-- Journey of the Soul --

By John Herlihy

We seek answers in the maze of the mind.

We explore the emotions of the psyche.

We roam the pathways of the imagination.

We draw insights from heights of intuition.

We build a nest in the cavern of the heart.

Yet what image could truly represent the soul.

Ah, the elusive soul we seek so much to find.

In a place within us nowhere and everywhere,

Lies what we seek in the realm of this world.

Evocative of a well, mountain valley, virgin spring,

A silence, an absence, and an all-abiding presence,

An essence we call soul and think of as spirit,

That no one else has any rightful access to,

That we ourselves are at a loss to comprehend.

An eye to see in the darkness behind closed lids,

That listens to the silence of unfolding wings,

That sounds as ripe fruit that drops on the ground,

The presence of a night rider that never sleeps,

The headless horseman that sees in the darkness,

A vapor, a smoke, a mist that eludes any touch,

The breath that manifests in white winter chill.

A witness that lives deep within each one of us,

Under multi-colored layers of protective clothing,

Behind the wooden mask of our worldly faces,

Beyond the projection of time’s eternal moment,

Found in the stages of childhood, maturity, old age,

Hibernating, hovering, always patiently lying in wait,

As if hidden under the cover of fallen autumn leaves.

Waiting to be called into action, the I within the eye,

That will finally tell us everything we need to know,

That thru living, to have touched the heart of the world,

Scaled the loftiest peaks of the earth’s mountain ranges,

Breathed in and out the enlivening breath of the wind,

Witnessed the light that the soul makes available to us,

A soul gathers no dust, but lives in the circle of time,

What are we in truth but the guest of the soul,

Who has taken up residence and lives within us,

We meet as strangers in the stations of the way,

Innocence of childhood, its loss in adolescence,

Dreams in coming of age, realities in maturity,

Crossing mountain peaks into the age of decline,

Finally coming home into the wisdom of old age.

The commanding self: shame, guilt, grief, and fear,

The blaming self: passion, anger, envy and pride,

The inspired self: courage, willingness, acceptance,

The serene self: value in knowledge, logic, reason,

The content self: giving of self, the power of love,

The gratified self: a state of joy, ecstasy and bliss,

The pure self: union of peace and enlightenment.

Suffering and destruction, obsession, and illusion,

Living with force, inflated ego, minimal presence,

Empowerment, expansion, action, a will to change,

Contemplation, awareness of laws, sense of presence,

Forgiving, a sense of connection, and non-judgmental,

Spreading inner joy, unceasing bliss, a sense of oneness,

Surrender of the ego, ultimate peace, conscious union.

The journey of the soul finds stages along the way,

Stages of growth and progress in the human condition,

Ignorance blends into knowledge, knowledge into wisdom,

Sorrow sets the stage for happiness, hatred for love,

Loss of the entrapment of ego for the gain of surrender,

Beauty, bliss, peace, found in the embrace of the One,

The soul found in the embrace of the one true Reality.

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Copyright © John Herlihy

Friday 22 September 2023