Hari Aum.
Tomorrow is the tenth day of celebration known as 'Vijaya Dashami' that occurs after the auspicious nine nights of Navaratri. This is a highly auspicious day according to the Vedic calendar. Any material or spiritual venture that commences on this day is said to have the blessings of the Divine and will be successful (according to the principles of Vedic astrology).
It is a perfect day (muhurtha) to begin a spiritual practice such as mantra japa or purascharana. It is a wonderful day to renew our spiritual resolves. On a more material level, it is an excellent day to start a new project or take up anything new related to our personal wellbeing.
This day is especially associated with the worship of Mother Sarasvati, the Goddess of wisdom, the One who presides over education and the arts. It is a day of great celebration across various schools of yoga as well as those related to classical music and dance in India.
It is a day to express our gratitude to our Gurus, both in spiritual and material life. It is a day to celebrate our teachers, to pay our respects to them, and to please them by committing to study the subjects that they teach us with renewed zeal and enthusiasm.
Like many yogis everywhere, I hope to celebrate this highly auspicious day by worshipping Mother Sarasvati. I will also be attending my usual music and dance classes on this day and will have an opportunity to give thanks to my Gurus. I remember my spiritual Guru, Sivananda, in particular on this auspicious day-- he is the source of all blessings, both spiritual and material, in my life.
This is also a good day to challenge oneself, to take up something that we want to do but have not yet managed to, something that may place us a little outside our comfort zone. This may involve deciding to cultivate a new skill, take up a new hobby, or do something that challenges us in a positive way-- something that helps us to grow and develop further. This can help us in our spiritual lives by giving us opportunities to cultivate various positive qualities.
The universe has recently provided me with an opportunity to step out of one of my comfort zones; this is related to the field of dance. I am generally not too comfortable with the idea of performing anything on stage (this is related to various childhood experiences including being raised in a home where the expectation was that I would be 'seen and not heard' and also an unpleasant experience of public speaking at school as a young child!). While I am generally comfortable with chatting with people one-to-one or in a small group, I feel distinctly uneasy at the prospect of public speaking or performing before a larger group!
When I first started learning Bharatanatyam a couple of years ago, my intention was to take up a much-loved hobby for the improvement of my own wellbeing and health. It was also to be able to explore an art form that has a very beautiful spiritual and devotional dimension. I felt this could be a valuable addition to my bhakti yoga practice and this has indeed turned out the case (I practice dance at home in front of an altar or temple with various forms of the Divine and also my Guru-- I always feel that They are very supportive and appreciative even at this very early stage in my learning!).
As I was struggling to keep motivated with learning dance (due to various other commitments) while having only individual classes, I switched to learning in a group from late last year (and supplement this with individual classes too when needed).
However, I had no intention whatsoever of taking any dance examinations (in fact, I firmly told my teacher at the outset that I would not do these as I was only learning dance as a hobby and not to obtain a qualification!). And I certainly did not anticipate performing for a long time to come!
But we are influenced by the company we keep (a key part of spiritual life too of course-- hence the great value of satsanga!).
And my fellow dance students are not only highly enthusiastic--some of them are positively eager to get onto the stage! It was because of my dance classmates that I felt inspired to take the dance examination in summer this year (this compelled me to practice more seriously so was very useful).
And now, our dance teacher has announced, quite unexpectedly, that he wants our class to do a little performance on stage in a few months (this is a lot sooner than I had expected-- I was under the impression that we would not be expected to perform until towards the end of next year which felt like a long way away!).
After this announcement, I privately shared my wariness of being on stage with my teacher; his response was to reassure me, saying there was nothing to worry about as he would train us all very well and I would be performing in a group (and not alone-- thankfully!).
I have decided to trust him (and myself-- for now anyway!); this is because I have seen his other students perform, and I know he sets a relatively high standard and ensures his students are ready (regardless of their stage in learning)! So, I now find myself being swept up in a current of preparing for a mini-dance performance and have decided to simply go with the flow!
I am trying to find time to practice dance in the midst of other commitments related to home and work. As the saying goes, 'where there is a will, there is a way'! (Again, here too, I am inspired by my fellow students who also have other commitments based upon their own stage in life, including those related to family, work and education).
As Lord Ganesha is traditionally worshipped first in any venture in the Vedic spiritual tradition, the first devotional piece we will be performing will be dedicated to Him. I am praying to Ganesha, the Divine remover of obstacles, to remove all obstacles in the path of my satisfactory performance of this piece as a form of devotion to Him!
And, as the auspicious Vijaya Dashami day approaches, I am also praying to Mother Sarasvati, the Goddess of the arts, to bless me with the ability to perform dance (and vocal music which I am also learning and which is mandatory for Bharatanatyam) to an acceptable level and in a manner that is pleasing to the Divine (with a decent level of skill, but without any unhelpful ego!). I would like Her to help me step out of one of my comfort zones (I feel this will also be of benefit to me spiritually). We shall see what She says-- only time will tell!
I hope you too will be inspired on this beautiful day to take up something new of value, especially related to spiritual life and possibly even comfort zones! May Mother Sarasvati bless us all with spiritual progress and grant us success in learning in all aspects of life!
Om Sri Ganeshaya Namah.
Om Sri Sarasvatyai Namah.
Om Aim Hreem Kleem Chamundayai Vicche.
Om Namo Narayanaya.
Hari Aum Tat Sat.
P.S. Vijaya Dashami is also celebrated as 'Dussehra', the day when Lord Rama defeated the demon-King Ravana and was re-united with His wife, Sita. It is a day of the victory of good over evil. It is a wonderful day to worship this great avatar of Lord Narayana.
Om Sri Rama, Jaya Rama, Jaya Jaya Rama.
Hari Aum Tat Sat.
