INSPIRATION AND FINAL THOUGHTS 263were two humans, on the same plane and same level, having a weird but
magical moment. A light gleamed from his eyes, and a smile manifested itself
on his face. This triggered a warm smile on my face. In a voice, sweet and
pure, this beautiful man said, “Oh, thank you.”
After a short pause, he tenderly asked, “Hey, would you like to go to Taco
Bell with me?” To say that I was caught off guard is an understatement. Nobody
had ever invited me on a dinner date to Taco Bell. Once I composed myself, I
said, “Thank you for the offer, but I have to go to work.” We waved goodbye
and as we parted ways, I couldn’t help but think that this man appeared to
be isolated and just needed a friend, somebody he could share a meal with
at Taco Bell. The loving awareness and compassion that we gain from our
yoga practice has the tremendous power to spin the micro moments of life
from suffering to beauty and joy.
SEEING THE LIGHT
Take refuge within your yoga practice. Your yoga and spiritual practice provides
illumination. The light of wisdom dispels the darkness of ignorance. This is
illustrated in the story of a Taoist master instructing his students to do special
practices at the first sign of light. The students awoke and as they were about
to begin their teacher’s instruction, they realized they were unsure what the
first sign of light meant. They returned to their teacher and asked, “How do
we know that we’ve seen the light? Is it when we overlook the valley and we
can see the difference between an oak tree and an olive tree? Is that how we
know that we’ve seen the light?” The master replied, “No.” The students then
inquired, “How about when we look out over the hills and we can see the
difference between a dog and a sheep. Is that how we know that we’ve seen
the light?” Patiently, the master answered, “No, try again.” Trying to solve the
puzzle, the students finally said, “I think we have it! Is it the moment when
the dawn of light shoots out beyond the horizon? Is that how we know that
we’ve seen the light?!” The master then said, “I’m sorry, no, that is not how
you know you’ve seen the light.” He continued, “You will know that you’ve
seen the light when a stranger walks up to you and you look into their eyes
and realize that the same spirit that exists inside of them is the same spirit
that exists inside of you. That’s how you know that you’ve seen the light.
Until then, you are living in darkness.”
On one level, we are all so different. We have different bodies, skin colors,
genders, ages, nationalities, and religious beliefs, and we have all moved
through different life experiences. However, on another level we are all the
same. We are all one, connected through the tree of life and governed by the
same laws of the Tao. The Tao says everything is born, everything lives, and
everything dies. No human and no form of life escapes this.
Maybe if humanity starts looking at all the ways that we are united instead
of all the ways that we are divided, a wave of transformation could take place