divine Spark, & a champion of the REDvolution. But she can explain this better than I can.
“I’ve trekked in Tibet & whirled with dervishes in Turkey. I’ve volunteered at Mother Theresa’s Home for the Dying in Calcutta & run from rabid dogs outside Buddhist temples in Kathmandu. I’ve attended intensive spiritual healing workshops in Sedona & psychic fairs in Chicago, fire rituals in the Black Rock Desert & yoga retreats in Mexico… I’ve washed Hindu gurus’ feet, eaten dinner with living saints, argued with Zen masters, & had life-altering visions with shamans. I’ve taught a Tantric Tibetan Buddhist monk how to use his new digital camera, taken the host from a Croatian Catholic mystic who had the stigmata, & had an engaging private audience with His Holiness the Dalai Lama on my twenty-first birthday.”
Basically, when it comes to spirituality, mysticism, big questions & connections to the universe, Sera is your girl. But what is she like in real life? Well, she is very human — very real. She has long, straight glossy hair with an immaculately straight fringe. She wears a pendant of two leaves around her neck. Before she started her talk, she told us that she was terribly nervous. She has short red fingernails & wears a red ring on the first finger of her left hand. She swears & laughs & sits cross-legged when she speaks.
For all her trepidation about speaking, her talk was fantastic. I wasn’t sure what to expect — would she be talking about meditation, her life, Burning Man, religion? Interestingly, it turned out to be a huge mix of topics, with a focus on defining & finding your own spiritual truth. She talked about the rebels & outliers of religion, how they lived with passion & truth & purpose. It was exciting. Inspiring!
It was also a timely message for me. I have done a lot of work on myself, emotionally, mentally & physically, & I encourage other people to do the same. But the spiritual side? Well, I guess I have stayed away from that kind of thing. Why? When I was younger, I was mad on all that stuff! I read books, I visited temples, I meditated, I did rituals, I visited new age bookstores & loaded up on crystals. I asked questions. I wanted to get closer to that big magical something I knew was there. But then what? I got busy, I guess. Life took over. Maybe I decided it was uncool — I wanted to be logical, intelligent, rational, reasonable, & being spiritual just did not fit into that.
As I started to think about what Sera was saying, questions arose in my mind. Was I really working on myself & getting to know who I was, or was I just keeping myself busy & distracted? Was x really true, or was it just something I had accepted as a belief without thinking much more about it? Was I really as “in step” with the Universe as I thought I was? How often did I ignore my own intuition?
It’s very rare that I would buy a book at a talk. Usually I feel like I pretty much know the gist of whatever it is they’re pushing, & so I listen to the talk, go home, do some research, think about it, & do a bit more research. I also don’t make a lot of time to read books these days — most books I buy end up unread on a shelf. So you must realise what an impact Sera made to entice me to buy a copy of her book!
I walked home & sat cross-legged on my bed, devouring the book as I did my dinner. I got about half-way through before looking at the clock & realising it was more than time to go to bed.
So, what is the book about? It’s about exploring religion, mysticism & spiritually for yourself. It’s about asking questions & not allowing other people’s rules or prudishness or personal issues to define how you embrace the divine. It’s about looking at religious figures, Gods & Goddesses, saints & gnostics, & doing your own research. It’s about becoming attuned to symbols or characters or stories that resonate with you. It’s about learning how to pray. (The summary? Anything plus intention & purpose. How liberating is that?!) It’s about bringing ritual into your life & living with intention. It’s about being aware & noticing when the Universe winks at you. It’s about knowing who you are, broadening your horizons & making the world a better place. It’s about mind-blowing sex, using your intuition & learning how to be quiet.
Long story short: it is fantastic. You can read the introduction to her book here, & here’s an excerpt from the start that I particularly liked.
