Spring is coming.... a time for all things new.
I for one am grateful for Winter coming to an end. It’s been long, dark, confusing, eye-opening and liberating. Lots of dark with a bit of light and that was just the first half of Winter.
In the East, a day is marked sunrise to sunrise. The light and dark making up a whole day. In the West, we consider sunrise to sunset a day. Accepting the light of day but rarely honoring the dark as part of it. This happens in our lives as well. We would rather not look at the darkness often covering it up with something, someone or a host of modern conveniences.
I’ve spent the last half of Winter in Rishikesh, India. Considered one of the holiest cities in the world. Saints, sages, gurus and even Jesus have spent many of days meditating in these foothills of the Himalayan mountains.
Meditations spent in solitude, in caves, on the banks of the Ganges River and almost always with eyes closed in the dark. The time they spent in darkness allowed the light of them to shine brightly.
Down from the hills. It’s a different kind of dark. The trash and sewage run freely through the streets, they bath and do their laundry in the river. They burn the dead on the banks of the river. Most buildings are inhabitable with multiple families living in them. In the light your aware of the dark
The light and the dark coexist as one. You exist (light & dark) as one within the whole.
- How was your winter?
- Did you avoid the darkness?
- Are you afraid of it?
- Do you hide it from yourself and others?
- Did you take advantage of its gift?
- Can you see the light?
- Are you prepared for Spring?
Spending the second half of the winter in India has allowed more and more light to come out of my dark winter. The first few days in India are a very distant memory. The only thing I can remember is driving in a Tuk Tuk car down a road that resembled a war zone thinking WTF. Fast forward to today and I lovingly walk down that same street to get coffee at the local bakery, interacting with the many saints, sages, and gurus disguised as children, woman, men, cows, and dogs.
Have reverence for your darkness for it will be the only way to see the light and enjoy the gift of all things new.
Love & Wisdom
Sachi
