Are You a Statue

Michaelangelo: 
            "I saw the angel in the marble and carved until I set him free."

            Picture a block of stone before its statue has been carved free.  The statue's essence is not merely stuck in the stone; it is non-existent to most.  Only a sculptor's eyes and hands can see the limitations of the excess stone that encases the beauty that the sculptor knows lies within. The statue to be is essentially bound, frozen, trapped in that space.  Cannot move. No room to breathe.  Paralyzed.  Have you ever been there before? Are you there right now?  Do you allow your spirit the freedom to move and breathe, unconfined by worry, fear and doubt? The more we let go of what holds us back, the more we can grow and expand. 

Michaelangelo : "The more the marbles wastes, the more the statue grows.”  Hmmm...the more excess baggage you let go, the more room there is for your spirit to expand.

Michaelangelo also wrote: "Every block of stone has a statue inside it and it is the task of the sculptor to discover it."

It is your job, your life's lesson, to discover what is truly inside of you.  Should you choose not to- which most people seem to do- how do you not get to a point where life feels stagnant; no fresh air being swept in to inhale deeply into the lungs?

Take the statue of Nataraja.  Shiva is surrounded by eternal flames representing the never ending cycle of birth, life and death. Yet, amidst that chaos, Shiva continues to dance, to move forward. He does not stand in the circle of flames stiff like tadasana; there is movement and breath to his posture.  He holds two of his four hands in abaya mudra dispelling fear, as if to say I am strong.  He stands with one foot on the dwarf of ignorance, crushing maya, which can be overcome. His other leg moves forward with motion and dance...forward, always moving forward.

Michaelangelo: "In every block of marble I see a statue as plain as though it stood before me, shaped and perfect in attitude and action. I have only to hew away the rough walls that imprison the lovely apparition to reveal it to the other eyes as mine see it.”