{"product_id":"the-ascending-path-9798233193880","title":"The Ascending Path","description":"\u003cp\u003e • Author(s): Andy Martin\u003cbr\u003e • Publisher: Bramble \u0026amp; Quill Publishers\u003cbr\u003e • Publisher Imprint: Bramble \u0026amp; Quill Publishers\u003cbr\u003e • BISAC: Subjects \u0026amp; Themes - Inspirational \u0026amp; Religious\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThirteen years ago, during meditation near the summit of a five-hundred-foot dune in the Algerian Sahara, seventeen words crystallised in pristine desert silence. Those words waited, ripening through decades of lived experience, before spontaneously emerging as seventeen complete poems following a retreat in the Oxfordshire woods.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe Ascending Path: From Gratitude to Wisdom distils a lifetime of spiritual exploration into accessible prose poetry that honours both transcendent moments and everyday struggles.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eGrowing up in Malawi, Andy Martin experienced interconnectedness as lived reality through tribal wisdom, a foundation that shaped decades exploring Southeast Asian contemplative traditions, European mysticism, and Siberian shamanic practices. His work as a clinical hypnotherapist revealed how transformation unfolds in spirals, not straight lines.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThese seventeen contemplative poems explore essential spiritual virtues not as abstract ideals but as lived experiences, found in morning light over unmade beds, in the slow unfolding of forgiveness, and in the extraordinary hiding within ordinary moments.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eTHE COLLECTION'S JOURNEY \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eFoundation: \u003c\/strong\u003e gratitude, humility, forgiveness, interconnectedness, service, grace \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eInner Development: \u003c\/strong\u003e compassion, wonder, manifestation, acceptance, courage, hope \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eEmbodied Wisdom: \u003c\/strong\u003e resilience, presence, spiritual awakening, surrender, wisdom \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eEach poem stands alone while contributing to a larger map of spiritual growth, not as prescription, but as invitation. The verses avoid both spiritual bypassing and cynical materialism, recognising that wisdom develops through fully engaging with life rather than escaping from it.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eTHIS BOOK IS FOR YOU IF YOU: \u003c\/strong\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e- Seek spiritual depth without dogma or preaching \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e- Value wisdom earned through lived experience \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e- Appreciate accessible poetry over academic verse \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e- Trust your own spiral journey of growth \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e- Sense that what you seek might already be present \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e- Want daily reflections that honour life's full spectrum \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eABOUT THE POEMS\u003c\/strong\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWritten in accessible prose poetry, these contemplations bypass the analytical mind to speak directly to intuition and heart. Each poem offers images from everyday experience where the extraordinary appears: dust motes dancing like prayers, the baker's hands kneading dough as worship, shadows that teach us the weight of what we once held. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe journey follows a spiral rather than straight line; we circle back through gratitude, humility, and forgiveness, but from higher ground, with deeper understanding.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eTHE ORIGIN STORY\u003c\/strong\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAfter that Saharan meditation, Andy wrote seventeen words alongside a quote from St. Francis of Assisi: \"What you are looking for is already where you are looking from.\" Those words remained dormant, quietly integrating through years of practice and discovery. Then, following a recent retreat, they spontaneously emerged as complete poems-seventeen expressions of the spiritual journey that required no editing, asking only to be received.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe Ascending Path: \u003c\/strong\u003e From Gratitude to Wisdom represents the ripening of wisdom across decades, cultures, and contemplative traditions, distilled into poetry that serves as waypoints on your personal journey, reflecting the wisdom you already possess within.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSeventeen poems. Thirteen years from desert silence to woodland awakening. A lifetime of exploration condensed into accessible spiritual wisdom for modern seekers.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAs St. Francis reminds us: \"What you are looking for is already where you are looking from.\"\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Bramble \u0026 Quill Publishers","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":47779131621527,"sku":"9798233193880","price":1096.0,"currency_code":"INR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0666\/3471\/1191\/files\/9798233193880.webp?v=1778033631","url":"https:\/\/atlanticbooks.com\/products\/the-ascending-path-9798233193880","provider":"Atlantic Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}