“So what’s a smart, gutsy, spiritually curious young woman to do nowadays? Well, how ‘bout taking spirituality back into your own hands? How about finding out what it means for you, through your own explorations & experiences & expressions? You know, all this spiritual stuff doesn’t have to be so esoteric or traditional or weird or dorky or intimidating or holier-than-thou. Spirituality is not separate & distinct from you & your everyday life. Igniting your divine spark is a simple perspective shift. An internal nod. An expanded relaxation into All That Is. It’s about tuning up your senses, cranking up your antennae, generating conscious living. It’s about becoming your own spiritual authority.”
I also picked up one of her postcards, which I slid into the frame of my mirror. It is bright red, & it says, “YOU HAVE THE POWER TO MAKE ANGELS SWOON.”
Super-love & cupcakes,
Gala 
Tags: consumption,
inspiration,
life Share this! + Email This + Del.icio.us
+ Facebook
+ Stumbleupon
+ Technorati
Comment
Read more tagged consumption...
Louis Vuitton Cruise Collection 2009 How To Wear Pink Cowboy Boots YOU Condoms Turning A House Into A Home Daily Outfit -- 21st May 2008 Moleskine Inspiration ModCloth Competition Winner! Spring Uniforms
Read more tagged inspiration...
Bubble Battle! Daily Outfit -- 19th June 2008 An Idea, Perfectly Illustrated Loving A New City: Alone Quote Of The Day -- 16th June 2008 Style Tips -- 16th June 2008 How To Wear Pink Cowboy Boots Things I Love Thursday
Read more tagged life...
Bubble Battle! Loving A New City: Alone Quote Of The Day -- 16th June 2008 Style Tips -- 16th June 2008 How To Have The Best Holiday Ever Quote Of The Day -- 10th June 2008 The Raw Girl's Travel Guide Style Tips -- 8th June 2008
Wow.
There are no words. Wow.
Wow. She sounds like a really amazing person.
In fact the whole thing actually sounds very interesting. I’d love to hear your final thoughts on the book and if/how it’s changed your views when you’ve finished it.
Three “wow“s in a row! Hee hee!
L — She was really lovely (I went up & talked to her in the intermission), she just seemed pretty… clear, do you know what I mean? Unencumbered by baggage. Which is not to say she’s perfect, & I’m sure she has problems like everyone else, but she just seemed very calm & centred. & yeah, I’ll definitely be writing more on the subject as I continue reading & delving into it!
How do you guys feel about spirituality? Is there anything you do in that arena or is it not something you get into?
omg, i’m speechless. fantastic. i need time to read more. i love the saying on the postcard, i think i’ll write it down and put it in a visible place. thank you so much for the inspiration, gala! kisses
how lovely! i am an atheist – i used to go to church and i went to a church of england primary school, but various things happened to make me disillusioned with religion in general. even now, i would love to be spiritual or religious – i think the idea of there being a big “someone” (or something) up there watching over you and taking care of you is unbelievably reassuring – but i don’t know, there’s just something in me that won’t let me believe it. i think i am just a massive cynic! hopefully one day something will happen that will let me believe.
xxx
Sera’s amazing, and I’m so happy her talk last night shows that she’s taking the Redness in new and interesting directions—and that she’s not afraid to back down from a tough crowd.
(Not to be all stalkery, but I was the girl in the third row with the glasses who kept looking over with the “Is that Gala? Should I say hi and thank her for writing such awesome stuff? Is that creepy and unwanted?” expression. New York is such a small place, when you get down to it…)
Thank you for writing about this…I feel like I (and many others) am in the same boat as you and this looks like an unintimidating way to start thinking about spirituality.
(my first thought was “wow”, too!)
Gala, I recognized myself in your story, just as my fellow commenters did. After years of intense interest in multiple forms of spirituality, I felt like my life became to busy for such “frivolity.” I will admit to feeling steeped in that mentality, still; I’m not ready yet to start exploring the divine. But when I am, you can bet I’ll head straight for Sera’s book!
Thanks, as always, for sharing.
This is so interesting but I really can’t wrap my head around it. I completely lack spirituality, like entirely. Which is odd because I grew up a Catholic. But I’m a very ritualistic person, but I think that’s down to OCD. It’s such a huge, wide-open thing and I’m trying so hard to ‘get it’ but my brain is not co-operating! I don’t think I’m making much sense.
