nomadman108

[nomadman108]

Meeting Old Neighbours

Yesterday I went a little further afield than usual on my (theoretically) regular walk. We have two lakes within walking distance to the hermitage, and it was to one of these I ventured yesterday. I say further afield because I did in fact end up walking further than I’d planned.. The lake is called Budgewoi, and is really more a huge lagoon and part of a system called Tuggerah Lakes. I walked…

[nomadman108]

A Prayerful Poetics, A Poetic Prayer

Just about to open my tablet to retrieve an email I’d sent myself a day or two ago with a prayer attached that I’d found in a book. But I stopped: I felt, no, no need to transcribe that prayer; I sense some words of my own that are struggling to emerge (actually paraphrasing a very vague sense and direction here; I rarely think – or speak – in such a formal way). So, I left my tablet and reached…

[nomadman108]

Breathing Free & Easy Through My Life: I Wish

There’s this funny little thing I do; it’s an odd little habit. On the face of it, at first glance, it’s not really anything to bother about. Just another little quick that could easily be dismissed to add to my long list of such quirks. Don’t laugh. I’ve had this habit for I have no idea how long, and I’ve been wanting for ages now to stop and think about it: why I do it? Can I stop it? You…

[nomadman108]

No Internet Reception? Is It a coincidence?

My last post spoke of the need for spiritual seekers to have association with devotees, fellow travellers on a spiritual path. I extolled the virtues for hermits living more secluded lives with the little physical contact, such as me, of accessing the Internet to find stories of past and present spiritual seekers, as a means to satisfy that need for association. Watching videos, reading books…

[nomadman108]

Lookin' For Love in All the Right Places

It’s often advised by spiritual teachers and leaders, by Gurus, and other religious people, that a vital factor in the success of any spiritual endeavour or quest, is that the seeker or devotee is able to share the association of other, fellow devotees. It is important, they say, that the seeker keep company with fellow travellers on the same or similar paths. So, how does that work for a…

[nomadman108]

You Can't Try to Go With the Flow

Every writer, every painter, every person who makes things – and that includes all of us human beings – will sometimes get the feeling that they are never going to have another idea, or the inspiration, the creative spark or energy, to create anything ever again. Not ever again. Certainly  that – what could we call it: crisis of confidence? Moment of fear? A feeling of inadequacy? The seeming…

[nomadman108]

Sendin' Out Good Vibrations

It always surprises me how quickly, how easily – how smoothly – a perfectly okay conversation or train of thought will, just like that, morph into a full-on gossipy rant. You know the thing: pointing the finger at what someone else is doing wrong; or precisely and with great clarity of analysis detailing how another person (or sometimes myself) has erred, how they’ve slipped up, made mistakes…

[nomadman108]

Lakshmi Visits: Timely Reminders

Today I have a story to share. It’s one of those stories in which on little random (as if!) event or occurence leads to another, then another. Like life really – one thing leading to another. When I think about it, this small sharing is very much like many of the other stories I’ve shared: about my prayer life; about realisations and revelations I encounter along the way. (note from inner…

[nomadman108]

A Poetic & Prayer Sharing

Greetings friends. In my last post, I spent some time contemplating a question: If I’m actually praying a prayer, how could it even occur to me that I might in fact not be praying, but instead simply be reading the words of the prayer? (substitute here ‘reciting the words of the prayer in rote fashion’) Well, for today’s post I have a poetic offering which I composed several days ago. It’s…

[nomadman108]

A Prayer Is a Prayer, Is a Prayer, Is a ...

‘I’ll carry on with my Gita then,’ I said to my partner hermit after we’d been discussing something for a while. ‘I’m enjoying reading my prayers this morning. So I’ll read a few more then read a few verses’ (of the Bhagavad Gita). ‘Reading’ my prayers? Is that what I’m doing? Surely a prayer – prayers – are for praying? Anyway, not simply for ‘reading’. Of course in this particular instance,…

[nomadman108]

You're the Voice, Try and Understand It

One of the things I like about our ‘regular’ coffee shop is that they play a nice wide selection of music. Mostly popular songs from pretty much every decade back to the ’60s. I think they have one of those looping playlists you hear sometimes in shops and cafés. It must be quite a long list because you don’t necessarily hear the same songs repeated at every visit. Which is a nice thing…

[nomadman108]

Story of a Misadventure & An Apology

Today I’d like to share with you a short cautionary tale. It’s a true story, relating events that took place very recently. There was a blogger, a serious student on the spiritual path; a monk whose mission in publishing his blog was – is – to share that path with others, to share the lessons he’s learned/learning. He sees it as one important aspect of his ‘doing God’s work’, reaching out to…

[nomadman108]

It's All Prayer: A Poetic Offering

Thinking about the idea of making all I do, all actions I take, everything I say, write, even think, a prayer, I’ve been wondering if I’ve written about it before on this blog. Of course I have (I think!) but I thought rather than actually check, I’d simply write about it again Well, not write in a post about it exactly; more like share with you a poem on that theme I wrote yesterday. It’s kind…

[nomadman108]

As Promised: A Prayer of Praise and Gratitude to Trees

Greetings friends This post is from several months ago. I was reminded of it as I read a book that’s partly about humankind’s relationship with trees. Seems like a good good moment to share this prayer with you all once again At one point in my last post on Bhakti (if you missed it you can find it here) I mentioned that I hoped to soon publish a recently written prayer titled A Prayer of…

[nomadman108]

Self Enquiry: Listen to Your Self

This last little while I’ve been going through some serious contemplation, some deep questioning, on how to be ‘more of a monk’. Things like how to pray more deeply, and often; how to have a more focused and concentrated devotional practice; how to be a nicer person. Things like that. Actually, that’s not exactly right is it? These are questions, enquiries, that for a number of years (is all my…

[nomadman108]

Slowly & Mindfully: A Reminder

Among the physical exercises I try to perform on a daily basis, are a couple for strengthening the hips. One of these begins with me standing upright, feet together, eyes level, looking ahead. Then I swing one leg at a time for ten repetitions in a kind of arc like motion out to side, keeping it level with the side of my body, bringing the leg back to the rest position with feet together. It’s a…

[nomadman108]

Note to Self: Have a Little Faith Will Ya

As a hermit, I am a pilgrim, dependent on a pure faith that I am exactly where God would have me be. I am here, and it is now. I forget in which of his books I read this, but it’s a prayer written by Thomas Merton shortly after he’d finally moved into his hermitage full time. The ‘I am here, and it is now’ I added, though of course it’s also borrowed. It’s a prayer, an affirmation, I recite at…