lessons in sanskrit: from catholicism to connection
I have always geeked out on language. Thus my bachelor’s degrees in both Communication Studies and Spanish. How cool that there is an energetic human experience… and using language, we can bond over the madness, beauty, and ecstasy that is life.
We communicate through words, but also movement, art, and ritual - each an expression of interconnectedness.
Curious about all forms of connection, I also studied things like yoga, photography, and took three units of religion. Having grown up in a Catholic household, I was pretty familiar with this guy names Jesus. So I diversified my coursework:
World Religions - felt like a good starting point to have Jesus in the mix
Hinduism - a tad controversial with mom but at least it was an honors class
Contemplative Traditions - still figuring out exactly what this means
Nonetheless, I was ready to explore different ways of thinking, understand how other people make sense of the unseen, and find new ways to describe that familiar feeling that there’s something bigger than ourselves.
I didn’t need to adopt entire doctrines or worship any deities to find resonance in what I studied. As a student of language and communication, I was simply looking for new ways to speak about this seemingly inexplicable, spiritual experience that we all share. And, to do so, I first needed to expand my spiritual dictionary.
I had the A’s down: Adam, Aho, Allah, Amen, Ashram
But there was still nothing to explain the heartbeat of life - that familiar feeling of interconnectedness. I kept seeking and eventually stumbled upon this word in Sanskrit:
“Maya” is a Hindu term meaning illusion. It refers to the performance of the material world, distracting us from an invisible oneness. Maya is all the attachments we must overcome (karma) to set ourselves free (moksha).
Studying “maya” was like hearing all this advice at once:
“Love is blind”
“Trust your gut”
“Hurt people hurt people”
“Forgiveness is a gift to yourself”
“Energy never lies”
“The heart wants what the heart wants”
“Maya” became the singular word to describe my suffering - the cloud shadowing my light. I realized how often I had been participating in the performance of life, rather than following my heart. And I knew that maintaining an illusion was the opposite of that sweet familiar feeling. In a roundabout way, I got my answer. And started to release my grip on the expectations I had of my life.
Since then, I’ve continued to expand my spiritual dictionary. I pull inspiration from my travels, my yoga practice, and the people around me. Nothing is off limits because there is not just one language or one dogma that guides my life. So I let myself be guided by love and this familiar feeling that we’re all somehow connected.
And a feeling is all it is.
Abrazos,
Jax