Finding the Sacred
12/06/07 21:11
Recently, the festival of Diwali was celebrated in India. This is a weekend sacred celebration with gifts, fireworks, get togethers, prayer and, of course, food. I have heard that it is beyond any celebration we experience on a regular basis here in the states, and it is beyond our imagination. The festival celebrates the triumphant king Rama's return to his throne after a long battle involving demons, and monkeys, and....what?
Wow. An entire celebration for a seemingly fictional historical story about a king and his monkey? Don't get me wrong, I'm a huge fan of the Ramayana, especially Hanuman, one of the main characters, but we don't even rival the Diwali celebration with our own Independence Day...and that actually happened! You see, there is a deeply ingrained sense of the sacred in Indian culture, that has largely been lost in our own Western culture. They have an entire weekend celebration in honor of what they consider to be sacred. I'm not saying that we don't have similar types of things, but I think they're more masked in our society.
I don't believe that the sacred in our society has been irrevocably lost, but it might take us yogis some extra effort to re-engage ourselves in cherishing what is sacred around us. First, of course, we have to start considering what we find to be sacred. I was discussing this issue with a friend of mine, because it's been on my mind, and he said, that westerners find plenty of things sacred...their cars, their house, their diamond rings. Not exactly the reassurance I was looking for, but lets consider the definition of sacred. Just for fun, I looked it up and among several definitions is included: "entitled to reverence and respect" and "highly valued and important". Of course, there were other definitions that included references to religion, but let's not go there for now.
What is sacred is whatever object we place that particular value on. A photo might be sacred to one person, and not to another. We choose what is sacred in our lives. I believe another important component is the way that our sacred objects make us feel. They should inspire within us a sense of reverence, respect, and devotion. They should even remind us of our highest potential, and bring us back to the true meaning of whatever we do every single day. Let what is sacred to us be our touchpoint - what we come back to when we need to remind ourselves how sacred we are.
I think also that what we find to be sacred in our lives should be there as a constant reminder, and not tucked away for when we have time for it. Again, what you find sacred is up to you, but bring it to the forefront of your life and keep coming back to it. As humans, we tend to need constant reminders of how special we are (that's what yoga teachers try to do, too!), because we so often forget. Rekindle what is sacred in your life. Allow yourself to celebrate what is sacred to you - and allow that to help you celebrate your Self.