Deserts comprise more that one-fifth of the Earth’s surface, and the hottest, driest, places on the planet. Remember, I am writing about these landscapes not just as place “out there” but as aspects of our own souls. I introduce the desert soulscape this way:
“We come to the desert to transform. Here, winds named khamsin, sirocco, and simoom make and remake the land, leaving it unrecognizable, surprising. And here, too, death and disappointment reshape our inner landscape, inviting something new to be born within. As we make our pilgrimage to this expansive, silent place, we lay bare the bones of our being, and in doing so uncover deep wells of inner awareness and strength.”
How do you see the desert? What associations do you have with it? What images or stories come to mind when you think of the desert? It would be wonderful if you shared them with me and the community.
In the desert I look at qualities like thirst, simplicity, emptiness, impermanence, and clarity. This is from the beginning of the chapter on “Silence.”
“No bird or water song. No rustle of leaves or barking of dogs, just miles of parched earth and shifting sand dunes. In the vast world of the desert, the movements of snake and scorpion sound like the crack of a snare drum. The slightest shift in wind is noticeable. Silence carves out space inside of us, empties us.
“In the desert, sound waves that would pulse long and far on moist air weaken. Sound is muffled, stopped in its tracks just as we are by the fiery heat—the dust-dry atmosphere.
“Listen. Can you hear the breath of your own existence?”
(From “Reclaiming the Wild Soul”)
How do you make silence a part of your spiritual program? When you allow for silence, what do you hear? What does silence gift you with?
