This week in class, we covered our 8th goddess, Maha Gauri, the goddess of new beginnings, joy and rejuvenation. In her book, The Way of the Goddess, Ananta Ripa Ajmera, takes us through the discovery of all nine goddesses, celebrated during the spiritual Journey of Navratri. Goddess Maha Guri’s special gift and secret power is her wonderment- a concept I’d like to highlight today.
Ascharya, wonderment, is a concept so important, that once adopted as a way of life, makes everything looks connected, related, in equal measure….a tapestry called life.
If you know beauty, and determined to find it anywhere and everywhere, you are soon able to see life through the gorgeous web we are all part of – the daily miracle of the rising sun, a blooming flower, a child’s smile, a mama on the sidewalk this early morning, dancing while walking with her kids to school, hugging and kissing her husband’s shoulder…..JOY to ALL my senses…true story – she saw me seeing her and a happy smile was exchanged (you know who you are, you beautiful thing – you’ve confirmed my urge to write about Ascharya today).
During family dinner last night, with both of my college boys back home, my eldest talked about how he tends to give himself such a hard time and finally realized why. If seeing every part of the journey outside our home – friends, midterms/finals/papers/time management etc, etc, as one piece at a time and not as a whole, he can easily scrutinize for all that “is not what he was hoping for, wishing for“ etc….But when all looked at as ONE, allowing wonder in each event to be of joy and opportunity, beautiful synchronicities slowly emerge, making sense of it all, seeing life as a giant piece of art, forever unfolding….never alone. Without knowing, my kid had a quick glimpse into Ascharya, into a mystic concept of looking at things through expansion, rather than contraction.
If we remind ourselves that looking through the lenses of wonderment creates expansion and connects us all to this majestic web called life, while we would still inevitably flow between beauty AND pain, life as a whole will become a fortunate opportunity, rather than good or bad, successful or failure, happy or sad, alone or TOGETHER!!!!
Keep the wonder, be the kid you used to be, climb a mountain, dance in your kitchen, sing in the shower (or the sidewalk)…..be ONE with all that is around you…..EXPAND 🌟
. I’m sure soon enough, you would too…). I do hope you enjoy it and if it ever gets you through the day, drop a comment and let me know.