Let's View The Universe As A Sanctuary
Invited to address staff and students of a college a dear friend teaches at, i was asked to 'please, immediately' send them the title of my talk. A rather slowwriter and very reluctant speaker, i had no title, let alone any idea for a talk, but as is my morning habit, i had been immersed in reading poetry, and a line from Mary Oliver's 'When Iam Among The Trees' had wedged into a groove of my mind:"... and never hurry through the world, but walk slowly, and bow often." "The subject of my talk is Walk Slowly; Bow Often," i told my bewildered friend, laughingover how she was going to sell that to the principal! The title was easily settled, but now came the much harder part-building my talk around this. Over the next few days this phrase was like a mantra that accompanied me everywhere, and slowly the talk took shape around the theme of living life reverentially The word 'reverence' is mostly used in the context of religion, of the proper attitude towards a deity-a feeling or stance of deep respect tinged with awe and veneration. More broadly, reverence is about behaving with an awareness that whether in a built-up sacred space, in nature, at home, at play or at work-one is always in the presence of Creation; understanding that all life is precious. Reverence opens us up to radical respect and radical amazement; life is never just commonplace or ordinary then. Reverence is really about an approach, also in the sense of 'leading up to'. Poet John O'Donohue tells us: What you encounter, recognise or discover depends to a large degree on the quality of your approach. Many ancient cultures practised careful rituals of approach. An encounter of depth and spirit was preceded by careful preparation. He adds, "When we approach with reverence, great things decide to approach us." A book by Henrik Skolimowski, 'A Sacred Place to Dwell ‘takes us through a branch of philosophy called ecоphilosophy, where hefervently advocates a re-articulation of spirituality, one which recognises how our individual lives affect other human beings and natural habitats. He wonders how we can infuse reverence into a world which is these days typically conceived of as mechanistic. His own answer is that we should view the world as a sanctuary. If you conceive of the have the comfort of knowing tree that you live ina caring, spiritual place. The world becomes alive with meaning and your role in the world becomes infused with purpose. To act in the world as if it were a sanctuary is t ake it reverential and sacred. Skolimowski believes that by walking with reverence upon the awe immediately commit to a life an living philosophy that works to sustain and encourage all life form organically evolve and flourish. I love too how Rev Barbara Brow Taylor writes about reverence as "trooper attitude of a small and curichuman being in a vast and fascinatworld of experience." It is true that feelings of reverence sometimes hit us suddenly, outliving life in a reverential manner requires us to recover or re-learn a childhood skill-that of looking awe slow down to be able to look a carefully at people, things and placmight otherwise too easily ignore, able to allow the wonder we feel to shine through, and at times to gentilluminate other areas of our lives.(June 5 is World Environment Day.
DISCLAIMER:
The views expressed in the Article above are Marguerite Theophil views and kashmiribhatta.in is not in any way responsible for the opinions expressed in the above article. The article belongs to its respective owner or owners and this site does not claim any right over it.
Courtesy: Marguerite Theophil and Speaking Tree and Times of India
Let's View The Universe As A Sanctuary
Invited to address staff and students of a college a dear friend teaches at, i was asked to 'please, immediately' send them the title of my talk. A rather slowwriter and very reluctant speaker, i had no title, let alone any idea for a talk, but as is my morning habit, i had been immersed in reading poetry, and a line from Mary Oliver's 'When Iam Among The Trees' had wedged into a groove of my mind:"... and never hurry through the world, but walk slowly, and bow often." "The subject of my talk is Walk Slowly; Bow Often," i told my bewildered friend, laughingover how she was going to sell that to the principal! The title was easily settled, but now came the much harder part-building my talk around this. Over the next few days this phrase was like a mantra that accompanied me everywhere, and slowly the talk took shape around the theme of living life reverentially The word 'reverence' is mostly used in the context of religion, of the proper attitude towards a deity-a feeling or stance of deep respect tinged with awe and veneration. More broadly, reverence is about behaving with an awareness that whether in a built-up sacred space, in nature, at home, at play or at work-one is always in the presence of Creation; understanding that all life is precious. Reverence opens us up to radical respect and radical amazement; life is never just commonplace or ordinary then. Reverence is really about an approach, also in the sense of 'leading up to'. Poet John O'Donohue tells us: What you encounter, recognise or discover depends to a large degree on the quality of your approach. Many ancient cultures practised careful rituals of approach. An encounter of depth and spirit was preceded by careful preparation. He adds, "When we approach with reverence, great things decide to approach us." A book by Henrik Skolimowski, 'A Sacred Place to Dwell ‘takes us through a branch of philosophy called ecоphilosophy, where hefervently advocates a re-articulation of spirituality, one which recognises how our individual lives affect other human beings and natural habitats. He wonders how we can infuse reverence into a world which is these days typically conceived of as mechanistic. His own answer is that we should view the world as a sanctuary. If you conceive of the have the comfort of knowing tree that you live ina caring, spiritual place. The world becomes alive with meaning and your role in the world becomes infused with purpose. To act in the world as if it were a sanctuary is t ake it reverential and sacred. Skolimowski believes that by walking with reverence upon the awe immediately commit to a life an living philosophy that works to sustain and encourage all life form organically evolve and flourish. I love too how Rev Barbara Brow Taylor writes about reverence as "trooper attitude of a small and curichuman being in a vast and fascinatworld of experience." It is true that feelings of reverence sometimes hit us suddenly, outliving life in a reverential manner requires us to recover or re-learn a childhood skill-that of looking awe slow down to be able to look a carefully at people, things and placmight otherwise too easily ignore, able to allow the wonder we feel to shine through, and at times to gentilluminate other areas of our lives.(June 5 is World Environment Day.
DISCLAIMER:
The views expressed in the Article above are Marguerite Theophil views and kashmiribhatta.in is not in any way responsible for the opinions expressed in the above article. The article belongs to its respective owner or owners and this site does not claim any right over it.
Courtesy: Marguerite Theophil and Speaking Tree and Times of India