by Susana García Blanco | Oct 1, 2013 | Uncategorized
This weekend starts the Navaratri celebration (literally “nine nights”). During these days, and their nights, it is celebrated Goddess Durgaás victory over the demon Mahisa, the victory of light over darkness; Durga´s power to transform our lives dissolving everything it is not useful anymore. Each of those nine days is dedicated to honor one of the forms in which Durga appears, each of the forms in which the femenine power manifests itself.
Mahisa was a terrible demon that was threatening with destroying all the worlds. It is considered in Hindu Mythology that there is a balance of power between Devas (literally light or luminous) and Asura (the demons). The Devas are the Gods and they represent the bright parts of ourselves, in alignment with the Universal energy: our generosity, our compassion, our will power …. They are the energy in the moments when we act guided from the heart and following the highest motivations. The Asuras are the beings that have won great power through their yogic practices and they use that power in an egoistic way. We can easily feel that asuric power in the world today just opening a newspaper and reading a couple of news. Also in our own actions or thoughts when they come from resentment, envy, greediness,… In the Tantric vision of Mithology we are all the characters in every story and that ideal search for balance between Devas and Asuras is nothing else that the search for balance between the different parts of ourselves. It is yoga.
But lets go to the story… a brief version of the story. Mahisa had received a boon from Brahma because of his intense ascetic practices by which no man or God could ever kill him. He totally forgot about the power of the femenine… Big mistake !! With all the power acquired through those practices, he dedicated himself to terrorize and conquer all the worlds, even the Deva´s. Given the terrible threat from Mahisa, the three main Gods, Brahmma, Vishnu and Shiva get together to find a solution. They gather their powerful energies as a blinding ray of light and, from that flaming light, Goddess Durga is born. All the Gods offer to her their most powerful weapons as a gift: (that is the reason why Durga has so many arms… from eight to thousand!!). The Goddes, fierce and stunningly beautiful at the same time, shows up in the gardens of Mahisa´s palace. After some exchange of impressions, the battle with Mahisa starts. Mahisa usually takes the shape of a buffalo or a bull, resembling the insistent and stubborn ways in which our misalingments and our unconscious tendencies show up in our lives. He is also known for shape-shifting. (Does this sound familiar, how all those tendencies that seem dissolved, part of the past, show up in a new way? ) Durga has all her arms in her multiple arms. During the battle, as Mahisa takes different shapes, she uses the right weapon to confront him . Because Durga is interested in the change that takes place from inside. In teaching us which are our resources to face the different life situations as the challenges shape-shift. This is a happy ending story. Durga aniquilates the Demon Mahisa, after an ardous battle, cutting his head with her sword that represents the light of knowledge that defeats darkness. All the Gods rush towards her and fall to her feer, honoring as Maha Devi (lthe Great Goddess). ¨Devi, you ended our torment … You are our Mother, our protectress… Please, listen to us and protect us always when we are in danger” This is Navaratri´s prayer. And this is the active power of the femenine, represented by Durga, that carries us through deep transformations, that guides us in the moments in life when the challenges seem unsurmountable. Durga is the part of our being that does not get intimidated in front of injustice, that is not afraid to tell the truth or to let go of anything harmful or that it does not help us, no matter the amount of attachment we feel. Durga infuses with the warrior energy as she gives the unconditional love and protection of a mother. In these days of Navaratri that starts on october 5th, ask her for help. Invoke her presence with her mantra OM DUM DURGA JAY NAMAH, contemplate which are your asuras in this moment of your life and offer them to her. Allow yourself to feel how here strength and resources are your own.
by Susana García Blanco | Jun 24, 2013 | Uncategorized
Tonight I had the visit of a hummingbird in my dreams, bringing the message of auspicious beginnings. It is a beginning this first blog entry, where there will be my contemplations and little grains of sand in the conversation of yoga and life. In Morocco, nothing can start without a blessing… so Bismillah!!
I find great inspiration in sacred texts and the notes that I took over the years from my teachers or during my travels. This gem from my dear teacher Douglas Brooks popped up today:
“If you practice vulnerability, the Universe will give you the gift of authenticity”
The energy contained in this sentence, its Matrika Shakti, is for me like an arrow direct to the heart. It resonated with great potency the first time I heard it and still feels heavy in its truth everytime that I read it; a great invitation to explore who I am and to commit to live from the heart and write from my sincere experience.
This teaching sounds very interesting to me, not only because its deep resonance, but also because, in some way, is the opposite of the advice that we often receive. Our world rest in the confortable zone of uniformity. The process that we call globalization illustrate this idea at a large scale but the same can be said at a more personal level. There are determined roles and models in our societies and if you fit into one of those apparently your life is so much easier. “Be protected”, “Don’t expose yourself”, “Do what the mayority do”. This are the advice we, directly or in a subliminal way you are most likely to receive. But to fit into those patterns most times we have to wear a mask. And this can have a high price to pay: a sense of confusion between who we are in our inner space and the role we decide or we think we have to play. I believe, this is a great cause of suffering and unhappiness in our societies.
