The beautiful latin term trans or tranz, replete with potentiality, is being used mostly short for transsexuals or transgenders. Original root of the word trans denotes ‘opposite’ or ‘across’ (e.g., transcontinental), or into another state or place (e.g., transonic). In chemistry, trans denotes molecules with opposite arrangements of substituents. In genetics, it stands for a molecular structure with two atoms on opposite sides of a plane.
Yet, the connotation of trans means much more. It represents transformation, transcending and surpassing. When we know "immigrants" as people not just operating across geographical boundaries, but across identities, culture, and values, it adds depth to understanding their lives of courage, chaos, and confluence.
Interestingly, the deep mystery of tantra (originating in Sanskrit root tan meaning weaving of threads on a loom), too, is replete with symbolism of Ardhanarishvara, the half-man half-woman form of Shiva and Shakti, and implies duality in unity. Eastern traditions of Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Tibetan Bön, Daoism and Japanese Shintō worship this polarity. Shiva (the seed) and Shakti (manifest diversity) effortlessly enmesh in Asian psyche. It is revered as one being, that integrates the opposing yet inseparable masculine and feminine forces.
Understanding the androgynous symbolism of tantra can direct one to view the immigrant experience at its fundamental psychological roots, and perhaps, even predict influences that exert control. "Home" for immigrants often implies two soils and souls (identities), perpetually overlapping and intersecting. What is not commonly known, however, is that Asian immigrants are culturally coded to absorb and exploit this duality at whole another level, and perhaps at an advantage to exploit it.
There is also an urgent need for a balanced analysis of migrant experience. We are mostly trying to decode their “American dream” through studies conducted in host countries, without understanding its beginning on native soil. The conditioning and upbringing, the myths and mythology, the collective consciousness and influence of native soil, must be equally and simultaneously in conversation. This alone can help us fathom (and grapple with) the tension that binds their duality.
Unless one has sipped roadside chai at local dhabas, inhaled incense in Pagoda temples, heard namaz reverberate through ancient ruins, or walked through streets of old Delhi––one hasn’t fully understood the trance like state of disappearing boundaries of immigrants. It’s the seed that dictates the branches, the Shiva (consciousness) that dictates Shakti, the play of consciousness. There are no quick fixes or short cuts to fathom this pas de deux or “step of two.” It is a duet wherein both dancers must be present to tell their story.
