The Path of Love

I had both the pleasure and honor to meet, and be able to speak to Sally Kempton, a respected meditation teacher, this past weekend, during a workshop she gave at Willow Street Yoga Center. If I had to summarize the workshop, I would simply say that it was about "Bhakti," the path of love - and deepening our relationship to the Divine...

Today, I finished transcribing and typing nearly 33 pages of notes, and as I often do, I research or review references made, and include them in my notes. Anyone who knows me, knows that I am the "official" scribe for my local yoga community, and my notes usually circumnavigate the world. Or, so I often find out!

As I reviewed my notes, and quotations from the workshop, I could not help but see, that truly, everything that matters, circles and comes back to love.

Why are we here?

We are here for love...

What are we to do?

We are here to love...

And really, what else is there?

In the 14th century, Julian of Norwich, an English mystic, had a series of visions, revelations - or "showings" as she described them. For a long time she pondered the meaning of these visions that she believed were granted to her by God. Over the course of fifteen years of reflecting on those showings, she was finally given an insight as to why she received them, and so she recorded, very simply:

"Know it well. Love was his meaning.
Who showed it to you? Love.
What did he show you? Love.
Why did he show it? For love...
You shall never know or understand
any other thing, forever."

That is what I came away with from the weekend. Love. It is truly the only thing that matters. It is the only lesson we need to learn. It is what unites us all...

And so I leave you, with some brief quotations and insights recorded in my notes, to give you a mere taste and sampling of the delicious banquet I feasted on:

"You can find the Divine in your longing."
~ Kabir

"Awakening is a shift in perspective.
And if you shift your perspective,
it can help you awaken."
~ Sally Kempton

"Love is the sea where the intellect drowns."
~Rumi

"On the path of love, we are always beginners.
We never really know the depths of Love."
~ Sally Kempton

"O Lord, lead me to the state of undying awareness -
that is nectar. Lead me from the death of "in-awareness"
and from being "non-present" to the Nectar of Presence."
~ Sally Kempton

"Adore and love God with your whole being,
and He will reveal to you that everything
in the universe is a vessel to be filled to the brim
with wisdom and beauty. Each thing He will show you
is one drop from the boundless river of His
infinite beauty. He will take away the veil that hides
the splendor of each thing that exists, and you
will see that each thing is a hidden treasure
because of its divine fullness."
~ Rumi

And finally, some other delicious quotes by Rumi, I came across in the last couple of days:

"Because of Love, I am a giver of Light."

"Only from the heart, can you touch the sky."

"This Divine Love, beckons us to a world
beyond only lovers can see,
with their eyes of fiery passion."

"Oh, my friend, all that you see of me,
is just a shell, and the rest belongs to love."

"Love rests on no foundation.
It is an endless ocean,
with no beginning or end."

"The way you make love,
is the way God will be with you."

"There is some kiss we want with our whole lives,
the touch of spirit on the body."

If you have the opportunity to study with Sally, either online or in person - do so! Give yourself a treat and nourish your heart and soul!