”The longest journey is the journey inwards.” This quote by Swedish UN secretary general, Dag Hammarskjöld, 1905-1961, rings true most days, but not on the cusp of leaving for India. As I pack my bag with coal tablets and mysterious ointments, notebooks and drawing pad, I am more acutely aware of a long outwards trip ahead than an inwards journey.
In 2018, when I last went to Yog-ganga centre in Old Rajpur, yog-ganga.com, I found out some things (not all pleasant) about myself, though. Hammarskjöld again: “The more faithfully you listen to the voices within you, the better you will hear what is sounding outside”. Indian philosophy places great importance on self-study, svadhyaya. My yoga practice has indeed brought knowledge about myself, which hopefully make me more understanding towards others.
I will not bring my laptop, so there will be no letters from Uttarakhand. However, I’ll try to keep my Instagram account alive by sharing photographs and, if I come across something profound and wise, as was the case yesterday: At the Fedasil refugee centre in Brussels, I met with Danyal again, one of the young students who I’ve seen for several weeks.
Danyal was complaining about the other students’ messy way of putting the mats and props in order after class. “No discipline!” he said, and proceeded to roll the mats and belts tight so that they fit neatly into the bags. And then: “Discipline gives freedom!”. Danyal is 15 or 16 and a source of profound wisdom which he shares in little aphorisms, obviously homemade, in English, Pashto and some Swedish he has picked up.
I keep chewing on the link between discipline and freedom. On a superficial level, the fact that we could easily transport the props because they were well organised, gave us a certain freedom of movement. But I sense that Danyal is right on a more profound level as well and that his saying gave me an insight into myself.
Our conversation continued. Danyal said that he respects girls, because they will be mothers. “How about grandmothers?”, I asked. ”Are YOU a grandmother?” “Yes”. “Grandmothers are gold”, he said. “They give you money and listen to you”.
Warm greetings and Namaste,
Emily