“In the earlier age, during the period of Svayambhuva, in the beginning of Krtayuga, the goddess who is known as Mahamaya, Yoganidra, Jagaddhatri, and Jaganmayi, assuming a mighty figure with sixteen arms, renowned by the name Bhadrakali (appeared) on the northern shore of the Milk Ocean with a view to destroy Mahishasura and with a desire to do good to the world.

“She with the lustre of the colour of flax blossom, with earrings made of flaming gold, being adorned with long twisted hair, and with three diadems together with the crescent (moon), having a snake as her necklace and adorned with golden necklaces; always holding a trident and a discus, a sword, a conch-shell, an arrow, a lance, a thunderbolt and a staff in her right arms, looks splendid with her radiant teeth, the goddess continuously holds a shield, a hide, a bow, a noose, a hook, a bell, an axe, and a mace in her (eight) hands (from the uppermost to the lowermost respectively); she was on the back of a lion, was shining extremely like the flame with her three eyes, which were red as blood, she had been piercing the demon Mahisha with the trident and was treading Mahisha with her left foot; the goddess was the embodiment of the world.

“All the gods then having seen the demon Mahisha being killed by the (goddess Durga) did not utter a single word.”

– Kalikapurane Murtivinirdesah, trans. & ed. by Biswanarayan Shastri  (Delhi: Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts, 1995), 59-61.

Bhadra means “blessed” or “auspicious.” Kali (or Kaalii/KAlI) has many potential meanings, as the name relates to time, as well as to blackness. But here, Kali is not black, She is golden in color. The blackness of Kali may be taken literally, but it is also the timeless void, everything that ever was and everything that ever will be. It is time without form, and form without time. It is utter emptiness, and complete fullness. Kali is paradox incarnate, the struggle we face when we hold two conflicting but equally true paradigms or thoughts in our minds at the same time. In the center of that struggle is the force of non-duality, the non-intellectual realization of which is the goal of all Tantric practice. And there is auspiciousness, tremendous blessing in engaging in that struggle.

Bhadrakali in the Kalikapurana is associated directly with Mahishasura Mardini, “She who kills the buffalo demon.” This is an important and popular form of Durga, and brings together all the various shaktis (female powers) into a single form. Although her name is Kali, she has a golden – not black – complexion, the color of golden flax seeds. The symbols held in her eight arms identify her with different deities and powers, such as Shiva (trident), Vishnu (discus, conch shell), Indra (thunderbolt), and Raja Rajeswari/Tripura Sundari (arrows, bow, noose, goad/hook). Unlike many of the images of Mahishasura Mardini we see during Durga Puja time, which are sweet and smiling, this gives a more striking image – her eyes are “red as blood,” and indeed if one reads the Chandi Path they will see that Durga is described in this episode as intoxicated, ferocious, and terrifying.

This intoxication and ferocious demeanor is reflective of the inner process of the Tantric path. As we perform sadhana, we may employ various tools under tightly controlled circumstances. Externally, we are calm, often solitary, and contrary to what some may have you believe, the rituals externally can seem quite boring! But internally, there is a battle constantly being waged and won by the sadhika or sadhak. It is the battle with one’s own limited intellect, the battle with one’s own demons of self-doubt, apathy, self-righteousness, pride, greed, and small-mindedness. The battle begins when one steps forward and fully commits to the path. It does not begin with the puja. Nor does it end when the puja is over, but continues in daily life. Ritual acts as a grounding point, something to strengthen the journey that continues 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, for one’s lifetime. The tools employed in that ritual – whether they are physical or ephemeral – are, with proper guidance from a qualified guru, vehicles for transformation.

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I’m headed back to the United States after spending nearly a year at Kamakhya, in the loving company of my brothers, sisters, and gurus. This has been a rewarding, challenging and transformative time, and I’m glad to return to the US and integrate what I have learned into my work at the mandir.

There are beautiful, wonderful and expansive things about the process of transformation, but transformation still isn’t easy. Changes can be difficult. Embracing your strengths can be rewarding, but also humbling or challenging in unexpected ways. Facing your shadows and reflections is often harder than expected. Releasing expectation and speaking truth, releasing assumptions, being fearless… these are harder still.

In America, we have a culture that is more deeply invested in the psychology of transformation than is the case in India. We want to know why, we read into others’ words, we try to fill in the blank spaces with our own guesses about motivation and context. But something liberating about my time spent at Kamakhya was the process of continuing to unlearn that, and unlearning the need to analyze everything for some hidden meaning. To take things at face value, and to speak plainly without alterior motives, with an intention of love and truth. It’s been a powerful teacher, and I’ve found myself learning a lot more that way. But this hasn’t always been received well. People are still people – we take things personally, we assume that there are hidden meanings, we read with filters that don’t take into account that someone might just be speaking plainly and openly and with an intention of love and honesty, even when they say that outright. Our wounds inform too much how we receive something, overshadowing our capacity to receive with love. We expect the worst instead of assuming the best, even about people who are close to us.

I wrote a post recently about keeping mantra sacred, and have received messages from several people who asked me if I secretly wrote that post to or about them. In truth, I didn’t write it about anyone in particular, or to anyone in particular, or with anyone specific in mind. It was a topic I had been meaning to write about for some time, with no specific target. Yet it seemed to deeply affect a number of people in my immediate circle of friends and fellow devotees, and continues to ripple outward. It was something I wrote from a place of love for my Mother, Devi, and if I wrote it to or about anyone, it was Her. This isn’t the first time – I’ve gotten that reaction a number of times. It tells me a lot about human nature, how often and deeply we take things personally. Me, too. I do it, too. We all do, no matter who we are, even if it’s rare. It’s one reason why we have to work at paying attention all the time, to be Self-centered instead of self-centered, if you know what I mean.

As I return to the US, I pray for peace, for understanding, for space to grow and integrate all that I’ve learned (or tried to learn!) at Kamakhya. I feel gratitude for this time and opportunity – the privilege, really – to spend so much time there. I look forward to returning this Fall for our pilgrimage to Kamakhya (see below!). And I ask for the patience, grace, and love of our growing community in the US as the mandir transforms and grows.

Moving ahead in 2012

In the coming year, we’ll be doing a lot of new things at the mandir, and change is in the air! We are consciously moving forward with a long-term plan to purchase land and build a temple and ashram that is inspired by the Kamakhya temple complex in Assam. MAA will manifest the donors, the land, and the builders, and in the meantime we are making room for that to happen by shifting our monthly pujas to a more public venue.

Starting in May 2012, we will hold pujas on the fourth Saturday of every month in the Fireside Room of the Berkeley Fellowship of Unitarian Universalists (BFUU) in Berkeley. Worship will feature a Devi puja and homa performed in the style of the Kamakhya Kula. This is the same style of puja performed by priests in the temples of Kamakhya, and a rare opportunity to participate in a powerful, unique form of worship. Puja will be followed by light prasad, and donations are welcome to both help us cover the basic costs of food, flowers, wood, puja materials, and room rental ($21 is suggested), but also to help find and purchase land or rent a semi-permanent space for a full time temple, including space for classes and workshops. We will still have a permanent shrine in my home, as I perform the daily worship to the Devis.

We are also happy to announce the dates for our 2012 pilgrimage, PILGRIMAGE TO THE HEART OF THE MOTHER, which will take place November 3-18, 2012. On this 16-day journey, we will travel to powerful Devi temples and Shakti Pithams in West Bengal and Assam, spending a transformative ten days at the Kamakhya temple. It promises to be a powerful journey, and we’re limiting enrollment to 8 people, but we need a minimum of 4 people to sign up for the trip to happen. The early bird price is $1895 (does not include airfare to India) if paid before June 1, $1995 after. You can send a non-refundable deposit of $500 to save your spot, via Paypal, to info@kamakhyamandir.org. A flyer will be available soon.

We’ll also be offering more classes, writing more articles, and creating more of our popular podcasts. We hope to offer some video, as well.

So the journey continues. If you’re in the San Francisco Bay Area, I hope you’ll attend a puja, and I look forward to meeting you. For those of you who live elsewhere, we’re working on ways to include you in our worship and in the work that we do.

We do a whole lot with very little money – our entire budget is currently only about $2500-3000 per year, which hardly covers our most basic operating expenses – and the many thousands of hours I put in are entirely volunteer. Sometimes we are unable to do things because we don’t have the funds, and it is more important to us to make things accessible than to make money. Like all organizations, when we receive more donations, we can do more. And if you give generously, then many people will benefit. So if you believe in our work and want to help it continue, become a donor and a sponsor of our mandir today.

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Post tags: Kamakhya, pilgrimage, puja

On our FAQ page, we have explained our policy regarding bija mantras rather succinctly:

Will you teach me bija/moola/secret mantras?

The bija and moola mantras (that is, the essential, root mantras) of any deity are treated with great respect at our temple and in our tradition, and we do not share them with the general public. These mantras must be learned and performed in the context of initiatory lineage and within the structure of appropriate ritual, in order to have significant and positive effect. We do offer teachings in use of certain mantras in some of our more in-depth classes.

If you wish to recite a mantra to the deities in our temple, we recommend that you recite pranama mantras, which may be recited freely without initiation. You are also welcome to meditate on the deity. Practicing in this way is a powerful method of training the mind and the heart, and builds humility, strength of character, and devotion. All of these are required – and indispensable – for the Tantric practitioner.

The key phrase here is right at the beginning – great respect. What does it mean to respect a tradition, a mantra, a goddess?

In many places – from India to California, and everywhere in between – plenty of teachers (gurus, swamis, and others) have thrown open the doors to previously secret traditions, and mantras have been published in so many places. So why don’t we follow suit?

In our tradition, mantras are considered precious, sacred, powerful, divine things. One’s practice with mantra is personal and private, and thus secret, between you and Devi, with the guidance of gurus. One must be empowered (and thus taught) to use mantra properly, which involves not only initiation but also intensive training and daily practice. One can recite bija mantras all day long, but without empowerment, they are essentially meaningless syllables. Or worse, they may be used incorrectly or may cause harm to the person who uses them without proper guidance and knowledge.

We also don’t believe that someone has to be initiated in order to offer sincere worship, and bijas are not required for personal worship. Initiation is for those who are serious about this path and deemed suitable for it. At Kamakhya, any devotee – regardless of caste, creed, gender, religion, ethnicity, etc. – can enter into the sanctum sanctorum and offer their puja directly. The formal worship is performed by priests of the various pithas, but one is encouraged to offer their own worship directly, touching the pitha and placing the articles of worship – flowers, sari, etc – with one’s own hands. Part of the reason is simple: we cannot make MAA impure – remember, she purifies us! We cannot protect her, she protects us! It is about our own direct relationship with our mother, and nobody can or should keep anybody away from their own mother, or vice versa.

