Compulsions are neither good nor bad in and of themselves and if we allow them to simply be with no attempt to resist or indulge them, we find that they simply play out on their own in a natural, unobtrusive, even beneficial way. We realise this when we watch very young children…
Years ago at a yoga retreat centre in upstate New York, I walked with my toddler daughter down a stretch of silent path that meandered through a woody glen. Cut into the woods at regular intervals were small enclaves that held the statues of well-known characters from the pantheon of India. My daughter was just beginning to discover her bipedal nature and held my hand tightly as we slowly walked down the path. When we approached the statue of Hanuman, the monkey-faced deity who represents ideal devotion, she let go my hand and walked over to the base of the statue. Curious, I watched this unsteady, diaper-bottomed little girl bend over and search for something in the expanse of small pebbles that kept the surrounding weeds at bay. One after another, she picked up a stone, examined it, then let it fall back, unsatisfied. She did this several times until she finally found one that met her approval. Setting it on the pedestal at the feet of Hanuman, she then circled the statue not once, not twice, but three times. Mind you, she was only about thirteen or fourteen months old with a very limited vocabulary. After completing her third circumambulation, she wobbled back over to me, took my hand, and we continued our walk through the woods.
What compelled this mere toddler to offer both a gift (the pebble) and her respect (three times around), an obvious act of devotion common to many cultures, especially India? She did not learn this from either of her parents and she was not present at any such events where this might be seen. Perhaps in her relatively unconditioned mind, the impetus from an unknown past seized the moment and rushed through like a rising tide onto the shores of an estuary. It simply had to be; there was no other way.
Where does one life begin and another end? 🤗
Leave a Reply