How we find and enter the 'spiritual pause' between our usual rational approach to life and the spiritual world at the very edge of all we can imagine.
How we find and enter the 'spiritual pause' between our usual rational approach to life and the spiritual world at the very edge of all we can imagine.
Prayer & spiritual, Spiritual, Spiritualism
Opportunities to enter a spiritual place are all around us, but we often don’t recognise them. Pause - A Spiritual Power helps the reader identify those moments and enter places of spiritual pause.
The spiritual life, often neglected, exists apart from our thoughts and feelings. Pause… explores how spirituality is separate and how we often mistakenly substitute rational and emotional experiences for spiritual experience.
To be spiritual is not to be religious or bound to a specific understanding of God. To be human is to have a spirit within, regardless of religious commitment or persuasion. Attending to one’s spiritual life, finding pause, is not confined or defined by any one faith tradition.
In Pause..., author Rob Wykes relates accounts of his own journeys - physical and spiritual - that have helped him discover his own spiritual self. Part of his story is a literal pilgrimage on foot and by bike that brought him into a deeper understanding of pause. Attending to one’s spiritual being is as important as physical health and emotional self-care. Learning to find pause in life’s experiences and to enter those spiritual places yields profound meaning and pleasure many have never before known.
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This accessible book proposes that spirituality is fundamentally about the spirit within us, which we can enter through a silent pause. The author describes his own journey, defining the pause as ‘the moment our body, mind, and spirit coalesce in an unmeasurable, unrestricted moment.’ Pausing can give us perspective and space to breathe, attending to the needs of our spiritual being, going off-line from constant clamouring demands; also taking time for intimacy and emotional nourishment. Rather like Jacob Needleman in Time and the Soul, the author reminds us that ‘the very thing we crave is fundamentally within us.’ His recommendation to take regular five-minute meditation pauses throughout the day is well worth trying – and having a quiet place nearby to sit and be still. ~ David Lorimer, Paradigm Explorer Scientific and Medical Network
Pause - A Spiritual Power! What a concept . . . what a simple invitation . . . and what an effective reminder that it is possible to stop the insanity of “never enough” and the endless distractions of the mind. Rob Wykes has hit the PAUSE button in his own life, and through dozens of insightful vignettes he has given us plenty to relate to in our own. He writes about the transformational soul-food offered by pilgrimage, by retreat, by any momentary gap lived with attention. Along the way he shares the words of great mystics and lovers of truth, from all traditions, inspiring his readers to take a deep, conscious breath. Ahhh, what then? ~ Regina Sara Ryan, retreat director and author of Praying Dangerously and Igniting the Inner Life
On BBC Radio 4, occasionally they have a slot called Slow Radio. The sounds vary greatly, but what they do is invite us, just for a few moments, to disengage from the business of life - and be still. Pause - A Spiritual Power invites us to do the same. This is not a religious book. Wykes, who comes from the Christian tradition, is not interested in converting anyone to a particular religious belief or practise but rather to the exploration of the spirit within. Read this book slowly, take your time and let the wisdom, often disguised in an anecdote of daily living, seep deeply into your soul. This is not a book of facts to be learned or techniques to be remembered and practiced. It is not rocket science. It is far more important than that. It is about you and me in the depths of our humanity and the spirit within. I heartily recommend this book to anyone wanting to discover a greater depth in life and in themselves. ~ Chris Scott, retired psychologist, psychotherapist, priest and author of The Jesus Myth
In Pause - A Spiritual Power, Rob Wykes gives expression to an experience which most of us have had at least once but which defies simple description: those moments when we come into sudden communion with God, when we are put in touch with the mystery - and joy - of our existence. Though these moments of respite from distraction and busyness - these “pauses” - are elusive, they are also, as Wykes shows, deeply important to a full-fledged spiritual life. Wykes provides an entertaining and accessible guide to how we might all learn to harness the power of pausing; where and how he’s found these moments is both surprising and inspiring. His book has helped me tremendously in learning to seek, and to seize, pauses in my own life, and has swiftly become an invaluable addition to my spiritual bookshelf. ~ Macy Halford, literary reviewer and author of My Utmost, A Devotional Memoir
Reading through the pages of Pause by Rob Wykes, I found new insight into my old problem: How do I enter into my own spirituality? I had long since realized that religion is often about education and knowledge; church is mostly a social structure. They have their place, but ironically, are seldom about real spirituality. Pause brought me into an understanding of spirituality being a separate, unique place in life, one we “do” by not “doing” anything. Pause is a friendly guide to accessing our spiritual selves. Through Rob Wykes’s storytelling, sense of humor, and his own adventures - physical and spiritual - I found direction and possibility. Here is a map of what spirituality is and isn’t, of the paths that are dead ends and those that lead to something transcendent. Pause is a book well worth reading. ~ Ken Petersen, author and publisher