So when I and others like me see bija mantras posted around the internet, in comment boards, or recited in a casual way, or taught casually (as opposed to formally, with initiation and full instruction) in classes, it feels wrong. These powerful things are stripped of their empowerment (which is often forgotten or discarded totally) and paraded as a badge of honor. Once you have entered a tradition such as this, which is old and venerable, seeing bija mantras used in these ways feels a bit like seeing someone take their mother (or daughter, or sister, etc), strip her naked, and turn her out on the streets or parade her around.

Of course, MAA is powerful and we cannot remove Her power. She is the source of all power! But we can certainly fritter away our own power, we can disrespect Her by trying to control Her instead of respecting and honoring Her (in which case, why would she be present?), and we can consciously or unconsciously harm ourselves and others through doing practices we’re not properly trained for, which is wrong. It’s not my job to be the mantra police! As a sadhika, however, I do feel a sense of responsibility and compassion when I see these things happening. I want everyone to be more conscious, connected, aware of their actions and consequences, ritual and otherwise, so they can find real happiness and contentment, even liberation.

There are certainly some places where bijas are published in a way that is meant to be respectful, and to be accompanied by direct teaching, and that’s a separate matter. These places will often publish a caveat urging seekers not to use these things on their own, but to seek guidance from a qualified teacher/guru. For these texts, motivations vary greatly, from scholarly documentation to a genuine desire to empower everyone to a desire to gain followers and thus more money and power, to some combination of factors. And it’s not always clear what the motivation is, no matter who is publishing it.

For me personally, these mantras are powerful vessels, representations, and vibrations of shakti. Shakti is not separate from the divinity of my own self, or anyone else. Shakti is not separate from the empowered vibration of her mantras. Respecting that power, that divinity, to me means holding that power with dignity and integrity, and practicing the power of silence by not speaking of certain things to the uninitiated, and by not speaking of certain things in the realm of my inner experience to anyone at all. In this way, power can build and grow, and doesn’t get frittered away. This is why our temple does not publish certain mantras.

Ultimately, does it really matter to me whether someone chooses to publish a book with all their tradition’s secrets, all the mantras, and so forth? I think that is between them and Devi, and I have got nothing to do with it! But on a personal note, and my students know this already, I feel that teaching and learning these things from my own tradition requires a lot of care, devotion, and focus.

I had studied a lot of different spiritual traditions, studied a lot about Tantra, studied with various teachers for many years before I went to Kamakhya. But once I was there, I was challenged directly to forget everything I knew, to unlearn all that I had so proudly accumulated. That process was humbling, frustrating, and intensely transformative and beautiful. It changed my life and changed who I am as a person, as a sadhika, for the better. By its very nature, my own relationship with Devi is a private one, just as one’s relationship with a spouse is private on the most intimate level. When we talk about intimate details of our married relationships, it isn’t with just anyone, it is with those who know us best, who love us, care for us, who want to help us. And there are some things we will never share with anyone, that are just between us and our partner. It’s the same with our relationship with Devi.

I realize that many who read this may feel unchanged about using bija mantras openly and freely. But though I don’t claim to speak for my fellow sadhaks and sadhikas at all, I would challenge people who use bija mantras this way to see with compassion and humility how a large, traditional community feels about their open use of these precious gifts to humanity, and to use care and contemplation before posting, teaching, reciting, or publishing these things openly. I would also encourage those who are learning mantras from books and internet to think carefully about their practice, to investigate deeply the motivations behind those who may be publishing these things for wide consumption, and to ask the reason for using these mantras. After all, what is worship? It is the pure offering of one’s own self into the fire of divine union. No amount of powerful mantras will carry you there if your own heart and mind are not focused toward that goal, and humbly and totally offered at MAA’s feet, without the need for ornamentation. Only then, with the grace of MAA and guru, will mantra and knowledge become truly meaningful, because then we get to know what mantra and knowledge really are, and what they really mean.

For me, respecting the tradition and walking the path of the vira first meant truly humbling myself, and walking into the abyss fearlessly, leaving everything I knew – literally everything – behind, and simply learning what was in my own heart, struggling with the process, and gaining confidence in the pure relationship between myself and MAA. The goal is not worldly success, though that can come naturally with sadhana (as can difficulties, the main thing is to cultivate detachment and learn whatever we need from any situation to move forward). The goal is moksha, liberation, and so breaking all of that down has been a difficult and rewarding process that goes on daily. Only when we can really let go of everything we think we know about worship can we realize our innate beingness, our birthright of connection to our Mother. And from that place, we can build something real and truly transformative on a cosmic inner scale.

I am confident that this will be useful to anyone who is searching for their spiritual home, who has the bravery and courage to face the fear of the unknown, drop all pretense, and free from the trappings of mantra and puja and knowledge, simply offer their own self to the Divine Mother. Only then will knowledge become meaningful, only then will bija mantras become useful. Only then will we be really open to the limitless freedom that is MAA.

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As “she who flows,” Saraswati can remind us in every moment to lay aside the obstacles generated by ego, to allow pure inner wisdom to bubble up and flow. After all, it isn’t about how many mantras you know, or how much knowledge you have about any particular subject that makes you a good practitioner or devotee. It is the openness of your heart, the integrity of your character, and the passion with which you follow your chosen path, however that passion manifests itself, and whatever that path may be. Embracing the flow means embracing humility and grace, and living with compassion and discernment.

“She who flows” is also the flow of the tradition from guru to disciples, generation after generation. It is the flow of mantra, of knowledge, and the gradual realization of the permeation of all things by divinity. She is the creator of music and the arts, and is the divine essence of the music that pervades the cosmos, the vibrational essence of creation. Mantra is the purest form of manifest divinity and divine power, and it is she who gave us mantra.

As we offer our books, computers, instruments, and lay our tools of knowledge and art at her lotus feet, take a moment to feel the pulse and the flow, to reach back through the generations of whatever tradition you practice, and offer appreciation to all of the gurus who have given you the grace of their wisdom and experience through their words, and through mantra. Give thanks to the source of all knowledge, the source of language, the source of the music that pervades and dances through the cosmos, to she who flows continuously through the cosmos, through us, without end.

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Post tags: Devi, Matangi, sarasvati, speech, wisdom

There is a slight difference in iconography between Kamala and Lakshmi. While both are pictured seated on a lotus, with two hands each holding a lotus, and the other two hands in the mudra bestowing blessings, the image of Kamala also includes two elephants with their trunks raised, typically showering her with water.

The lotus symbolizes a number of things. Kamala literally means “lotus” in Sanskrit, and spiritually it denotes purity, auspiciousness and piety, which is strongly associated with Lakshmi. However, it is also a symbol of the entire manifested universe, found in every yantra (sacred diagram) and also associated with many deities, though none as closely as Kamala/Lakshmi. The lotus itself grows from murky, muddy waters, bursting forth into large leaves and gorgeous, fragrant blossoms, symbolizing the emergency of the pure, limitless Atman (soul) from the limited material body, and the ability of the devoted spiritual practitioner to be untouched by the murkiness of drama, attachment and ego. The lotus is also very nourishing, almost all of it being edible and very healthy, and it thus represents the vital nature of the spiritual path in nurturing our whole self.

The elephants that attend Kamala and shower her with water symbolize the fertile rains of monsoon that bring forth the lush plants and flowers of the growing season, and thus the spiritual wealth that grows through the passion of devotion and practice, which must be done regularly to bear fruit, just as rain is needed for a healthy crop. They also give her an air of regal authority, as elephants are symbols of royalty and status, and as the devoted wife of Vishnu, preserver of the universe, she is the queen and preserver of everything on earth. The elephants with their gray-blue color and service to Lakshmi may also be seen as a subtle reference to Vishnu, who has frequently been associated with elephants. Lakshmi is so often portrayed selflessly serving Vishnu, but in this image we see that Devi takes the primary position as the elephants bathe her, perhaps at the request of Vishnu himself in service to her!

As the goddess of material and spiritual wealth and beauty, Kamala is most typically worshipped for her most revered power, the power to eliminate poverty. In tough economic times, Kamala or Lakshmi is worshipped in order to bring material wealth, and you’ll often find altars to Lakshmi in places of business as well as individual homes.

Kamala is also the creative force, the power to create beauty and wealth around us, and to see the beauty in everything. Every married woman is considered an incarnation of Lakshmi, and global sociological studies have shown that women have a unique ability to create wealth out of meager beginnings, leading to the success of micro-loan programs to women in developing nations, which has helped improve the status and treatment of women in those places.

As the creative force, Kamala is also the Goddess who blesses families with children. Those having difficulty conceiving or adopting children may especially wish to offer worship to this powerful Tantric Goddess. If you have become happily pregnant, or have had a new addition to your family through adoption or foster care, especially if it is after much difficulty, offering thanks to Kamala and praying for the continued wellbeing of the pregnancy and an easy labor is a good way remember the Goddess of fertility, childbirth and family well-being.

Kamala teaches us that when we commit ourselves to the spiritual path, as we move farther along we begin to see beauty all around us, because she is present everywhere in the manifest world. The fruit of worshipping Kamala or Lakshmi for the highest spiritual good is not only blessings of material security, but also those of spiritual progress. We begin to release the drama of our daily lives, release the bitterness and anger we have toward others who may have bruised our ego, and see the goddess in everything and everyone, in a profound and real way. This is truly Kamala – the radiant beauty of the cosmos that is manifest in the material world.

She is the spirit of nature itself, and is manifest in the natural world. We can worship Kamala simply by spending time in nature and appreciating its profound beauty, and also by being stewards of the earth. This is not only done through the familiar mantra of reduce-reuse-recycle, but also by actively protecting the earth’s natural resources, and working to end the pollution and overconsumption that contribute to the extinction of plants and animals, irrevocable loss of habitat and the death of fragile ecosystems. There is much work to be done in this area, and a sincere devotee of Kamala and Lakshmi will want to protect her in the form of the natural world as much as possible by engaging in this work in their own way, according to their own ability.

By recognizing her beauty in the natural world all around us, we also move further down the path of the sadhaka, the spiritual practitioner who communes with God in every moment, and offers every action to the Divine Mother as worship, remaining detached from the fruits of action and enjoying the acts of service, generosity and prayer for their own sake. In this spirit we truly begin to touch the inner nature of Kamala, the light of divine consciousness and connection with the Self.

As a Mahavidya, and thus one of the ten emanations of Kali, Kamala reminds us that true wealth has nothing to do with how much money or material possessions we may have. Kamala is not about consumption for the sake of “I want.” True wealth is measured by generosity, spiritual depth, and freedom from ego-driven desires. She is the spirit of giving, not of taking. She is the spirit of receiving graciously and gratefully, not of greed.

