Snowy Early Evening Thoughts
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Obstacle = something that stands in the way of progress or achievement
Or….
Is it?
Is it
Really?
Or is it
Life
In its perfection
Showing us
Exactly
What
We
Need
To grow?
Is it
A doorway
Home,
To a deeper,
Richer,
Brighter
Self?
Why are we taught
Obstacles
Mean:
I did
Something
Wrong?
Or…
This shouldn’t
Be happening.
Or…
Charging forward,
I must
Push
It
Out of
My Way?
Where did
All
That
Come
From?
~~~
Here’s Marcus Aurelius, that light-hearted, loosey-goosey dude, who says:
“The impediment to action advances action.
What stands in the way becomes the way.”
~~~
I don’t even know
How
To talk
About this.
I pick up the idea
“Obstacle”,
And
All
These
Other
Ideas
Come
With
It.
Like Swami Kripalu
Taught—
You pick up the bead,
The whole
Necklace
Comes
Along.
~~~
I remember—
Sitting with the guru,
Kripalu ashram
About 1990.
A big group of us
In the Shadowbrook Room.
He sat up front
In the big,
Armed chair—
His tan velour robe
Tucked modestly
Around him.
He said something like:
“As soon as you make a commitment to something,
You can be sure of one thing…”
I was riveted,
Upright and available
For the message.
“Yes,” he said, “You can be sure of resistance.”
I was bummed out.
I wanted some more
Magical thinking,
Some
Hope
Of being
Elevated above
The human fray.
Nope. It was an invitation into the fray.
He continued:
“The function of yoga
On and off the mat
Is to purify
The obstacles
That block
Us
From
Being
Fully
Alive.”
What?
I thought,
What?
No, I don’t want that.
I want freedom
From
The
Human
Dilemma,
From
The
Obstacles.
Nope.
Relaxing into,
Befriending,
The depression,
The heartbreak…
The fear…
Yoga purifies.
The obstacles?
That means
Practice is working.
~~~
Rumi, of course, gets it and offers it back to us, perfectly.
Here it is, here’s Rumi, in 25 words or less, the truth is landed:
“Your task is not to seek for love,
but merely to seek and find
all the barriers
within yourself
that you have built against it.”
~~~
Here’s an example.
I was most inspired by this post on my dearest friend, Callie’s page.
The spaciousness and the love with which he can see his daughter, rather than attacking the obstacle—
Here it is:
Dwayne Wade, basketball player-extraordinaire, offers these words to his 15-year-old trans daughter. Who just legally became Zaya…
“As your father, all I’ve wanted to do was get it right,” he said.
“I’ve sat back and watched how gracefully you’ve taken on the public scrutiny, and even though it’s not easy, I watched you walk out of that house every morning as yourself.
I admire how you’ve handled the ignorance in our world. I admire what you face every day.
As your father, my job isn’t to create a version of myself or direct your future, my role is to be a facilitator to your hopes, your wishes, and your dreams,” Dwyane continued.
“Zaya, you’ve made me a better human just simply by being who you were born to be – a baby girl, Zaya Wade.”
Words of Dwanye Wade
~~~
Softening into
The obstacles.
Befriending them.
Learning
From
Them.
Perhaps
Even
Welcoming
Them…
Meeting them
With love.
~~~
And….
Some music for our souls:
Playing for Change, Playing for Peace
~~~
Friends, with love.
Friends, with gratitude.
Friends, with wise hope—
Blessings, Aruni