In reality, Kali Devi or Ambika or Sonancy, Mothers or has two essential attributes. These are depicted as the two sons Ganesha and Skandha.
The Sage Markandeya spoke:
Then at his command the Daityas, led by Chanda [Fury as a Demon] and Munda [Bald; meaning Insubstantial, thus Dissolution itself as a Demon] , and arrayed in the fourfold order of an army [Inimical Mind States] , marched with weapons uplifted [or with potency as it is the Dissolution] . Soon they saw the Goddess, smiling slightly, seated upon the lion, on a huge golden peak [refers to the Sonic Essence that triggers the sequentiality and thus Manifestation; golden implies the potential Manifestation of the Golden Aeon or Satya Yuga and the Treta, Dvapara and Kali Yugas], of the majestic mountain. On seeing her some of them made a strenuous effort to capture her [Kali] , and others approached her holding their bows bent and their swords drawn [the onslaught of the Negative forces or Asuras during Chaos and Dissolution].
Thereat Ambika [Divine Mother or Yin Consciousness] uttered her wrath aloud [Intense Resonance] against these foes [Negative forces personified as Demons] , and her countenance then grew dark as ink in her wrath . [This denotes that when Dissolution is at its peak, the Absolute is in its Yin phase. Devi's wrath means that the Energy Essence of the Absolute, though seemingly weak, nuclearises and intensifies when confronting the Chaos or Dissolution.] Out from the surface of her forehead, which was rugged with frowns, issued suddenly Kali of the terrible countenance [Kali resonates and introduces the notion of sequentiality; thus, Kali is Time; Kali is also Black because at this point the Yin Absolute is facing the most intense Dissolution; thus, Kali is Ferecious; Kali is thus the Energy that overwhelms the Negative forces to reinstate the potential Cosmos] , armed with a Sword [Kali's Resonance causes intense Energy; this incites the primordial severance that seperates the Pure Conscious Reality from the “to be World”] and noose [Consciousness that Manifests as Time, thus the Binding Essence] , bearing a many-coloured Skull-topped staff [this denotes the notion of Consciousness that Resonates or triggers the sequentiality that overcomes the Chaos or eventual Dissolution] , adorned with a garland of Skulls [Consciousness or thought is embodied by Sanskrit alphabets, graphically skulls], clad in a Tiger's Skin [the wearing of Skin suggests the primordial state; Tiger's skin denotes Kali as cloaked in the Sonic Essence] , very appalling because of her emaciated flesh [during the phase of extreme Dissolution the Absolute being aggrieved is graphically appalling, thus the emaciated flesh] , exceedingly wide of mouth [prior to the Genesis and during the Dissolution the Conscious Reality that Resonates as Kali spends its Energy, thus wide-mouthed] , Lolling out her tongue terribly [this again denotes Speech, thus the Sonic Essence] , having deep-sunk-reddish eyes [this denotes the emaciated nature of the Absolute Energy when Manifestation is not] , and filling the regions of the sky with her roars. [This alludes to the Yin Conscious Sonic Absolute's projection of the Ethereal Realm, or graphically the Sky.] She fell upon the great Asuras impetuously, dealing slaughter among the host, and devoured that army of the foes of the Anti-Divine there. Taking up their elephants [Dissolute Matter] with one hand she [Kali] flung them into her own mouth [here the mouth of the Absolute is contrasted with Dissolution to emphasise on the Absolute's Infinite nature] , together with their rear-men and drivers and their warrior-riders and bells. Flinging likewise warrior with his horses, and chariot [deeds, and body of the forces of Dissolution] with its driver into her mouth, she ground them most frightfully with her teeth . [In other words, the Energy Essence of the Absolute converted the Dissolution through the Sonic Essence, thus graphically the noisy grinding with the teeth by Kali. Teeth denote the Sonic seeds or Sanskrit alphabets.] She seized one by the hair [Devi's Ethereal Realm overwhelmed the realm of finite Ether] and she kicked another with her foot [Devi's Sonic Essence or Mantras overwhelmed finite noise] , and crushed another against her chest [her innate will power is her chest] . And she seized with her Mouth the weapons and the great arms which those Asuras abandoned, and crushed all that host of mighty and high-spirited Asuras [here Dissolution and its nature] ; and devoured some and battered others; some were slain with her Sword [Devi's Discriminative Nature] , some were struck with her Skull-topped staff [Devi's Sonic Energy overwhelmed the metamorphosis that is the Dissolution] , and other Asuras met their death being wounded with the edge of her teeth . [Devi's Sonic Essence overwhelmed the Dissolution. Teeth denote the Sanskrit alphabets which are thirty-two times two Matras each, thus a total of sixty-four Matras in the Veda.]
Copyright © 2001 Bhagavan Shri Shanmukha Anantha Natha and Shri Ma Kristina Baird taken from “Divine Initiation” pp. 192-4 by Shri Kali Publications. All rights reserved.
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Goddess
The goddess movement has been vogue in the US for a while. What is this Goddess movement?
The liberation of women introduced changes in society in various phases. Men modified their behaviour to accomodate the new definitions of women as defined by feminism.
