Namaskar Nepal

As I prepare in the next few days to leave Nepal, I place my hands together.  I bring the sun and moon together, the yin and yang together.  I bring creation and destruction together.  By placing our hands together we bring the two polarities to meet, all that is internal and all that is external, all that is within and all that is without, all that is full and replete and all that is empty.

When we bring our hands together in this profound gesture we naturally become more respectful to those that surround us and gain a greater sense of contentment and respect for ourselves.  It is a powerful and poignant way to experience a greater sense of peace, joy and love for all that is external, the five elements of earth, water, fire, air and space; which surround us, and those same five elements, which essentially make our beings.  That which is external is also internal.  By placing our hands together this signifies the male and the female uniting, Shiva that which is consciousness itself and Shakti that which is energy unites and all becomes one.  This is the practice of yoga and this is our longing to become whole and complete.

When I place my hands together I hold Nepal within my palms with love and attention and there it will stay, within my heart and within my imagination.  Yoga is when we become flexible not in body but in our very awareness, as there is no separation between the knower and the known.  The whole universe is changing continually, our bodies are changing continually, and the mind is constantly moving no?  As a leaf falls from the tree and lands upon the water of the river beneath it, it floats along where the river will take it.  I too fall onto that water and allow the universe to carry me, I surrender to that which will come; I have trust in the process.  In the words of Sadhguru, ‘The spiritual process is not about going to heaven someday, it is about knowing life in all its profoundness.’

The practice of yoga allows life to shine through us and allows us to overcome our limitations and to realize our oneness.  Often life twists and turns in ways we didn’t expect, we can not see what is around the corner, but learning to let go and simply go with the flow so to speak can bring so much relief than to battle against that flow.  Paddling up stream can become miserable where as drifting with the current gives you the chance to simply sit back and look and listen.  I have a great faith in the elements which surround me and make me and for that I am eternally grateful.  To learn from all of nature, from our inspired Guru’s is a wonder in itself.  I am on a journey here as are we all, and I am learning.

Nepal I salute you and someday I will return as in the circle of life in samsara there is no beginning and no end.  There is a continual movement as one Surya Namaskar flows into the next I too hope to come back.

I hold Nepal in one hand with all my memories of the last four years, all the faces of the people I have met, all the trees and hills, and I hold the anticipation of Uganda where I am moving to next in the other hand, and I simply bring you together between the palms of my hands in Namaskar.

I honor you, I honor the place in you where the whole Universe resides, of love of light of truth, this is the same place as is within me.  There is but one.

Namaste.

I am moving to Kampala; Uganda.  There will be a short break in these blog posts until I am settled.

Om shanti shanti shanti

May all beings find peace and harmony.

Any enquiries to nickymangala@gmail.com

Love and light nicky / mangala.