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In search of the beyond
English, Italian (translation)
Paperback
First published January 1, 1976
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July 10, 2013
Way back in my life, I had a conversation with a Catholic Priest. At the end of the conversation he asked me to wait and, when he returned, he gave me this book. He didn't mention whether it was a gift or a loan and I was so taken by reading it that I was forced to go out, buy my own copy and return the original to the priest. He smiled when I explained my actions, a smile that made me think that this was not the first time the copy had been returned.
I was reminded of this spiritual guide while reading Nikos Kazantzakis' autobiography - Report To Greco For in Kazantzakis' book he travels from Assisi in Italy (via Mount Athos and Jerusalem) to the desert at Sinai. Where he experienced similar thoughts to Carretto who "divides his time between the Sahara and Spello, near Assisi - where he lives the life of a hermit."
What both authors have experienced is the fact that if you look out on the desert then you are looking at sand and sky, solid and non solid -nothing else.
"There are few sights in nature so unspoiled as a sea of dunes under the blue sky of the Sahara ! It is like seeing the beginning of creation and the spiritual content is so powerful that the visible and the invisible are perceived as a single reality. Sand and sky separated by a single horizontal line : nothing else."
Not lucky enough to have visited a desert, the nearest I got, pathetically, was to visit our local area of coastland sand dunes as a child at Scout Camp. The area was acres and acres of sand dunes, easy to get lost in, with the odd patch of marren grass here and there. One could lie on your back and count skylarks, hanging in the air, in those days. Returning, thirty six years later, I found the area grassed over, naturally, evolution had happened in my own lifetime and I felt ancient.
Whether you visit the desert or not, or the desert is in your head, or your retreat is as a desert, this is a book to pack along side those of Khalil Gibran.
I was reminded of this spiritual guide while reading Nikos Kazantzakis' autobiography - Report To Greco For in Kazantzakis' book he travels from Assisi in Italy (via Mount Athos and Jerusalem) to the desert at Sinai. Where he experienced similar thoughts to Carretto who "divides his time between the Sahara and Spello, near Assisi - where he lives the life of a hermit."
What both authors have experienced is the fact that if you look out on the desert then you are looking at sand and sky, solid and non solid -nothing else.
"There are few sights in nature so unspoiled as a sea of dunes under the blue sky of the Sahara ! It is like seeing the beginning of creation and the spiritual content is so powerful that the visible and the invisible are perceived as a single reality. Sand and sky separated by a single horizontal line : nothing else."
Not lucky enough to have visited a desert, the nearest I got, pathetically, was to visit our local area of coastland sand dunes as a child at Scout Camp. The area was acres and acres of sand dunes, easy to get lost in, with the odd patch of marren grass here and there. One could lie on your back and count skylarks, hanging in the air, in those days. Returning, thirty six years later, I found the area grassed over, naturally, evolution had happened in my own lifetime and I felt ancient.
Whether you visit the desert or not, or the desert is in your head, or your retreat is as a desert, this is a book to pack along side those of Khalil Gibran.
Displaying 1 of 1 review