Fans of this book will be happy to hear that there is a 2017 calendar for The Book of Awakening! Encompassing many traditions and voices, his words offer insight on pain, wonder, and love. In this masterpiece, Mark speaks of spirit and friendship, urging readers to stay vital and in love with this life, no matter the hardships. This spiritual daybook calls us to reclaim aliveness, to take each day one at a time, as we savor the beauty offered by life’s unfolding. Mark Nepo first came to our attention with his #1 New York Times bestseller The Book of Awakening, which has inspired readers and spiritual seekers all over the world, and became one of Oprah’s Ultimate Favorite Things in 2010. We are delighted to have him back to share about his new book of poetry, The Way Under the Way: The Place of True Meeting that was just published in November by Sounds True. Mark Nepo is a good friend of OMTimes and has visited with us several times over the years. They sparkle and shine when the sun is out, but when the darkness sets in, their true beauty is revealed only if there is a light from within.An Interview with Mark Nepo: The Way Under the Way Sitting there you will have a glimpse of beauty inside the body and out of it, before gardens and after gardens." Kabir. My friend, don't bother with that excursion. In calling ourselves "heads" or "tails" we may never own and spend our human currency, the pure gold of which our coin is made." Rachel Naomi Remen, Kitchen Table Wisdom "Every blade of grass has its angel that bends over it and whispers, "Grow, grow." The Talmud "Before enlightenment, chop wood, carry water after enlightenment, chop wood, carry water." Old Zen Proverb Excerpt from a poem by David Whyte "What I am is what I have been grown by, the sun, that great love, all the many small loves and that one love too who waited so long to find me and who has always walked by my side folding my remembering hand in hers." "Don't go outside your house to see the flowers. You never know what lovely and delicious life you're going to get in return." Martha Beck "Sometimes our vulnerability is our strength, our fear develops our courage, and our woundedness is the road to our integrity. If and when your heart demands it, throw your life away. If you want to be given everything, give everything up." Lao-tzu, Tao Te Ching "Take the un-traveled road, the one that may seem to lead toward crookedness and death, to giving everything up. If you want to be reborn, let yourself die. "If you want to become straight, let yourself be crooked. You have the choice to live our own light. “Once you perceive that you have choices, you don’t need to know too much about Jesus and Krishna, Buddha and Allah and Rama. How the floor receives the bottoms of shoes
How the chair stands sturdy and foursquare, Until you have to throw out the good stuffīy Pat Schneider It is a kind of love, is it not?