Reflections on Navaratri

In my daily meditations I reflect and learn. To practice yoga is to seek balance. A balance of strength and flexibility in body and in mind. Conditioning  polarizes us and teaches us "good" vs. "bad." We lose our balance, trying to do "right" instead of "wrong." We seek "strength" and shun "weakness." Yet, each day, our world reflects back to us that one person's "victory" is another's "defeat." Life is balanced in this way. One needs the other, and so the wheel spins.

The path of yoga is the path of both/and. My judgment of a brother or sister is usually a reaction to a quality that I disown within myself. My sense of lack gets triggered if I forget that I too possess the beauty I may project on to another. All that I see and encounter in my world is simply reflected aspects of my Self.

What an eye-opener to entertain that I contain the compassion of Christ and the callous self-righteousness of Isis. As I open up to my own depth and complexity, I find a deeper peace with the world as I sit solidly in my center. No more hiding. No more hiding my fear, my insecurity or my rage. No more hiding behind my accomplishments. No more hiding behind my friends. No more hiding behind my opinions. No more hiding behind my history. No more hiding behind what my dad said or did. No more hiding.

Our Navaratri Altar to Goddess Durga

Auspicious seat.

The Self is the playing field of these dynamic energies. During this week, I had the opportunity to connect with the energy of Navaratri, the Hindu celebration of the Divine Mother in her many forms. She is fierce, pure, abundant, sly, life-giving, and she rides atop a tiger. Her eight limbs hold tools. I was given the tool of the malas or rosary. When I read about this tool, I was delighted to find that it contains the ability for special powers. Both the ability to become so small that one becomes invisible and large enough to encompass the universe. The ability to become so heavy that one is immovable and the power to be light as a feather. Who is this Self that can contain such extreme opposites?

In reflecting upon this vast playing field, one could contemplate that indeed we are not simply one point of focus, or even one player, but like the Divine Mother we are the field itself and the multiple players, as well as we are none of it at all. The dance itself is life. Each playing its part. Sometimes blindly. Sometimes fearlessly.

When I look at the world today, what aspects of myself might I see? When I see myself, how can I embrace her with the reverence and fierce love that comes with the naked truth. How can I be both visible and seemingly not there at all. Reflections of the many forms of truth.

My sister from the same mister. 

Which me shall I be?