The Lotus and the Lily: A Book Excerpt

How to Use This Book

This book, The Lotus and the Lily, will lead you on a dance with the wisdom of your wild soul—the part of you that is authentic, alive, and hungry for the full adventure of life. Your soul has never been wounded and never can be. It emerged from divine ground, and it will return to divine ground. In between, it is here to play in the fields of life.

Most of us have only a cursory relationship with our brilliant soul. We hear occasional tapping on the window-perhaps a nudge to explore an idea or ask a bigger question or consider a new possibility. But we rarely sit down and say, "I'm here. I'm listening. What do you want?" In Writing Down Your Soul, I share what can happen when you step out of conscious mind for a few moments and give the extraordinary Voice room to speak. Now, here in The Lotus and the Lily, you will use deep soul writing and many other delightful spiritual practices to give your wild soul all the room it needs to create a truly beautiful and abundant life.

There are thirty experiences, one each day. The first twenty-eight are divided into four week-long explorations:

Week 1: Prepare—step into your natural spiritual power, set your intention, and create your own ritual and prayer

Week 2: Look Back—uncover all the gifts in the life you've created to date

Week 3: Create Space—make room for the new by releasing and forgiving the old

Week 4: Look Forward—identify what you want in alignment with your soul's desires

After twenty-eight days of rich exploration, you will spend Day 29 setting up your Soul Day. And then, on Day 30, you will give yourself something precious—a day alone with your soul. On this day, you will clarify your all-important conditions. Then, with your conditions in hand, you will make a highly charged and deeply personal Intention Mandala. The mandala, as you are about to learn, not only holds everything you want, but it also spins out into the universe to draw it all to you.

The mandala sounds exciting, and it is, but don't jump ahead. There is a reason the days progress the way they do. They build gently one upon the other until you know you are ready for your Soul Day. Without the twenty-eight days of preparation, you could create a life, but it might not be the life you really want.

The Structure of Each Day

The Lotus and the Lily process is deep, but it is not work. The soul does not work. At the soul level, life is divine play. Approach the content of the day from the vantage point of soul play, and you'll discover that even the deepest exploration can be a source of delight. Each day begins with a page or two about the day's subject, then invites you to play in the following ways:

Reflect. Big questions crack you open and allow big information to flow in. Ponder these questions before you dive into your deep soul writing.

Write. Each day has a sample deep-soul-writing prompt to stimulate your imagination. Take any parts that speak to you, but allow your own conversation to come through your hands, onto the page.

Explore. Pick and choose any activities that call to you, or create your own.

Nourish. This short, powerful, soul-nourishing statement holds the essence of the day. Savor it aloud. Feel its wisdom enter your being. Write each statement on a card or in your journal, and watch what happens as these jewels accumulate.

Want More? If you want more, dive into any of the books and resources listed for additional information.

Paradox Alerts

As you walk through the Lotus and the Lily, you'll stumble upon the occasional "Paradox Alert." In his book Psychology and Alchemy, Carl Jung said, "Only the paradox comes anywhere near to comprehending the fullness of life." You'll discover many paradoxes in your own deep soul explorations. When you find one, stop and look inside yourself. Capture all your divine puzzles. Mull them over. They hold clues to the miracle of life.

Your Journal

You will do lots of deep soul writing, so get a journal in which to capture your "Nourish" statements and "Paradox Alerts" and all kinds of other insights and surprises. Perhaps you'd like to write under the wise, loving eyes of the owl on the cover of My Soul Pages, the companion journal to Writing Down Your Soul. Whatever journal you choose, dedicate it to this exploration. Almost everyone who goes through the Lotus and the Lily repeats the process and makes a new mandala the following year. Just imagine how exciting it will be to look back at several mandalas and journals and watch how your soul has created life over the years.

Deep Soul Writing