Devotion
“The way” is always where we are at. We try to make sense of everything.. we try to understand, think, be logical, feel, make choices. We start something, stop something, question ourselves, make plans, turn around, do something different, all by thinking we are the doer in this world with the consequences of going through a spiral of emotions along the way.. and finally we rationalize with ourselves that “we” made a “choice.” By going through this process of undoing the structuralization of thinking we move into stability in the present. “The way” can be rocky and unpleasant, bringing up feelings of guilt, sorrow, questioning, excitement, unsettledness, until it pushes us into another way of acceptance, presence, and peace.
Life is a path of understanding devotion and it’s not an easy avenue because in reality every situation, object, relationship, and project will bring us a whole spectrum of feelings when we sit with it for a long time. Being alive in this body grants us the ability to experience emotion. We will go through great periods of pain and discomfort and we will dwell in moments of pure bliss and excitement. By shining light on this, we see that life is simply just a process of losing and receiving.
Devotion should not in any way be confused with emotion. We like to dwell in our feelings all while chasing our own shadows to our death. This is where the practice of Yoga comes in — to not let our feelings trap us, strap us, and burden us to the point where we resist what’s in front of us— to not constantly run the highs and lows of life, but Yoga gives us the courage and heart to undo it all and accept peace as our essential nature. It is the ultimate practice that teaches us how to quiet the mind so we don’t have to always question. The real test of a yoga practitioner comes when we see what’s in front of us and we move into it with heart and courage.
Devotion is quite simple. It is finding the peace of any feeling and the stability to hold on to that peace as we travel through materialistic action.
What lies in front of us is what needs to be done and every moment we are in is about accepting our duty and proceeding. When we renounce all desire to be somewhere else rather than where we are, we come back to ourselves, pure devotion.
We think of devotion as an act. We place a picture of Jesus, Krishna, or anyone we look up to in front of us, we step on to our yoga mats each morning, we chant, we go to church, we marry our partners, we show up to our careers faithfully, and we devote our lives selflessly to our children.
But.. it progresses into so much more.
We are devotion. To live in this body is devotion to something greater than us whatever we may call it- nature, the stars, God. Contentment from acceptance comes when we realize we are put where we need to be. The waves of emotions and thoughts that come is only a catalyst to bring us back to this level of presence and peace in all situations, our true inner radiating being- joy. We open our hearts and spend time with people who embody these qualities and these qualities start to rub off on us. Over time we realize that the outward attention we placed on them is just a mirror of our own true being.
Devotion is the only possible thing that can be done. Life will keep testing us if we think it is something different.
Share your thoughts with me if you’re willing.
Big love- Carrie