In the past feminism, women took up yoga seeking a comfortable identity (see The Female Eunuch, Germaine Greer, 1970).
Germaine Greer's classic work The Female Enunch argued that “women had somehow been separated from their libido, from their faculty of desire, from their sexuality,” as is reflected in the title of this work itself. Greer, an Australian-born feminist, was originally attracted to an anarchist group in Sydney who practiced non-monogamy. She stood against traditional values that in her view undermined the progress of women. There can be no doubting the impact of Greer on our lifestyles today. Even now she continues to uphold the non-denigration of feminine values embodied in her original concept of liberation that was always more than mere egalitarianism. Greer is an important person to remember as we move into a new neo-conservative era that endangers all freedom. Greer's works are those of an artist; she hacks away the debris to give shape to the true form of womanhood.
This saw to the emergence of yoga-like exercises under the name of aerobics in the seventies. This type of yoga-aerobics eventually declined in popularity as it was injury prone. The promoters of feminism created low-impact aerobics. But this too failed. Yoga was more conducive to health.
The non-sexist yoga culture helped feminism fill the void with a non-sexist culture, and yoga caught on in the US and the West.
Others just engaged in yoga for its health benefits.
Even more, the practice of yoga enhanced the development of a body that was truly natural and therefore truly feminine.
Other forms of exercising the body led to unappealing muscular contours or buildups.
Yoga enhanced the physical structure but did not contort it.
With the development of feminism, came changes in the male and female sociopolitics in relationships. With this came the questioning of the validity of orthodox lifestyles.
Women wanted an identity of their own to express their freedom. In this strive for equality and identity, changes were made. Men had to modify to the needs of women if they were to co-exist.
The idea of orthodox marriage was understood to be restrictive to the ideology of feminism.
This saw to a culture where women lived with their partner without going through the process of orthodox marriage.
In fact, as women attained economic, social and political stability, they preferred an independent lifestyle.
However, this newfound independence of women reduced the relationship with men to mere existence and there was a change towards a new culture within feminism.
This was important if feminism as an ideal was to survive.
Carl Jung's concept of anima (the female aspect present in the collective unconscious of men) and animus (the male aspect present in the collective unconscious of women) came to aid. In other words, Jung taught that within us all there is a male and a female and the balance of this is vital if we are to live successfully.
To optimize this, many women and modern-day men decided to pursue the science of Tantra as a way of spiritualism. This is to enhance their inner self so as to optimize life.
This form of Tantra is different to the original science of spiritualism that is practiced in India, Tibet and Nepal.
Nevertheless, it takes one close to the Tantric culture of spiritualism.
With this came a freer attitude to sex and love.
With this ideology of balancing the inner male and female, was born the goddess culture.
In this ideology, women are accepted as goddesses and men as their gods.
This is not the traditional definition of gods and goddesses. It is a psychological hypothesis that helps achieve the inner balance of the sexes and also helps achieve balance in the outer world of career, money and livelihood.
This does not mean that Westerners aren't involved with the traditional Eastern esoteric sciences or the Tantras.
Many Westerners, to have a stable and nonfleeting definition of life, took to the practice of spiritualism early on.
In this process, many had studied with the Dalai Lama and other Rinpoches and Lamas.
Many also had been involved with the Gurus of India, for instance, Swami Shrila Prabhupada, and Satguru Shivaya Subramuniyaswami.
Swami Shrila Prabhupada or Swami Shrila Bhakivedanta Prabhupada was born in Calcutta in the state of Bengal, India in 1896. He was 69 when he arrived by ship in New York in 1965 from India with $7 and a trunkful of his newly-published Shrimad Bhagavatams. He began teaching the message of Krishna Consciousness and initiated the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) known worldwide as the Hare Krishna Movement. He passed away in 1977, only 12 years after arriving in New York and achieving the consolidation of his writings and the construction of numerous temples and schools devoted to Krishna Consciousness.
Satguru Shivaya Subramuniyaswami was an American born in Oakland, California in 1927, who inherited the position of 162nd preceptor of the Nandinatha Sampradaya's Kailasa Parampara from his Shri Lankan guru Sage Yogaswami. He was initiated in Jaffna, Shri Lanka in 1949 and founded Kauai's Hindu Monastery on Hawaii's Garden Island in 1970. He represents the Shaiva Siddhanta Church (meaning sacred congregation of Supreme God Shiva's Revealed Truth) for millions of Tamils (South Indians) throughout the world, including monasteries in Mauritius, Malaysia, Europe, and South Africa. The media wing of this organisation is the Himalayan Academy, and notably the magazine, “Hinduism Today.” Gurudeva passed away in 2001 (see www.himalayanacademy.com).
Many are taking up these esoteric sciences or Tantras as valid forms of spiritualism because they teach one not to be preoccupied with the temporal dynamics of life but instead to focus on the spiritual aspects of life.
This naturally equips us to relinquish the judgmental aspects of ourselves, however refined.
This freedom that envelops one, with the practice of Tantra, is what appeals to a contemporary person.