When we ask Kamala to help us in service of our highest spiritual good – whether that be in the form of spiritual or material wealth, without attachment to her more glitzy blessings – she is happy and gives us all we desire, though in the form that is best for us, not necessarily in the form we may be expecting. When we look to her as an ATM or a rich auntie, just there to give us cash and fancy presents, then she may also give us what we want, but along with all its negative consequences. She has a tendency to remind us – sometimes painfully – that she is also Kali, who teaches detachment and surrender, whose gifts are meant to be used in service to the highest good, not to sink us further into our limited ego. This is why wealth can be so fleeting, why someone wealthy and successful may have lots of riches but an unhappy family life, or why we may find ourselves suddenly without a job so that we may learn to surrender and trust the Divine Mother as we find a path forward that serves the highest good, rather than being seduced by our own hubris or worldly desires for the sake of material gain.

Kamala can thus also be a teacher around financial responsibility. Learning to save instead of spend, paying off all debts, investing wisely and without reckless greed, not taking what is not freely given, regular charitable giving, not spending more than you can afford – these are all ways of being a proper custodian of her blessings.

At the Sri Sri Kamakhya Temple in Assam, India, the inner sanctum (garbha griha, literally “womb room”) of the temple houses not only the peetham of Sri Sri Kamakhya Devi, but also of Matangi (Sarasvati) and Kamala (Laksmi), and so when one receives darshan of Kamakhya, they also receive darshan of Matangi and Kamala. At the Sri Kamakhya Mahavidya Mandir in Alameda, California, the primary altar in our temple is also home to these three powerful Devis.

You can worship Kamala to help manifest creative vision, eliminate poverty, stabilize your home, open your heart and deepen your spiritual practice. Ultimately, she is the goddess of spiritual wealth above all else, and so all of us should worship her daily, to receive her brightest, most shining blessings of all.

How to Worship Kamala (Lakshmi)

Lakshmi Puja is Kamala’s special holy day, celebrated on the full moon of Ashvin, typically in early October. Puja simply means “worship,” and it need not be formal. In our temple, worship is often performed as simple home worship, from the heart, as this pleases the Goddess. If you have no knowledge of Sanskrit, simply speak to Her from your heart. Mother accepts all sincere worship!

If you would like to celebrate this special festival day in your home, it’s very simple. This simple ritual is designed for those who have no previous knowledge of Devi worship.

First, if you don’t have an altar dedicated to Kamala or Lakshmi, create one. As Kamala and Lakshmi are the same goddess, there is no need to create a new Kamala altar if you already have a Laksmi altar. You may create a simple altar by placing a beautiful cloth (white, pink, yellow or red are all good colors) on a small table or flat surface that is not directly on the ground. Then, place an image of Laksmi or Kamala on top of this – it can be a standing framed photo, a murti (statue), etc. Place a vase or plate of flowers on the altar, as well as a candle or oil lamp and some sweet-smelling incense. Lakshmi especially loves lotuses, white roses and jasmine, as well as all other white flowers. At Kamakhya She is also offered red flowers, such as hibiscus, as all Devis love red flowers. Whatever flowers you have available is acceptable, however, as Lakshmi is the spirit of nature and therefore loves all flowers.

A small bell with a light sound will be helpful, as many believe that Lakshmi doesn’t like loud noises but prefers soft sounds. If you do not have a bell, don’t worry! If this is your first time offering worship to Lakshmi, it is not necessary as long as your worship is sincere.

For the special day, assemble a small basket with these special items: a small container of uncooked rice, a sari (you can substitute fine cloth, such as a silk scarf), a small mirror, a comb, a small white conch shell (or a small white shell, if you don’t have access to conch), and a coin (such as a dollar coin, euro coin, or a rupee coin, or you can use a temple coin if you prefer).

Next, get a small cup – preferably a stone or stoneware cup, but it can also be a clean glass, stainless steel cup, brass or copper cup, or even a silver or gold cup. Put coconut water or purified water into this cup, and place it on the altar along with the basket.

Standing or kneeling in front of the altar, take a few deep breaths and feel your devotion for this beautiful goddess. Say this mantra:

pronunciation:

suh-dah’-chah’-ruh pree-yay day’-vee
shoo’-kluh poosh’-pang vuh-ruh pree-yay
go-moy-ah’-dee-shoo-chee-pree’-tay
muh-hah luck-shmee nuh-moh stoo-tay

This mantra praises Kamala as the great goddess Lakshmi, who is beloved and grants all desires, who nourishes us in our spiritual life, and who loves white flowers, and whose form is white and pleasing to look at. White in this context is the color of sattva – ultimate reality, the oneness that is devoid of color – and she is seen as the pure, gentle, independent, powerful, virgin Goddess.

With your left hand, ring the bell softly. With your right hand, take the candle or oil lamp and wave it clockwise before the image of Lakshmi three times, in your mind offering it to her with sincerity. Next, take the basket and wave it clockwise before the image three times, again offering it with sincerity.

Say the above mantra again, and bow deeply before the image. You may wish to kneel and touch your forehead to the ground, a traditional gesture of great respect. At this point, you may ask Lakshmi for Her blessings, and offer thanks for all the blessings She has given you.

End the puja by bowing again, and imagining the power of peace and well-being spreading out across the world, asking Lakshmi to take care of all beings.

After the puja, use some of the uncooked rice in a meal, as prasad, the blessing of Lakshmi. Save some of this uncooked rice in a special place to be used for next year’s Lakshmi Puja. Use some of the water to prepare the food, and pour the rest at the base of a tree, offering it back to the Mother Earth. The other items may be saved in a special place to radiate blessings throughout the year.

This is not a formal puja, but is simple worship that anyone can do. If you do not know how to offer puja, this will be a simple and beautiful way to begin, until you can learn more. Remember – our Divine Mother accepts all worship offered sincerely, for we are all Her beloved children.

© 2011 Jai MAA! :: Sri Kamakhya Mahavidya Mandir. All rights reserved. | Permalink | 4 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Devi, Kamala, laksmi, puja

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!

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It has taken years of hard work to come this far, and months of tireless effort by our trustees to complete and file the application for exemption. We feel that the IRS’s swift approval of our application is a testament to how far we have come in three years, performing regular public worship services, providing prayer and puja services, and teaching in the community about MAA and Her traditions.

Thank you to everyone who has been with us on this journey – we look forward to many years of growth and service to our Mother!

Jai MAA!

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Our temple Acharya, Kulasundari Devi, performs puja with her gurubabas at Kamakhya

Puja is a feast for the senses – beautiful flowers, intoxicating incense, delicious food, beautiful murtis. Performing puja makes us feel good, like we’re doing something, like we’re serving God/dess.

All of these things are good and positive, and it is important to cultivate a sincere attitude that is rooted in a deep heart connection and devotion. These things carry you through difficult times, help you gain insight into your life problems, and push you toward being a good human being who is fair and kind to your fellow humans, animals, and nature.

But what is the real reason for puja? Why do we worship God/dess in the form of an idol, with so many individual components? Why is it so elaborate? Why do we gather together on a regular basis to do this?

Ultimately each person has to find that reason within herself or himself. There IS a reason, and it has more to do with our individual journey toward MAA/Lord Shiva/God/dess than it does with tradition or external practices, or external material or psychological benefits (though these are great side benefits). Ultimately this core reason is the same for all of us, even though it may be expressed in different words and inspire different feelings in each of us.

Telling you the reason will do you no favors, because this is part of the first baby steps toward realization, seeing the reason for all of this ritual and realizing it inside yourself with confidence. Being told these things outright can cause stagnation, because when knowledge is hard-won, it is valued and integrated more fully. When it is given easily, then it can be cast aside. This is why Tantric traditions keep secrets, and why it is a struggle to delve more deeply even after initiation – and also a vital part of the process of being a sadhika or sadhak.

So I ask you this question to ask yourself: If MAA lives in your heart, then why perform puja, either at home or in a temple? Why gather with others to practice? Why practice external rituals at all? Why is this so important?

Think on it, no need to post your answers – this is personal to each person. But I do always welcome you to ask questions!

Once you begin to unlock this mystery inside yourself, then allow it to unfold in your life and practice. When you think you have found the answer, dive deeper. Keep going until you hit the bedrock of inner truth. When you can dive deep and grasp this inner truth with confidence, then you will be ready to begin stepping fully into your life and your practice.

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This pilgrimage is about many things for me. Of course I am offering prayers for all those who have requested them as I visit many temples and sit in sadhana. But this journey is an inner as well as an outer one. I am in Kolkata to learn to fluently speak Assamese, the language spoken at Kamakhya. Kamakhya is the source of inspiration par excellence for me, and I am trying to contribute in some small way to the knowledge of this important place by writing about some of its history and rituals, translating Sanskrit texts associated with the temple, and so forth. This is the external focus for what is ultimately an inner journey, and it has already been emotional and transformative – yet I’m only in my second of 26 weeks here in Maa Bharat.

What is important here is the lesson that a pilgrimage is both an outer and an inner journey. On any journey – whether close to home or far away – one has mundane things to tend to. One’s work, one’s food, going to the toilet, maintaining health, and so on. This is life in the body. One doesn’t have to be on pilgrimage to have to deal with these things. And during all of these tasks, the important thing is to maintain an attitude of humility, devotion, and perseverance. Even when things seem most difficult, there are lessons to be learned. MAA is in every moment! SHE is whispering to us, telling us the way forward.

Pilgrimage doesn’t make us better (or worse) than other people, it doesn’t have anything to do with anyone else. It is just simply about our own journey. The process of pilgrimage is ultimately one of learning to listen. Sometimes we have to step outside of our regular lives to hammer into and break through the walls we have built up around us in order to expose the tender, pure heart of our deepest selves. This place can be at times painful, frustrating, and melancholic, and at times completely open, utterly joyful, and ecstatic.

Between these extremes is an attitude of calm, which keeps us grounded as we find a balance. I call this place the Shiva consciousness.

In reality, there is no separation between Shiva and Shakti, between us and MAA. But it becomes helpful to think about things in specific terms, so that our minds can begin to grasp the greater picture. So in this paradigm, Shiva is absolute stillness, Shakti is absolute movement. When we have a lot of Shakti activity – for instance, when we are very busy, when our minds are very active, when we are moving from place to place, when we are creating a lot of things in our lives – we have to balance this with Shiva consciousness. In the midst of activity, if we can still the mind and still our consciousness, then we open up our capacity to hold more and more Shakti. And this helps us in our lives and in our sadhana.

If you become frightened, stressed, excited, angry, etc., then if you can, simply remember Shiva consciousness. We can cultivate this by chanting simply, “OM NAMAH SHIVAYA.” Practice this during your daily meditation so that when a difficult moment comes, you will have a firm foundation. Clear your mind, take a few deep breaths, and simply chant – very slowly – “OM NAMAH SHIVAYA.” After a few minutes you may notice yourself becoming very calm and relaxed. This is the beginning of Shiva consciousness, which can help us in our everyday lives.

