My husband Jim and I always refer to our little bit of heaven, here in the mountains of western North Carolina, as our little ashram. What we're really addressing is how we use our home, land and lifestyle as a setting for our own spiritual growth and practices.
When we moved here I named our land and my pottery "Shambhala". It means a place where all living things are welcome to reside in safety. Shambhala is the name the people of the Himalayas give to what we westerners have called Shangrila - that mystical place high in the Himalayas hidden from most and only accessible through one's higher vibratory level. Some say it's real, others think it's just a lovely tale. It's up to everyone to decide which of these resonates to them.
We share our life with our two rescue pets - a Jack Russell terrier named Bodhi and a Siamese mix kitty named Bonnie, as well as the wild critters who visit the garden and bird feeders daily and the noctural ones who visit the compost pile, garden and front porch after dusk.
Meditation, yoga and conscious living as well as intent for right action and right thought are included in our spiritual practices. Of course it's always lovely to meditate in an ideal, peaceful setting, but that can be created anywhere - a high rise apartment, a townhouse or any other environment. It's just a matter of following ones intent with the practical solutions to make it so. A peaceful setting can start with one's attitude and any place can be arranged to create quietude.
Currently, Jim is writing another book on spirituality, and most mornings, after breakfast and a drive to town to retrieve the mail, he retreats to the quiet of an upstairs bedroom where a small desk serves as a mini office for himself.
This time of year, the garden is calling very strongly to me, so meditation in the form of mantric meditation, or contemplation and reading some spiritual text is the order of the day in between harvesting, and putting up food as my grandmother termed canning and other food processing, and cooking are currently filling my days.
I'm also a potter, who at the moment, is taking a break from the studio while I get caught up with the demands of the garden and cooking. During these late summer months, my life reminds me of the book "Chop Wood, Carry Water", except, with me, it's more like "Pull weeds, haul hoses". :-)
When we moved here I named our land and my pottery "Shambhala". It means a place where all living things are welcome to reside in safety. Shambhala is the name the people of the Himalayas give to what we westerners have called Shangrila - that mystical place high in the Himalayas hidden from most and only accessible through one's higher vibratory level. Some say it's real, others think it's just a lovely tale. It's up to everyone to decide which of these resonates to them.
We share our life with our two rescue pets - a Jack Russell terrier named Bodhi and a Siamese mix kitty named Bonnie, as well as the wild critters who visit the garden and bird feeders daily and the noctural ones who visit the compost pile, garden and front porch after dusk.
Meditation, yoga and conscious living as well as intent for right action and right thought are included in our spiritual practices. Of course it's always lovely to meditate in an ideal, peaceful setting, but that can be created anywhere - a high rise apartment, a townhouse or any other environment. It's just a matter of following ones intent with the practical solutions to make it so. A peaceful setting can start with one's attitude and any place can be arranged to create quietude.
Currently, Jim is writing another book on spirituality, and most mornings, after breakfast and a drive to town to retrieve the mail, he retreats to the quiet of an upstairs bedroom where a small desk serves as a mini office for himself.
This time of year, the garden is calling very strongly to me, so meditation in the form of mantric meditation, or contemplation and reading some spiritual text is the order of the day in between harvesting, and putting up food as my grandmother termed canning and other food processing, and cooking are currently filling my days.
I'm also a potter, who at the moment, is taking a break from the studio while I get caught up with the demands of the garden and cooking. During these late summer months, my life reminds me of the book "Chop Wood, Carry Water", except, with me, it's more like "Pull weeds, haul hoses". :-)
