The Mystic Path: Contemplation and Introversion

We live in a world where time for contemplation and inner listening do not happen unless we consciously make time to be quiet.  Often this means saying "no" to friends and family and hoping they will understand that the time you make for yourself is just as important as time you give to them. 

This was said a little differently in the Invitation by Oriah Mountain Dreamer: "I want to know if you can disappoint another to be true to yourself."  When I first read these words I thought they had been written incorrectly.  Surely the author meant to write "....if you can disappoint yourself to be true to another."  Surely one should always put other people first? Wasn't it selfish disappointing others?  It took me quite some time to understand the true meaning of this line.  It is about being true to your Soul.

I believe that turning inwards doesn't need to be meditation.  It can be sitting on the side of a stream fishing, lying watching the clouds go by, reading spiritual literature, sitting on the beach watching the waves and digging your bare feet into the sand, walking a labyrinth. For the mystics it was a way to God. Angela of Foligno says that through contemplation "the eyes of her soul were opened".

My SoulCollage® card says to me:
Make time to align your soul with the cycles of nature.  They are your teachers.  Let the moon speak to you.  Let the trees speak to you.  Unless you listen with careful attention you will not hear what they are saying.  You too are part of these cycles, and time in quiet is to you what the soil is to a seed and what the soil is to the roots of the tree.  It nourishes and feeds at a deep level and is necessary for growth.