Weaving A Good Life

Weaving a Good Life.                                                                                            
We are all weavers in our way. Taking the strands that make up a day, a week, a year and weaving them into a good life.  I often think about what a good life looks like.  It changes and yet at heart always contains the elements of purpose, love and connection. 
 
The word tantra can be translated as “to weave” so, the Tantric practitioner, at heart, weaves the twine of life using deep mystical praxis as the tool that binds; the pattern that permits the picture to take its most beautiful shape. 
 
At a certain point in life we long to contribute- each small thing contributes to the whole- each thread contributes to the fabric’s finish.  Though we are always pulling out one and looking for just the right color for another, that fabric is forever a work in progress.
 
Many people, in many ways, in many traditions and disciplines are speaking of this, yogis, writers, artists, plumbers, even the occasional politician.  There is a hunger for connection. The truth is we are already connected but for the most part we do not fully recognize the depth of it.
 
My meditation teacher says people are waking up - something is calling them and they need guides to assist.  In my small way, I am such a one.  I sometimes struggle with how I can be a guide when I have not finished the project.  I have not solved the hunger issue but I have found a way to connect to my fuller self, my more whole self and in that, my better self because I have more resource and infinite support. I have spent the past 11 years studying, practicing, refining; it continues.  I am more and more self-reliant.  Not in an egotistical solipsistic manner, I yearn for connection and seek the council of experts, but I am able to stand strong in both the fire and joy of life.
 
Community connection content. We long for direct connection and community with those around us - to serve our community and this is magnificent.  But something larger is needed, connection to community of life writ large. This is where meditation serves.  It actually serves both- the individual and thus all she/he/they touch and, because it is the knowledge of who we are at source, it serves the community of humanity and so connects us at a deeper level. This root connection not only tolerates diversity on the surface but celebrates it. 
 
It is not sameness that brings unity but rather recognition that we are made of the same threads woven in another pattern. Aligning at source with the building blocks of creative energy naturally assists individual manifestation and also deepens the understanding of other creative endeavors. We come to see in our way, that though different it is also same. This is the beginning of true unity. Not sameness as in beige, but unity as in rainbow.  We are not trying to make connection but rather recognize its already and always prior presence. 
 
In my small way I offer connection or rather the means to discovering true connection with the Self. Is this the only way? No. Is it a viable practical way? Yes. Is it meant for those living, or desirous of living-full vibrant lives? Yes. Is it easy to learn? Yes. Is it based on belief or any particular set of rules? No. Is it for me? Come and see; experience for yourself. From this place authentic personal value springs. 
 
There is the teaching concept of the nyaya in the Śaiva Tantra Tradition. A nyaya is an axiomatic principle; a tool like a pair of plyers, when applied in the right way, at the right time, with the right amount of pressure yields an opening. The Coconut Nyaya teaches us about protection and layers. We build a hard outer shell - we must for many reasons- but deep within at core lies the sweetness of life we crave; this sweetness is also source. No matter what we wish to do in life this one tool will assist in doing it better. The fruits of our meditation are tender and can be damaged by exposure to the harsh and ignorant surface reactions of the world. We need to construct a protective shell, like the coconut, not for secrecy but to protect the sweetness of the fruit inside.  
 
Then as our strength in that sweetness deepens and self-reliance grows, we are able to dip the threads of life in that ambrosial vat and weave a pleasurable, good life however defined. One that is woven with the fabric of other lives.  It is in the true experiential recognition of unity that the celebration of diversity in all its glory is served.