I envy the spiritual :P
Oh, she sounds wonderful! Thank you so much for telling us about her, I think that book is exactly what I need.
Gala-
Yeah, that must be an incredible way to live. I don’t want to sound negative but with the way the world is today, I’m sure it’s amazing to be able to be so calm; to find inner peace or at least close to it.
Good! I’m looking forward to hearing more about it.
I personally am not a particularly spiritual person. It’s not that I don’t believe. I think it’s more of not knowing where to start. I actually am a believer in spirits, phsychics and clairvoyance etc, higher powers, all that sort of thing really.
Daiane — Glad you enjoyed it! The book is great, I’m really enjoying it.
sophie~ — I went to religious schools too & it really knocked the urge to worship a God or something like that out of me. It just seemed so rife with hypocrisy & it was so boring that it didn’t speak to me at all. I never had positive feelings towards religion. But recently I have become more awakened (I guess) to the idea that there is something bigger than me. I feel like amazing things happen to me every day & most of it has come about because I’ve learned to play ball with the Universe. Hard to explain, but yeah, it is reassuring!
Rie — Aw, you should have come over to say hello! Sometimes I feel like I should do a public service announcement which says, “Hello! I am approachable! Come & say hi & I will hug you!” ;D I’m glad you enjoyed the talk too. The crowd was a little rocky, huh? Some of those questions made me roll my eyes but you know… people are people, haha.
Sophia — It can be quite a scary topic, right? I am scared of it myself. Maybe because it challenges a lot of our ideas about how we are — I am an atheist, I am a this, I am a that — which maybe we’re not ready to let go of. Anyway, I recommend picking up the book if you see it!
Sal — Any time, lovely!
Joanne — Not that I have the right to define spirituality or anything, but I kind of think of it as plugging into the energy that is all around us at all times. Does that make sense to you?
just bought it on amazon!!! thanks for the recommendation gala!
Fabulous Her blog is just what I needed right now!
I tend to be a bit finicky about spirituality.
I think that within all people there is a strong drive to understand the world. From birth we simply find ourselves awake and existing in a reality that has been around for ages before us and will continue to be around long after we die.
We feel a strong drive to define ourselves as individuals and to then reconcile the journey that we go through in life with our new found identity.
In this aspect I respect spirituality, though only the spirituality that exists outside of religion. I think that no matter the religion you’re coerced in some fashion to be a part of it and therefor you become a part of a whole. You are turned into a means to and end rather than a self motivating being.
I think that to really understand yourself requires an absolute tabula rasa. I believe that working from the ground up will ultimately yield the best results.
Once again I think that religion has the tendency to spell out the great philosophical mysteries far to easy. The universe is far to vast for any one group to proclaim that they have any idea whats going on.
I consider myself a spiritual person though I don’t believe in the supernatural or god/s.
I think that most spiritual journeys start off with some sort of assumption that the end result is something divine or at least relating to the supernatural.
To really be open to self discovery I think that its important to open up to the possibility that there may be no god nor anything supernatural.
Car Sagan once said that “For me, it is far better to grasp the Universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring. “
This sounds great! I have been really interested in religion lately and this totally fits into all the ideas I’ve been thinking about.
Have you read any Carl Jung? It’s a lot of the same ideas that myths and symbols that cross religions really represent the same spiritual ideals and archetypes. He is really amazing!
Thanks for the recommendation and post, Gala.
Renee — Oooh, interesting thoughts. I also agree that no one person or group has all the answers. Maybe there is no ultimate “truth” either… only the truth that we discover for ourselves.
Robin E. — I’ve never read anything by Jung actually. I studied him a little bit at university but not enough to stick with me. I will look into it! Do you have any suggetions?
Thanks for the post I consider myself Pagan with a twist of Tao what can I say I really like them both and have never “conformed” to the norm or “what is considered acceptable”. I have decided to put her book on my wish list thru Amazon it sounds awesome and hope to order it soon. Thanks for the post.
