Anamcara - Driving into Paradise

"Let me take you down to a town called Paradise."

Van Morrison "No Guru, No Teacher, No Method."

In Corrogue there is paradise.

Many mornings during the week I take the highroad. This is the high road between the village of Glenfarne and the village of Rossinver in Co. Leitrim. This is a high road that winds and bends over the mountain. Early in the year I drive slowly. This is to avoid running over the frogs that seem to migrate from one side of the road to another.

On this road I am going on a long drive.

I am on a drive to a town called "paradise." This town is the central town in a place of eternity. In Ireland this place is called "Tir Na Nog." "Tir Na Nog" is not a physical place but a state of being. It is a state of awareness. This is the mythological place where people are always beautiful and never age. This is a soul place. This is the place an Anam Cara will invite you to come to and belong.

Many of my readers know that Van Morrison the Irish singer/songwriter is an inspiration to me.

On the high road to Rossinver, while avoiding migrating frogs, I play his album, "No Teacher, No Guru, No Method." It is on this album that the song "A town called Paradise" is heard. I love playing this song loud. There is no other traffic on this high road except for the odd tractor that travels slow and sure.

This song for me is about my relationship to the Beloved.

This is the central relationship that an Anam Cara commits to. It is the moment to moment awareness of "what is." It is the seeking to know the joy of paradise at deeper and deeper levels of awareness. This is the work of surrender to the "timeless now."

Most of us driving our car are totally unaware.

We enter the vehicle, switch on the engine, and engage gears without very much awareness of what we are doing. We arrive at our destination without any awareness of the journey in between. This car journey is a mirror of the longer journey we call "our life."

When we are alone in our car we have a great opportunity.

We have the opportunity to be alone and aware. We can choose to be totally present to our minds, body and emotions. We can choose not to be distracted by music or talk radio. We can equally choose to play music that lifts the heart and that we consciously listen too. We can buy tapes and CD`s that life and inspire the soul.

Each time we enter the car we can make a commitment to be aware.

Feel yourself sitting on the seat. Feel your hands on the steering wheel. Listen to the sound of the engine. Say, Thank you," to this vehicle that allows you to arrive at the place of your choosing. Remember to be aware of your breathing. Breathe deep into your belly and keep it soft. When you arrive you will feel focused and relaxed.

Stop "thinking about" anywhere else other than this moment.

This moment is the town called "paradise." This moment is forever. In this moment, entered without judgment or compassion, there is beauty. You become as the people of "Tir Na Nog." You become eternal and filled with beauty.

To begin with you will look for this experience of beauty.

You will wish to grab at the experience of the eternal. In the beginning your ego wants this beauty and this experience for itself. It can only imagine the credos it will receive once it has such a prize. The problem (if it is a problem) is to know that you are this beauty and this eternity. Your ego wants it but cannot really accept the possibility of such wonder. It has to disappear in order that the wonder can be.

As Marianne Williamson has reminded us in her beautiful book "Return to Love," we are afraid of our magnificence. We are afraid of our light and not our darkness. We have lost our paradise. We have lost the paradise of being here now.

On the high road between Glenfarne and Rossinver I am practicing entry into paradise. This is a knack. It arrives. It does not arrive. When it is there I know. When it is not there I know. I focus and wait, knowing that infinite patience brings instant results.

Why not take a trip to this town called "Paradise," where you can be free. You can learn to be free of care, of worry, of going anywhere or having to be anyone other than the delight you are.

When travelling on any journey make it a journey of focused awareness.

Become present to the moment. This is the real and only time of your life. Become the presence of the Beloved. Become the perfume of love in action. This perfume is timeless and beautiful beyond any measure your mind can "think about."

One glimpse of "Tir Na Nog" and you will know that a real holiday is. It is beyond re-creation. It is you being aware of creation itself in the timeless beauty of forever loving now.

This is what an Anam Cara reminds you off.

