Halloween Tantra: The Joy of Masking and Unmasking Yourself
Halloween was my favorite holiday as a kid. I really loved getting dressed up in a costume and walking to school. I only lived a block from Breton Downs Elementary in East Grand Rapids, MI. I was thrilled by the idea of concealing my identity. On the outside, I could be anyone I wanted to be, while hiding who I really was on the inside. It was my secret.
My favorite costume was dressing up as a monster, the more gruesome the better, with a distorted rubber mask over my head, a hunchback covered by an oversized trench coat, and huge green, reptilian, rubber hands with wrinkled skin, large veins, crooked fingers (that I now recognize as severe arthritis), and long black fingernails. I was a scary sight for sure.
Once at school, all of the kids would parade around the halls single file to observe the creative costumes. Even the teachers dressed up in costumes. Then back in our homerooms we would have the big “reveal.” There was something about this that was so exciting and joyous – to come out from behind the mask and be yourself in the presence of others. As I look back, I loved the attention, appreciation, and expressions of surprise on people’s faces when they discovered who was really behind the mask – a moment of truth, a moment of seeing and being seen.
Concealment with the joy of revelation is one of the most fascinating teachings in Tantra.
The term Rahasya means a secret and refers to the nature of the universe. The universe reveals itself by secreting itself. The infinite releases finitude by concealing unity. In other words, the uni-verse, or the one song, conceals its oneness by becoming […]