I am addicted to Joseph Campbell these days. I’m reading “A Joseph Campbell Companion” selected and edited by Diane K. Osborn, and it continually blows my mind.
Yesterday was a hard day here in Chiang Mai. I woke up and wanted to be home, I was craving nature, quite, and the smell of my love’s skin. I was home sick. I have committed to a pratice of daily yoga and medition for the 70 days I’ll be here. Yesterday was day 2 of my mediation, and it was a struggle to get out of bed let alone sit on my mat. But, as alsways, the hardest part is the motivation to get there, once there, I’m filled with gratitude and I find my way home, back to my heart centre.
This day though,I needed a little more encouragment, I was still deperately missing home. So I picked up good ol J.C ‘s book and found my self reading of the symbol of the down turned triangle, the bottom half of the the symbol for the 4th Chakra, Anahata, the heart chakra. He spoke of it’s representation of 2 things, the obstacle and the means of which you are going to make the ascent. In other words, everthing in your life that seems to be obstructive can be transformed by recognizing that it is the means of your transition. He spoke about the extreme side of working to eliminate your resistance to the undesierable, the shit of life. Joseph refered to an unnamed American Indian tribe in the south west who has an initiation that actually incolves eating dog shit. Again, an extreme, not necessary in releasing the self and the object mentality, the seperation, but you get the point.
“The most repulsive has to be accepted as also Brahman.”
This pulled me out of my head and brought me back to breath and self, I could feel again the nurturing of the earth around me. Rather than resisting the sweltering heat, the constant underboob sweat, the dishearting of the garbage on the streets, the polluted rivers, and lack of recylcing… I decided to accept it as a part of the whole. Live with joy in face of life’s sorrow.
So here I am, in 2 days I’ll start a 10 week thai massage course. I’m feeling grounded, and open to the possibilities. I am here because this is where life has taken me, I’m moving through a threshold. When we work the physical body we are open to discomfort because we know this is what will bring us growth and release. Yet we are so reluctant to welcome this into our emotional and spiritual lifes, and yet this is the only way to fine the same growth and release. I say bring it on!! I can sit in the shit, smell it, taste it, sleep in it… it’s my shit after all. And once I can accept if for what it is, see the symbolism there, what is it teaching me? Then I can see the beauty in it. The jem amongst the filth.
When we listen and relinquish control, we allow ourselves to be part of the conversation. And life opens up for us.
Just Be, and Flow Free
Love and Light to you,
Swati
Awaken Your Wild Wellness 