Guises - Halloween, Let Your Freak Flag Fly Free #13

Guises - Halloween, Let Your Freak Flag Fly Free                    October 30, 2017

Costumes— why do we like to put them on?
One theory is we get to role play.  We get to explore a side of our personalities, express feelings and creativity in a safe and invited manner.

Often in life, we feel confined, forcing ourselves into the role we are enacting (mother, son, lawyer, etc)  and in doing so suppress other feelings, ideas and expressions.  To be human means we hold the full gamut of human emotion from sublime happiness, joy and beauty to sadness, anger and horror within.   How do we express it at the appropriate time in a manner that is both a release and an offering; in a manner that serves both the individual and the world at large?

The yoga tradition is rich with stories of demons, the asuras that come to test the gods.  But they are also shown to be the gods/goddesses themselves in various guises.  The demonic aspect then, seizes or grasps the light and crimps it into form and shape.   

This is not a mistake, Consciousness is one, whole, unitary and in that contains every possible variation.  It is also completely free and in its freedom, Wills itself into contracted form, into you and me.  The story of yoga is recovering, recognizing the wholeness we hold within, experiencing this to such a degree that when we play the various roles on the surface of life this truth is not forgotten.

In remembering this wholeness, individual expression is supported and naturally acts not only to serve the individual as it must- our ego would have it no other way- but also seeks to serve the universal it knows itself to be, and in that we hold the best interest of both at heart.

This is the time of Halloween, the time of ghosts, goblins and princesses. 
All Hallows Eve, the veil between the worlds is thin and the ghosts are more easily known and seen.  What are the ghosts we carry and perhaps refuse to acknowledge?

Tantric Tradition has many names for Śiva, the name given to the one whole unitary light.
The Five Faces of S̄iva: 
Each associate with a direction:  
Tatpurusha, Consciousness in the East  
Aghora, Terrible, Fearful One in the South
Sadjoytata ,Creative One in the West
Vamadeva, Beautiful One in the North 
Īśana, Profoundly Auspicious, Above

The Eight Faces of Śiva as the Entire Cosmos:
Śarva, the Protector of Wholeness;  Bhāva, the Very existence of Everything; Rudra, the Wild Howler; Ugra, the Impetuously Ferocious One; Bhīma, the Formidable One; Īśana, the Supreme Absolute Ruler; Mahādeva, the Truly Great One and Paśupati, the Cosmic Herdsman, the Lord of All Creatures.  

This last one, Paśupati the symbol over those still in the grip of bondage, the grip of the individual role and identity we hold so close, so tight in our being.
 
There are many names for that which is whole and unitary in nature, for Śiva.  We must have a way to examine and express the diversity that exists within that wholeness. 

We are made of wholeness but are often at odds with our diversity.  That diversity shows up as creativity and sometimes as demon.

How then can we let them out, use when necessary in an appropriate manner and release when not?  How can we express our creativity and let our Freak Flag Fly Free in a way that feels good and is profoundly effective?

“To Every Season Turn Turn Turn.”  There is a time for each expression.  We need access to the emotional substance and the tools to express it appropriately with the most power.

You know where I am going here, meditate.  Develop the clear unencumbered pathway to that wholeness, steep in that vibrating silence daily and emerge refreshed, refined and renewed.

The word for Grace is Anugraha.   Broken down, “Anu” the limited self and “Graha” to be grasped, seized, thus Anugraha is to be grabbed by Grace and pulled into the light.  Knowing the fullness of our light is our birthright and the basis for exploration and expression of every possible creative articulation.

In meditation we melt, for a time, the limited identity we hold so rigid and merge into that wholeness.  Then, when we enact each part of our magnificent selves this wholeness will naturally, spontaneously and profoundly be reflected.  

Reflect Your Light Powerfully.