July 20 Tip: Read Mark Nepo's, "The Book of Awakening"

Read Mark Nepo's, "The Book of Awakening"

(The July 20 Compassionate Living Tip from Interfaith Paths to Peace)

http://www.marknepo.com/books_awakening.php

From Mark Nepo:

This is a spiritual daybook woven from my own story, the stories of others’ struggles with their humanness, and truths from the great wisdom traditions. A series of daily reflections, it serves as a guidebook for a journey with the soul. Each entry is accompanied with a practice that helps us face the call to awaken the mind and the heart.

I was drawn to this form because as a poet, I was longing for a manner of expression that could be as useful as a spoon, and as a cancer survivor, daybooks have become inner food. In truth, over the last twenty-five years, the daybook has been answering a collective need and has become a spiritual sonnet of our age, a sturdy container for small doses of what matters.

This book is meant to be of use, to be a companion, a soul friend. It is, indeed, a book of awakenings. To write this I’ve had to live it. It’s given me a chance to gather and share the quiet teachers I’ve met throughout my life. The journey of unearthing and shaping these entries has helped me bring my inner and outer life more closely together. It has helped me know and use my heart. It has made me more whole. I hope it can be such a tool for you.