I'm working through "Change your thoughts, change your life" by Dr Wayne Dyer at the pace of a very slow snail. That seems to be the right pace for me. The verse I am at describes the impartial nature of the Tao, its unconditional nature.
"The sage is not sentimental, he treats all his people as straw dogs."
Often times things come to me when I give a Relaxation in class. Often times all my planning goes out the window, and the Relaxation becomes a creative flow. I experience it as do my students. Something that flows out of the unknown through my mind and weaves itself together all by itself. And it ties together all the questions that have been in my mind forming an answer.
Another thing takes over then. Something in the mind peaks. My consciousness blossoms and the answer grows into a knowing. When that happens I have learned to understand that that answer is then indelibly imprinted on my awareness. It has become, it is now part of me forever. Its hard to describe this kind of knowing as it has a heightened quality, like you touch a truth beyond reason. It fills you with a feeling and a sense of totality. I guess that's the union of Yoga, the moment when there's a deeper sense of connection with something much larger than your normal self.
So last weeks Relaxation was like that.
I began describing a star, gold and silver. Now a star is one of the very lofty images I sometimes use, very much beyond the symbols of sun and moon in Yoga. To me the star transcends all that, it's a symbol of where we come from and where we are returning. Its a lovely thought for me to contemplate the light of a star. Each star shines upon us and can be seen by everyone. Well not particular stars, but stars in general. It strikes me that the star is like the sage. It gives its light to all in an equal and "unsentimental" way. And from this there is a natural expansion of an idea...un-conditionality. The star is its exemplar.
The star shares its light equally and without stint on everyone. And if the star is the highest form of universal energy and light we can contemplate, then a (mystical) understanding unfolds from this. Its only our mind, with its narrower focus, that draws the conclusion of inequality, of more or less for us or others. It isn't the nature of the star. The star is unconditional in its giving.
For anyone who contemplates this - not just intellectually - but meditatively, I believe there are some quite rich insights to be found. Contemplation of the star can unfold deeper recesses of our awareness of how the universe functions mystically.
Bring to your mind the image of a star in an indigo sky. Infuse the image with your breath, perhaps holding your awareness inside the space of the mind as you do. Contemplate the star and its nature and the journey of its light to you.
"He gives and gives, without condition, offering his treasures to everyone." - The Tao Te Ching
Much love,
Wendy.


