winter, homecoming

A sacred place is one where the Earth's voice can be heard more clearly. Go to these places and listen.

Be aware of the sacred site.
It brings us feelings of awe, of presence,
of divinity ...
Feelings that seem to come from the heart
of the universe herself.
Be not, however, beholden to the site...
The sacred is within our hearts.
It is ours whenever and wherever we are.
This is the teaching these sites have
to offer us --
the redemption of our sanctity.
 

The symbolism of a sacred mountain is full of intimations of meditation. It is a state of strong immovability, of perfect balance; a state in which all motion hangs suspended, not in death or inertia but in that great stillness that is the origin and resolution of all things... Any mountain that is sacred is a symbol of the Centre: that point where divine reality impinges on profane reality. The true Centre, the real seat of the great mystery of ultimate reality, resides in our heart.

Upon approaching or entering the zone of a sacred shrine, an ancient and wonderfully subtle sense of reverence is called forth, asking for silence and respect. If we heed this signal, and rest with it patiently, we may find ourselves rewarded with a gift of knowing. This gift comes in personal form, and the revelations associated with places of power are accounts of the cultural mind of a given individual in a relationship to the mind of the earth. The quality of that transmission is conditioned by the clarity and character of the receiver.

Abandoning the nets of my thoughts and words, I follow You willingly into the great Silence.

We sat in silence for some time. It is a very, very difficult thing to do -- to sit in silence. Our world is filled with sounds, and we've come to feel that we must fill any void we encounter with our voices, or the radio, or the TV; almost anything will do, as long as we're not burdened by deafening silence. But there is a special beauty, I was coming to see, a special peace in quiet that is beyond words or the trappings of this world. But, oh, it is so difficult not to speak!

Perhaps the City of God is not so much a place in space, as a place in the heart.