They remind you that you are forever enough. They remind you that the Blessing is already here. They remind you that you are this blessing. Going nowhere, the river flows and the grass grows by itself. Come on down to "paradise" where you are free to be all you ever imagined and more.

© 2005 Tony Cuckson

Tony Cuckson is an Anam Cara. This Celtic term means "Soul Friend." He specializes in providing insight for the spiritual journey, Blessings for YOU, words of wisdom and finding inner peace. Visitors to Irish Blessings Matter website and Tony's Blog get the opportunity to develop a purpose driven life through articles, newsletters and other programs.

Get your free report called "7 ways to it's a wonderful life" at http://www.irishblessingsmatter.com/, or go to Tony`s Blog at http://www.irishblessingsmatter.info/ where you will find links to information related to spiritual guidance, spiritual coaching and spirit in business.

---

Becoming Enlightened

Enlightenment, which is as varied as each individual's fingerprint, is... Read More

Was There a Better Way?

Whenever, we have a task or project to carry out... Read More

Spiritual Surrender: Living a Peace Filled Life

Are you at a crossroad in your life where you... Read More

Master of Horoscope - Walter Mercado

Celebrities and common people all over the world are known... Read More

Jesus wants A Few Good Men! Living A Life You Always Wanted!

Jack Nicholson (Col. Jessup) (marine cornel) YOU CAN'T HANDLE THE... Read More

Just Do It!

"It's a big challenge. It's a journey into the unknown.... Read More

Higher Self: Growing Inside of Us

Maybe once in a lifetime, we find ourselves seeking spiritual... Read More

Is the Church a Friend to Survivors of Abuse?

After 6 years, I left an abusive relationship with an... Read More

Jesus Birthday: Sacred Children Series - 2 of 3

I had visions of my daughter for about five years... Read More

Who Has The Greatest Job In The World?

I have, in my opinion, the world's perfect job. Just... Read More

Globe Unity

Most of us think of what a wonderful world this... Read More

Are You Being In Service? Divine Source

Greetings Divine Ones, I am going to ask you a... Read More

The Spirituality of Pigeons!

I was walking down the street the other day, walking... Read More

God Became Man

The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.... Read More

The Lord is My Shepherd

An acrostic prayer poem.The Lord loves me and is gracious... Read More

Gods Name... Creation and Undoing!

Over the past number of years, while going through my... Read More

Being

Being"You have taken yourself to be something that you are... Read More

Understanding the Gospel of Matthew and Why it Matters - Part 10

Matthew 3:7-10 John Rebukes the Pharisees and Sadducees7 But when... Read More

Christianity - Not a White Mans Religion

Christianity: White man's religion?Martin Luther King referred to Sunday as... Read More

What Part of Thou Shalt Not Dont You Understand?

Back in the days of the old law of Moses,... Read More

Do You Really Want to Know the Truth?

Back in 1992, Jack Nicholson and Tom Cruise co-starred in... Read More

Drop the Negations

What really binds us to any negative emotional state in... Read More

In the Aftermath of Mankind

It is life, time for breathing deep, sighs and touching... Read More

Who Is He?

"What do you think about the Christ? Whose son is... Read More

Religion or Spirituality

There is a natural tendency to asociate spirituality with religion,... Read More

God Loves You With the Love of God

Do you ever feel that what you read in some... Read More

Sole Work ? Walking the Spiritual Path

For the past several years I have struggled with getting... Read More

Choosing Peace, One Shift at a Time

It doesn't matter what magazine or newspaper you pick up... Read More

Getting Back to the Basics of Truth

Anyone who has invested time, energy and effort into finding... Read More

Origin of Certain Thoughts (Part I)

We all have spirit guides and we all benefit from... Read More

Passions of the Heart!

There are no better people to be around than those... Read More

God Versus the Gods

Aristotle referred to happiness as the most we can achieve.... Read More

Why is Kabbalah so Attractive to Hollywood A-Listers Like Madonna, Britney Spears and Demi Moore?

CARLSBAD, CALIFORNIA: Of course we may never know the real... Read More