At the retreat a little more than a week ago, I also felt profoundly affected by something and it really disturbed my concentration -- thus messing up my footwork, lol.
On the first night, and second day of the retreat, there sat in front of me 8 talented Tabla students / players. I was dancing and I was being accompanied by 8 LIVE TABLA PLAYERS?!!! Where else in the world does that happen? Perhaps in India...? Perhaps everywhere else the TTE goes in the world to spread the knowledge of Indian Classical Music. But for me, it was the first time ever dancing with live musicians and it was awe-inspiring. This thought kept repeating itself in my head as I tried to get myself to focus on the footwork. But I kept thinking, "wow, everyone here should feel SO thankful." MDO and TTE is very lucky to have these opportunities, to work together, to take advantage of what they have and to inspire others! Luck may have something to do with it, but also the hard work of Ritesh Dada and Joanna Di (and Melissa Di) have a lot to do with it.
Aside from the retreat, I gained a lot personally too.
Something that at first, felt very foreign and odd to me, but in the end I concluded was such a beautiful and yet simple thing was NAMASKAR. And I don't mean the Namaskar we do / say before we start dancing (although this is a beautiful way to start a dance practice too)...I mean that, whenever JoannaDi, Ritesh Dada and Melissa Di see someone/meet someone, they fold their hands in front of their heart and say Namaskar. According to what I know, saying Namaskar and gently tipping your head in humility to another person acknowledges the "Godliness" that resides in them. It acknowledges their presence, who they are, their potential, their greatness, and their beauty -- we are all creations of a higher power, and we acknowledge that power. I noticed that every time JoannaDi did it, she would gently close her eyes as she tipped her head forward to acknowledge a person. Which to me signifies she is really truly acknowledging you, and thanking you for your presence. It can make both the giver and receiver stop, and breathe, and feel special and humbled at the same time...It is a traditional Hindu practice actually, but this didn't stop the Muslim or non-Hindu students from doing it; these artists whom I was surrounded by for 1 month, have amazing minds...open, loving, caring and splendid. Just because you do Namaskar doesn't make you a Hindu. But acknowledging a person in a loving way does make you human! Saying Salaam, according Arabic or Islamic tradition, (from my knowledge) works similarly -- really truly giving respect and acknowledging the person in front of you. I did see JoannaDi say Salaam when/if she was saying it to someone she knew who were of that faith.
So my point...
As the month went by, I found that saying Namaskar was very grounding for me. It brought all the floating energy about me together, all of a sudden centring itself inside of me, even if for a brief moment. The more I did it, the more natural it became. I was raised to say Namaste or Ram-Ram since my childhood, so this was not a new concept to me. But doing it this particular way, knowing that every time I did, centering myself and paying respect to the person in front me, was a bit more special. As I left Toronto last week, I felt as if the practice of saying Namaskar in this way brought me down to earth each time, and I decided that I need to see God in everyone around me; I needed to see goodness, greatness, love and splendour. In fact, I was so deeply affected by this Namaskar, that even at the airport and when I got home I was inadvertently saying Namaskar to my closest friends and family.
An incident: I have a lovely 5 year old niece. She is my first TRUE LOVE in this lifetime. She is temperamental and very sensitive, but to me the most beautiful thing I have in my life. Anyway, she had slept over at my place last week, and we had a great day. But in the middle of the day, she and I had bit of tiff, and I ended up shouting at her. Before she left that evening, we did make up and we both said sorry to each other. BUT later that evening, I felt such remorse for shouting at her that I cried uncontrollably and told my husband that I should have seen God inside her, and when I shouted at her, I wasn't seeing God inside her at that time. I felt very bad...
That's one of the things I gained personally in my month long journey with JoannaDi, MDO and TTE.
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