Sighing into the Wind

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Abstract

te from the <i>One</i>?</p><figure id="a52f"><img src="https://cdn-images-1.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:800/1*Bouk-bC_IHejJ4Zq30b14A.jpeg"><figcaption>Lingering. Photo ©Erika Burkhalter.</figcaption></figure><p id="62f6">These eternal questions, without clear answers, have haunted humanity for as long as we have walked the earth. From the neolithic cave dwellers, who buried their dead with pottery, tools and jewelry; to the Native American peoples who buried their loved ones with stone animal fetishes; to the yogis, who believed that the soul moved on to another life, we have searched for the answers with hope in our hearts.</p><p id="005c">“Just as a leech (or a caterpillar) when it has come to the end of a blade of grass, draws itself together towards it, so does this self, after having thrown away this body, and dispelled ignorance, after having another approach (to another body) draws itself together (for making the transition to another body). — <i>Bṛhadāraņyaka Upaniṣad 4.4</i></p><p id="270c">Erika Burkhalter is a yogi, cat-mom, photographer, and a lover of nature and travel. She has been studying and teaching the ancient yogic texts for many years and holds an MA in Yoga Studies as well as a MS in Neuropsychology. Erika has traveled within India seven times to study yoga, to see the ancient sites, for graduate school study, and to

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take her yoga students on retreats to see the land where yoga originated.</p><p id="6d6a">I hope you enjoy my musings into the nature of existence. You might also enjoy:</p><div id="0a4f" class="link-block"> <a href="https://readmedium.com/luminous-stranger-31a70122a0f7"> <div> <div> <h2>Luminous Stranger</h2> <div><h3>An ancient Indian tale from the Kena Upanishad</h3></div> <div><p>medium.com</p></div> </div> <div> <div style="background-image: url(https://miro.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:320/1*LVUiOIkUQy93k4kXZy5CLg.jpeg)"></div> </div> </div> </a> </div><div id="a405" class="link-block"> <a href="https://readmedium.com/of-wing-and-feather-c29640e27389"> <div> <div> <h2>Of Wing and Feather</h2> <div><h3>Before the dawn</h3></div> <div><p>medium.com</p></div> </div> <div> <div style="background-image: url(https://miro.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:320/1*Iz0hSTX-f_NkTxyvqbHlug.jpeg)"></div> </div> </div> </a> </div><p id="9f6c">Poem and photos ©Erika Burkhalter. All rights reserved.</p></article></body>

The vastness of One

Fallen petals. Photo ©Erika Burkhalter.

If the petals were to fall from the rose, would it still be a rose?

When the long lip of the wave crashes to the rocky shore, is it still a wave?

When the sun’s last rays gild the darkening sky, before burning out into the soft embers of the day’s flame, is it still the sun?

Or when the darkness cedes to dawn’s tawny robes, is there still night?

And when the soul traverses this mortal plane, and the last breath of life sighs into the wind, is there still a you, or a me?

These are the answers that I want to know, the ones that keep me up at night, the ones that haunt my dreams.

Did my father really come to me, and whisper in my ear?

Did my kitten ever make it to the other side? And did he live again?

And does another part of me ever peer through the curtains of time and watch my life unwind?

Or, like the salt lingering in the vastness of the sea, unable to be parted from her tight embrace, Are we ever really separate from the One?

These eternal questions, without clear answers, have haunted humanity for as long as we have walked the earth. From the neolithic cave dwellers, who buried their dead with pottery, tools and jewelry; to the Native American peoples who buried their loved ones with stone animal fetishes; to the yogis, who believed that the soul moved on to another life, we have searched for the answers with hope in our hearts.

“Just as a leech (or a caterpillar) when it has come to the end of a blade of grass, draws itself together towards it, so does this self, after having thrown away this body, and dispelled ignorance, after having another approach (to another body) draws itself together (for making the transition to another body). — Bṛhadāraņyaka Upaniṣad 4.4

Erika Burkhalter is a yogi, cat-mom, photographer, and a lover of nature and travel. She has been studying and teaching the ancient yogic texts for many years and holds an MA in Yoga Studies as well as a MS in Neuropsychology. Erika has traveled within India seven times to study yoga, to see the ancient sites, for graduate school study, and to take her yoga students on retreats to see the land where yoga originated.

I hope you enjoy my musings into the nature of existence. You might also enjoy: