The Language Of The Soul
How The Words You Choose Shape The Life You Live

ST. MARTIN'S ESSENTIALS BOOKS

Mark Nepo has soul-stirring language coursing through his veins.  In The Language of the Soul, Mark has gathered some of the most potent words alive in our world today, and held them up to the light to reveal their full depth and beauty.  This book is a stunning pilgrimage to the heart of language.  You will never look at words in the same way again.
— Beth Kempton, bestselling author of Wabi Sabi: Japanese wisdom for a perfectly imperfect life

In this fascinating lexicon of soul-powered language, Nepo demonstrates the power of particular words to expand the spirit, revivify the heart, and point you toward your original nature.  Original, inspirational, and deeply instructive, this book opens your ear to the voice of God and helps you remember how sacredness sounds.
— Mark Matousek, author of Emerson, The Stoics, and Me: Timeless Wisdom for Living an Authentic Life

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BOOK DESCRIPTION

Words have always been thresholds to the forces of life that help us live.  When truly opened, words become windows and doorways to what matters.  This book explores the awakening power and medicine of words to make visible, however briefly, the language of the soul, which we all need in order to be as alive as possible.  Organized thematically, this book gathers 228 words from thirty-one languages and traditions, tracing their original meanings, which tend to be more whole, more substantial, and, ultimately, more useful.  Because, as mountains, rivers, and forests erode over time, words erode.  They break apart, split, fragment, and lose their original impact.  Woven with stories from history, mythology, and from the author's life, this journey is more than a glossary or dictionary but a walk along the timeless river of knowing where we can learn together by drinking of the origins that have fed our souls for centuries.  All to help you live fully now.

"For more than half a century, I have been a seeker, a pilgrim, a wanderer, committed to discovering and practicing the art of being human.  Over the years, I have lost and found my way countless times.  Like a prospector, I have sifted the dirt on the path, surprised to find pure gold in a word here and there that might help us live.  This book gathers the nuggets of gold found in the mountain.  I hope one or more of these deep expressions will serve as a comfort or source of strength, and offer you a sense of home in the days ahead."
— Mark

EXCERPTS

BRILLIANCE

We think of the physicist Albert Einstein as conceptually brilliant, and the dancer Mikhail Baryshnikov as breathtakingly brilliant, and the Impressionist Claude Monet as creatively brilliant.  But before the modern mind defined brilliance as the singular appearance of uncanny skill, the word meant an emanation of being that was brilliant like the sun.  Before brilliance described an unprecedented moment of achievement, the word referred to "the intense brightness of light" coming forth from a source.  The original notion of brilliance describes an ultimate manifestation of being.

In this regard, Einstein, Baryshnikov, and Monet may have been exceptional in what they accomplished, but this was because each was brilliant in the emanation of their being, brilliant in how they thought, danced, and painted.

This emanation of life-force is at the heart of all the spiritual traditions.  And so, our individual brilliance, or emanation of light, replicates the emanation of Spirit which expresses itself uniquely through all beings.  Our individual light is a small, enduring fractal of the Universal Light.  Our brilliance, when not muffled or denied, connects us to the Original Being at the heart of all spiritual paths.

In truth, to devote ourselves to the modern sense of brilliance keeps us striving for individual greatness, while to devote ourselves to the original sense of brilliance lets us experience the greatness of life.  For more than a pirouette of expertise, the reward for experiencing brilliance is the renewal of our deep connection to life itself.

A Question to Walk With: In your journal, describe a sense of brilliance or achievement that you are working toward.  What is the reward and cost for you as you work toward this? Later, in conversation with a friend or loved one, describe someone you admire who emanates light and warmth in an original sense of brilliance.  Where do these qualities live in you?

GENIUS

Like the word brilliance, we have elevated the word genius to signify some extraordinary capacity or skill.  But the word genius originally meant "attendant spirit." Everyone has an attendant spirit, or inner voice, or guardian angel.  This is where the word genie comes from.  And so, the archetype of Aladdin's Lamp is not rubbing a lamp to get what you want, but embracing your life until your attendant spirit shows up to guide you.  This gives added meaning to William Blake's proverb, "Straight is the road to improvement, but crooked is the road to genius." How, then, can you call on and relate to your attendant spirit?

One clue comes from the deep insight of William Butler Yeats when he said, "Genius is a crisis that joins the buried self to the daily mind for brief moments." We have access to our attendant spirit when we embrace our life and when we face what is ours to face.  loving and truthful, our attendant spirit shows up.

A Question to Walk With: In your journal, explore a few specific ways you can be more loving and truthful, and how this might bring you closer to your attendant spirit.

APPRECIATE

The word appreciate means "to move toward what is precious." Since everything is precious, making a vow to move toward what is precious is one of the simplest and strongest commitments we can make to living.

