The work of a poet is to pour Light into a cup and hold it to your Holy parched mouth – Hafiz

When I write about topics that I love I like to create my own definition for those purposes of exploring such topic.

Here is my answer to the question “What is Spiritual Poetry?”

Spiritual poetry that awakens a longing in the heart for the KNOWING of your connection to the Divine. Hafiz says of the work of a poet.  “The work of a poet is to pour Light into a cup and hold it to you holy parched mouth.

The key aspects pointed to in this definition are the words, awakening, longing, knowing, connection and Divine.

Spiritual poetry flows from the longing of the heart.

It is written by those who are mystics or who are would be mystics.  A mystic is one who has had a direct revelation of the Ground of Being that is referred to by the words Divine, God, Source etc.

Still, think on this. This Great Pull to Connect – Hafiz of Shiraz (Sufi Mystic Poet – 1315-1390)

Here is the spiritual journey poem by the Sufi mystic Hafiz of Shiraz.

That Sweet Moon Language

Admit something:
Everyone you see, you say to them, “Love me.”
Of course, you do not do this out loud, otherwise
someone would call the cops.

Still, though, think about this, this great pull in us to
connect.

Why not become the one who lives with a
full moon in each eye that is
always saying,
with that sweet moon language,
what every other eye in
this world is
dying to hear?

~ Hafiz, Ladinsky ~

I love this poem by Hafiz translated by Daniel Ladinsky.

When I present creative writing, workshops in Ireland called Companioning Greatness I like to introduce myself using this poem because it really does say more about me than I could ever say.

This spiritual journey poem shares what I view as the 3 spiritual stages of a man’s life. When I use the word “man’s” this is not gender specific.

You were born with wings, why prefer to crawl through life? ― Rumi

The three stages of the spiritual life can be viewed in this way.

1. Stage 1 – Personal – 1^st Stage of Life.
2. Stage 2 – Transitional – Mid stage of Life.
3. Stage 3 – Transpersonal – 2^nd Stage of Life.

There are different ways to view these stages spiritual life journey. The Swiss psychologist Carl Gustav Jung stated this 3-stage journey in this way

The first half of life is devoted to forming a healthy ego, the second half is going inward and letting go of it. – Carl Jung

The founder of Yoga the Indian Sage Patanjali referred to this 3-stage spiritual journey when he defined Yoga in the following way.

Yoga is the journey from the self (1^st Stage) to the Self (3^rd Stage) through the self (2^nd Stage) – Patanjali.

The Christian mystic Miester Eckhart spoke of this 3-stage spiritual journey when he said.

When the higher flows into the lower the lower is transformed by the higher – Miester Eckhart – Christian mystic. (1260-1328)

The higher is the awakening to the transpersonal sense of self. When this happens there is flow. The 1^st stage is to create a container into which the higher can flow.

The Beginning of the Spiritual Life – The Longing for Love

Admit something:
Everyone you see, you say to them, “Love me.”
Of course, you do not do this out loud, otherwise
someone might call the cops.

This was definitely me when I was a young man.  Everyone I would see I would say to them “Love me.” Of course, I didn’t say this out loud, but I think I projected that energy into the world.

No one called the cops, but they didn’t stay around for the most part.  I spend time among friends who where outsiders and were plagued by mental illness.

I had a very unclear sense of who I was or wanted to be.

I had at one time KNOWN what I wanted to be. (17 years old).

My mother gave me a book on Yoga.  When I read it, I KNEW I wanted to be a teacher of Yoga but instead I became an accountant.

That was until that midlife transition (50 years old) where I morphed into a storyteller, teacher of Raja yoga and writer.

Let yourself be silently drawn by the strange pull of what you really love. – Rumi

Still, though, think about this, this great pull in us to
connect.

I really did have this longing to connect.  It was when I was around 26 years that I was graced that connection to the Divine.

It has perfumed my life ever since. When I was living this direct experience of awakening, I belonged to a Manchester walking club.  I was given the name “Silver tongue.”

This awakening came through the reading of the work of the spiritual teacher Jeddu Krishnamurti.  I was reading a chapter in one of his books.  The name of the chapter was “Understanding.”

I had an absolute longing to understand in the way he was writing about.  I was on a train on the way into London. I looked out the window and everything in that moment changed and my life changed in a way I could never envisage.

Instead of being a seeker I had been graced to become a KNOWER.

Why not become the one who lives with a
full moon in each eye that is
always saying,
with that sweet moon language,
what every other eye in
this world is
dying to
hear?

So now I have this longing to shine the light of awakening into the darkness of the sense of the separateness from Love.

This is by way of the books I write and this website. Learning to live with a full moon in each eye is an ongoing journey of surrender and allowing.

I KNOW that this sweet moon language is not my own.  It reflects the Divine Light that I work to allow to be expressed through me.

That sweet moon language is the language of Love which I as a servant of Love am graced to express whenever I get out of the way.

This is the 2^nd stage of life where you let go the sense of the personal self to allow the Self to be expressed through you.

The way in which others hear that sweet moon language is through the experience of Presence that you allow to move through you.

You are not a preacher.  The mystic St Francis of Assisi said it this way. “Go out into the world and preach the Gospel and if necessary, use words.”

All mystics KNOW that the real way to share that sweet moon language is by way of one’s connection to the Presence of Love.

In this way you become an Attractor rather than a preacher. This is the REAL Law of Attraction in Action.

As a teacher of Raja Yoga which is the yoga of union with the Divine, I see my role as inviting you to explore the stage of transition that is the Awakening of the Heart.

Stage of Spiritual Transition

• The Awakening of the Heart. – (Jalal ad-Din Muhammad Rumi (1207-1373)
• The Journey through and beyond Midlife Crisis – (Richard Rohr – Spiritual Writer)
• The Opening to the Flow of Prosperity (Miester Eckhart – Christian Mystic)
• Surrender of the Ego (Carl Gustav Jung – 20^th Century psychoanalyst)

I invite this awakening along the spiritual journey by way of poetry, song and storytelling aligned with key spiritual practices.

It is my intention as of July 2020 to share with your reflections like those above regarding other spiritual journey poems that I love.

Here is a selection of those that I think are relevant for anyone searching for the term “spiritual journey poems.”

• The Journey – Mary Oliver.
• The Bright Field – R.S. Thomas.
• Love after Love – Derek Walcott
• Pegasus – Patrick Kavanagh.
• The Song of Wandering Aengus – W. B. Yeats
• The Journey – Rumi.

All these poems are sharing that sweet moon language that lights up the darkness that is the sense of the personal sense of self.

This is a necessary stage of the spiritual journey before the awakening of the heart that longs and belongs to the KNOWING of LOVE.

May your eyes be open to the magnificence of who you are created to become.  Please leave a comment or share your favourite spiritual journey poem.