Signs Around Town (Excerpt)


At the Thillai Kali temple in Chidambaram, and at other temples I am sure, but that was where I particularly noticed this aspect, there is a mirror on the altar, so that one also sees one’s reflection when watching the abhisheka puja.
One is there, too, along with the priests and the gods—watching and a part.

Classical yoga philosophies (as opposed to tantra) teach us that our mind/body are not real; what is real is “God,” and when we truly know this, we will experience freedom. I personally don’t ascribe to teachings that hold a concept real, but ourselves unreal.
I do think, though, that the practice that comes from this theory that advises us to pause, to step back, and to notice when our reactions to things are so bound in previous limited experience or expectation or dogmatic teaching that we’ve created unnecessary constrictions and suffering.
What appears to be caught or bound or stuck might not necessarily be so.