I wish I could put into words the feelings I experience after being with certain beautiful souls. Gratitude comes to mind. I am very thankful for each person who crosses my path, no matter how long we walk together. Each one is a teacher onto me.
In yoga teacher training one of our required readings was the Bhagavad Gita, so I read it. But then my teacher said to read it a second time and read it as if I was Arjuna; the warrior leading his army into battlefield. Then she said to read it a third time as Krishna the charioteer.
Krishna says,
“ Better than any ritual is the worship achieved through wisdom; wisdom is the final goal of every action, Arjuna.
Find a wise teacher, honor him, ask him your questions, serve him; someone who has seen the truth will guide you on the path to wisdom.
When you realize it, you will never fall back into delusion; knowing it, you see all beings in yourself, and yourself in me.
Even if you were the most evil of evildoers, Arjuna, wisdom is the boat that would carry you across the sea of all sin.
Just as firewood is turned to ashes in the flames of fire, all actions are turned to ashes in wisdom’s refining flames.
Nothing in the world can purify as powerfully as wisdom; practiced in yoga, you will find this wisdom within yourself.
Resolute, restraining his senses, the man of faith becomes wise; once he attains true wisdom, he soon attains perfect peace.
Ignorant men without faith are easily mired in doubt; they can never be truly happy in this world or the world beyond.
A man is not bound by action who renounces action through yoga, who concentrates on the Self, and whose doubt is cut off by wisdom.”
Tonight while talking with a friend, I spoke the words “I have had to restart my life many times; so many that I have become a pro.” It was in those words that my sadness came forth like an erupting volcano. And then my sadness turning into wisdom I realized: My thorn is my gift.
I am the child living in wonder at all life has to offer me, yet I die slowly with each passing minute.
I am the old woman who pushes back the gray hair as she sheds tears over old photographs.
I am the young boy climbing trees and riding bikes with his friends.
I am the teenager trying to find my sense of belonging.
I am the middle aged mother who worries about her children.
I am the young girl twirling around in her new pretty dress while dancing in the rain.
I am the old man looking in the mirror wondering where all the time has gone.
I am the woman who has experienced heartache.
I am the middle aged father who grieves the loss of his freedom and then experiences the guilt that follows.
I am the human who has feared loss, disease, and death.
I am the man who follows his mission like a savage hunter.
I am the child who has been neglected and loved.
I am the soul afraid of living.
I am the human that seeks pleasure and runs from suffering.
I am lost and I am right where I am meant to be.
I am all of these in one. I am you. Namaste.