Obviously, things get in the way.  When they do, it's imperative that we don't give up on the sanctity of what's before us but rather accept that our ability to receive that sanctity has been diminished.  When the sky darkens and the clouds thicken, our experience of dampness and coldness is real, but it doesn't mean the sun has stopped shining.  Just that we can't, for the moment, receive it.

To recover our appreciation of life requires holding nothing back and leaning into whatever is before us.  How we do this is our personal application of care.  And whatever slows you down, whatever causes you to remember the reverence of life, whatever softens and opens your heart is a practice of appreciation.

To keep moving toward what is precious, especially when things are in the way, calls on us to stay personal and specific.  If I have a pebble in my shoe, it can prevent me from walking.  The pebble is very personal and specific.  I must stop, locate, and remove the pebble in order to continue with my life.  Likewise, we accrue pebbles in the bottom of our heart and mind.  And we must be very personal and specific to stop, locate, and remove those pebbles, too.  So we can resume our life.

A Question to Walk With: In your journal, describe the last time you moved toward something precious.  What drew you there? How did this affect you? Later, in conversation with a friend or loved one, discuss the ups and downs of your ultimate concern.  In specific terms, what can you attend that will deepen and strengthen your ultimate concern?

Reviews

Mark Nepo has written another classic.  At times, the word clusters and the ways Nepo interweaves them toward meaning are simply stunning.  This is a word lover's treasure.
— Jon M. Sweeney, Spirituality and Practice

Reading anything of Mark Nepo's is a meditative gift into the vibratory center of life.  Just a moment.  Just a breath.  And it's gone.  But the resonance remains.  The next breath is slightly deeper, more expansive.  A smile is possible.
— Bari Hochwald Cagnola

The Language of the Soul invites readers to consider the evocative, fluid nature of words.  On every page, Mark Nepo offers insights that awaken the heart and stir the mind.  This is not just a book to read, but to revisit time and again, an essential guide for anyone longing to live with more authenticity and depth.
— April Davila, award-winning author and writing coach

Throughout this heart-opening journey, Mark Nepo tenderly guides us to uncover the language of our soul; the root that attaches our lives to the greater, foundational life of Spirit.  In doing so, Mark invites us to join him in discovering the ground of meaning and the life-force that helps us embody a deeper, more authentic way of being.  This is a must-read for anyone seeking to live from the consciousness of their core.
— Karin A. Nobile, Program Director, Mercy by the Sea Retreat and Conference Center

The mythologist Joseph Campbell once told me that his own mentor when he lived in Paris, the sculptor Antoine Bourdelle, confided to him that the secret of life was to fall in love with the process of living, the journey itself.  The master summed up his life-philosophy in this bon mot: "To be is beautiful, but is more beautiful to be becoming." Likewise, in The Language of the Soul, Mark Nepo shows us how the well-lived life revolves around the vocabulary of the inward life, which is gifted to us in myth, poetry, and art, which can be appreciated by a more intimate knowledge of the origins of the words we use to communicate with each other, and our own deeper selves.
— Phil Cousineau, author of The Painted Word and Wordcatcher

A CONVERSATION WITH MARK ABOUT HIS NEW BOOK ,
The Language Of The Soul: How The Words You Choose Shape The Life You Live

QUESTION: What led you to write this book?
RESPONSE: For more than half a century, I've been a poet, a seeker, a student of wonder, a witness of suffering, committed to discovering and practicing the art of being human.  Over the years, I have lost and found my way countless times.  Like a prospector, I have sifted through the dirt on path after path, surprised to find gold in a word here and a word there that might help us live.  This book gathers the nuggets of gold found along the way.  And so, I've gone through all my books, collecting the words and phrases that, when held to the light, reveal gateways of transformation.

QUESTION: Can you describe what the book explores?
RESPONSE: This book explores the origins of words.  For words have always been thresholds to the forces of life that help us live.  When truly opened, words become windows and doorways to what matters.  So, this book explores the awakening power and medicine of words to make visible, however briefly, the language of the soul, which we all need in order to be as alive as possible.  Organized thematically, the book gathers 227 words from thirty-one languages and traditions, tracing their original meanings, which tend to be more whole, more substantial, and, ultimately, more useful.  Because, as mountains, rivers, and forests erode over time, words erode.  They break apart, split, fragment, and lose their original impact.  Woven with stories from history, mythology, and from my own life, this journey is more than a glossary or dictionary but a walk along the timeless river of knowing where we can learn together by drinking of the origins that have fed our souls for centuries.  All to help you live fully now.

