Poetry has the ability to speak to and touch us, in unique ways. It has the capacity to open the mind and heart to experience in a way that is not available to us if we limit ourselves exclusively to intellectual concepts and linear thinking.
Poetry is frequently used as a vehicle for both education and inspiration during Sacramento Insight Meditation’s courses and events. This selection of poems* has been compiled at the request of students as a reference source to support ongoing meditation practice and expand meditative awareness into daily life.
The Path Of Meditative Awareness
Going Home by Dennis Warren
What is Possible by Andrew Cohen
What to Remember Upon Waking by David Whyte
Becoming Fully Alive by Joseph Campbell
Living A Conscious and Compassionate Life by Dennis Warren
A Well Trained Mind by the historical Buddha
Embracing This Moment
This Is it by Lao Tzu
Courageous Rest by Thomas Merton
Simple Things by Joyce Rupp
A Field Beyond Right & Wrong by Rumi
A Mind That Lets Go by Achaan Chaa
The Guest House by Rumi
Living the Life We Are Given
The Beauty in Her Face by Dennis Warren
Stop Turning Away by Dennis Warren
The Vow by Dennis Warren
Live the Questions Now by Rainer Maria Rilke
All She Wanted by Dennis Warren
The Journey by Mary Oliver
Opening and Growing
Relearning Loveliness by Galway Kinnell
In Blackwater Woods by Mary Oliver
Everything We Need by Dennis Warren
A New Way by Dennis Warren
Autobiography in Five Chapters by Portia Nelson
Touching and Becoming
The Summer Day by Mary Oliver
There Is A Light by Chandogya Upanishad
Infinite Incandescence by Hafiz
Love After Love by Derek Walcott
In the Quiet of This Place by Dennis Warren
Starting Over Again In Each Moment
It Doesn’t Matter by Dennis Warren
FEATURED RECITATIONS
To listen to any of the following selections, visit SIM’s Poetry Playlist or select a specific “reading by” link below:
- Beginning by James Wright; reading by Laura Rosenthal
- The Guest House by Rumi; reading by Laura Rosenthal
- In Morning Light by Floyd Skloot; reading by Dennis Warren
- Love Minus Zero by Bob Dylan; reading by Rich Howard
- Bird Wings by Rumi; reading by Rich Howard
- A Stone I Died by Rumi; reading by Dennis Warren
* All poems are copyrighted by the designated author.
Visit Us
SIM meets online and in-person at the Sacramento Dharma Center
What is Dana?
Dana is a Buddhist word that means generosity or heart. Nearly all Sacramento Insight Meditation activities are offered on a dana (donations) basis. This means our programs are sustained by the generosity of instructors in offering teachings freely and on the generosity of students and members of the meditative community in the form of financial support, service and participation in events. Practice dana, please support our Sangha. DONATE NOW