Your Body Is the Temple (and Other Heresies)
Another Cheat Sheet
You are the secret the universe is telling.
GOPALA AIYAR SUNDARAMOORTHY
The word heresy comes from the Greek word hairesis, which means “views strongly opposed to any generally accepted ideas.”1 In times other than these, I might have been drawn and quartered, flayed, or burned at the stake for the scandalous views I’ve shared on these pages, particularly here in part three. It’s enough to drive a goddess underground. But guess what? It is springtime for wayward goddesses. And besides, a heretic was long ago simply known as one who is able to choose. I may indeed be a heretic, but from the relative safety of this century, let’s review our choices, shall we?
You Can Speak Directly with God Countless popes are turning over in their graves. Many a page of O magazine will be left unturned.
Whatever it is you have simply forgotten, you can remember. No intermediary needed. You can know yourself. Directly, keenly, authoritatively. In fact, who could truly know, but you?
Erotic Energy Is Creative Energy Your passion and power come through integrating and owning your sensual energy, rather than by denouncing or cloistering it.
Rather than separating you from the Divine, your erotic energy is a force for divine union. Rather than leading you to ruin, Eros will lead you into the life you are aching to live.
Often, you find your truth in the least likely places.
The Godhead Isn’t in Your Head Your body is not an impediment to divinity; your body is divine. You can get into real-deal communion with the eternal, not by transcending your body but through your body, your corporeal, workaday, human body.
No need to vanquish, conquer, or control your body. No need to slay your ego before meeting the Holy One. No altar needed at which to pray for insight and inspiration.
Your body is the altar — and the temple.
A Rose by Any Other Name Would Smell as Sweet The reasons, opinions, rules, and judgments of your brain are great sources of guidance. As are the compassionate, empathic urgings of your heart. As are the powerful, compelling instincts of your gut. Friends, all.
But to get to the intuitive murmurings of the soul in your belly, you must have the discipline to bring your awareness further down, into your Oracle, to hear the voices that are quieter and subtler, but connected directly to cosmic intelligence.
And it turns out, instead of a silent and shameful down there, you’ve got a sacred vessel. Thanks to your lady parts.
Guidance Comes in the Form of Your Longings You can know your deepest truth by befriending your body’s sensations, emotions, impulses, instincts, intuitions, passions, aches, and desires.
For everything you dearly want, there is someone wishing and waiting for it to be born. Your deepest desires are sent to you from a world-to-be that only you can see. Honed, your desires become precious pieces of your inner wisdom.
When Feminine Genius knocks you up, it is your sacred responsibility to grow those desire-babies into sturdy powerhouses, and then send them galloping off into the world.
Guidance Is Best Heard While Turned On Meditative, devotional, and prayer practices that are seated, still, contemplative, serious, and thought based — are so last century.
Your enjoyment, your pleasure, your aliveness, as felt by your feeling, changing, cycling, moving woman’s body, are the preferred mediums for our collective soul to have a word with you.
Cultivating your light and tending to your fire will let you hear the quiet, wise voice of your truth, and will give you the courage and confidence to follow what you hear. Nothing like a whole fourth and final section to explore this one. Will you come along with me now?
remember:
the Divine is having a human
experience through you
there is nowhere you could go
and nothing you could do
to fall from the embrace of the Beloved
you are already holy
you are already home
you are the One we are waiting for
let’s go