Throughout time I have heard people quote words and phrases. Some stay with me longer than others and of course there are ones that I am particularly fond of. It seems the more I travel and the more open my mind is, the quality and meaning of words change. Some words are so beautifully wound together, I think their meant to be shared with each other.
I am not an athlete and never will I ever be able to achieve any athletic ability. I am however flexible and a good listener.This difference led me to yoga. Yoga has changed my perspective on life. Yoga has pushed me through several states of depression and fatigue. I began taking classes my senior year of high school. I have never felt more welcome in a crowded room of strangers than I did at Albemarle Pilates and Yoga. when you open your eyes and your heart in a crowded room full of people who are also letting their guard down, you all connect. It has to be one of my most cherished feelings.
One of my instructors is known for always closing savasana with a quote of some sort. I remember the first time I heard the Ram Dass quote. My heart was just beginning to slow down from an intense hot yoga class. I still had thoughts spinning in my head. They were much louder with the stillness and quietness of the room. What I was thinking of i’m not quite sure. I am sure I was stressed or worried, most likely both. I hear my instructors voice, quickly it silences my own thoughts. She reads,
“ I honor the place in you where the entire universe resides
I honor the place
of love, of light, of truth, of peace.
I honor the place within you where
If you are in that place in you
and I am in that place in me,
there is only one of us.
I opened my eyes. I felt as if I was being baptized. I am a very emotionally driven person and when I heard this quote for the first time, goosebumps swam over me. I knew then, this wasn’t just an hour a day where I could escape from daily tasks. It was more. It was my escape from self hatred, shame, from greed, hate,jealousy,illness, from everything evil around me. When I heard the quote I felt connected. I felt I had a purpose and I was finally moving in the right direction. Sometimes I still walk through life trying to find purpose and meaning. We can all feel so little and so minuscule when we are in the world. When I find myself in these positions, I try so hard to remember that my suffering seems so much heavier when I am alone. I try to guide myself out of it. We are all on a path. Mine may be different than yours but our paths have crossed for some reason. I do not claim to be religious or know a great deal about religion in general but when I do yoga I feel spiritual. It is my therapy and my faith of choice.
Ram Dass has lots of wonderful quotes. This one is his definition of Namaste, which is always said at the ending of savasana. From reading more about Ram Dass, he is a well known buddhist in the 60’s and this specific quote is practiced a lot in Western yoga classes. I think the meaning of this quote and namaste are to celebrate and accept each other. We are both humans, both unique, and here to respect each other. We should stray from being divided and manifest as one. If we dissect the quote, some literary terms come into play. The quote seems to be an apostrophe, meaning that the words are addressing someone who is absent or imaginary and as if they were capable of understanding. This imaginary person could be you or me. Beginning in line three there is the start of an asyndeton, “ I honor the place in you which is of love, of truth, of light, of peace,” There also is the usage of assonance. The beginning of every line starts with I...honor the place. He uses an antimetabole by repeating in a reverse order, “ I honor the place within you where If you are in that place in you and I am in that place in me..”. All of these literary devices are important and function together to make the reader feel as if he/she is being directly spoken to. All these add up to make this quote memorable.
fnhfd
ReplyDelete