I cannot help but using surfing (from the humbleness of my limited experience) as a metaphore of life and the spiritual journey. When you are at the beach, you can choose to spend your day in the confortable spot that is the shore, just laying on the sand or having a Moroccan tea, or you can paddle out to the place of vulnerability at the peak in the waves. (Is there anything more vulnerable than a human being in the Ocean?). Somehow it is crazy but it happens that when you take yourself out there you have the most amazing experiences of power, connection, inner peace, and joy. Surfing faces me continuosly with my fears and my weaknesses but everydat shows me my strengths and gives me so many smiles. I feel I had some of my most precious yoga moments in the Ocean by allowing myself to explore and live my vulnerability. And I can say the same of my life, out of the water
When you dare to take out the mask (or the many masks that we have built over the years around us), to wear just your bare face, you become vulnerable, simply by being who you are. The gift is that you savor the flavors of your heart, not the artificial ones, but the real flavors and smells of life, like a good meal made just with natural ingredients. Yoga invites us to explore our inner world. One of the common metaphores that appear for this adventure is that of going inside the forest or the jungle, another place of great vulnerability for human beings. From there the invitation is to open our senses, and our mind and heart to the mystery of life, to show ourselves as what we are: an embodied form of the Divine that chose to be us. The yogi finds protection, not in an outer armor but in developing an inner strength that comes from our most intimate relationship with the Self. It is through the constant remembrance of who we truly are that we can show ourselves with no fear. It is from fortitude that you can be vulnerable. And this vulnerability zone is it is a dynamic place of practice and learning, as it is to be in the Ocean. And there is where yoga truly happens.
Back to cites, I love one from Appa, (the familiar way how Douglas Brooks’ Indian teacher, used to be called)
“Have you stopped to think all the effort that the Universe has made to be just you?”
It is human to be scared of not fitting, not being accepted, not being loved, and it is for this we créate our protection masks. To be as we are supposed to be. But if you contemplate the fact that you are a unique being in this beautiful Universe, that the Divine wanted that you were just precisely you…. would you hide yourself? Would you deprive others of the singularity that is you? It is that recognition that makes me take and re-take the concious choice of being consecuent to my heart, making myself vulnerable if needed, and living with the freedom that brings authenticity.
It is summertime and as we expose our bodies more to the Sun, it can be a good time to contemplate what is the gift of myself that I want to offer and share just by being more of me. Trust more deeply in your friends, surrender totally when you make love, publish in Facebook a poem that comes from your soul, sing in public, dance as if you are alone, say what you think, do what you feel… When we make ourselves vulnerable we might be judged, it might hurt. But it is also the only way to be truly loved and to be able to live with any judgment.
Happy San Juan night! Take a step to a more vulnerable place, throw your masks to the fire and enjoy the summer breeze in your face…
But lets go to the story… a brief version of the story. Mahisa had received a boon from Brahma because of his intense ascetic practices by which no man or God could ever kill him. He totally forgot about the power of the femenine… Big mistake !! With all the power acquired through those practices, he dedicated himself to terrorize and conquer all the worlds, even the Deva´s. Given the terrible threat from Mahisa, the three main Gods, Brahmma, Vishnu and Shiva get together to find a solution. They gather their powerful energies as a blinding ray of light and, from that flaming light, Goddess Durga is born. All the Gods offer to her their most powerful weapons as a gift: (that is the reason why Durga has so many arms… from eight to thousand!!). The Goddes, fierce and stunningly beautiful at the same time, shows up in the gardens of Mahisa´s palace. After some exchange of impressions, the battle with Mahisa starts. Mahisa usually takes the shape of a buffalo or a bull, resembling the insistent and stubborn ways in which our misalingments and our unconscious tendencies show up in our lives. He is also known for shape-shifting. (Does this sound familiar, how all those tendencies that seem dissolved, part of the past, show up in a new way? ) Durga has all her arms in her multiple arms. During the battle, as Mahisa takes different shapes, she uses the right weapon to confront him . Because Durga is interested in the change that takes place from inside. In teaching us which are our resources to face the different life situations as the challenges shape-shift. This is a happy ending story. Durga aniquilates the Demon Mahisa, after an ardous battle, cutting his head with her sword that represents the light of knowledge that defeats darkness. All the Gods rush towards her and fall to her feer, honoring as Maha Devi (lthe Great Goddess). ¨Devi, you ended our torment … You are our Mother, our protectress… Please, listen to us and protect us always when we are in danger” This is Navaratri´s prayer. And this is the active power of the femenine, represented by Durga, that carries us through deep transformations, that guides us in the moments in life when the challenges seem unsurmountable. Durga is the part of our being that does not get intimidated in front of injustice, that is not afraid to tell the truth or to let go of anything harmful or that it does not help us, no matter the amount of attachment we feel. Durga infuses with the warrior energy as she gives the unconditional love and protection of a mother. In these days of Navaratri that starts on october 5th, ask her for help. Invoke her presence with her mantra OM DUM DURGA JAY NAMAH, contemplate which are your asuras in this moment of your life and offer them to her. Allow yourself to feel how here strength and resources are your own.