Invitation to Insight

"Stephanie Noble's poems sing, whisper, and wink from the heart of a meditator's journey. With vivid imagery, candor, and wisdom, Invitation to Insight honors both the quirky humanity and the glimmering mystery of the dharma path."
-Anne Cushman, author of The Mama Sutra: A Story of Love, Loss, and the Path of Motherhood and Enlightenment for Idiots: A Novel

From silence, words arise that guide us. No matter the tradition, it has always been so. Poems from spacious stillness resonate with our own wisdom, inspiring us. The poems in this book arose from days spent on silent meditation retreats and solitary walks in nature, listening, looking, and allowing the words to come. They are offered as an invitation to insight.

To help teachers and students who are exploring Buddhist concepts, there is an index at the back of the book to suggest poems that might enhance or spark insight.

Poetry isn't meant to explain the wisdom teachings. Instead, poetry can slip us into the side door of the meditation hall and assure us we belong. It whispers on a breeze from the woods outside the hall, reminding us why we've come.

When a teacher ends a silent sitting by reading a poem, it can resonate like the bell bowl's sustained ring. Having quieted our minds and cultivated a more spacious heart, the poem rings true. Then it stays with us, shifting and deepening our understanding.

May the poems in this book open the heart to understanding. May they be an invitation to insight. - Stephanie Noble

"Stephanie Noble's strikingly honest poems focus a steady compassionate light on our ordinary days, with their requisite to-do lists, check-out lines, and imaginary getaway cars. Her poetic meditations reveal the humor, wisdom, and grace that can enter us when we let go and Let Them All Come In."
Prartho Sereno, Marin County poet laureate emerita, author of Starfall in the Temple, Indian Rope Trick, and 3 other poetry collections.