Tango, The Divine

I received Eat, Pray, Love as a gift last year, and while reading her section of praying, found a great similarity between her spiritual epiphany and my own.

Our journeys were somewhat similar: we were both aware of a Greater Purpose to life, and yearned for that Inner Peace and Boundless Love which we both intuitively knew existed "out there". And we both were impelled on our journeys by a divorce. And then we parted ways: she went to an Ashram in the middle of India's wilderness where she prayed and meditated for months upon months before being transported to bliss. I went to a Tango class.

While the desire for that Magical Connection to Infinite Love may be universal, how we go about trying to find it, and how we each eventually reach it, is not. Ergo all the world's different religions, philosophies and practices. And for some of us, the road to The Bliss is a close embrace accompanied by a wheezing little instrument.

Drawing a parallel between religion and Tango is hardly absurd. They both inspire and transform, both have adherents who believe that their particular brand of study is The Way, and both have extremists and vilifiers who feel qualified to determine who is and who is not worthy (as though one could possibly determine spiritual achievement from outer appearances. We call this "judging a book by its cover".).

I had spent a good part of my life Seeking. Yoga, Tai Chi, and meditation; each of these practices brought me closer to That Place, but not to it. I am certain that they helped pave the way to the Threshold, but stopped short of escorting me through. It took Tango to do it for me, but Ms. Gilbert's description of her moment of enlightenment was definitely familiar:

"I got pulled through the wormhole of the Absolute, and in that rush I suddenly understood the workings of the universe completely."

The instant my tango teacher took me in his arms that first class over a decade ago, I had the exact same experience. I understood the workings of the universe completely. Doubt was dissolved. Pain was dispelled. Fear evaporated. The separation of me and you, and it and them, and "out there" and "in here" all melded into a delicious, infinite glow that extended beyond the earth and any dimensions with which I was familiar. I was one with everything and everyone. I understood Love in the Universal sense. And I truly loved myself for the first time. Ever.

I had never envisioned myself dancing Tango, nor could I possibly have known the gift it held for me. Is it any wonder that Tango holds such a divine place in my life? And even though I have not been at it's altar very regularly this past year, my reverence for it remains.

Yes, Tango is a dance, and a social activity, and a heck of a lot of fun. But like anything else - hiking, painting, and yes, even yoga - it can also be so much more.