The Practice of Love by Kelly Haskee

As I enjoyed coffee time after sadhana with my dear friend, we shared the events that had touched our minds and processed the morning's insights. My overwhelming message during my meditation was LOVE LOVE LOVE. When all is said and done, love is the ultimate realization of the soul's journey and the human experience. We are all seekers of love. Though we may not consciously understand its primal energy, it is always there, propelling us forward when we let it.

As my friend and I discussed Robin Williams' passing, I said, "I stared into his eyes, hearing, listening to the sound of his soul." I wanted to understand this beautiful soul's dramatic exit, under circumstances that seemed on the surface to be so tragic. Such a brilliant human with so many gifts—even though he is gone, he continues to penetrate us in a way that feels deep and present.

We all know someone who has passed in this manner, and as I contemplated this, I thought that is not for us to judge his life, what happened, or where the deficit became bigger than the journey of life itself. Instead, we can view it through a lens of love and compassion.

I recalled a striking message from Joel Osteen the day before, which spoke of unconditional love. Are there layers of love? What is its pure form? How is it expressed through us? Through what color, vibration, action, smell and other senses does it appear?

Robin's passing and our reactions to it remind us that we live on a planet of polarities. Some think of this as challenging, and at times it is—but contrasts between our experiences and those of others create exercises for personal growth, evolving consciousness, and a stronger root of being. Forces of nature bigger than ours remind us about the continuation of growth, death, renewal and life. It is Sa Ta Na Ma.

With any death, even one that appears devastating, how can we receive the offerings of this experience to enlighten us and create a deeper awareness of life?

Does the residue of our past hold us so tightly that it crowds out the blessings of the present? How we answer these questions determines our soul's evolution.

We can transform such losses from pain and tragedy into an awareness of the fragility of life that highlights through contrast, through polarity, our power to tune up to love's highest frequency. We can move closer to our truths and love of our Selves by journeying most profoundly within. We can all do it.

What if we all created disciplined practices for expanding our love, as many of us do with our yoga, exercise, and other supportive rituals?

This practice could be as simple as finding one quote that fills you with joy and expansion, reciting it often, and creating a visual reminder of its gifts to you.

Then choose to share. Write a list of loving offerings, and select one each day to work on.

"I am going to offer myself through a heartfelt smile that will radiate to everyone I speak with today." If we did that, we would feel nourished on a deeper level of being. We would create a vibration that emanates from our cells and that supports balance and health. We would really be in a current of divine offerings.

My daily commitment to the current of love consists of nourishing my 10 bodies through sadhana when I wake up. This is my key to the chambers of love, the connection to the Creator, and the strengthening of my human experience. I have a deeper appreciation of this ritual each day. I cannot imagine life without this nourishing field of energy. It enables me to be more available to myself and to others.

We all have different ways of sustaining ourselves—we just have to discover them. If we fuel ourselves with that nectar, we create a core whose strength, stability, balance and conscious navigation are as invaluable as they are indescribable.

My coffee cup is empty…but my heart is full of gratitude for the opportunity to be in the process of life and all of its amazing moments of teachings and blessings. Through love, I pass that on to you.

Sat Nam