QUESTION: You open the book with a quote from Buddha.  Can you share it and what it means?
RESPONSE: Buddha was speaking one evening after dinner under the moonlight, when he noticed his students were too enrapt with his talk.  He paused and said, "My words are only fingers pointing at the moon.  Make sure you look at the moon!" This, for me, is the central doorway to the book, which is not about the words but the eternal truths each word points to.  The words, when opened, bring us ever closer to the life itself.  As such, truly meaningful words are placeholders for that which is life-giving that can't be named.

QUESTION: Can you give an example of meaningful word and its origin?
RESPONSE: Consider the word genius, which we have elevated to signify some extraordinary capacity or skill.  But the word genius originally meant "attendant spirit." Everyone has an attendant spirit, or inner voice, or guardian angel.  This is where the word genie comes from.  And so, the archetype of Aladdin's Lamp is not rubbing a lamp to get what you want, but embracing your life until your attendant spirit shows up to guide you.  This gives added meaning to William Blake's proverb, "Straight is the road to improvement, but crooked is the road to genius." How, then, can you call on and relate to your attendant spirit?

QUESTION: How about another?
RESPONSE: Consider the original definition of the word sacrifice.  We know sacrifice more commonly as the giving of one's self, even life, for the greater good.  We think of soldiers sacrificing their lives to preserve our freedom.  More recently, we have witnessed countless health care workers sacrifice their well-being to bring us through the pandemic.
Yet these noble efforts grow out of a more ancient soil of sacrifice.  For the original definition of sacrifice is "to give up what no longer works in order to stay close to what is sacred." Inherent in its meaning is the spiritual fact that everything is sacred.  It is we who move in and out of living in accord with that sanctity.
The implication is that what works today in keeping us close to what is sacred will not work tomorrow.  Because, while the sacred doesn't change, we keep changing.  And so, we are drawn into a lifelong practice of discerning what no longer works, so we can put it down and replace it with something new that will let us drink again from what is sacred.

QUESTION: You share many stories of how language came into being.  Can you tell one here?
RESPONSE: In the Aztec culture of Central America, the beginning of language comes from a story in which only Coxcox and his wife, Xochiquetzal, survive the Great Flood by taking refuge in the hollow of a Cypress tree that carries them on the water to the clearing on a great mountain.  There, they start again and have many children, all of whom are mute.  After many years, it is believed that the Great Spirit took pity on them and sent a dove who placed a seed in each child's dream as they slept.  And since each child watered the seed in their dream with the unique feelings of their heart, each child awoke speaking a different language.
And the prophecy is that only through the erosion of difference by great love and great suffering will the children of the Great Spirit find their common heart as they pursue their individual dreams.  This is the fate of all human beings: to release what is common and unsayable through the particular language of our heart that we try to listen to and voice.

QUESTION: You also share personal stories of how language has impacted your life.  Can you share one of those here?
RESPONSE: When I was in graduate school, we were required to take a course called "The History and Structure of the English Language." Though everyone thought it would be a dry trek through anthropology and phonemes, it was fascinating and dynamic, largely because of Dr.  George Hastings, a tall, thin, wide-eyed scholar with a long, white beard.
He was explaining the great vowel shift that mysteriously took place over a three-hundred-year period between 1400 and 1700AD.  It seems to have started in southern England and effected all the dialects of English throughout the world.  During this time, the placement of our tongue while pronouncing vowels shifted completely.  For example, the pronunciation of "oo" became "oh" and the pronunciation of "too" became "toe." Imagine shifting the face of a clock so that when denoting twelve, the hour hand points to where nine currently is, and when denoting three, the hour hand points to where twelve currently is, and so on.
This inexplicable shift in how the European population spoke accounts for our migration from the Middle English that Chaucer spoke and wrote to the Modern English we speak and write today.
I remember raising my hand and asking Dr.  Hastings what caused such a monumental shift? He smiled slowly and said, "If you put two rowboats, untied, next to each other in the ocean, you wouldn't expect them to be near each other the next day." He paused and continued, "Why would we expect the vessels of language to stay put?" Then, he leaned closer and added, "And it might happen again in another thousand years."
From that day on, I realized that language is dynamic and fluid, a network of living things akin to the seasons that come and go.

QUESTION: What is your hope for anyone engaging with this book?
RESPONSE: The truth is that whatever keeps us from being fully here, it is the language of the soul, the awakening power and medicine of words, that can bring us alive.  And so, I return to Buddha under the stars, instructing his students by saying, "My words are only fingers pointing at the moon.  Make sure you look at the moon!"
I implore you to look at what the words in your life point to.  Let the language of the soul usher you into the depth of the soul.  Let the language of the heart usher you into the ever-expanding experience of the heart.  Let the language of kinship and kindness usher you into the web of relationship that holds the world together.  Find the words that remove what is in the way and care for them and they will become the windows in your life that will let light in, day after day.