This consciousness, when deepened, also helps us to cultivate humility, compassion, and non-attachment. These are absolutely necessary on the Tantric path. Without the right attitude, Tantra becomes a very dangerous path. Cultivating an attitude of pure compassion, humility, and non-attachment are prerequisites for vira sadhana, if one wishes to attain liberation, and liberation, after all, is the ultimate goal of sadhana.

Shiva and Shakti, they are not separate from each other. And they are not separate from our own Self.  As Kali dances HER way through our lives, Shiva lies still at the foundation of our being. When things begin to feel overwhelming and difficult, we can turn our hearts to our Mother, and turn our minds toward Shiva. Rather than struggle, we lie blissful under Her dancing feet. Only then can SHE transform us totally, from the inside out.

In my own humble way, I send blessings to you from Kali’s city, and ask for your blessings as this journey continues. Joi Kali!

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As I had written about previously, about six months ago I was at death’s door. I had to cancel my planned yatra two days before I was meant to leave. Talk about cultivating detachment! Fortunately, MAA was with me every moment and the experiences I had during these last few months have been precious and enlightening. By MAA’s grace I am now healthy and strong, and am scheduled to finally leave for this yatra in June.

What is the purpose of pilgrimage? Why do we do it? If MAA is everywhere, then why should we go to a temple or a holy place? Why, indeed. The fact is, we are human, and although we are not separate from the limitless expanse of Infinite Being, we are nevertheless living in a world that appears limited. Some places hold great power for shifting our consciousness, because they are powerful in and of themselves and because great souls have done incredible work in these places, leaving their teachings and their examples for us to follow. And the shakti or energy/power of millions of people going to these places to express their sincere devotion, all unifying in a single place, is very powerful to experience, helping us to shift our consciousness even further, and maintain faith in the process.

Visiting a place like Kamakhya – or a temple like ours that is sincerely dedicated to and blessed by Her – is a liberating journey. To travel to Kamakhya, to touch her yoni pitham, is to travel to one’s own Divine Source. One of the meanings of the word yoni is “source,” and truly, Kamakhya is the source of all being. This is why the scriptures tell us over and over again that making pilgrimage to Kamakhya is more potent for one’s spiritual journey than making pilgrimage to all the other shakti peethams combined. Because when we go to Kamakhya, when we make not just the physical journey but the true inner journey, when we open to what SHE has to teach us, then the power to be liberated from limited ways of thinking and being becomes open to us. It requires a kind of ego-less-ness, the capacity to humble oneself, the ability to truly and non-intellectually recognize divinity in every person, place, or thing. And MAA gives us these things, if we are ready to drop all pretense and humble ourselves at Her feet.

Yatra, after all, is a quest for power, for transformation, for liberation, for redemption. When we undertake yatra, we are looking for something that, after all, we are carrying with us the whole time. True yatra is a process of getting out of one’s own way, to listen deeply and expand our awareness, compassion, and consciousness. If we can be in that consciousness all the time, then every moment becomes a yatra, a pilgrimage to one’s own Source. Undertaking the pilgrimage to Kamakhya, then, becomes an externalized enactment of that internal journey, that constant movement toward Self. Realizing this, we begin to move closer to Infinite Being, which is none other than MAA Herself.

We are leading a pilgrimage for devotees to Kamakhya and other holy sites in North India, tentatively scheduled for October 2012. If you would like to join us, please join our mailing list (the form is in the top right corner of this page) for updates.

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Post tags: Kamakhya, pilgrimage

Jai means victory and MAA means Mother. So we are saying “Victory to the Mother!” This can sound a little clunky in modern English, though. What are we talking about when we say “Victory to the Mother!”?

In the second chapter of the Devi Mahatmyam (or Chandi, as it is also called), Brahma, Indra, and the other gods come to Vishnu and Shiva, complaining that the demon Mahisha (who takes the form of a buffalo – Mahisha literally means buffalo) has come with his army to battle the gods, and is taking over the world. Shiva and Vishnu become angry at hearing this news, and this stirs the shakti in all of them.

Shakti is energy or power, and it is personified as the Goddess. Shakti is alive in all of us, in everything, it is the vivifying power of the cosmos. When the Gods cried out for help, it was Mahadevi, the Great Goddess, who arrived, emerging out of their combined shakti, revealing Herself to be the true, limitless power of the universe, the animating power behind even the Gods. When She appeared, all of the devatas shouted, “Victory!”

Today, we shout, “Jai MAA!” Then as now, what we mean is to champion MAA’s victory over demonic forces, especially those that control us. We ask Her to have victory over our wily ego, over apathy and ignorance. We ask Her to conquer fear and depression, to vanquish the lies we tell ourselves (and others). Beyond this, we ask Her to destroy the demonic forces that bring strife to the world, to liberate everyone from ignorance of our essential oneness, so that there will be peace.

When we say, “Jai MAA!” we should remember that the battleground is not outside, but inside our own mind. Ask MAA to bring you awareness of your thoughts and actions, and to bring greater wisdom in your interactions with others, so that you may be an instrument of peace.

Jai MAA!

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Last week we concluded our first series on Tantric Worship of the Divine Mother. It was such a wonderful experience leading this course, as we not only talked about specific mantras for worship, but also delved into the philosophy of Tantric practice, what it means to be on this path, and so forth. I learned so much through the process of sharing this information, through the questions asked by students, and through HER grace. Jai MAA!

This class gave birth to a new sangha (gathering of community), which will meet once a month and is open to all devotees. Each month we will discuss a different topic related to sadhana or the Divine Mother, and spend time meditating together. I will lead the first couple of sanghas in person, and then I am leaving on an extended pilgrimage to Kamakhya. The devotees will gather in various places while I am gone, and a small group will care for the temple and the Devis in the temple while I am gone. What is very exciting is that I am planning on joining everyone for the monthly sangha via telephone and/or Skype, from Kamakhya itself. I am very happy that technology will allow us to gather and continue to learn together.

These sanghas will be meeting in person, so if you are in the San Francisco Bay Area and want to join us, keep an eye on our temple schedule for dates and location information.

Jai MAA!

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What does it mean to surrender? And how is this relevant to the Tantric path?

I call surrender a skill because surrender’s importance to the effectiveness of sadhana (spiritual practice) is a bit like the process of learning to swim. I remember very well the sensation of learning to swim when I was a young child, and I’ve since taught many little children to swim. Learning to swim requires patience and trust, the key ingredients in learning to cultivate surrender.

The first thing you have to learn is how to float on your back. In order to do this, you have to do things with your body that may seem illogical or uncomfortable – you lie on your back in the water, feeling totally exposed. You have to arch your back, and stretch your head back. It can feel like your head is going to be overcome by the water, like you’re surely going to drown! But as soon as you tense and fold your body, or lift your head up, you sink. At some point, you have to let go of your fear, stretch out your body, and then sort of… relax in this position. You have to allow the water to hold you up, instead of struggling against it.

You do this by first learning to trust the person holding you up in the water, as they talk you through the process. The instructor has been here, they know what it’s like to go through this difficult first part of the process. They won’t let you drown or get hurt, but they do know that you have to get wet, that you have to stumble and make mistakes as you learn. They have one goal in mind – to teach you to swim on your own. And the first thing you have to do is to learn to do the most basic thing – to trust the water itself. One can always become a better swimmer, learn more strokes, learn to swim faster – and your instructor or coach can help you achieve all of these things, if you have the ability to do them. But you can’t swim a 1000 meter race before you first learn to float on your own.

Once they can tell that you are doing the right things, they begin to pull back. You think they are still holding you up, but they know that you are doing most of the work now. At some point, they let go. And then you lose faith, and you fold your body in fear, and you sink. And they try again, and you fail again. And they try again, and again, and at some point – you succeed.

After learning, after trial and error with what you’ve learned, at some point you eventually realize that you can float by yourself, that you can trust the water, and trust yourself. You can let go and surrender to the moment, and just float freely. When you practice this often, and get very comfortable, you can float effortlessly for a long, long time. You become one with the water.

This is the very same as trusting your guru, trusting the ocean of Infinite Being, trusting your ability to make it through the difficult moments and learn from mistakes. This is surrender.

As my gurus have told me, surrender doesn’t mean abandoning discernment. We choose our guru carefully by observing them for a long time. We cultivate patience, which is extremely important, especially in a culture that teaches us to want everything NOW NOW NOW. We learn to wait, and learn through the process of waiting. We learn to observe. We don’t blindly follow, but as we grow, we learn how to listen to our own Atman (divine Self). We also don’t allow ourselves to be governed by fear. Fear can be a powerful ally or a brutal dictator. To be a Tantric sadhaka means, amongst other things, being willing and able to cultivate detachment from our fears, to use them as a roadmap for what is to be confronted and overcome. Surrender means opening ourselves with divine love to a more expansive way of being in the world, and being willing to face our deepest, darkest fears with courage and non-attachment.

This path isn’t for everyone, nor should it be. Each of us has our own karmas, which make us suitable for various paths. Regardless of the path, however, surrender is vitally important for spiritual progress. Trusting the Self, trusting the process of growth, and trusting the Mother who is nothing less than Infinite Being – these are keys in the movement toward liberation.

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Post tags: guru, sadhana, surrender, tantra

Sometimes when we want to show how much we know, we will start a debate with someone else. You may or may not be aware of this tendency in yourself, and may or may not be conscious of how these debates affect yourself and others involved.

On spiritual matters – particularly in the realm of Tantra – I have been trying to learn one very important thing from my gurus, and that is not to engage in debate about it. Whether one “wins” or “loses,” there is no reason for it, and it becomes a playground for ego unless one can remain absolutely detached and simply wants to exercise the mind and truly learn about someone’s deeper thoughts and ideas. We may engage in debate to open someone’s mind, but if our own mind remains closed, how is this helpful?

Such debate is a trap for the mind. What matters is the strength of one’s own sadhana (disciplined spiritual practice), and that matters to no one else.

Theoretical and theological knowledge is wonderful play for the mind, where logical understanding of the universe from the perspective of one’s own sampradaya (lineage) can help strengthen sadhana. Talking through conflicting ideas is useful when one remains unattached to the fruits of the debate.

But ultimately, your actual practice matters much more than any theoretical topic under the sun, and that is something not to be boasted about, either, if one is serious about it.

All of this is why silence is the better part of valor in Tantra. Valor means courage, but it also specifically means courage on behalf of a noble cause. The noble cause in this case is nothing less than moksha, liberation.

Silence has been demanded of sadhakas for millennia for many reasons – to protect knowledge that may be misused, to protect members of a group from persecution, but also to disempower one of the tools of the ahamkara (literally, the “I-maker,” often loosely translated as “ego,” we’ll post about this term later).

