Durga and the Shakti Within

Jai MAA and blessings for Navaratri!

I am still at Kamakhya, enjoying the last of my time here as I leave in one month to go back to the U.S. Durga Puja began at Kamakhya on the 21st, as it is celebrated here for 15 days, from navami to navami.

During this time we celebrate Goddess as Mahadevi (Great Goddess), Durga, Chandi, Mahishasura-mardini (She who killed the buffalo demon). Durga is the Great Goddess, and the song of Her defeat of the Buffalo Demon (Mahishasura) is told in the Devi Mahatmyam, also known as the Chandi Path. The Chandi is not just a sacred text, it is a revelation of the process of surrender and realization, as we gain consciousness of MAA, we also gain the power to defeat our internal demons. This entire process in turn opens us to the non-intellectual realization of Infinite Being, which is none other than MAA herself. The long and deliberate process of opening up to that reality is one of the ways that I define sadhana, a word that means disciplined spiritual practice for a particular goal.

In every part of India there are different ways of celebrating Navaratri, and different places invoke different forms of Devi for each day of the nine day festival. In Bengal and especially in Kolkata, the worship is especially elaborate, and thousands of shrines to Devi – some taking up entire city blocks – are constructed and beautiful temporary murtis (statues) of Mahishasura-mardini and Her divine family are erected around the city, which swells from 15 million to about 35 million people during Navaratri time, as everyone comes to the city from the villages.

Here in Guwahati, the celebration is similar on the streets, but up at Kamakhya, things are different. This is the shakti pith, the original place of Devi, the yoni pith where the source of all consciousness, all beingness, resides. And so in all the devi piths on Nilachala (the blue mountain), there are generally no murtis. During Durga Puja, we have an opportunity to worship Her directly, as Mother Earth herself.

One thing I have learned these many years is that the power of Devi is very real at the shakti piths, and especially at Kamakhya, but there is also a power that comes from the realization that we carry MAA within us daily. She is not separate from us. She is our consciousness, our bodies, our hearts and souls. She is all that exists, the pervading reality underlying all that we see and touch and taste and do. Most of the time we are profoundly unconscious of this.

So how do we become more awake? Begin with awareness. The best thing you can do is to start by setting aside time at the start of every day to honor the Shakti within with meditation and simple prayer, and during that time, to also honor the Shakti that is outside of you, pervading everything. To feel that connection as real. Then during your day, as you interact with people, become aware of them as Shakti, also – both the people you love, and the people you hate. See how this shifts how you think and feel about things, how it changes your attitude.

At the end of each day, before sleep, sit down and again honor that Shakti within and without. Ask Her to forgive you for any harm you have caused to others or yourself during the day, intentionally or unintentionally, and to make you more aware of Her in every moment. Feel gratitude and radiate that outward.

You don’t need any mantras to do this practice. But if you would like mantras to recite to help you with this honoring of Shakti, you can recite the Sri Durga Saptashlokistotra, and/or you can recite the pranama mantras for any Devi you choose, or for all of the Mahavidyas.

Doing a form of this very simple practice daily for the last many years has really deepened and strengthened my connection to Devi, to the people around me, and even to the earth itself as the living body of MAA. I love external expressions of MAA – murtis, temples, gorgeous images, Durga pandals – but for me, the most precious form of Devi is the one that exists within me, and within you. The limitless Infinite Being, Mahadevi, MAA.

Jai MAA and blessings during this Navaratri. Shanti!