Thank you so much for writing about this, this is very exciting stuff! I’m going to have to look into this. It’s really reassuring to see another young woman taking this approach to spirituality, because it sounds like what I’ve been trying to do- a difficult thing if you’re all alone! It sometimes feels like the people around me are sleepwalking 99% of the time.
I really like the quote “It’s like having your fingers plugged into the sky.” That’s in reference to creative flow, but when I feel like I’m spiritually on to something…it has the same natural, electric quality.
Great post, Gala…
Have you read the book ‘Eat Pray Love’ by Elizabeth Gilbert? It seemed like everyone (including Hillary Rodham-Clinton!) was reading it for a while, which nearly made me by-pass it… But it’s a beautiful book about one woman’s journey in coming to peace with her life choices and growing closer to God/The Universe. Awesome read!
Will definitely check out more about Sera when I get some time later. It’s morning in Australia and I have to go jump in the shower and get ready for work – hooray! My partner and I are running some coffee tastings today so I’ll be completely stupid by 11am!
Love to all,
Kirsten
OK Gala, I have another WOW for ya.
WOW!
I am just starting out on a journey of self discovery as I have spent most of my life taking care of other people. Can’t wait to read this book!
Ever since Firefox upgraded, I’ve been having trouble with my google feeds. This one and others don’t update nearly enough, so I atcually don’t know when new content has been added until daysss later—sort of defeats the purpose… Is anyone else having this problem? Will I need to upgrade to Firefox 3 in order to fix it?
Sounds like my kind of book! Everything’s a changin’ and I could do with a spiritual kick up the bum…thanks for recommending it.
Thanks for writing this Gala. My spirituality has gone by the wayside recently but I considered myself a witch from about the ages 14 to 21. During that time I never felt comfortable by the idea of an all consuming god or goddess though.
It wasn’t until I read A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson that I threw most of my ideas away and decided I truly believe in science and evolution.
Despite that though I still believe in spirituality, in the universe, in divining and mediums. I just don’t believe in god and frankly after reading some of the stuff I’ve read don’t know how anyone could be fooled by such a farce. Growing up as a Pagan and seeing how much the catholic church stole from other religions before denouncing them made me cynical I suppose.
It’s so refreshing to read something about spirituality in iCiNG, it truly is.
oh my sweet goodness Gala!!! I am so happy you enjoyed it!...I was so nervous and felt horrible that I couldn’t get there…I really do think that even though I read that book a while ago while reading your blog your divine spark shines through (I hope you know that) and I was thinking hmmm “I wonder if she has read that book?”! Anyway, I’m smiling from ear to ear!
This is a odd coincidence (or the Universe shouting hello)
I’ve had dreams lately about goddess and gods and I’ve been invited to go to a ashram in the next two weeks.
I am very sceptical about spirituality and religions for a lot of the reasons Sera Beak went though in the Red book intro. I would love to be more spiritual but I can’t seem to make the leap to many crazy nutters and cults for my liking. I know there are more level headed ones than the kooks, they just get less press generally.
My birthday is super soon so I’ll be asking for Red Book for sure.
I had an amazon.com gift certificate & went and bought this book right away.
Now I’m going to write something long!
I have a lifelong relationship with spirituality. I grew up Catholic (though my father is not religious) and had a great relationship with God until high school. I rejected religion as a teenager. I was very, very into the work of Patti Smith and I saw her poetry and music as wonderful blasphemy. It made me feel very powerful to reject God & religion.
Around my 20th birthday I had an extreme life-awakening. I was taking a class in college called “Drawing a Life.” We used The Intensive Journal Workshop*** to create art in a series based on our own lives, and the life of another. I worked with Patti Smith’s life in my second series. Through this work I came to understand that all the poems I saw as blasphemous were much closer to spiritual exaltation. Her work is extremely spiritual in nature, exploring and embracing many different religions, always pushing boundaries. As I did this work, everything in my whole life changed in BIG BIG, awesome ways. After dating girls for 5 years, I began a relationship with my male roommate. We went on a roadtrip together and had the time of our lives. We are still together, 5 more years later.
