Pandoraspace

I feel God in Masjid Istiqlal

I am in Masjid Istiqlal in Jakarta, Indonesia.  I do not know why it is that I found myself here. It certainly was not my plan to visit this place, which until now I knew nothing of.  Initially, I thought that my presence would not be tolerated here.  After all, I am a Catholic and a woman.  Yet, I have been allowed through the gates of Masjid Istiqlal and in the sacred premises of this mosque.

As I explore this mosque, I am accompanied by a person of this faith.  This person is genuine, gracious and welcoming.  He is interested in my thoughts, and at the same time, he takes pride in showing me this place.

As I climb the steps of this mosque, I am moved to tears and surprised that I feel God’s presence so intensely.  Why do I feel God now when I am not looking for Him?  Why does He make  His presence felt in this place?  I am shocked.  I am perplex.  I am awed.  I am grateful.

Perhaps I thought that I would not find God in this place. After all, I did not come here to look for Him or to pray. I do sense Him everywhere.  I feel God in the corridors of this mosque.  I recognize Him in the people of this faith who I watch as they cleanse themselves before prayer and as they sit in quiet corners of this mosque to pray.

As I walk bare-footed in the corridors of Masjid Istiqlal, I find solace and peace.

A note about this post:  I wrote this article right after I visited the mosque called Masjid Istiqlal. I felt that it should be written in the present tense to convey how affected I was by the experience.

Clueless about Yoga

When I was still asking myself “If yoga is a jar, what would it contain? “, I thought that this Yoga jar definitely has something inside it.  Only, I could not tell what it was.

Star asked me if Yoga was a religion. I was stunned by the question. I did not really know the answer to it. I told Star that I am still a Catholic, and as far as I am concerned, I have not switched religion.  After that, I panicked and started reading up about Yoga from the internet. Do you know what I learned about Yoga from reading articles about it? Well, nothing much except to realize that the true meaning of Yoga is not something I can discover by reading about it. After that, I practiced and observed my classmates and teachers to try to discover what Yoga really means.

I learned that Yoga could be different things for different people. For some, Yoga could merely be a physical activity, a sport, a science of movement or art. For others, it could be a religion, a way of life or a philosophy. While Yoga could be treated merely as an exercise to get into shape, it has the potential of being so much more than that. The how much more depends on you.