There is so much to say about what they have and continue to teach me. There were a few lessons that landed with greater clarity during this last learning experience.
Padma-ji spoke often of changing our stories. Each of us has a story we know as ourselves. It's comprised of what we've done and what we feel has happened to us. We feel the story and it's repercussions in our bodies, relationships, and perceptions of the world around us. It's the imprint. I actually noticed this clearly last weekend when I was at a birthday party yoga class. The room was lit dimly. The door opened and I saw what I expected to see: a stranger popping in from the street. The reality was it was my friend, who was expected at the party. Because I was looking from my expectation and past experience I was unable to perceive reality and see this person I know. In the same way, most of our experiences are colored by our expectations and past experiences. We don't see reality.
Padma-ji urged us to see reality. She said again and again: you are not a victim. Do not be a victim. Be holy. Be Divine. Perceive reality.
There is a lot to say about this idea. As I write, I'm questioning my own capacity to explore responsibly. Well, as I said yesterday, when we learn we are responsible to share. I should try to share what I'm beginning to internalize.
Most of us feel defined by certain experiences or relationships in our lives. However, there is a truth that runs more deeply than these experiences and that truth is our essential nature. I heard a story that starts to chip away at this idea. A man decides that he wants to know his true nature. Krishna is revealed to him and the man devotes himself to Krishna, living in that consciousness. Krishna says to the man, "Get me a cup of water." The man goes to get the water. While fetching the water he sees a beautiful woman. The two fall in love, marry, and have children. Thirty years later the man is on his deathbed surrounded by his wife and children. He sees Krishna again. Krishna asks, "Where is my water?"
Krishna is the essential truth. The life we lead, or the life that the man in the story lead with his wife and children, is not insignificant, but it's not all. It's not the complete picture. We are meant to engage on this plane, have relationships, and be active. We're simply not meant to identify solely in those roles. If we do, when the roles are lost through death or retirement or any other way, we suffer. It's like we're wearing a costume at Halloween. That's a wonderful thing to do! But if we only know ourselves in the costume then we feel lost when the costume is inevitably shed. We can play in the costume, enjoy it, engage completely, but also unzip and release from the costume with ease. We have that potential.
There is an essential truth that we glimpse at from time to time, often in heightened states when we're aware of the precariousness of our current physical form. We have the ability to not identify solely with the stories of this body but to identify with what's more subtle and essential. We don't have to perceive ourselves as victims. We can perceive ourselves as incarnations of the Divine. Our experiences can be lessons. They can be the impetus we need to evolve. They don't have to stay our scars and limitations.
This is tricky subject matter. It deserves a lot of time and consideration. There's a fine balance between understanding this idea as empowerment or as victim blaming. Obviously, I found the teaching empowering, I believe that to be the purpose of this information. It's a reminder that our experience in this incarnation to can help us work through certain karmas and patterns to continue evolving and no longer feel stuck.
Next, Teacher David and consciousness.
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