This beautiful image was given or posted on my Facebook wall by Anya Ananya. It is such a remarkably beautiful picture that reminds us of the beauty of devotion. On one level, it just looks like a huge outpouring of roses but I know that these are roses bestowed on the feet of AmmaKarunamayi Ma - a great teacher in today's age with whom you can study and meet as she travels the world to teach.
As I was practicing my asana and pranayama sequence this morning, I spent a little bit of time looking at my feet. And I thought a moment about the fact that they are in shoes most of the day (well, I take them off a lot at work and sneak around barefoot but I do work at a corporation so this can't happen all day long) - but how much more beautiful they feel when I soak them in oil (yes I do this) and wash them and pedicure them and massage them. As I look at the picture above - I realize how perhaps I should soak them in roses...hmmm.
I say all of this because yes, I do have a couple of feet pictures in my house - Lotus feet of a couple of Gurus - including Shri Shri Shri Shivabalayogi and Amma Karunamayi Ma. They are both shrouded in decoration, kum kum red on Ma's feet and flowers on Shivabalayogi - and I get a lot of comments. Most of which I ignore - because there's no use explaining these things sometimes. But here I am blogging about this very phenomenon of devotion.
The feet are warehouses of Shakti - the universe's expanding energy. Try to get foot reflexology done - OUCH when they push on certain sections that correspond to different bodily organs that need a little attention. And then you'll get it. They also take you everwhere - they walk you, run you, dance you around the world. And as I said in Yoga class yesterday, if you are not grounded in the feet - then you will never feel safe in the world.
I see Yoga practice in so many dimensions - including this one - the Asanas - or physical postures of Yoga help you ground your energy into your feet - so that you can feel safe. So that everywhere that you step is a garland of roses instead of thorns. Shri Guru Charanam, Shri Hari Sharanam.
