I spent most of my time outside when I wasn't working, probably because being "inside" was the same temperature most of the time. There was a nice yard that I shared with the other women on the property. I practiced yoga outside daily. My practice was much deeper than it is now. I think the extreme heat inspired me to do so.
As I became more comfortable with my standard set of sun salutations and various other asanas, I experimented with more. I placed my arms and legs in positions according to my spirit. It was not a listening experience, but more of a discovery. I think my mind said, "Let's see if this position stretches something that needs to be stretched, that hasn't been stretched yet."
After I "made-up" a few of "my own" poses, I decided I would do some research, more study on Yoga, to learn more "real" poses. Alas! The poses "I" had "created" were in the book I found in the library. Amazing! It was a curious and an empowering discovery. I thought to myself... "Could I be one of those gurus of Yoga in the making?" I thought it was a pretty crazy idea. I read more about some gurus in this book, and other students' experience in learning from them. They were so disciplined, and even though I practiced yoga frequently and prayed a lot, I was certainly not as disciplined as them. So surely, the answer was "no"... I probably was not a guru-in-the-making.
Because I believe I am filled with the Spirit of God, I devote my practices to the Divine Spirit. This is greatly acknowledged throughout my practice, that I am merely a house for the Spirit of the Lord. It is simply acknowledged at the end, by saying "Namaste" which to me, is an offering of thanks to God for the Life I experience.
I have thought about this now for months (not REALLY a long time, I know!), but I think that in a way, we all have that ability to be prophets. Something emerged within me to create poses. I created them for the first time for my particular body, as a teacher never taught them to me. However, as the book I found showed me, I was not THE creator of these poses. I was not the first to have ever put my body in those positions. Only in my arrogance and ignorance could I claim to be the first.
Again, being of the faith that I am, I devote this emergence of poses (as with all of my ideas and experiences) to God, the Creator of Creation, who dwells within me. Did God speak to me through a burning bush and tell me to create "squatting tree" (elegant sounding, I know!)? No. But my asanas are physical manifestations of God because they are creative and expressive.
So, like my experience with creating yoga asanas by some kind of emergence or inspiration of Spirit, so are my ideas. So are YOUR ideas.
I do not claim to be the ONLY prophet. I suggest that we all have this capability. What is a prophet? Is it not a person who shares new-found good news? If we "tap into" our Spirit, which to me is the Spirit of God, and have an "epiphany"... isn't that usually some kind of "good news"? Some kind of "realization"? Something that... maybe already existed, but was just "made clear" to you? Don't you normally go around telling people about these things?
How many conversations do you start that go like this:
"I was reading in this book/paper/article about this... I realized 'that's me' or 'I think that too!'"
-or-
How many times do you work hard at something that you really want to do, like building a certain project, or creating a work of art... you complete it finally, step back and say, "Wow! I can't believe I finished it. And it actually looks good!" You share your mini-masterpiece with others. Usually they are inspired by your hard work, creativity and perseverance.
When you share with others "your" epiphanies or "your" finished projects, you often inspire them to think or do something. Maybe they walk away thinking, "Hey, I could do something like that!" or "I never thought of that before." You have in a sense shared some good news, a part of your spirit. It survives and grows. Your influence being a catalyst for growth in another persons life. You yourself have become a prophet.
We all know that both good news and bad news is spread in the world. I am called to be a spreader of GOOD news, though I find myself spreading bad news as well. It is difficult to turn bad things into good, or at least even be non-reactive. It is through my practice of mindfulness and attempt at constant prayer that gives me strength not to participate in sharing bad news (gossip, telling lies, calling names, professing judgements, etc). I fail of course. I fail more than I want to confess. THIS is why Jesus is so important. It is not "okay" that I fail, but it is inevitable. Jesus however showed us that though we as mere humans are destructive, if we are filled with the spirit of God, and answer the higher calling, the destruction that we either create (as people who put Jesus up on the cross) or the destruction that we suffer (as Christ suffered on the Cross) will create something new. Christ was resurrected and transformed into something new, as the Creator God promised he would. Christ's death which was devastating, was turned into Good News later, as he rose again. Today, we talk about Jesus's Life and Death in both terms of sadness and rejoice, but overall his whole story is Good News.
Just as Jesus devoted his life and death to God according to his calling, I believe we as postmodern-day prophets are to do this as well. A complete Life is not all about "living it up". Sacrifice is sometimes necessary to make living within a community (the community of the world) function. We as middle class Americans, give a little and take a lot. This unbalance is not Good News, as it will not inspire much of anything except more greed and selfishness. Maybe we should give a little, and take a little less. Actually sacrifice some of ourselves, kind of like Jesus did. There are few that will walk along this narrow path, and I haven't met anyone as full of the Spirit of the Jesus that I've heard of. But it would be pretty sweet to hear of more. A sweet sweet sound indeed.
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