The Heart’s Heritage

Tags

heritage, inheritance, legacy, practice, spirituality

As I stepped onto the trail on the beautiful, cool and crisp morning of the first day of October, I was reminded yet again of the forever giving heart of nature. I had been thinking of my cultural, religious and family heritage over the past week, and in her quiet and expansive welcome, it occurred to me that Nature is also an integral part of my heritage.

There is a period of two weeks in the autumn where Indian tradition pauses to remember, honor, and give thanks to the roles of our ancestors in our lives. The two weeks often coincide with the solstice — a period when all of nature seems to pause as it transitions from one season to the next. A period of transition can be a good time to ask some questions. Where did we come from? Where do we want to go? How may our ancestors and our heritage influence our journey ahead?

As we answer these questions, we may discover some parts of our heritage that have served us well on our journey so far, and other parts that may have held us back in some way. The weight of tradition informed by our strong fidelity to our heritage can often prevent us from exploring new paths on our spiritual walk. How do we balance our desire to honor our inheritances and be truthful to our heart’s voice?

We pause and we listen deeply. We examine our written and spoken heritage — and there is a lot of that, often an overwhelming amount, in Indian culture. We adopt and adapt the cornerstone truths and principles from our heritage that are congruent with our heart-led journey. As we walk forward on our path towards self-awareness and direct experience, we may discover that we have gradually derived our personal inheritance from our vast heritage.

How do we know that our personal inheritance, which may be in the form of our preferred spiritual practices, is right for our journey? One way to know try our chosen practices, and then to ask – do they add to our joy, increase the light within our heart, create lightness in our steps, inspire us to create a living legacy?

A rose blooms in October… a new legacy begins

Yes. There are a lot of questions we ask and want answers to regarding our heritage, inheritance and legacy. As I paused and kneeled on the path, letting the Sun that was apparently standing still, shine the same sunlight that it has streamed on my ancestors for generations fill my heart, I felt a deep connection to the permanent.

Maybe That is perhaps the heart’s true heritage.

Kumud

Autumn’s light streams through the trees… a reminder of permanence and heritage

Challenging Traditions

Tags

challenges, heritage, legacy, letting go, traditions

As one holiday season comes to a close (my inherited Indian traditions) and another one draws nearer (my adoptedm American traditions), I find myself in a somewhat unique positon to compare and contrast the two. At every major Indian festival, I am reminded of some of the traditions of my parents, grandparents, friends and extended family that I grew up with before I moved to the USA. I do have to admit that their color fades ever so imperceptibly over the years.

Over the three decades that I have lived in the USA, I have created a few (holiday) traditions (of my own), to blend with the ones that I inherited. I do have to admit that it is a lot of work to create new, sustainable and meaningful traditions. Only time will tell how these newly created traditions will stand up to the test of our increasingly mobile and fluid landscape of friendships and relationships.

Traditions need not be exclusively associated with holidays, festivals and celebrations. As I evaluate the traditions that have stuck with me the longest, a few salient qualities come to the fore. The ones that have stood the test of space and time are those that promote simplicity, purity, cleanliness and respect in action. I observe them not for tradition’s sake, but because they make a meaningful, positive impact on the quality of my everyday life.

The tradition of silence with which my grandparents went about their daily business, without any fuss or complaint, inspires me to do the same. The reverence that my mother held for cleanliness in all her actions was often the subject of friendly banter – nobody could drink from her mug of tea, use her pillow or blanket, bring shoes into her kitchen, or… you get the idea – and yet it became a tradition in purity that many of us now observe with a smile. Have you inherited any ‘quirks’ of your parents and grandparents that have now become ‘traditions’ for you?

Perhaps the greatest value of traditions is in their ability to lend some measure of consistency and stability to our life-systems. As we face new, and often unforeseen, challenges, we can lean on our traditions for support. At the same time, it is prudent for us to ask questions of, to challenge those traditions that may be past their ‘use-by’ date in our life. How is any meaningful social, economic and spiritual change going to be effected if we calcify our hearts in the name of ‘tradition’?

Hence, the notion of ‘challenging traditions’. They create some challenges. The need/want to pass on and share as many of our inherited traditions. The need/want to let go, with love, of the ones that create more problems than they solve. The need/want to create some new ones with our new neighbors, friends and family. Can you think of any more challenges associated with ‘traditions’?

In closing, I invite you to share your thoughts on ‘challenging traditions’ with us in #SpiritChat on twitter – Sunday, November 12th at 9amET/2pmUTC/730pmIST. We will continue our ‘tradition’ of conversation over tea and cookies in the virtual world. Namaste,

Kumud @AjmaniK

P.S. As I write this, it is a beautiful Saturday afternoon in November. November 11th, to be exact. Armistice Day. Remembrance Day. Veterans Day. A day that marks a traditional, solemn observance of respect and gratitude for those who have fought and served to preserve, promote and promulgate the freedom(s) of many. This is one tradition that is surely worth keeping. Thank you, Veterans!

My walks in the forest are developing into a newly created ‘morning’ tradition for me…