Do you have a favourite quote? I was asked to fill one in on a directory profile today. I find my memory is sort of leaky and I can’t remember many adages or aphorisms. However, this one from the Ramayana has always stuck with me as a something to aim for :

When I don’t know who I am I serve you. When I know who I am, I am you.

But then, I came across this one from Rumi today and rather liked it for the way it expressed embracing all of human experience.

Your hand opens and closes and opens and closes. If it were always a fist or always stretched open, you would be paralyzed. Your deepest presence is in every small contracting and expanding, the two as beautifully balanced and coordinated as bird wings.”  Rumi

And, I have a favourite Sutra which, coincidentally, we have arrived with I-33. To me, it echoes and expands on Rumi’s sentiments above:

Maitrikrunamuditopeksanam sukhaduhkhapunyapunyavisayanam bhavanatascittaprasadanam
Consciousness settles as one radiates friendliness, compassion, delight, and equanimity toward all things, whether pleasant or painful, good or bad.*

Can you imagine living in a state where you were able to regard every aspect of our humanity and nature as a vehicle for the processes of abiding in pure awareness and calm? That would certainly deliver Patanjali’s prize – total freedom.
*The Yoga-Sutra of Patanjali, translation and commentary by Chip Hartranft