MAKING SPACE FOR THE SACRED
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"Behind the spine is infinity.
Below the pelvic floor,
Invisible pulsating roots
Open downward into space.
The heart is as wide as a spiral galaxy.
Steadily consider:
Back, root, heart.
Know the living body of vastness
That you are. "
~ The Radiance Sutras
Excerpt from Skill in Action, Radicalizing your Yoga Practice to create a just world,
by Michelle Cassandra Johnson:
"My experience as a black woman living in a culture that is wedded to white supremacy led me to become a social worker. My experience of being forced to disconnect from my body to survive led me to become a social justice activist. My longing for liberation in my body and beyond led me to become a yogi. My understanding of how social change occurs led me to merge social justice and yoga.”
Excerpts from the gnostic text: Thunder, Perfect Mind
an ancient text discovered at Nag Hammadi in 1945, composed before 350 C.E :
“I was sent forth from the power,
and I have been found among those who seek after me.
Look upon me, you who reflect upon me,
You who are waiting for me, take me to yourselves.
Do not be ignorant of me.
For I am the first and the last.
I am the honored one and the scorned one.
I am the whore and the holy one.
I am the wife and the virgin.
I am the mother and the daughter.
I am the barren one, and many are my sons.
I am she whose wedding is great, and I have not taken a husband.
I am the silence that is incomprehensible
and the idea whose remembrance is frequent.
I am the voice whose sound is manifold
and the word whose appearance is multiple.
I, am the utterance of my name.
Why, you who hate me, do you love me,
and hate those who love me?
You who deny me, confess me,
and you who confess me, deny me.
For I am knowledge and ignorance.
I am shame and boldness.
I am shameless; I am ashamed.
I am strength and I am fear.
Give heed to me.
Do not be arrogant to me when I am cast out upon the earth,
and you will find me in those that are to come.
But I, I am compassionate and I am cruel.
Do not hate my obedience
and do not love my self-control.
In my weakness, do not forsake me,
and do not be afraid of my power.
For why do you despise my fear
and curse my pride?
I am she who exists in all fears
and strength in trembling.
I am she who is weak,
and I am well in a pleasant place.
I am senseless and I am wise.
I am the one whom they call Law,
and you have called Lawlessness.
I, I am godless,
and I am the one whose God is great.
Why do you curse me and honor me?
You have wounded and you have had mercy.
Do not separate me from the first ones whom you have known.
And do not cast anyone out nor turn anyone away.
I am peace,
and war has come because of me.
On the day when I am close to you, you are far away from me,
and on the day when I am far away from you, I am close to you.
I am control and the uncontrollable.
I am the union and the dissolution.
I am the one below,
and they come up to me”
