"In silence now, on bended knee, I offer up my sword. That you might hone and forge my heart, I sing my prayer to word."
And so begins "From the Back of a Thirsty Camel: Ecstatic Longings," Brandon Thompson's second book of ecstatic poetry. Far more than just a collection of poetry, "From the Back of a Thirsty Camel" is a penetrating exploration of writing as spiritual practice. In its pages, readers will find not only exquisite poems that glimmer with insight, but will also be invited on a journey: deeper into themselves, deeper into Spirit, and deeper into writing as a practice of Awakening.
What is ecstatic poetry? How can this mysterious form of writing once practiced by the contemplative Sufi Masters come into our lives and transform our hearts? In this book, Brandon Thompson endeavors to answer these questions and many more. He brings together a decades-long path of spiritual exploration, a harrowing personal journey from shadow into light, and a profound investigation into the nature of consciousness and its relationship to love, loss, and our place in the cosmos.
From its first page to its last, "From the Back of a Thirsty Camel: Ecstatic Longings" is a prayer to the power of words. It is an offering delivered on bended knee to all of those who sense that words can be a vessel for their longings and a vehicle towards deeper insight, wholeness, and transformation.
About the Author: Brandon Thompson is a poet, a scholar, a musician and a lover of music, and a Buddhist practitioner and teacher. He is a faculty member in Sofia University's Global Master's Program, and spends his days joyfully guiding students from all over the world. Brandon has been a student of Mahayana Buddhism since 1999, and has taught in this tradition since taking his bodhisattva vow in the summer of 2007. He finds his home practices in lojong (mind training) and tonglen (sending and taking) meditation, first prescribed by the Buddhist sage Shantideva in the 8th century. Brandon has published four books of ecstatic poetry, "The Long Road Home: A Collection of Poems from an Open Heart," "From the Back of a Thirsty Camel: Ecstatic Longings," "The Medicine is in the Poison: Poems from the Path of Lojong," and "Fire and the Moon: Poems for my Daughter." He is a co-author of "Ecstatic Encounters," collaborative synthesis of ecstatic poetry and visual art. He regularly facilitates ecstatic poetry workshops across the United States.
Brandon's current work involves bringing ecstatic poetry more fully into his life and into the world. Through his publications, scholarly writing, teaching, and workshops, Brandon is seeking to engage with ecstatic poetry as a visionary art: an art form with transformative potential and mystical underpinnings. Entering into this visionary art dialogue is at the forefront of Brandon's work at present.
