Why The Face?

and you know what face i’m talking about.  the disdainful eyes … the pursed lips … the silent condemnations that ring loudly in my ears.

perhaps not all of them so silent either.

saraswathi rangaswamy , the daughter of ashtanga yoga's sri k. pattabhi jois,  said it best when she said, “when things go well, people start to discourage you, when they should be encouraging.”

guruji's daughter, saraswathi, was the first woman educated in the sanskrit college in mysore and the first indian woman to teach yoga to men and women together.

when she first began teaching in mysore, no one paid much mind … but as soon as her classes began to garner attention and praise, growing in numbers, the jealousy mounted.  soon there were critics, both vocal and mean … writing the message on her walls, “don’t teach here.”

saraswathi was creating a new path that defied tradition.  yet rather than allow the judgments of another deter her, she became solid in her resolve, “for if my mind and heart were strong, where is the problem?”

indeed.  where is the problem?

aren't we each are faced with our own group of critics?  perhaps it is the way you worship that threatens their own … or how you raise your children that rivals what they think they already know … or maybe its just your exploration which gives light to their own insecurities. 

these critics believe they are strong in their faith and solid in their knowledge as they speak from their platform of rigid absolutes, spewing their words of indignation on the walls of your happiness.

((sigh)) truth be known - it has nothing to do with you.  when someone feels threatened, jealous, or insecure ... they unleash harsh judgments meant to sooth their own ailing ego.   as it turns out, their beliefs are not strong enough to handle the questions you pose and the difference you bring.

try not be angry and feel compassion, instead.  for which would you choose – a heart and mind strong enough to allow for diversity or one so hardened and closed, no light can get through?

i say - let your light shine, brother! and forgive them for they know not what they know not.