A Sacred Paradox:
Sometimes, to return to yourself, you must ask for guidance and let go.
At first glance, devotion can appear outward toward a teacher, a guru, a lineage, a murti, a mantra. The mind may wonder, Isn’t the path inward? Yet the great sages have always known: the way inward is often through conscious offering outward.
To offer with humility.
To receive with openness.
To surrender the tight grip of “I know.”
To allow the heart to soften.
In that movement of offering and receiving, the contracted “me” begins to loosen. And what remains is Presence.
In our modern language, we speak often of self-care how to nourish and nurture ourselves. This is essential. A depleted vessel cannot pour. Yet there is another truth equally vital: we cannot truly nourish ourselves if we have never allowed ourselves to nourish others. Giving and receiving are not opposites; they are one current flowing in different expressions, a polarity.
This is the balance.
Many fear losing themselves in output, in service, in devotion. But we only lose ourselves when we are disconnected from the deeper current that sustains us. This is why cultivating relationship with the subtle energy body, the pranic field that fuels the physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual layers is so important. Through steady practice ( Sadhana) , self-study, and grace, we grow sensitive to this inner current. We learn its language. We expand our capacity to feel when we are aligned and when we are not.
Knowledge (jnana) and practice (sadhana) become the riverbanks that allow the waters of life to flow without flooding or drying up. Within these banks, balance is not rigid, it is alive. Surrender does not mean collapse; it means trust.
Again and again, the traditions remind us, walking with a teacher, mentor, or guide accelerates this awakening. Not because they give you something you do not already possess, but because they have walked through the fire of transformation repeatedly. Their presence becomes a lamp. Their steadiness becomes a mirror. Their life reflects the impersonal truth, that your true nature is awareness, peace, and love.
You do not need to chase the teacher. When the longing ripens, the right guide appears. As pilgrims say along the Camino de Santiago, the Camino always provides. And in our modern phrasing, we might say the Universe has your Back.
An authentic teacher has your back as well, not in a personal or possessive way, but in alignment and service of Truth itself. They reflect to you, through their words, actions, humility, and humanity (including their struggles) that what you seek has always been within.
And so, we Bow.
We serve.
We practice.
We study.
We chant.
We sit in temples.
We offer.
We receive.
We accept and allow ourselves to be guided
Not to escape or dimmish ourselves, but to remember ourselves.
Sometimes the way inward is through conscious offering outward. And in that surrender, we discover we were never separate from the Source at all.
From all of your friends at Yoga by the Sea Wellness Center
Love Hasu and All your Friends at Yoga by the Sea.