After the summer when everything changed, I took a class in college called “Transcendent Practices.” It was absolutely the worst experience of my life and left me desolately depressed for many months after I got out of it. It is hard to say what “went wrong”, but many other people had extremely negative experiences there too. It was supposed to be…well, “Transcendent Practices,” spiritual seeking (we were doing yoga, carving/sculpture, and poetry). During this time I felt urges to reject the prescribed pseudo-eastern spirituality the instructors were feeding us, and become a Christian again, but I was so embarrassed. Everyone in my social group, intimate and larger, were atheists. I wanted to retain the power I had felt in rejecting religion, but the denial of my true feelings was horrible for me, and I felt I had no power over anything at all. There was a huge strain on my new relationship, but we made it through.
It took me a long time to recover from what can only be described as spiritual trauma. It was almost two years later that I became a Christian again, in my heart. That is how I identify now, although I do not attend church and I rarely talk about my experiences.
I have a vague sense of my religion in my everyday life (and I am at all times grateful), but it is not usually foremost in my mind. I would love to work more in the spiritual aspects of my life, and this book sounds perfect for me, as a Christian who does not want to surround herself with popular or traditional Christianity.
Thank you for mentioning this book & spiritual cowgirl (LOVE that description!), I am so excited about it.
***Back to “The Intensive Journal Workshop” – Gala, have you (or anyone else here) heard of it? I think it may be something you’d be interested in. Working in this way changed my life more than anything has thus far. I was so lucky to have the chance to do it in a classroom situation. I hope to take a workshop someday. I have the book, and have tried to do it on my own, but I haven’t found enough discipline to use it regularly. www.intensivejournal.org/
Thank you for posting this, Gala. I’ve been feeling a bit disconnected from reality/the world and I’ve been wanting to delve more into spirituality/life/death so I will definitely be buying her book.
I’m happy for you, Gala. Your honesty with the subject really says a lot about how important this is for you, and that’s just awesome :)
As for me, I’m an atheist, but I don’t consider myself cynical or bitter or anything…I’m a happy girl! But I understand your views; even for me, it’s incredible how the whole world is connected (the stars, the animals, humans…to die and return to the earth..), but I don’t see anything spiritual or supernatural in it. Is a beautiful thing though :) I don’t have any prejudice against religious people either; I was on a catholic (but very, very liberal) school and most of the people that I know are believers, even my boyfriend. Other than finding masses a little bit ridiculous, religion is ok for me :P Plus, it was very touching to see my boyfriend thanking God when we first kissed; it has been one of cutest things anyone has done for me :)
Wow. It sounds a little bit like religion without the organized part. I don’t know if this makes much sense. All I can think of is a discussion we had in class a few years ago, where a girl made a very good point about how religion, by itself, can be hugely beneficial to an individual, but organized religion just stamps all the goodness out of it. I love that she encourages people to embrace what works for THEM, instead of pushing this or that kind of spirituality on others. She sounds fascinating, I’ll have to look her up sometime!
this is really interesting to me. i think spirituality is fantastic and one of the best parts of being a human! will be looking further into Sera’s book.
thank you for writing about this! to be honest, by chance i was flicking through earlier comments and saw that ‘ss’ posted about her, so i’ve been thinking about her ideas all weekend. but it was all synchronicity which led me there … this last week i’ve been thinking a lot about spirituality and christianity, mainly because a friend had recommended the musician sufjan stevens to me, and he seems to sing a lot about these kind of things in a beautiful, innocent, indirect way. i can’t stop listening to ‘casimir pulaski day’. so on saturday morning i was journalling (morning pages) and put out the intention that i wanted to reconnect with my spirituality in an active, practicing, way … and it was answered pretty quickly when i stumbled across the link in the comments :)
it’s been really interesting hearing about other people’s ‘spiritual histories’, so i hope you don’t mind if i share mine: i loved bible stories but never really thought about them as something you believe in until i transferred to an anglican school in year 6. then the beautiful chapel services and making friends with christians made me want to get christened and become a member of the church. my parents were a bit discouraging, and then i somehow grew out of it and went on this massive wicca/new age obsession for years. then i read philip pullman’s ‘his dark materials’ at a time in my life when i was rather depressed, and decided to become an atheist and had my heart set on being a philosopher (don’t ask me why i thought all philosophers are atheists!). i went to uni and discovered i hated philosophy (or at least the way it was taught there in first year). it didn’t answer any of the big questions i was hoping it would, and when i found out about halfway through the term that even philosophy cannot conclusively prove or disprove the existence of god, i became disillusioned.
