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Three Characteristics of the Sedona Spirit

If you are living in Sedona or if you have ever visited, how would you describe the Sedona spirit? There are three characteristics that I would pick out, and I would encourage every visitor who comes here not to miss the chance to feel them and take them as their own through their experiences.

More than anything else, the Sedona spirit is a spirit of creation. The pristine beauty of nature in Sedona, its sky and red rocks running a gamut of brilliant colors with the light of the desert sun, awakens a profound, immense creativity within us. No matter what difficult situation we may face, we are able to change our surroundings and create them anew according to our own choices. We can choose hope, no matter what the situation. And, with incredible creative power, we can design our lives and be the drivers of our destiny.

The Sedona spirit is a spirit of interacting with the earth. The open sky so wide and deep above the red rocks; the juniper trees and cacti that emanate intense vital power; the golden full moon that cuts through the night in the desert; stories of the Native Americans, who lived in harmony with nature—all these components of Sedona’s environment help us to be aware of ourselves as life forms, feel the earth, and have energetic and spiritual interactions with it. The experience of interacting with the earth connects us with a greater and more permanent power beyond the limited and finite self, to bring us spiritual fulfillment and a sense of oneness, of belonging. It leads us naturally as members of the planet Earth to earth-centered living in which we coexist with all life forms.

I would like to express the characteristics of a new lifestyle that pursues the Sedona spirit as “Awakened Living.” The essence of Awakened Living is that it doesn’t separate spirituality from everyday life. The age in which pursue spirituality deep in a mountain or in mystical doctrines, completely disconnected from everyday life, is over. I believe that the true spiritual lifestyle—a lifestyle of discovering and creating the meaning and value that makes us alive—happens in the here and now, where our work, people, lifestyle, and passion are tied closely together.

For Awakened Living, you need wisdom that doesn’t coincide with a religion or value system that systematizes spirituality. As we already know, the most important questions in life aren’t answered by experts or by systems. They can help us on our journey to look for questions, but finding the answers is always something each of us must do for ourselves. We are each the one and only experts, writers, and authorities of our own lives.

If you have come to Sedona, don’t forget to take these three elements of the Sedona spirit to incorporate into your lifestyle. In “Sedona spirit,” Sedona is more than just a land of red rocks in northern Arizona. Sedona is a space of infinite creation in your heart; it’s your greatest dream and the most sacred moments of your life. And it is your courage to choose hope even in the most difficult moments of life.

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9 Comments. Leave new

  • Ileana Gabriela
    May 2, 2011 11:23 pm

    Thank you for this amazing post. Indeed, the essential beauty of Sedona cannot be seen with the eyes. Watching is not seeing, we need a new dimension to clearly see how Sedona truly looks like.

    Reply
  • when i was reading about Sedona I felt like I was there
    Thank you so much

    Reply
  • Jungoui Hwang
    May 3, 2011 10:02 am

    Reading this post of the Sedona spirit (of creation, earth, and awakened living) connects me to Sedona spirit, even though I am not in Sedona now. Thank you. (from New York)

    Reply
  • Beautiful!

    Reply
  • Dear Seusunim, I am again so very grateful to you! You have put into words the essence of what I am discovering as I practice and learn more and more about TAO living. What I feel is so much more than “organized religion.” It is a lifestyle that projects into how and why we live. Your comments also explain why I feel so free and blessed when I visit Mago Garden and Sedona!!

    Reply
  • Thank you for this great idea of Awakened Living. The Sedona Spirit is in each of us!

    Reply
  • Tish Huerta
    May 13, 2011 5:12 pm

    Can this be serendipity? Two months ago, I saw a mag advertisement and told my husband, that I felt it is a place I must visit. Reading this article, it is just as I felt it must be experience. Since my heart transplant in 2009, my life has taken on a new path. People have stepped into my path, with a connection, or words of wisdom. I have begun writing a spiritual journey about my heart transplant. My life has been shaken, and will not return to things that were. Sedona, may lead me even deeper into my journey. Thank you

    Reply
  • wayne liebl
    June 23, 2011 2:30 pm

    I was at the Mago retreat center in Sedona a few years back. The Sedona spirit will never leave me! Namaste. 🙂 W

    Reply
  • Alyse Gutter (Chun Ae)
    August 23, 2011 7:00 am

    Thank you!
    Chun Ae

    Reply

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