Namaste

Such a beautiful word of greeting or farewell meaning, “I behold the divinity within you.” Such a useful reminder that, even though we haven’t shared personal experience – even if we don’t know each other’s histories, or personalities, or even each other’s names – we know that we share the sacred human experience of being alive.

We acknowledge that we are each unique expressions of divinity. This divinity has been regarded as God, Goddess, the Great Mystery, the Spirit Within, Gaia, Universal Love and many other names – including the Life Force itself. But no matter how we name or understand it, clearly this divinity is the common human birthright within each of us. My mother introduced me to this long before my adulthood introduced me to the word “Namaste:” when she would say, “A stranger is simply a relative I don’t know yet!”

Often in my workshops on spirituality, we come to discover that although we have learned a great many lessons, guidelines, instructions (and just plain rules!) about beholding the divinity within another, we may find ourselves relatively lacking in the experience of beholding the divinity within ourselves …What might this mean: “I behold the divinity within myself?”

If you choose to invite this question into your life, I encourage you to bypass the rational, linear process of addressing it intellectually. Respond to it instead by listening to your heart’s knowing – in the realm of your intuitive wisdom. Allow this process to unfold over time, a gentle and consistent practice of questioning, letting it go, and later returning to it.

Through my own spiritual questioning and the shared experience of others, I’ve come to trust three very important supports for this process:

Space
Time
Compassionate Witness

Find a physical environment which offers quiet, safety, and removal from distraction. Find a time to which you will give priority – scheduled in advance, protected and respected. As to what we do within the space: nothing! Simply relax and be. Be quiet. Be still. Be with your question. Be with your heart’s response. Be with your Self. And lastly, create an opportunity to express your questions and discoveries in the presence of a trusted and compassionate listener. Choose someone whose heart can listen as yours will speak – without judgment, without censorship, without distraction.

What might this mean to you: “I behold the divinity within myself”? Should you wish to share some of your discoveries with me, I welcome that opportunity with gratitude!

I’d like to leave you with this passage from one of my favorite poems by Mary Oliver, “The Summer Day” …

“I don’t know exactly what a prayer is.

I do know how to pay attention,

how to fall down into the grass,

how to kneel down in the grass,

how to be idle and blessed,

how to stroll through the fields,

which is what I have been doing all day.

Tell me, what else should I have done?

Doesn’t everything die and too soon?

Tell me, what is it you plan to do

with your one wild and precious life?”

Namaste

Goddess Note: Allison Morgan, M.A., M.F.A., is a Spa Therapist for Onegoddessway.com and leads workshops. She has a private practice in Chicago. If you would like to contact her just email :

amorgan@onegoddessway.com

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