from that point onward i decided not to let my belief be swayed by random opinions i encounter in books, classrooms, or from friends. i would wait and see and form my own deductions. since then, i’ve had one dream come true, given myself remarkably accurate tarot readings, delved into astrology, had 2 close and freaky attempts at astral travel, dreamt once about a past life, and had my grandpa visit me in my dream just before my 21st birthday. crazy, i know. i don’t know of any power or explanation for these things i believe in, just that during those rare times i am ‘connected spiritually’, i feel wonderful, absolutely alive. i guess i want to feel that more often, and start putting it to good use. i’m really fascinated by the way the loa and intention/manifestation stuff is really interconnected with spirituality and prayer.
thanks again for this post :)
The whole experience sounds very mind boggling and liberating at the same time. spirituality is very important. we studied that last year in med, because when we deal with a patient it’s not just about the disease it’s about the whole person and spirituality fits under that, furthermore it’s a topic which comes up quite commonly when people are faced with death. with our fast pased lives nowadays people don’t generally sit down and contemplate issues like this. it’s such an interesting topic which we can spend hours and hours and years dwelling on.
Spirituality is one of my favorite subjects, I’m going to have to get a copy of this book as I love opinions.
Many of my friends are very varied in their beliefs and – well, to put it bluntly I see things many people don’t…not exactly something any one religion can cover to my satisfaction, even if they don’t shun it completely or imply I’m unstable – so I tailored my own, ever-changing spirituality.
Just because I know things exist that other people think are magical does not mean I pray to them or put faith in them – I’d be bowing to creatures with all the holiness of your pet dog…lovely creatures but not exactly spritual guides.
Often my faith goes to things I have never seen, but feel right in my heart.
Lately I’ve been interested in the topic of altars (the LJ community ‘pimp my altar’ always makes me smile) and their different uses.
Unfortunately I can’t have lovely grand altars in my house, they get broken.
Thank you for sharing your experience and this book with us. I will be checking it out for sure.
hey gala!
so this has nothing to do with this post but…for my 2 year anniversary with my lovely boyfriend i am making him “a book of good things” its a sketchbook made from recycled paper and i am putting fun things in it and need to fill up a lot more pages so i am in need of some ideas if you have some lying around.
so far what ive done is *a list of animal derived ingredients *our favorite us song *pictures *fun quotes from storypeople.com *my favorite vegan recipes *magazine clippings
thanks!
thank you for posting about this gala! it’s interesting to read everyone else’s experiences with spirituality. i was raised catholic, but i stopped identifying myself as christian early in high school. i never found spirituality, and didn’t want to be bothered by thinking about religion, though recently ive been aching for it. i read eat, pray, love which is an amazingly beautiful book. it left me with a strong urge to pursue some sort of spirituality, but i haven’t known really where to start. i am going to look more into sera beak. i can’t wait to hear more about your reactions to her book.
I could think of nothing throughout this post but “Damn,why have I never heard of her?” Thanks for this Gala, and ss for bringing it up.I’m raised Catholic but for a few years I’ve been wanting to learn more about my religion outside my church.Taking a religious studies course is definatley on my list of college course to try.I’ve been thinking more about how I define my religion lately and reading up some books I have.I’m rereading a Scott Cunningham book now with StarHawk’s Sprial Dance next,and then probably try to find the Art of Happiness by the Dali Lama. I look foward to reading thru the comments here.
Hey GD! I LOVE this book!