Maintaining this silence often requires courage, because it can elicit difficult reactions from others. If you must be silent about your lineage, about whether you are initiated, about what your practice is, about points of theological significance, etc., then life gets very interesting for the sadhaka. People make assumptions for the better and for the worse, they pepper you with praise and insults.

You will be tempted into latching onto debate and revealing your secrets in so many ways – taunting questions testing your knowledge, others putting words into your mouth, nitpicking words and meaning, direct or indirect insults; or on the other end of the spectrum, doting praise, adoration, putting you on a pedestal – you name it and it will happen sometime or another.

There are several ways to effectively begin to deal with this and practice silence:

1. Some people choose to go into periods of maunam, silent sadhana where they don’t speak at all, and are very economical with written communication such as handwriting, chat, and email. This approach forces you to really listen to others, rather than only listening enough to formulate your own response (which is how most of us operate most of the time! Think about how often you interrupt or are interrupted by others…). Practicing maunam very purely even for just a day can be challenging – it makes you realize how much you use words, and in what ways you use them. It forces you to process your thoughts and react to others in a different way.
2. Another way of cultivating silence is to choose to change your interaction with people by listening more and speaking less. When you listen, leave your own thoughts and reactions aside. Only give your own thoughts when you are asked for them, or after asking and gettting permission to give them. Be in a place of receiving others’ speech openly, learning from them, asking them open rather than pointed questions, and ensure that they are ready to receive your speech before giving it.
3. If others have told you that you can be intimidating or imposing, consciously work on being more receptive and inviting, letting down the walls and letting others in. Sometimes people get intimidated by how much knowledge or experience we have. In that case, make a conscious effort to hold back your words, to let others express their own opinions and knowledge. Realize that by maintaining silence you can learn much more, and allow others more space to be themselves. Look for new perspectives that can inform those you already have, and allow others to guide the conversation. Resist the urge to correct others.
4. If you have a tendency to be sucked into debate, make a conscious choice to step away and disengage from it, even if it means “losing” the debate. The best way is not to engage and to resist the urge to correct others when they say something you believe is in error. Most of the time, they will resist your effort to correct them – remember, everyone must learn on their own. Strive to always be in a place of learning, not of “rightness,” which stagnates learning.
5. If you have a tendency to talk about the sadhanas you are doing, or to tell people about your initiations or your gurus, try going for one week without talking about any of this. Talking about these things dilutes and fritters away their power. Become very aware of the impulses that cause you to speak about these things, and try to see where they come from. Keep a journal with you during this time, and write down what you’re thinking at these times.

Traditionally, silence is a powerful tool as well as a powerful teacher. In the face of silence one may hurl insult or heap praise, and we have to accept the situation and reject attachment to these things in order to remain silent. Ultimately, we learn that we are just mirrors for each other, reflecting back to each other our own maya (illusion). We learn that even though it doesn’t feel good to hear them, insults hurt no one but the person making them. This is all a perfect mirror for understanding how you perceive yourself to be separate, but in reality, you are none other than MAA, Brahman, Infinite Being.

Of course, seeing these things clearly is made much easier as a result of continuous, dedicated sadhana in a sampradaya to which you are well suited, with good guidance from an effective and qualified guru.

There is power and dignity in silence. When we maintain silence, we learn that words have power, and we become more aware of the words we use, their affect on others and ourselves. Cultivate silence within and without, and in that silence, the quiet voice of one’s own indivisible shakti will be heard more clearly.

If all else fails, remember the words of Sri Ramakrishna, and quote them to yourself when necessary: “It is easy to talk on religion, but difficult to practice it.”

Jai Maa to that!

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Cultivating and maintaining physical health is essential. My own physical health was threatened last year, as I have written about in this blog, and it has illustrated very clearly for me how important this is.

If you are intent on spiritual practice of any kind, one must remember that the Divine inhabits this physical body as a vehicle. Therefore, only give this body the best and cleanest of foods. Keep it healthy by exercising it regularly – take  a walk each day, and practice some form of physical yoga, whether it is gentle or vigorous. One needs flexibility in the joints – especially the hips and knees – as well as strength in the back to perform lengthy sadhanas. One also needs to maintain proper circulation, and get to know how to comfortably sit for an hour or more without physical supports. Getting daily exercise, minimizing consumption of sweets, and drinking plenty of water will help improve circulation.

Finally, clear your mind of the false idea that a ‘spiritual person’ looks a particular way. There are holy men and women who are thin and muscular, others who are plump and round, still others who are somewhere in between. Don’t waste your energy judging others or yourself. Instead, marvel at the diversity in which our Divine Mother has taken shape in every direction, and be grateful that you and everyone else has this vehicle with which to work toward realization of oneness with Her.

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O Maheshvari! What is the ultimate reality in the form of self-illuminating light, manifested by the exposure of the pure attribute (sattva), and the ultimate resort of the world is only a part of yours.

O Jaganmayi! What is manifested as the pleasure and passion due to unequalness of rajas (light), which is the middle of the process, is a part of your parts.

You are the enchantress of all the people, you are pure, bright and the highest of the highests; you are three-fold (sattva-rajas-tamas, or Brahma-Vishnu-Shiva) and trayi (the three Vedas), the fame, you alone are the resort of the three worlds.

You are in the shape of that image by which Madhava has been supporting this earth (dhatri); that image of yours is beneficial to the world.

You are subtle, the force of the world, you are Aparajita, the greatest one; since you stand covering the top and the bottom of the world the wind blows only in the middle.

O Goddess! You are in the form of the world and its connotation; you are that undivided pure light, the cause of the universe and who remains without shelter, your supreme essence, which is your inner self, is pure, known and widely known, unmanifested and is meditated upon by the ascetics.

You are knowledge and absence of knowledge, you are with shelter and without it, you are the Primordial Force of the world, which is manifested in the form of the world, and you are the Supreme Goddess.

The goddess who resides int he throat (kantha) of Brahma is renowned as the pure one, the goddess of speech (Vac, Saraswati), who causes the manifestation of the Vedas and enlightens the world – you are that one.

You are Agni, Svaha, Pitrgana, Svadha, the Ether, the endless Time, Space, and external objects.

You are beyond comprehension, unmanifested and above form and shape. You are Kalaratri and the supreme eternal force.

The external form, which you have assumed for the welfare of the people, only that form is known to Brahma and others. Who is able to know you in your real Supreme existence?

O Mother Goddess Ambika! Be pleased with me! O Yogarupini! Be pleased with me! O dreaded one, be pleased with me, you who reside covering the entire world! I adore you!

- Kalikapurana 8:12-26

In this hymn, the pious king Daksha prays to Kali after having a vision of her as the all-pervasive One. As a result of this hymn, Kali agrees to be incarnated as Daksha’s daughter. He names her Sati. Sati marries Shiva, and the rest is a famed story of the origin of the shakti pithams, or places of divine goddess power.

Note that in this hymn, Kali is praised as both Lakshmi and Saraswati. She is praised as the manifestation of everything, as well as the formless absolute. There is nothing that is not Her. She is the pervasive reality, which can be experienced in every moment and in every place when that awareness is cultivated.

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Post tags: daksha, Kali, Kalikapurana, scripture

I’ve had a few teachers over the years that have proved to be less than perfect. I still have a great deal of love for each one of them, but sometimes ending the relationship has caused pain and misunderstanding, or the relationship itself was difficult. When I asked a well-regarded swami how to let go of these difficult moments, he said to me, “always strive to be in a place of learning.” He said that when you take on a teacher or guru, you do so because you want to emulate them, by which he meant being just like the example they set as much as possible. So when a teacher shows themselves to be imperfect or even unscrupulous, it is best to take what you have learned that is useful to you and simply leave the rest, with grace and gratitude. In this way, you can always learn, which is the goal of having a teacher, regardless of their shortcomings. And if you are hurt, you can let it go with the attitude that it is part of the learning process.

Since then, I’ve learned to be in the world in a different way. As my practice in service to MAA has deepened, this has intensified. My mistakes become more apparent more immediately, the remedies clearer.

For example, this past week my husband and I went to our local gym to exercise, as we do most mornings. My husband asked the trainer on staff that day to help him with some pain he was experiencing in his back, and the trainer was extremely helpful in showing him all kinds of stretches and posture changes he could use to fix this problem.

After I was finished with my own workout, I waited for my husband near the front desk, where the trainer was sitting. He walked over to me with his laptop and said, “this is what I showed your husband, I wanted to show you as well so you have this information.”

Tired and not feeling like interacting, I smiled and said, truthfully, “I had physical therapy for some similar pain so I know all of this stuff already.”

The trainer smiled and went back to his desk, and the conversation was over.

I realized later how often I do this – how often someone begins to speak about something, and if I already know it, I say, “yes, I know all about that.” It shuts down the conversation. I don’t do this from a place of trying to show my knowledge, but rather from a place of expediency – the part of me that says that is only interested in new topics, and doesn’t want to go over things I’ve already learned.

But what this does is shut down that place of learning. What I should have done with that trainer is allowed him to continue with his talk, to pay attention and try to learn something new, bring more awareness to what I already know, or get a new perspective. I may have been able to ask new questions and learn something I hadn’t thought of before. And I would have allowed our interaction to be fruitful, to help him feel useful and accepted, and to help me feel more open and caring.

The Buddhists call this being in a place of “beginner mind.” Being in beginner mind gives you a fresh sense of excitement for learning. When studying with a new spiritual teacher, this can be applied to the process of often having to re-learn the basics from the perspective of this new teacher. Rather than feeling superior to what you might feel is a remedial experience, search instead for the new insights or nuances that you might understand in a fresh way. Each stream of Tantra, for instance, interprets symbols in often similar, but sometimes quite different, ways. Understanding how your present sampradaya (lineage) interprets symbols, rituals, and so forth, and laying aside your previous knowledge with humility and surrender, will allow you to grow much faster than if you cling to what you have learned before. Later, you can use your previous knowledge to analyze and augment what you have learned, learning what is useful and what is irrelevant along the way with the help of your gurus.

In the same way, if you have a teacher or guru who harmed you, it is best to lay aside whatever continues to cause you pain until you have some distance and detachment from it, and can go back and pick up the pieces that remain useful and insightful, and leave the rest. In this way you can cultivate gratitude and heal those wounds, while understanding with detachment that teachers and gurus are human beings. Every interaction can be a moment of learning and insight, even painful ones.

A dear friend said to me a few months ago that her guru had told her to stop saying she already knew things, because it cut her off from learning. So many of us do this, especially those of us who have been at this for a while, who are highly educated, who are deeply immersed in the pursuit of divine knowledge. But how much have we really learned if we are not always open to new learning? How much have we learned if our attitude is more often one of criticism than of openness? One of only defending our perspective while remaining closed to new ones?

