Awakening to Your Inner Monk
Plus wondrous lunar, mammalian & deepwater discoveries
A review of my new book The Way Home from Publishers Weekly:
It’s the sheer ordinariness of his story that readers will find most comforting: from biblical figures to movie heroes, the “universal way home to wholeness” is an arduous but eminently human trek, Katt concludes. This inspires.
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WORDS OF WISDOM
If you wish for the light, prepare yourself to receive it;
if you wish to be far from God, nourish your egoism and drive yourself away.
If you wish to find a way out of this ruined prison, don't turn your head away from the Beloved but bow in worship and draw near.―Rumi, Mathnawi I
REFLECTION
There is an archetype of a monk in every human being, taught Father John Main, a Benedictine monk and Catholic priest.
This inner monk is the part of each one of us
that plumbs the depths of human experience for meaning and purpose and truth;
that longs to dissolve into the beauty of the setting sun, the melody of a song, or a stranger’s kindness;
that is searching ceaselessly for the divine.
This way of being in tune with the transcendent is
not just the domain of those living in secluded monasteries or remote caves
who dedicate their lives to prayer and retreat.
It is innate within all of us.
Yet we so often lose contact with this inner monk.
We forget.
Our contemplative nature gets obscured by our mindless busyness, fleeting desires, and trivial ambitions.
But no matter how caught up we get in whatever distracts us from the real,
the inner monk never leaves us.
It is still there,
waiting for us to wake up,
today,
to the sacredness of each moment,
to the gift of life,
to Loving Presence.
COLLECTION
I’ve found that wonder helps call forth the inner monk, so here are a few wondrous stories I’ve come across recently.
World’s rarest whale washes up on New Zealand beach
Spade-toothed whales are the world’s rarest, with no live sightings ever recorded. No one knows how many there are, what they eat, or even where they live in the vast expanse of the southern Pacific Ocean. However, scientists in New Zealand may have finally caught a break. ―AP News
Cave on the moon confirmed
Scientists have confirmed a cave on the moon, not far from where Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin landed 55 years ago, and suspect there are hundreds more that could house future astronauts. ―AP News
130 year-old shipwreck found in Lake Michigan
The ship had almost made it to Ahnapee (now Algoma), Wisconsin, when the captain discovered several feet of water in the hold. He ordered his crew to abandon ship. However, before they could do so, “the ship lurched violently and plunged for the bottom, taking Captain Clow’s faithful dog and ship’s mascot with it,” according to the announcement. ―Smithsonian Magazine
UNLEASH YOUR INNER MONK
Learn to meditate with me!
Over the past few months, I’ve been focusing my meditation offerings on the work I’m doing through my prison meditation initiative, the WITHIN Project, BUT…
I’ve got room for a couple private meditation courses right now. Shoot me a note if you want to explore this.
If you are interested in my next group course offering, let me know and I’ll add you to the waitlist.
Beautiful words. I found myself reflecting on my “inner monk” as an aspect of myself and found that while I can neglect her in times of over-stimulation and general life-busywork… the real damage lies in that I push her down internally during times of great pain. This is most likely an exaggerated attempt at seeking safety. For our monk-selves possess a certain amount of tenderness, don’t they? Ah but this is where the words of Rumi come in. “Driving ourselves away” does indeed leave us “far from God”. But to allow and urge my inner monk to surface during these dark times .. to “not turn my head from the Beloved but to bow in worship and draw near” is what she is wondrously created to do.