At my recent writing workshop at York Yoga Studio, I mentioned a book called Anam Cara by John O’Donohue.
It is a beautiful and gentle book of Celtic spiritual wisdom. We worked with a poem by John O’Donohue during my workshop, and although this book is mainly prose – with some poetry – I recommend it highly for anyone on their own spiritual path. It is impossible to select the ‘best’ quotes from his book, as there is so much of value in it. But here are a few samples:
‘If there were a spiritual journey, it would be only a quarter-inch long, though many miles deep.’
‘We need to have greater patience with our sense of inner contradiction in order to allow its different dimensions to come into conversation within us. There is a secret light and vital energy in contradiction. Where there is energy, there is life and growth.’
‘It is invigorating to meet a wild old person who has remained faithful to their wild life force. … there is still a place in your spirit that time can never get near. You are as young as you feel. If you begin to feel the warmth of your soul, there will be a youthfulness in you that no-one will ever be able to take away from you.’
‘When you feel nothingness and emptiness gnawing at your life, there is no need to despair. This is a call from your soul, awakening your life to new possibilities.’
John O’Donohue, Anam Cara (London: Bantam Books, 1997)