I was turned onto it by the Hip Tranquil Chick podcast I heard with Sara (which was awesome btw – you can listen to it at www.hiptranquilchick.com) and I read the book at Christmas time when life was a bit sucky – and it honestly rocked my socks. It was awesome, inspiring and most of all real. Sometimes books on spirituality can freak me out because I’m not there yet, like I NEED to meditate this way, and I need to pray THAT way, but this book was about doing it MY way.
Awesome that you got to check her out in person – sounded amazing – thanks for reporting back, Miss G!
Lisa x
Thanks Gala, I’ve recently renewed my interest in spirituality and Sera’s book sounds very interesting.
I love Rumi’s poetry, he was a Persian mystic. Coleman Bark’s translations are my favourite:
“Every object, every being,
is a jar full of delight.”
“Thirst drove me down to the water
where I drank the moon’s reflection.”
just want to let you know, i visit your site at least 25 times per week. i may have gala-xiety?
nice post!
That all sounds great.. I will re-read when not so tired. I totally relate to the bookshelf full of amazing books that go unread. Going to make more time to read inspiring books methinks!
Does anyone have any suggestions?
This was exactly what I needed at this point in my life.
This is amazing, and when I go to work tonight (which conveniently is a library), this book will be waiting for me.
And, I want to meet Sera Beak.
Ok, i’m a little late to this one, but I’ve just got to say VERY INTERESTING. Great article, and I’m definitely going to check out her sites.
And i just love this… “YOU HAVE THE POWER TO MAKE ANGELS SWOON.”
I just jumped on Amazon & bought that book… along with Sark’s play journal… yay!
I am loving this girl, she sounds amazing. At the moment I am reading “Beyond Fear” by Don Miguel Ruiz (four agreements) & it’s settling into my psyche… I am really into all this stuff & feel I am becoming more in tune with the universe & my own sense of self.
If ‘religion’ is understood… as man’s search for God on man’s own terms, as his effort to make some kind of adjustment to the ‘ground of being’ on a level less radical than that of the self-forgetful commitment of faith, it clearly can become faith’s greatest enemy, the last bastion of human pride to hold out against God. The experience of the Jews in relation to Jesus, and of the churches throughout the ages, demonstrates that this is the most persistent and far-reaching temptation which confronts men. – Daniel Jenkins
Thanks for pointing me to Sera Beak’s direction. I’ll try to get her book if it’s available here in the Philippines, I’m afraid I am also in need of much spiritual guidance. But I’m hopelessly torn between being logical and being spiritual. Can you really be both logical and spiritual at the same time?
That seems very interesting. I am fascinated with religion/spirituality and how people try to understand their place in the world and cosmos.
To that end I think that the paragraph you quoted is great… right up until it is offensive to observant members of the faiths that she is talking about interacting with. As a Catholic the line “taken the host from a Croatian Catholic” is really problematic and very disrespectful of Catholicism and what Catholics believe – nobody ‘takes’ the Eucharist, it’s not just ‘the host’ and only Catholics in a state of Grace are supposed to receive Communion. I think it is important when searching in the spiritual realm to always be respectful.
I was an atheist/agnostic (it kind of depended on the day) for a long time before I returned to the Catholic Church. For me I find that Mass in Latin and weekly confession is how I have found my way. I know it’s a bit odd to many people, but I am always amused when my old ‘spiritual but not religious’ friends are so very insulting and offensive about my choice to follow this path. It’s like any path is acceptable unless it is a traditional religious one.
Anyway, I love your blog and I read it all the time. Just looking at my fairly traditional self nobody would ever imagine that we would have anything in common. However, even though I choose a different path I think that what you write about choosing your own path speaks to me. Considering the ‘live your own life’ world that I grew up in the fact that I am quite traditional make me the rebellious one. It’s the path that is great for me and surprisingly reading your blog reminds me that taking the right path for me is the way to go – so thanks!
Gala, When you say you’ve done a lot of work on yourself what exactly did you do? I’m curious I could probably stand to do a lot of work on myself as well..
:o)