Some perceive it directly
in all its awesomeness; others
speak of it with wonder; others
hear of it and never know.
-Bhagavad Gita
Tonight, class. Talking of the yamas, still, the ethics. Tonight is the fourth. Bramacharya.
Usually translated abstinence, chastity, purity.
But I think I've discovered the word's meaning. Brahma - the absolute, the true, the true self, god, one. Charya, to walk with, be with, exist in.
Thus, Brahmacharya means to walk with god.
To know, experientially, that ones body is sacred, one's heart is precious, one's life is a holy book.
No matter how much you doubt it or chide it or hate it at times.
To know, breath and skin wise, that your holy book flickers and opens, pages afire, around all these other holy books. All sacred. Wisdom that goes on endlessly. Gods with thousands of faces, millions of hearts, the tissues of the world writing a great poem.
And to try, ethically, to live and walk in that holiness. To look into the faces of others and see our gods there. To look into the mirror, someday, without flinching, and know god is there, too.
To listen to the psalm of our breathing and dance with the drum of the heart.
To go walking with god.