As the swami said to me, always be in a place of learning. Take what is useful to you, and leave the rest with grace and gratitude.

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Post tags: blog, learning, teachers

p. 311, Mircea Eliade, Yoga: Immortality and Freedom (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2009/1954).

Kamarupa is none other than Kamakhya, home of the Sri Sri Kamakhya Temple, our Mother. Some legends say that Matsyendranath (also called Macchendranath) was initiated by yoginis (female yogis) into Tantra, and that he then disseminated its secrets in India and Nepal, thus placing the origins of the Siddha and Tantric traditions at Kamakhya.

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Post tags: eliade, history, Kamakhya, macchendranath, matsyendranath, Mythology, tantra

Our temple needs funds to perform basic worship and to grow, and we appreciate every donation, but there is another Kali temple in the US that needs help.

The Kali Mandir in Laguna Beach was hit by a flood, and due to MAA’s grace and efforts by the priests, the flood waters did not enter the shrine, despite climbing up to the height of the windows and beating against the house, nor was anyone injured or killed.

Fortunately, the shrine was not damaged. However, to rebuild the land and repair the kitchen and huts in which the priests live, they need to raise $90,000. If you would like to help them out, you can visit their website to learn more about how to do that.

And you can support our own temple and bring the blessings of MAA KAMAKHYA to yourself and your family by making a donation to any of our ongoing projects, or by sponsoring a puja »

Jai Maa!

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Yesterday morning, as we were walking in the ice-cold winter morning air, in one beautiful moment, everything came alive. Every tree, bird, house, frost-encrusted blade of grass, my own body, the air itself, my husband, people passing us on the street – everything was suddenly more vibrantly full of the vibration of the Divine Mother. Suddenly, a smile bubbled up, a laugh, a sense of playfulness. All existed at once, completely calm. Melting into this place, and emerging from it back into sense perception, the rest of the walk and the vinyasa yoga practice that followed was permeated with a sense of non-doership. That is, realizing that it isn’t “me” doing these things, having these experiences. These things exist together as one reality. I can just let go, because there is no “I.”

After some time, “I” crept back in. Such is life in the body.

This state of blissful consciousness came about during a mundane morning routine. Now look, there’s nothing particularly special about me. I’m a normal human being, just like you. There is no difference between us. I am just plodding along. Even the most famous and revered of gurus and saints were also normal human beings plodding along in their own way, striving constantly toward Infinite Being. They are no more or less God than we all are!

In truth, we are all MAA, we are all just in different phases/states/stages of realized awareness about the nature of Her existence. The best of gurus teach one to listen to one’s own Atman (and how to listen, through sadhana) as the supreme guide, because Atman is not separate from Brahman/MAA/Infinite Being (these words are interchangeable), rather than relying on them totally. They may give us guidance and advice, but ultimately they will encourage us to first begin to hear, and then begin to listen to MAA directly. We must each come to our own realization, do our own sadhana, make our own mistakes, and release our own “I” in order to emerge from the darkness of non-awareness.

As Swami Vivekananda said, “All the powers in the universe are already ours. It is we who have put our hands before our eyes and cry that it is dark.” Learning to remove one’s hands from one’s eyes permanently requires practice and effective guidance.

While it’s important to develop a regular spiritual practice to help us wake up to that awareness, and to clarify, focus, and tune the mind and body, it is just as important to let go of any attachment to the idea that we can somehow will our way to oneness. Having the insight or experience is one thing – holding onto it and focusing it in the right direction is another, as Abhinavagupta and others have reminded us in the Tantras and other sacred texts. One must learn to fully surrender and let go of the experience in order to master that place of oneness – that is, not to control or subdue it, but to abide there as a normal state of existence. It’s a grand paradox – we can only realize oneness through consistent effort and desire, and yet it requires release of desire and effort to actually begin to experience that oneness. When we learn to continously live in that state, we recognize everything and everyone around us as not separate from ourselves, not separate from MAA (or Shiva, or God, or whatever your terminology for oneness). The beauty of difference – of the multiplicity of the reflected manifestation of supreme reality – becomes also the beauty of oneness.

Kamakhya is the source and fulfillment of desire, and She is often aligned with Maha Tripura Sundari, or Lalita as She is also known. In this sense, Kamakhya is beautiful and grants everything we desire. She doesn’t hold anything back from Her beloved children. People come to Her to grant them good marriages, children, healing from disease, increased wealth, and so on. Even in our small mandir, when people pray to MAA and touch the yoni shilam in which She resides, and pray with absolute sincerity, I have seen wonderful things happen for ordinary people, including myself – intense healing, wealth restored, and so on.

However, Kamakhya is also Kali, as revealed in Kalikapurana, Yoginitantra and Kamakhya Tantra. All three have some variation on this verse found in Kamakhya Tantra:

“Kamakhya, in truth, is none other than that goddess, Mother Kali, who exists in all things as the form of wisdom.”

That wisdom is the knowledge of Self. Kali gives us the means to attain that knowledge.

Through devotion to Her, Kamakhya as Maha Tripura Sundari teaches us how to desire, and that is one side of it. Through fulfillment of our mundane and spiritual desires, we realize that there is something more. These desires can never be totally fulfilled – each desire births a new desire. We then eventually learn that we won’t be satisfied until we are completely merged with Her. We desire to be one with Her, and fully realize Infinite Being. However, as long as we are desiring Her, we cannot be one with Her, because to experience desire is to experience separation. To experience longing is to not experience oneness. The word for this intense longing is viraha. The root of this word is rahas, which means a secret. It also means to make love – and this image of love-making is seen throughout the imagery of Shiva and Shakti, whose divine union is the spark of creation. It is also present in the image of Ardhanarishwara, the ultimate union of Shiva-Shakti which is represented by the complete merging of lover and beloved, perceiver and perceived, subject and object, Atman and Brahman.

The secret of that longing, that viraha, is to become one with Infinite Being. The image of lovemaking is a common metaphor used in classical mystical traditions such as Tantra, Sufism, and Kabbalah to symbolize merging the individual soul with Infinite Being – or, more accurately, to remove one’s illusion of separateness and therefore realize one’s inherent state as merged with Infinite Being. We are making love with Divinity constantly – but we must wake up to enjoy it! But in order to wake up fully, we must release our desire to do so, because we have to totally release even that small amount of separation.

To release that desire, we call upon Kali, who destroys desire, along with any sense of separation, the ahamkara (literally, the “I-maker”), often rather incorrectly referred to as “the ego” (more on that misnomer in another post – for now we’ll use ‘ego’ as convenient, if imperfect, shorthand).  Kamakhya grants our ultimate desire as Kali by destroying desire, and the ego which generates desires. We must relinquish the feeling of doership – that is, the idea that ‘we’ (that is, the differentiated personal identity referred to as ‘I’) are even doing anything. Once one, through grace, has achieved supreme knowledge of the Self – that is, Infinite Being – there is nothing more that one can desire. The ultimate fulfillment of desire is also the cessation of desire, and that is the greatest gift of MAA Kamakhya, MAA Kali, and why She is the great Goddess who takes all forms, the supreme queen of the Gods, Mahamaya Parameshvari.

To destroy the ego, one must be courageous, the vira or “hero” (this word isn’t related to viraha, but it is a wonderful sort of synchronicity). Being courageous doesn’t mean being totally and utterly free from fear. Nor does it mean being a badass, as we say in California. Rather, it means a willingness to face one’s fears and overcome them with honesty, humility, detachment, and courage. The process of making that journey is the practical concern and also the means of Tantra, regardless of the marg.

Practice – sadhana – in its variety of forms is important in all this for a number of reasons, and yet, you can’t force or will realization to happen. If you think you can, well… good luck with that!

The only way to move through it is to surrender totally through your practice, moving deeper into that surrender day by day, and wait patiently for the moment when you can begin to see the glimmers of light through the parting of the proverbial fingers currently held over your eyes.

Hopefully, in that moment, we will have all practiced enough with good guidance to release our desire to hold onto that moment, and accept this gift with grace and detachment.

These are my own experiences, and others may experience things differently. There is room for all of it. Jai MAA.

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Post tags: Kali, non-duality, oneness, sadhana

“I would love to practice more meditation/yoga/puja/etc., but I just don’t have enough time/am too busy/have too much on my plate/can’t/don’t know how.”

My response is always the same – if something is important, you will make time for it. Think about when you start a romantic relationship with someone who excites you. You are willing to move heaven and earth to spend time with that person. Even work is no impediment. You’ll stay up late or get up early.

The solution is to fall in love again and again with the Divine Mother, who is Herself the source and fulfillment of desire. Or, if you are not a devotee of the Divine Mother, to fall in love with whatever form of divinity or peace to which you dedicate your practice. Perhaps it is Lord Shiva or Lord Krishna. Perhaps it is Jesus, or the Buddha, any of the Bodhisattwas. Maybe it’s Brigid or Amaterasu, Oshun or the Great Spirit. Maybe it’s your own inner self, if you are averse to the idea of divinity. It could be almost anything, as long as it elevates your spirit and connects you more closely with that inner peace.

The form of the practice is fairly unimportant – you can be from any religion or spiritual tradition, or an atheist or agnostic. But regardless of what path you follow, regular meditation – regardless of its form – will reduce stress and increase mental and physical health. For those of us on a spiritual path, it also moves us closer to our goal of oneness.

The rest of it is strategic. These strategies are simple and effective (I use them myself, every day), but not always easy, because many of us have built up long periods of resistance or very effective ways of making excuses for not doing practice. Make a commitment to stop all that nonsense, and follow these simple steps, which apply to any tradition.

The word I will use for spiritual practice is sadhana. Sadhana is a Sanskrit word that means diligent spiritual practice. One who is a sadhaka (male) or sadhika (female) is one who has received initiation from a qualified guru, and is accomplished in their disciplined spiritual practice.

1. Keep it simple and realistic

One of the biggest pitfalls for beginners (beginner meaning one who is just starting, or one who is starting over after some time away from practice) is to try to do too much too soon. I’ve fallen prey to this a lot, myself! When I would try to come back to a spiritual practice after some time away, I would do too much rather than building up slowly. Remember, one day lost is like losing ten days, so if you have been away from it for some time, be kind to yourself and set yourself up for success by simplifying. If you start with a practice that is very intense, complex, or requires a lot of time, it is usually a recipe for failure. Spiritual practice is no good if your ego gets in the way.

Whether or not you’ve done lengthy sadhana in the past, if you are just starting a daily practice, then start simple. The goal of daily practice is to do it every day, not to impress anyone with how long you meditated.

