Friday, March 26, 2004
Change Is the Only Constant
Not a Thousand Prostrations
You do not have to
change your name
in order for god
to love you.
You are not required to rise
at a certain hour
nor wear a robe
of a specified color
because that's what
the others have chosen to do.
You needn't make
the thousand prostrations
nor circumnavigate the mountain
a hundred times
nor dwell on an image
of an imaginary form
until you think
it is who you are.
But you must
wash your heart
again and again
in the pure fountain
where sanctity dwells.
You must cleanse your spirit
many times over
in the cauldrons of love.
Only love, my friend,
will take you there.
Only the constant seekers
find the way.
copyright, Dorothy Walters
The only constant in kundalini is constant change. However you begin, whether in slow progression from stage to stage (do people really do this?) or in some sudden, shocking opening--your initial state won't last. Your energies may shift from faint stirrings to strong pulsations, or go the other direction--from dynamic to soft. You may have periods of extreme bliss interspersed with painful or even dry spells, when it seems that nothing much is happening to move you forward. You may think you have finally arrived at stasis, only to find yourself plunged once again into tumultuous feeling.
No one knows why these dramatic shifts occur, who is most susceptible to them, what the outcome will be. We only know the variations are endless, like the undulating colors which comprise a sunset, or the endlessly changing patterns of waves striking against the shore.
Some people wish to "control" the ceaseless interplay of the energies, to tame them through harsh disciplines. Others prefer to follow the inner guide, enjoying the play within as the unseen teacher leads the way. In a real sense, this dichotomy reflects patriarchal vs. matriarchal attitudes, mechanical vs. organic approaches, controlling vs. allowing.
I am of the latter persuasion. For me, too much discipline is intrusive, an arbitrary imposition of form on an intrinsically formless experience. I look on kundalini as ultimate gift, visitation of the divine. How then could I presume to override such majestic intelligence which has graced me by entering my life and leading me to ever deepening mystery?
This is not a melody already scored, nor a drama previously scripted. It is an ever new, constantly fresh revelation, just as this year's blossomings are not those of the year before.
You do not have to
change your name
in order for god
to love you.
You are not required to rise
at a certain hour
nor wear a robe
of a specified color
because that's what
the others have chosen to do.
You needn't make
the thousand prostrations
nor circumnavigate the mountain
a hundred times
nor dwell on an image
of an imaginary form
until you think
it is who you are.
But you must
wash your heart
again and again
in the pure fountain
where sanctity dwells.
You must cleanse your spirit
many times over
in the cauldrons of love.
Only love, my friend,
will take you there.
Only the constant seekers
find the way.
copyright, Dorothy Walters
The only constant in kundalini is constant change. However you begin, whether in slow progression from stage to stage (do people really do this?) or in some sudden, shocking opening--your initial state won't last. Your energies may shift from faint stirrings to strong pulsations, or go the other direction--from dynamic to soft. You may have periods of extreme bliss interspersed with painful or even dry spells, when it seems that nothing much is happening to move you forward. You may think you have finally arrived at stasis, only to find yourself plunged once again into tumultuous feeling.
No one knows why these dramatic shifts occur, who is most susceptible to them, what the outcome will be. We only know the variations are endless, like the undulating colors which comprise a sunset, or the endlessly changing patterns of waves striking against the shore.
Some people wish to "control" the ceaseless interplay of the energies, to tame them through harsh disciplines. Others prefer to follow the inner guide, enjoying the play within as the unseen teacher leads the way. In a real sense, this dichotomy reflects patriarchal vs. matriarchal attitudes, mechanical vs. organic approaches, controlling vs. allowing.
I am of the latter persuasion. For me, too much discipline is intrusive, an arbitrary imposition of form on an intrinsically formless experience. I look on kundalini as ultimate gift, visitation of the divine. How then could I presume to override such majestic intelligence which has graced me by entering my life and leading me to ever deepening mystery?
This is not a melody already scored, nor a drama previously scripted. It is an ever new, constantly fresh revelation, just as this year's blossomings are not those of the year before.
