Are you one?
Urban Contemplative – the term might sound like an oxymoron yet there are millions in the world, and at least thousands of us here in Vancouver who would describe ourselves in such a way. What is an urban contemplative? There is no one definition. Though there are other definitions of contemplative (noun with accent on second syllable), we basically see it as an individual who is reflective and mindful, who beholds and honours life – as best they are able – and who aims to live in a way that is true to their own nature and source. Being an urban contemplative has its added challenges, and to live in this way and make it work, even some of the time, is an Art.
Perhaps you have been attempting to simplify your life, create more quiet time, and/or maybe your vacation plans this year include visiting sacred sites, going on a spiritual pilgrimage, or doing a silent retreat. Maybe you are an artist and wish to express the sacred through your medium. You may have been content at one time dabbling in spiritual pursuits, doing yoga, reading New Age books, or occasionally taking a meditation class, but now you find yourself yearning for a deeper experience of the divine.
You may dream about living in the country and communing with nature but your home remains in the city because of your job or your family or friends or maybe just because of the culture, energy, and variety it offers. There are, after all, things about the city you enjoy and even thrive on. And so you may sometimes feel you are living a double life, doing your best to live in society, but quietly following your spiritual pursuits.
Though you enjoy your solitary time, you long to connect with other soulful individuals. One of the main objectives of this site is to support a community of urban contemplatives. Another is to support urban contemplatives in their commitment to deepen their connection with whatever they call that which is greater than ego.
As spiritual wisdom tells us, there is really no separation between the world and the sacred. The experience of wholeness and integration occurs through our own transformation and integration. We can start with saying ‘yes’ to all that we are.
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Some Poetry for the Urban Contemplative
The Gift – by the Persion Poet, Hafiz
We Have not Come to Take Prisoners
We have not come here to take prisoners
But to surrender ever more deeply
to freedom and joy.
We have not come into this exquisite world
to hold ourselves hostage from love. Run, my dear,
from anything that may not strengthen
your precious budding wings,
Run like hell, my dear,
from anyone likely to put a sharp knife
into the sacred, tender vision
of your beautiful heart.
We have a duty to befriend
those aspects of obedience
that stand outside of our house
and shout to our reason
“oh please, oh please
come out and play.”
I Am Going To Start Living Like a Mystic - by Edward Hirsch
Today I am pulling on a green wool sweater
and walking across the park in a dusky snowfall.
*
The trees stand like twenty-seven prophets in a field,
each a station in a piligrimage – silent, pondering.
*
Blue flakes of light falling across their bodies
are the ciphers of a secret, an occultation.
*
I will examine their leaves as pages in a text,
and consider the bookish pigeons, students of winter.
*
I will kneel on the track of a vanquished squirrel
and stare into a blank pond for the figure of Sophia.
*
I shall begin scouring the sky for signs
as if my whole future were constellated upon it.
*
I will walk home alone with the deep alone,
a disciple of shadows, in praise of the mysteries.