Think also about what your temperament is, and let that be your guide to where and how you should begin. Perhaps you have a guru who can give you advice on what you should start with. Maybe you love to meditate. Perhaps you like to do physical, practical things. You can sit and meditate for five minutes each morning. You could do five or ten minutes of hatha yoga. It should be something focused and with time spent only doing that. So for instance, while it’s nice to chant mantras on your way to work, or meditate on the train, the kind of practice I’m talking about is one that is in one place, at a particular time, every day. If you get used to doing your practice on the way to work, then the days that you don’t work, you will often forget to practice (trust me – I know!).

But above all, keep it simple. A simple, five-minute meditation that focuses on your breath, clears your mind, and releases stress is sufficient to begin with, and for some people.

2. Make time and space for sadhana

At the most basic level, the sadhaka has to make time for sadhana.

Our mother Kali is the mother of time. Her name itself means “She Who is Time” or “She Who Is Beyond Time,” or even, “She Who Devours Time.” Time consumes us day by day, marching on toward our inevitable demise – but Kali devours time itself. She is more powerful than the most powerful, inevitable, most unrelenting force in the universe. With Her help, we can conquer time in a small way – to make time for sadhana.

The first thing you need for a spiritual practice is time. Not a lot of time – just whatever is realistic for you. Don’t set yourself up to do an hour of practice if your mind is only ready for five or ten minutes. Start wherever you are, and be honest and non-judgmental about that place.

Everyone – even busy parents – has five minutes. Where are your five minutes?

When I say make space for sadhana, I mean space in terms of time, but also physical space. Create a space in your home that is just for meditation. It can be as simple as a small corner of the room with a pillow to sit on, or it can be as elaborate as a whole room. Both are equally good, as is everything in between. But you must make both mental and physical space for the practice. Seeing that space every day will remind you and motivate you to continue your practice.

3. Make that time (and space) a priority

We all have busy lives. But we can’t do anything well if we are not healthy. We can’t take care of others if we don’t first take care of ourselves.

Stop making excuses for why you can’t practice, and start making reasons for why you can. It’s that simple. Not always easy.

Banish “I can’t!” from your vocabulary. Replace it with, “I can!” As long as you keep telling yourself you have no time for a spiritual practice, that is exactly what you will get. But as soon as you break out of that illusion, you will see that there is actually lots of time in the day for it. The resistance you feel isn’t an inherent inability to do it, it is simply the resistance of the ego, which doesn’t want to go through the inevitable transformation that will happen through the practice.

The fact is, we all make time to brush our teeth and bathe every day. It is not difficult, when you look at it that way, to think about making space for five minutes of practice every day. Some people I know work it into their morning and bedtime routines. They will get up, bathe, brush their teeth, then sit for five minutes to meditate, perform japa (repetition of divine names or mantras with a mala or prayer rosary), or perform a simple puja (worship). In the past, I have printed a beautiful picture of Devi along with mantras and posted it on the wall next to my bed, so that it is the first thing I see when I wake up in the morning, reminding me to do my personal sadhana when I wake and before I sleep. Be creative in how you remind yourself and prioritize it. Let the process be fun rather than a slog.

And that’s it. Those three steps will help you develop a spiritual practice. At the end of the day, the person you have to answer to is yourself. You can get guidance from teachers and gurus and friends and family, but in the end, you have to learn to listen to your own Atman – your own Divine Self. To develop the ability to listen, you have to practice. Developing that sense of peace, awareness, and trust is vital, and the only way to do it is through regular, diligent practice.

Questions for you!

1. What kind of meditative or other spiritual practice can you commit to doing every day?

2. Everyone has five minutes. Where are your five minutes?

3. Where in your home can you set aside for this practice? Be creative – the space can be indoors or outdoors, but should be available in all seasons.

4. What excuses have you made for not doing a daily spiritual practice? How will you transform each of those excuses into reasons why you can?

© 2011 Jai MAA! :: Sri Kamakhya Mahavidya Mandir. All rights reserved. | Permalink | 2 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Kali, meditation, sadhana

12.37: By her, this universe is deluded. She herself brings forth everything. Entreated, she bestows right knowledge; propitiated, she bestows prosperity.

“Wait a minute,” he said. “By her the universe is deluded? That doesn’t sound good at all!”

My husband doesn’t have a background in Indian philosophy, and so to his very logical, practical mind, this just sounded like crazy talk. And I realized that there may be others out there who would benefit from learning about this whole concept of delusion and illusion, which takes very different forms in Advaita Vedanta – the root of modern Hinduism – and Shakta Tantra, the embodied, mystical path of the Mother Goddess.

The concept of maya, or illusion, is an important one in Hinduism. In Advaita Vedanta, the philosophical school championed by Adi Shankaracarya in the 9th century, which became the foundation for modern Hinduism, the manifest world is merely illusion. It’s not real. The only thing that’s real is Infinite Being, or Brahman, which is not separate (a-dvaita, non-duality) from our own true Self, which is separate itself from the illusory ego. Brahman pervades the entire universe, and is both saguna (with attributes) and nirguna (without attributes). Eternal and unchanging, Brahman is the only actual reality. For Shankara, Maya is the illusion of separateness an the illusory physical world, all generated by the Goddess (who is herself a manifestation of Brahman, though he speaks very little about the relationship between Maya and Brahman). It is purely physical and mental, and it is not real. Only Brahman is real. The goal of life is to disentangle ourselves from Maya and realize its illusory nature, and our non-separateness from the one true reality of Infinite Being.

Shankara developed this doctrine in response to what was happening philosophically at the time in India. Buddhism and Jainism had become very popular, and Hinduism was declining. It was Shankaracarya who reconciled the various spiritual truths in Buddhism and Jainism with Hinduism, and developed a system of thought and worship that is still held dear today. His revolutionary philosophies and charismatic leadership revived Hinduism, and even though he died very young, before reaching 30, he left an indelible mark on Hinduism.

The core of his philosophy was advaita, or non-dualism. This philosophy goes back to the Chandogya Upanishad, which declares “you are that!” (Tat tvam asi – Chandogya Upanishad 6.8.7) “That,” of course, being nothing less than Infinite Being. The goal of the Upanishads was to reveal the truth that we are not separate from God, that our birthright is our inherent divinity, and that our one goal in life is to strive toward realization of that truth. Realization means not just understanding intellectually, but having a profound and permanent shift in consciousness that takes one beyond ordinary understanding into a permanent state of divine grace.

To be very, very general, the Buddhists believed that the only thing that was real (as in, really REAL) was emptiness. Shankaracarya countered and said that the only thing real was Brahman, but he agreed that this physical universe was an illusion. The explanation for this illusion was that shakti, the divine force personified as female, manifested this world as an illusion that we must strive beyond in order to understand our true nature. In this Advaita Vedantic philosophy, non-dualism means that the Atman, or individual soul, is not separate from Brahman, Infinite Being. However, none of what we see around us is real or divine.

As I like to put it, in Advaita Vedanta, all are one, but some things are more “one” than others.

By contrast, the Shakta Tantric view is quite different in regard to the material world. In this philosophy, we see the manifest world as being created by Shakti, but we see it as not separate from Her. Everything that exists is Her divine body, Her divine presence. It is a radical form of non-duality that embraces the totality of existence and experience as Her.

The goal of Tantric practice, whether it is tamasic (impure qualities, such as using meat, whiskey, and sexual intercourse) or sattvic (pure qualities, such as using vegetarian foods, sexual continence, and so forth), is to fully embrace one’s own body as the divine vehicle that Shakti has given us to recognize our oneness with Her. This body is a manifestation of Her, it is one with Her, and yet we cannot identify too much with it because this body is not who we really are. We are Her, absolutely and utterly, and not merely the ego that is bound to this body and this identity in the world, that has a name and a job and favorite foods and likes to listen to pop music and so forth. That sense of relative smallness is what has to be annihilated totally and utterly through intense, disciplined spiritual practice, or sadhana, under the close guidance of a qualified guru. With Tantra, we’re really not playing around – there’s a reason it’s called a dangerous path, because there is tremendous power, and wherever there is tremendous power, there are a million footholds for the wily and rapacious ego to begin scrambling its way back into control without us ever being the wiser.

Now, most of us don’t need to eat things that disgust us in order to begin to open to the supreme knowledge of oneness with our Divine Mother. However, it is worth exploring the notion that even those things we don’t understand, that we hate, that we revile – whether they be other people, other religions, or anything at all – are all manifestations of the Divine Mother, as well. We are not separate from them, and often their shadows mirror our own. Can we radiate love to politicians we dislike, even as we vote against them and disagree with their stance on the issues? Can we send love to terrorists and try to understand them compassionately, even as we denounce their violent actions and work toward peace? Can we send love to the person who cuts us off in traffic, even as we shake our heads at their recklessness? Can we, as they say, agree to disagree, and truly be okay with that? All of these practical applications are reminiscent of Tantric philosophy, embracing a fuller reality that resolves seeming conflict by embracing difference both internal and external, and not just black/white, right/wrong, yes/no, because in the final analysis, ALL of these things are MAA. Engaging in drama, criticism, and so forth just creates more karmas for ourselves, which keeps us bound to limited consciousness. To be free, we must free ourselves.

Wrapping your head around all of that is a deeply difficult and transformative process. It is a matter of shifting consciousness on a deep level, and even if you have not yet found a guru, you can begin to bring this consciousness into focus, and free your mind from the shackles of dualism with the help of MAA’s grace.

And that’s where we get to the second part of the verse – that she bestows right knowledge on those who ask her for it, and prosperity on those who worship her. What is this right knowledge, what is this prosperity? It is the knowledge of oneness, and the wealth of liberation.

So in this verse, we find the entire philosophy of maya laid out for us. She is the one who brings forth everything in this universe. She is both our ignorance and our knowledge, because ultimately, there is nothing that is not Her. And when we realize Her, we attain true wealth, which is the nectar of immortality – liberation of the soul into oneness with Infinite Being. Maa Kamakhya is praised in the Tantras as Mahamaya – the Great Illusion – because She takes on all forms, and is also formless. She is Infinite. And through Her, who grants all desires, we are granted the supreme knowledge.

I hope this has been helpful. Please feel free to ask questions in the comments, or provide your own perspectives. Certainly there are many views on Maya, and this is merely my own humble and limited experience as a sadhika, and the small amount of wisdom I have been able to glean from my beloved gurus. If reality is infinite, then so are the experiences of that reality. I encourage you to explore and expand. Jai Maa!

© 2011 Jai MAA! :: Sri Kamakhya Mahavidya Mandir. All rights reserved. | Permalink | 8 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: illusion, maya, non-duality, oneness

Word (vak) and its meaning (artha) are always united. They are Shiva and Shakti which are three-fold as Creation, Maintenance, and Dissolution, and as the three bijas.

