Anyone on a journey of self-discovery knows that living on the surface of things is never satisfying. Many of us have long intuited, and now science affirms, that we are connected, energetically or via field at the heart, to others and to the world. This book addresses that awareness, which is generally latent, but sometimes long-forgotten, inviting readers to stir the embers within.

Every major religious or spiritual tradition contains recommendations for building and maintaining an inner life--through silence and solitude, through prayer, mantra and ritual, through sacred reading and contemplation, through poetry, nature and symbolism. This book is designed to remind us of what we know about the life of our souls, and yet easily forget in the busyness of contemporary life. We can stop and slow down; we can move quickly and work hard while still maintaining our sense of self, our clear intention; we can bless others rather than judge them; we can practice seeing ourselves more clearly and build a foundation of self-appreciation and forgiveness. A heightened urgency to know who we are from "the inside out” exists today for many. The Earth is imbalanced and human suffering and fear surface in ways we never expected a decade ago. Often, instead of our hearts, our terrors are guiding and compelling us; and the terrors of the collective psyche are building. We all need guides, role models and mentors…voices of clarity that will orient us in the direction of our own basic human goodness and inherent dignity. We all need reminding factors to wake us up from the collective trance of mediocrity and false security.

This book is such a guide and reminder. Igniting the Inner Life will serve as a welcome friend to any pilgrim who wants to move deeper within. It will encourage long term but weary travelers to take that next step, and point out common detours or dead ends along this interior highway. Each chapter contains one or more contemporary poems to uplift the reader. The book concludes with suggested practices and prayers to rekindle the heart's intentions.

Table of Contents:
1. Love in the time of terror     
2. The inner life     
3. Self observation, first and always     
4. The prayer alternative     
5. The art of the heart     
6. Barriers to the inner life     
7. Pilgrimage and the inner life     
8. Kill your darlings : on attachments     
9. Broken, everything     
10. Practices and prayers.

"What if my life were forever reinterpreted as pilgrimage? What if I chose, deliberately, to pare down my necessities in order to travel with fewer encumbrances? What if I chose traveling companions from among those I knew would keep me awake and alert because of their good spirit and their dedication? What if I honored my companions because they had promised to walk the path, whether they stumbled along or not, or even whether they liked the particular scenery or not? What if I looked at everything that happened to me along the way as being a potential gift, and grace, and miracle, and instruction in the tenderizing of the heart? Ah, what then!" - Regina Sara Ryan