Okay, I'm in India and have just now seen the newest installment of the Star Wars franchise, The Force Awakens, for my third time.
I began looking for a spiritual path, even though I didn't know that term yet, back in 1980 after Yoda talked about the force so much and so convincingly in the Empire Strikes Back. So Star Wars made me realize there was more to life than just following what I was told in the Baptist church I was raised in.
A few years later Shirley MacLaine's book "Out on a Limb" was made into a tv miniseries and having seen her and been moved by her performance in Terms of Endearment (yes, I was only 13 when I saw it but I am gay, so the appreciation for good drama has always been there lol) I wanted to watch it, knowing nothing about its content. It moved me even more and I realized at this point that there were many paths from the east that talked about the force, or what they called prank, or chi, depending on which path you were on. So I read a few more of her books and they started my process. I quickly forgot that process to a degree when I moved out of my house at 18 in 1988 and began partying and socializing after having gotten a real job making real money.
When a friend had me reread a couple of Shirley's books in 1997 we decided to go on a journey looking for some spiritual work to be done and ended up just drinking a lot but had a lot of great discussions, so this is probably when the process really started of me trying to really find a spiritual path that rang my bells. The year following that trip Madonna's Ray of Light album came out with all these ideas she'd been exposed to from her study of Kabbalah and Ashtanga Yoga, and as a young gay man, when Madonna talks people listen! lol, I listened anyway.
It wasn't until I started a yoga class that I found a copy of Yoga Journal at a local "hippie" grocery store and there was an article about Madonna and her practice in it that I actually started looking for and found an intro to Ashtanga class and knew I'd found my home. At that time I felt like it was probably the closest thing to Jedi training in its intensity and the power of moving prank that it has.
There have been many posts about my journey so I'm not going to get into detail about it all over again, but after seeing the newest Star Wars for the third time and finally being in Mysore, now for my third time, I'm realizing that this is much like Jedi training. Probably as close as we as humans will ever get.
There are trials an tribulations, learning to control and move our own energy, learning to control our minds and body at the most subtle levels. The classes here are more intense than at home, although at home has its own intensity for me since I practice on my own daily before I teach. They also bring out emotions more quickly, and changes in our bodies more quickly. And if I remember correctly I believe Matthew Sweeney compares it to the Jedi path in his book as well, so I'm not alone in feeling this way.
All of the things that come up for us here are tested daily in that we are very social here with one another, so you are almost always being tested in your resolve around many issues and interactions with others. So there is more of a barometer here than there probably is at home, especially if you're a home practitioner and are the only teacher in your area.
Bringing this awareness to me this trip is also another level of understanding as I move forward on this path that I am grateful for. My friend I just saw the movie with made a Facebook post reminiscent of this one so I owe him props as well since his post inspired me to write this. I don't necessarily have a lot to say right now, just wanted to put that connection out there and see how many also find this is true for them.
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