An inquiry:

As we approach the full moon & the Summer Solstice I’m reflecting on the rhythms that we abide within & that are alive within us. The constant flux. The ebb & flow. The play of light & dark.

How can I become more fluent within this pulsation, this creative tension and let my brave heart offer invitations to the Universe, to Creation whilst being in Love & presence with what is.

Pulsation is a fundamental principle of creation, in Tantra it is called spanda, or the sacred tremor ~ it is the enfolding & unfolding, the contraction (nimesha) & expansion (umesha), often spoken of as the opening & closing of the Cosmic Eye.

From the perspective of Śiva and Śatki, Śatki is the divine pulsation between states and Śiva, the ground of infinite stillness which holds space for the pulsing!

The root of spanda, spadi, means to ‘move a little’, it’s the shining creative vibration at the source of everything. When we deepen in relationship & resonance to spanda, we enter greater intimacy within ourselves & with life.

Perhaps it’s quite obvious to witness these ‘little movements’ in nature and in cycles of life however I think it becomes quite interesting when we are curious to the more subtle oscillations.

To expand and contract, to rise and fall. Our entire experience is throbbing in this way. Consider how our perceptions come into awareness and dissolve away - I am happy. I am sad. I am excited. I am in pain. I am strong. I am weak. And so on - if we were to exert continued single state, it would simply not be sustainable.

To bring it into some context, let’s characterise spanda as a pulsation of invite and surrender; So, I create and invite a certain outcome through that act of creation then, rather than freezing in a state of waiting or anticipation, I let go and I surrender. And I do that over and over again if necessary. I do not abandon the creative will or wish, but I release the pushing. Through attunement with that ebb and flow, I am present and I dance intimately with what is.

Joseph Campbell said that ‘Eternity is in love with the productions of time’, I love this. This is the Divine love play of Śiva and Śatki, the creative tension between the great womb of creation and unmanifest potentiality that is Sakti, as Kali Ma who is time, and the Supreme Light of Awareness, the great Lord Śiva.

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SOURCES & INSPIRATION:

Joseph Campbell

Spandakarika, Translated by Daniel Odier

The New Spanda Karikas, Acharya Peter Wilburg

Teachings by Hareesh Wallis

Images, Isha Yoga Center, India