"The light is love."

"Spiritual practice is about turning on the light - and the light is love."

Rolf Gates: " Meditations From the Mat

"Pssssssssssssssssssssss! That's the sound of the wind going out of my sails. It's the sound of frustration and self-defeat I sense when I hear something that is so apparently simple. I spend so much time over thinking and rationalizing that I often miss the beauty of the simplicity of life. There it is. Just turn on the light. Open the door of my soul. Be in the moment.

The 12 steps of recovery are about simplicity. It is critical that I live in the moment. As one person put it, when I keep one foot in the past and the other foot in the future, I urinate all over the present. This is a crass but very real vision of how I can make a mess out of the beauty of todayt by staying in the darkness of yesterday or in the illusion of tomorrow. It is simple: today is what I have. Today is the celebration of sobriety, clarity, wholeness, holiness. I am to be 'in the light'.

This is all about Yoga: presence, mindfulness, the practice of self. I practice this on and off the mat. Clarity evolves. Wholeness evolves. Holiness evolves. I evolve. There is no rush to get anywhere other than right here, right now, today. Simple? Yes, if I accept simplicity as the premise of my mind. This is where I can find rest. Yup! Simply stay right here in the light.