The universe at work....
This crayon drawing you see to your left is not just a child’s recreation of the cover of Matrika Yoga….. it is so much more.
On December 1st, 2008 (as Violet wrote on top of her page) in our kid’s yoga class, our topic of the day was, “There is always more”. This phrase is a phrase you will hear in your adult yoga classes and is a theme directly from the words of Douglas Brooks. For those of you who are not so familiar with Douglas, he is the philosophical voice of Anusara, not to mention a world renowned Scholar and amazing teacher.
On that day, I asked the kids, “where do we live?”, they said “Montclair”. Followed by me asking, “And Montclair is part of a???”, which was answered, “A state!”. So we kept going…. a state is in a country, a country is in a continent, a continent is in the world, the world is in the universe, the universe is …… and so we came to, “there is always more”. Throughout class we found new things in each pose, to continue the theme, we would stretch our fingers, take in more breath, and even remember to pause as an action of MORE. Then we sat down for our guided drawing portion of class…. I help bring the kids back to our theme and then ask them to draw a representation or expression of that. One child drew a seed, then a plant, then a tree with fruit, then a person eating the fruit. May I remind you that these kids are 5 years and under. I watched Violet draw hers and thought it was beautiful, I also thought i understood it. So I asked her to tell me what her drawing meant, and she replied, “Well whatever way you go big circles or small circles, there is always more”. I get goose bumps or loma harshana as Hill calls them just thinking about that moment. I was only looking one direction, up, and this brilliant little soul showed me my own theme…. there IS always more.
I have been re-reading my Matrika, and today for some reason, I really looked at the cover. I felt a rush of energy throughout my body, and thought, “I have seen this before, somewhere else, not just on this cover”. So I looked harder and I notice the center had a small dot, as if the circles kept getting smaller. Now, I give each child a journal for class, so they can keep a log of their drawings. I ran to the back of the studio and open Violet’s log….. and there it was, the exact same drawing…… by a five year old who has no idea what Matrika was. For those unfamiliar with Matrika, it was a scholarly journal featuring Douglas Brooks, and others who specialize in the Tradition of the Rajanaka Tantra.
Take a look at the picture above again…..
Let it be a constant reminder that this life is a gift, and that there is always more to learn, to experience, to feel, to see, to give, to receive, to re-learn, to LOVE.
Thank you Violet for your wisdom and constant reminder of the universe.
