The Voyage of the Dawn Reader

I have recently changed my morning routine. 'Gone' is the radio news announcing the things I need to add to my worries and which I have no control over. 'In' is some classical music or jazz. 'Gone' is the immediate coffee pot brewing on the hob (that comes later) - 'in' is a hot lemon drink. 'Gone' is the reaching for the Apple Mac, hooking into the net, to read the mostly junk mail that accumulated overnight like snow in a ditch.

'In' is some thoughtful, meditative reading. 

Reading in the morning has a different quality to night reading. Often in the evening you are winding down, and the brain wants to relax. I enjoy my evening reading, but after a certain hour I know that I stop retaining information. At that time I'm heading for a bit of tv to start the wind down.

In the morning my mind is blank, yet to be wrinkled by the events of the day. 

I enjoy non-fiction during the early hours, something meditative or contemplative and it seems to suit my mind better than fiction. Sometimes I'll only read a few sentences or paragraphs; I like to let the meanings settle, to drop slowly into my waking mind.

In this post I'll share of my recent reads below, with a link to a longer review. As always, let me know below if you too are an early morning reader and which books you have enjoyed recently.

‘I may be wrong’ by Björn Natthiko Linderblad was an engaging early morning read, written in a gentle conversational style. Natthiko gives up his life as an economist to spend 17 years as a forest monk in Thailand, before returning to secular life again. As well as stories of his time as a monk, not always easy, he shares the wisdom he has learnt over the years. It’s a book full of humility and grace, and Natthiko is a funny and warm narrator, full of compassion. There’s a lot to take from these pages - the title itself are words to repeat to yourself in the midst of an argument, to help defeat the ego.

‘Anam Cara: A Book of Celtic Wisdom’ by John O’Donohue is a mixture of Celtic mysticism, philosophy and poetry. It looks at friendship, work, ageing and death amongst other topics, all interwoven by O’Donohues warm, compassionate and lyrical prose. There’s a lot of solace in the pages, and it’s book I can see myself returning to for a few mornings to come, especially when it gets a bit darker: I found the chapter on solitude particularly comforting at 5:43 am. ‘Anam Cara’ means ‘Soul friend’ as Gaelige, and this book was a perfect morning companion.

‘Being aware of being aware’ by Rupert Spira isn’t your typical medication book, with practices to follow. Instead of a technique, you are invited to immediately become aware. Even saying that is problematic, as you can’t become something you already are. Rather, you just need to be aware of being aware. This was the perfect book for me in the mornings, just to take a couple of sentences and let them sit with me. Then feel my body on the chair, hear the birds, feel a soft breeze on my skin, thoughts on what I should have for my lunch, the work day ahead - I just sat with these things. There is a space where all these things occur, awareness, and that’s where I tried to rest.

‘The practice of not thinking’ by Ryunosuke Koike was a good book to start my day with, helping to look at how I brought mindfulness into my day to day activities. It made me more reflective before I went to work, thinking about how to be mindful of my actions. Koike was also good at explaining some of the more difficult aspects of Zen Buddhism. Took me a while to get through this, but that’s idea with morning reading - slow reading, letting it sink in.

I’ve been struggling with a bout of insomnia recently, so part of my attempt to repair my sleep cycle has been catching dawn sunshine. Hence the image above, where I have been enjoying the audiobook of ‘The untetherded Soul’ by Michael A. Singer. I think this is my third encounter with this book, each time I learn something different. It’s so clear and practical, and cuts to the chase when it comes to awareness and mindfulness. It’s about letting go, and realising you are not your thoughts. Listening to this has been like sitting with a much loved old friend, who I know I’ll soon meet again along the path.

There are times when I prefer to listen rather than read a book, especially on those cold mornings when staying under the duvet is an attractive option. ‘Meditations’ by Marcus Aurelius, read by Richard Armitage, was a wise and reasonable start to the day. This is a nice one to linger on, letting the wisdom seep until your day.