The Virgin of Juquila who survived a fire, una puerta, yes, of course. I have a fascination with those who have miraculously survived a fire. There was Anandi Ma, who, in a deep state of meditative bliss, fell backwards into a fire and did not burn, now there was Juquila, and also, there was me.
When I was twenty seven years old I lost everything I owned and almost my life in an apartment fire. The water heater exploded when I was in the shower. With bars on my windows and no key to get out, my life was saved by a construction worker from Mexico who saw the flames shatter my kitchen window, and a neighbor who, on her hands and knees, never gave up on calling to me from the other side of the bars. My life was also saved by my own spirit that I could physically feel from deep inside would not stop dragging my dying body toward the sound of my neighbor's voice under the smoke.
"It's a miracle you're still alive," the fire inspector said.
The word virgin means "pure," the Sanskrit word is sauca. This definition of sauca, from "Exquisite Love," by William K. Mahoney, is how I like to think of fire these days.
The word derives from a verbal root that connotes the purifying heat of fire, and thus also a shining, glimmering, brightness and clarity. The image here is of the offertory flame that burns during the performance of sacred rituals. Accordingly, in cultivating sauca, we not only strive to keep our living spaces clean and our thoughts pure; in the spiritual discipline of love we pour all of our impurities into a blazing fire of sorts. This is the flame of God's own love for us. Just as butter that is heated in a pan gives rise to a clear, sweet essence, so, too, our commitment to a pure heart reveals and brings forth the clarity of the soul's foundation in pure love.
When I was twenty seven years old I lost everything I owned and almost my life in an apartment fire. The water heater exploded when I was in the shower. With bars on my windows and no key to get out, my life was saved by a construction worker from Mexico who saw the flames shatter my kitchen window, and a neighbor who, on her hands and knees, never gave up on calling to me from the other side of the bars. My life was also saved by my own spirit that I could physically feel from deep inside would not stop dragging my dying body toward the sound of my neighbor's voice under the smoke.
"It's a miracle you're still alive," the fire inspector said.
The word virgin means "pure," the Sanskrit word is sauca. This definition of sauca, from "Exquisite Love," by William K. Mahoney, is how I like to think of fire these days.
The word derives from a verbal root that connotes the purifying heat of fire, and thus also a shining, glimmering, brightness and clarity. The image here is of the offertory flame that burns during the performance of sacred rituals. Accordingly, in cultivating sauca, we not only strive to keep our living spaces clean and our thoughts pure; in the spiritual discipline of love we pour all of our impurities into a blazing fire of sorts. This is the flame of God's own love for us. Just as butter that is heated in a pan gives rise to a clear, sweet essence, so, too, our commitment to a pure heart reveals and brings forth the clarity of the soul's foundation in pure love.
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