Excerpt from Sacred Space by Mitra Rahbar

The following essay appears in our Winter 2016 issue. The entire issue is available for immediate download.

From a very young age, we learn to create space for all we do. We initially learn this from our bodies, instinctively, as we tune into our inner rhythms and, for example, know when we are hungry, and when we need to sleep. As we get older, we create other external spaces for playing, resting, eating, and doing homework. In time, we create physical space for our books, clothes, furniture, and electronics, and time slots for all the important activities of the day. We learn to value and respect these spaces and activities, and they become the fabric of our daily existence.

Soon, however, the life we have created is governed by these allowances. All the available physical space for our possessions, and time slots on the daily “to-do” list, become very congested. And now in the age of modern technology, it has become commonplace for us to fill whatever remaining space we might have with a barrage of “virtual” interactions, such as social media and texting, until there is simply no space left at all.

Excerpted from Miraculous Silence by Mitra Rahbar with the permission of Tarcher Perigee, an imprint of Penguin Random House. Copyright 2015 by Mitra Rahbar.

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MITRA RAHBAR is the author of Miraculous Silence: A Journey to Illumination and Healing Through Prayer. She is also a spiritual teacher, healer, and guide. Born into the mystical tradition of Iran, Rahbar grew up in Tehran, surrounded by spiritual and literary influences that included her grandfather’s Dervish philosophy, her mother’s classical poetry, and the works of great Persian poets such as Rumi, Hafez, Saadi, and Gibran. Now living in Southern California, Rahbar is also known as a singer and humanitarian.