siva/shakti

hey wick,

after taking that flying hanuman leap toward the crass in the last blog, i decided to redeem myself by writing about all things pretty and appropriate- like dance.

remember the time i was letting go of most of my possessions (i believe you had done the same a year prior), and i tried to give you my green belly dancing skirt? i was like, 'i haven't used this in a really long time, please enjoy it.' you were like, 'no way, you're keeping that. ' besides, by then you had your own kali-esque black one and even had it with you that day. there began a 'yoga trance dance' (should i give shiva rea credit for that name?) party that ended with a little house music version of 'yes we can.'

i love spontaneous siva nataraja. maybe a cousin of the spontaneous siva linga?

we've been talking about siva for as long as i can remember. but what does it all really mean?

in sanskrit the word siva means "auspiciousness, goodness, grace."
and the word shakti means "sacred force or empowerment."
and the root word shak means "to be able."

shak- no wonder 'yes we can' is such a powerful mantra. We are Able. i don't mean to mix yoga and politics, but the most famous karma yogin did- Gandhi!

siva nataraja is the form of the dancing siva, who dances the world
into existence, maintains it, and dissolves it, there in the ring of fire.

in the tantric vision, siva and shakti are not separate from us, rather they are the particular energies that we already are. perfect compliments- the goodness and the mover of the goodness. siva is siva and shakti, so i try to be in remembrance of her too all the time.

enlightenment in the tantric vision is any moment that you feel joy or love, and these moments just keep expanding. john friend said it the best- 'it's like an all night dance party type of deal.'

in other words, we are the dance party.

love,

amanda