You know how when you are doing a puzzle or solving a problem there comes a time when you are getting close to finishing where, all of a sudden you can see the answer, everything lines up and you have that moment of discovery? There is sort moment of recognition, of revelation, of “I got this”. Sometimes it’s a “Duh, of course I got this” or “Aha, now I finally get it” and other times it is a “EUREKA!” But it is always accompanied by that moment of celebration and that bliss and joy of discovery, of connection. And maybe that only lasts for a second but sometimes it stays with you a little bit longer and you can be in that present moment of, could we call it, Divine inspiration?
When the Israelites lined up at the base of Mt. Sinai everything had been put in place for them (us) to be ready to receive the Gd’s revelation of Gd. In this week’s parshah, Yitro, we learn that all the steps had been taken to receive the bliss of the Divine spirit. The Israelites /We were ready to personally experience Gd and invited that revelation. Our tradition teaches us that we too were at Sinai and had our “Aha moment”. What does that mean? Of course, physically none of us were there at that time, if that time in fact actually happened. But, we can experience Divine revelation personally today. Well, maybe not today, today but in our lifetimes. Well, hopefully today, hopefully every day. When we align ourselves with our truest Self, with our heart of hearts, our Souls, if you will, we are aligning ourselves with the Divine Spirit that is in each of us. We are giving ourselves the opportunity to experience Gd and whatever that means. One of the beautiful things about the Revelation at Sinai is that, even though each person had/has their own unique experience we have a shared encounter which bonds us. Each of us represent a shard of the Divine Spirit which when put together creates the power to light up the world.
In the yoga tradition we are taught that if we stand in alignment then breath and energy can move freely through our Chakras, the energy centers that occur along the central column of our bodies, parallel to our spines. We allow free motion of Spanda, the omnipresent energy of the universe (Called Shakti in the yoga tradition and Shekhina in the Jewish tradition), and Prana, life force, to move in from the crown of our head, the place of our Divine Inspriation all the way to our roots, our most basic, literally, down to earth needs and then back up again. We invite a connection to Gd with each inhale and allow it to permeate every cell. We give it back every time we exhale.
As we come to the mat and practice yoga today we will stand in alignment and we will move and try to stay in that alignment with our highest Self, inviting a Revelation of God. We will remember our experience at Sinai and the ethics and moral codes taught to us as we stood at the base of the mountain. Hopefully, when we step off our mats, into the world, we will hold ourselves to that alignment no matter what position we are put in and continuously have those moments of bliss when the pieces of the puzzle fall in place.