SHAKTI LAKSMI : “Power” – Power is the sole commodity of the Universe. All judgements are power judgements. And while some yoga lineages teach “Don’t judge,” the Shaktas of my lineage say “Don’t judge? Well, you just did. You made a judgement that judging is wrong.” Rather than living in a good/evil Universe, live in a powerful one. Your interests become advantages that turn into expressions. (THAT’S precisely the way in which nature evolves. So be like that.) And your power lies at the edge of not knowing (see yesterday.) At the edge of certainty – are you willing to take up what is uncertain? Are you willing to live in the POWER of HOPE?
This Laksmi is richly complex. The cool thing about these Godesses unfolding through a process is that one is free to engage them on any level – and at any moment in the process. Looking back over the past few days I saw that PUSHTI is the mark of outward thriving. Also just a couple days ago a really smart lady I’ve come to love this year recommended that I take stock of 2010 and create a list (or collage) of all my successes and all my gratitude for the past year. At first I thought, well, I can just THINK about it, no need to get out a glue stick. Then, through the lens of these Laksmis over the past few days I remembered PUSHTI, the mark of outward thriving. When we SIGNIFY and ACKNOWLEDGE all the ways we thrive, we align with the frequency of abundance. And then, because we see our gratitude spelled out before us, we are emboldened to PRAJNA, to move forward with confidence, having taken inventory, into the unknown. And then THAT spills over into SHAKTI, into POWER. Who doesn’t want to live a more powerful life in 2011? I sure do.
In just a few minutes I’m on my way out the door to Macy’s to visit Santa Claus with my family. This year I’ve written him a letter which details all of the things I’m grateful for in 2010. It was such a delightful practice, done for the sake of itself, to mark all of the ways I’ve thrived (PUSHTI) in the past year. I don’t know what 2011 holds in store for me (PRAJNA), but I’m hopeful that it’ll be my best year yet. Santa Claus is certainly a magical and manifest form of power (SHAKTI) to whom I’ll deliver this gratitude. What will he do with it? I don’t know! And it doesn’t matter, I’m participating in the creativity of gratitude as a practice.
Many folks say that this is the “Season of Giving” or that “Jesus is the reason for the Season!” For me Santa has always been the figure I’ve ASKED to manifest my material desires. This year, I look forward to creating an offering which invites me deeper into a process of receptivity. Is Christmas the season of GETTING? Or can it be the season in which we ALLOW ourselves to RECEIVE the marks of auspiciousness that make life breautiful?
Have a holly jolly! And wish me luck in SANTALAND, HERALD SQUARE!
Eric Stoneberg 