happy halloween & a blessed samhain to those celebrating either of them! this has always been my favourite period of the year (and not just because it coincides with my bday!) – but more on this some other time. 
today, i’ve thought of the eve of samhain 2019. i was in the midst of restless seeking, and wanted guidance as i was heading into my early twenties. celebrations of samhain were being held in my town, and i wound up having my runes read by a local practitioner. i talked about my longing, and talked about my seeking, before asking whether i should ‘walk that path’. i was indeed guided to deepen my inquiry, but was told: “you are already walking ‘the path’; the path is your life.”
i did not understand what that meant until, almost a year later, i discovered non-dual śaiva-śāktism and proceeded to meet my beloved teacher, who taught me that sādhanā is my life. my sādhanā is not separate mystique which excludes the mundane, or the day-to-day muck – it encompasses and it is the very mundane. i continue to cultivate this understanding every day with her guidance, and this has been my contemplation as i become one year older, and hopefully wiser!
“Every choice, every thought, and every action that occurs daily takes us one step toward or away from bliss. Nothing can be excluded in our pursuit of bliss: the way we brush our teeth, greet our spouse, look in the mirror, talk to the waitress, drive our car, prepare our food, eat our meals, exercise our body, nurture our mind, and relate to our children.”
“The path will light itself in such a way that one day, you will turn around and see that your entire life has been a stream of miracles.”
Dr. Kavitha Chinnaiyan, The Heart of Wellness
from this month’s newsletter of Śabda Institute. honoured that my poem accompanies the announcement of such an exquisite offering 
this week is one of beginnings for me, and i am delighted that it coincides with the auspicious time of Navarātri… 
in typical fashion, i will turn this around to the Mahābhārata, and hope that this paves the way to translating some of its most beautiful ślokas… sometime in the far future 
amaryllis 