http://www.intentblog.com/archives/2005/09/leela_part_2_ca.html
LEELA (Part 2): Can a Life Be a Dance?
Deepak Chopra - September 13, 2005
Indians love the concept of seeing creation as a dance between Shiva and Shakti.
It appeals to our sensuous side, and there is a certain maturity to accepting that the cosmos may not be linear or mechanical after all. But beyond the pretty imagery, I don't think many people apply the Leela to their own lives. In what way is the dance of gods and goddesses relevant to you and me?
The practical side of Leela is that besides being a pretty image, it tells us that design is imbedded in chaos. When you are centered in your own dance, this becomes self-evident, because there is no such thing as living randomly. From our center radiates desire, action, process--patterns are formed from the cellular level of the body and the subtle mental levels.
Leela tells us that the basic pattern of life is desire. Knowing that, we can accept our desire nature and not try to repress or judge against it.
Leela is also about the qualities inherent in dance: grace, balance, control. This tells us that life itself has those qualities; therefore, we can aspire to them as individuals.
Leela is centered, because it takes focus to dance. From the intent "I want to dance," the whole body must be organized and set in motion. This tells us that intent and centeredness are linked.
So far, we haven't touched on morality. Leela transcends moral codes, and for many people that's a big problem. They cling to the dualistic world because it rigidly dictates right and wrong (this clinging continues despite the many complaints people utter about being straitjacketed in codes of right and wrong).
But the most basic thing about Leela, as about dance itself, is that play is about delight and freedom. Leela is about the delight and freedom of creation, which somehow we have turned into moral strictures, boundaries, and every kind of restriction. When spirituality really clicks in, the first feeling one gets is of immense relief. It's such a burden to approach life as a huge responsibility, to constantly worry about moral codes and social judgments.
Once this initial relief wears off, however, a perplexing phase follows in which play seems impossible to achieve. We are so full of conditioned responses that our days are pulled back into work, family, money, status, possessions, etc.--the whole machinery of duality rolls forward unstoppably. You can't throw all of this away and simply start to dance. Not entirely. But you can give over a bit of your life every day to what you know to be the true foundation of life:
--Ease, lack of struggle
--Appreciation
--Grace
--Freedom, particularly the free flow of desire
--Joyousness, innate bliss
--Trust in Nature's organizing power
--Knowledge that you are the dancer and the dance
--Understanding that your life has a purpose (Dharma) that fits into the overall movement of the cosmos.
I don't think I'm extrapolating or have gotten lost in metaphor. Leela reminds us that when Sat Chit Ananda became manifest, they revealed their nature in a dance.
Deepak Chopra - September 13, 2005
Indians love the concept of seeing creation as a dance between Shiva and Shakti.
It appeals to our sensuous side, and there is a certain maturity to accepting that the cosmos may not be linear or mechanical after all. But beyond the pretty imagery, I don't think many people apply the Leela to their own lives. In what way is the dance of gods and goddesses relevant to you and me?
The practical side of Leela is that besides being a pretty image, it tells us that design is imbedded in chaos. When you are centered in your own dance, this becomes self-evident, because there is no such thing as living randomly. From our center radiates desire, action, process--patterns are formed from the cellular level of the body and the subtle mental levels.
Leela tells us that the basic pattern of life is desire. Knowing that, we can accept our desire nature and not try to repress or judge against it.
Leela is also about the qualities inherent in dance: grace, balance, control. This tells us that life itself has those qualities; therefore, we can aspire to them as individuals.
Leela is centered, because it takes focus to dance. From the intent "I want to dance," the whole body must be organized and set in motion. This tells us that intent and centeredness are linked.
So far, we haven't touched on morality. Leela transcends moral codes, and for many people that's a big problem. They cling to the dualistic world because it rigidly dictates right and wrong (this clinging continues despite the many complaints people utter about being straitjacketed in codes of right and wrong).
But the most basic thing about Leela, as about dance itself, is that play is about delight and freedom. Leela is about the delight and freedom of creation, which somehow we have turned into moral strictures, boundaries, and every kind of restriction. When spirituality really clicks in, the first feeling one gets is of immense relief. It's such a burden to approach life as a huge responsibility, to constantly worry about moral codes and social judgments.
Once this initial relief wears off, however, a perplexing phase follows in which play seems impossible to achieve. We are so full of conditioned responses that our days are pulled back into work, family, money, status, possessions, etc.--the whole machinery of duality rolls forward unstoppably. You can't throw all of this away and simply start to dance. Not entirely. But you can give over a bit of your life every day to what you know to be the true foundation of life:
--Ease, lack of struggle
--Appreciation
--Grace
--Freedom, particularly the free flow of desire
--Joyousness, innate bliss
--Trust in Nature's organizing power
--Knowledge that you are the dancer and the dance
--Understanding that your life has a purpose (Dharma) that fits into the overall movement of the cosmos.
I don't think I'm extrapolating or have gotten lost in metaphor. Leela reminds us that when Sat Chit Ananda became manifest, they revealed their nature in a dance.
posted by Unknown @ 12:02 PM
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