- Kamakalavilasa 1.12

For the average person, this should remind you to be conscious with your speech, always carrying the consciousness of Shiva and Shakti with humility. Speak only what is true (creation), what is kind (maintenance), and what is necessary (dissolution).

For the Tantrika, this holds a key to understanding the nature of MAA as liberator through the forms of Knowledge (Jnana), Action (Kriya), and Will (Iccha). The triangle of the yoni in the yantra reminds us of this constantly, as the three points symbolize Iccha, Jnana, and Kriya, crystallizing into the bindu of unification.

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Today, we turn to Chapter 12:

12.36: Thus, O king, does the blessed Devi, though eternal, manifest again and again for the protection of the world.

12.37: By her, this universe is deluded. She herself brings forth everything. Entreated, she bestows right knowledge; propitiated, she bestows prosperity.

12.38: O king, by her all this universe is pervaded, by Mahakali, who takes form as the great destroyer at the end of time.

12.39: At that time, she herself is the great destroyer. Existing from all eternity, she herself becomes the creation. She, the eternal one, sustains all beings.

12.40: In times of well-being, she is indeed good fortune, granting prosperity in the homes of humankind. In times of privation, she exists as misfortune, bringing about ruin.

12.41: And so, praised and worshipped with flowers, incense, perfume and the like, she grants wealth, progeny, and a pure mind established in righteousness.

So today’s meditation is on total non-duality. Supreme reality is beyond dualisms of this/that, good/bad, existence/non-existence.

For some people, it’s easy to worship Devi when they are feeling good and things are going well, and then when things go badly they ask why MAA has abandoned them.

For others, it’s easy to worship Devi when things are going badly, to ask for help out of a sticky situation. Then when things are going well, they forget all about MAA.

The Chandi tells us that all of this is the Divine Mother. On the Tantric path, we go through periods of great difficulty, testing our resolve and our character. Our true nature comes forward when we are stressed, and also when we are given great blessings. All of us have had moments we’re not proud of, moments that hopefully we have learned from. The process of purification of mind can be difficult indeed.

Yet in every moment, we have an opportunity to become more aware, to let go of judgment and fear. Recently I was struck with a life-threatening illness that tested all of my boundaries. It was discovered a mere two days before I was to leave on a pilgrimage to India, and had I gone in that state, I would have certainly died.

When I went to the hospital, there was a random shooting at the Emergency Department right next to where my husband and I were waiting, and two people were very badly injured. We had to take cover in the chaos and confusion, and I chanted to Devi to save the lives of the two boys who were shot and to bring the shooters to justice and help them turn their lives around (the boys were indeed saved, and the shooters were caught within hours, thank goodness – thanks to the expertise of the doctors on hand and the efforts of local police and neighbors).

Then I was separated from my husband and not allowed to see anyone for many, many hours, because the hospital was on lockdown after the shooting. Alone in a cold and empty room, uncomfortable, vulnerable, utterly helpless to do anything, overwhelmed, told that I had been saved by 24 hours from certain death, I began to cry. My tears were a moment of absolute release, letting go of any control I thought I might have, just saying to the Mother, I give up. I give everything to you. My life, my death, everything is yours. Take it, because all I want in this moment is YOU.

My tears carried me into a place of such peace, and then they stopped. For a long time, I floated in between time and space, completely calm, understanding the absolute insignificance of this body, just a shell. The pain, the uncertainty… it was meaningless! The vast expanse swallowed me up and I merged with it, my thoughts and consciousness gone. With Her grace, I was carried out of this hellish moment and into one of supreme bliss.

Later, when the doctors and nurses were poking and prodding me, when something would hurt very badly, I would cry, without feeling shame. I didn’t have to be strong or stoic. I could see that all of this was the shadow play of the Divine Mother, and She had, in fact, saved my life. Even the illness itself was a blessing, although it has been very difficult and painful to deal with from day to day. “Such is life in the body,” my music guru would say.

In the days and weeks following, I was given a lot of blessings, even as other things seemed to go ‘wrong.’ I had to trust Her. And indeed, whatever seemed like a curse was almost immediately revealed to be a blessing. I had to trust that everything would be sorted out, whether it was large or small. And the more I let go and trusted, the greater the miracles seemed to be.

I learned through this, as I have learned through other difficult experiences, that it’s okay to feel discouraged, angry, depressed, sad, afraid, or otherwise unhappy when difficult things happen. But that doesn’t mean there isn’t also absolutely room for trust, love, and courage in the midst of those dark emotions. When my husband had to give me painful injections, I would say, “I trust that MAA has everything under control, and I am grateful that this is saving my life, but THIS REALLY SUCKS RIGHT NOW!”

Trusting in Mother doesn’t mean being in denial about how you’re feeling. Being in bliss doesn’t mean not experiencing pain or suffering. Those things are Her, too. When we look at the lives of almost all of the saints, we see they lived with pain, they experienced anger and frustration and all of these human emotions. SHE is the entire range of human experience.

This means that instead of an either/or (dualistic) approach, we can take a both/and (non-dualistic) approach. We can feel discouraged AND hopeful. We can acknowledge our fear AND be courageous. Learning to hold these seemingly conflicted things in our minds together, and reconcile them, is a powerful exercise in cultivating detachment, or vairagya.

Vairagya is not really about going into the forest and leaving everything behind. After all, as Lord Krishna told us in the Bhagavad Gita, if you renounce the world and go into the forest, all of your emotions and thoughts and attachments follow you right into the forest! Although renunciation is a powerful path for some, one doesn’t really need to be a total renunciant to experience liberation. One needs only to completely surrender oneself to the Divine. All of our rituals, sadhanas, and so forth in all the various traditions are just means of achieving surrender, each path suited to a different temperament.

In Tantra, although there are certainly plenty of people on the renunciant path, we tend to live a householder’s life, seeing MAA as not separate from the world, therefore we also do not need to be separate from it. Rather, it’s being detached from the fruit of one’s actions, not being attached to any outcome. And one of the best ways to cultivate this is by cultivating trust in the Divine Mother.

I know a holy man who is in maunam for years at a stretch. A divine soul, he manages to travel all over the world, helping everyone he can, and he doesn’t speak a word. He just trusts that Lord Shiva will sort everything out, and his silence is a sign of trust in that. He has given up his own voice so that he can listen to Lord Shiva’s more clearly.

My own illness was a wonderful lesson in getting out of MAA’s way and letting Her take care of everything. When I couldn’t give myself injections, my husband stepped forward to help me, despite his own discomfort. When I couldn’t pay my medical bill, many friends and even complete strangers stepped forward in incredible, selfless generosity to help me pay it. When my car broke down unexpectedly, many friends stepped forward to take me to pujas and abhishekams in far-off places. When I nearly died, MAA herself came to take me into Her arms and show me how small things such as life and death don’t matter in comparison to the limitless, timeless ocean of Infinite Being.

In the end, we have a choice. We can choose our actions and reactions. It may seem difficult not only at first, but continuously. However, by cultivating a practice of awareness in each moment, we begin to see MAA in all things. Even in moments of extreme difficulty, if we choose to surrender to Her, we will find bliss. Bliss in this sense doesn’t mean freedom from suffering, as the saints have demonstrated throughout time. But it does mean a kind of beautiful freedom to love limitlessly even in the midst of suffering, and that pure love is none other than the Divine Mother Herself.

MAA is the creator, the preserver, the destroyer, and we are not separate from Her. Nothing is. And so with this in mind, I go into this day remembering to trust that everything is happening as it should. I remember that even in moments of suffering, She is there. That the more I surrender to Her and listen to my own Atman, and take distance from the fire of my emotions, seeing them as a gift but not the only reality, the more I will experience oneness, which even in the midst of pain and death grants supreme bliss.

Questions for you!

How do you experience the non-dual nature of the Divine Mother?

How might you open yourself to experience gratitude and openness, even in times of suffering?

© 2011 Jai MAA! :: Sri Kamakhya Mahavidya Mandir. All rights reserved. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Devi Mahatmya, illness, non-duality, oneness

ya devi sarvabhutesu dayarupena samsthita |
namastasyai namastasyai namastasyai namo namah ||

Devi Mahatmyam 5.65-67: To that Goddess who exists in all things as the form of compassion, I adore her, I adore her, I adore her, again and again!

The Goddess is compassion, She is manifested in all things as compassion. What does this mean in a real day-to-day sense?

For the Tantric sadhaka, compassion is vital for spiritual development. Compassion keeps us from becoming too self-involved, helps us avoid becoming numb to the suffering of others as we focus on our own spiritual development. Through compassion, we can develop a broadened sense of consciousness, and we can cultivate the awareness that we are not separate from our fellow beings.

When we understand compassion as an active state of awareness, we can take action to help alleviate suffering. When we remove ourselves from the necessity and the high of seeing immediate results or being thanked for our duty to our fellow creatures (plant, animal, or human), the energy spent in these actions helps liberate us through burning karmas and further releasing us from unnecessary desire.

In this way, we use compassion fiercely. Compassion is not a passive state, but an active one. When we force ourselves to be ruthlessly compassionate, we must release mere pity and complacency, and instead cultivate a clear view toward the most compassionate stance we can take. Karuna, the rasa or emotional essence of compassion for those in distress, is not about losing oneself in loneliness, fear, pity, and heartache about the lot of ourselves or the world around us. For the Tantric sadhaka, it is a matter of looking at what is true, what is practical, and what compassionate action or non-action one can take. Being compassionate sometimes means stepping back and doing nothing – a conscious, active choice of non-action. Other times, it means speaking up, doing something, helping, or, with kindness, speaking difficult truth that is necessary to be heard. It means understanding that it is more important to be compassionate than to be right. And it means finding kind and compassionate ways to express yourself in the moment, rather than swallowing your words out of fear, whether you are speaking on behalf of someone else, or speaking on your own behalf.

And we can exercise this compassion toward ourselves, as well. We all have difficult times in our lives, and it can be tempting to beat ourselves up, to pity ourselves and drift into depression, or to use our difficulty as an excuse to behave in ways that may harm ourselves or others. These are all the shadow play of the wily ego. In truth, we must be fearless with our compassion, even toward ourselves. We must develop clear vision, and learn how to compassionately identify our own shortcomings and problems, without attaching judgment. Even as we do these things for ourselves, we must develop this attitude toward others, as well. Remember Mahadevi, who, even locked in battle with Her greatest enemies who sought Her destruction, wanted only liberation and blessings for her enemies as well as her allies, recognizing that they were all nothing less than Her own Self. When we are in an argument, when we feel we have been wronged, the answer is not to get even or take revenge. Rather, the answer is to stand back from the situation and see how we might be most compassionate to ourselves and the other person. Compassion may involve holding that person accountable for their actions, or it may mean letting it go. With guidance from our Atman, our highest Self, we can work on taking the long view. Compassion also means learning from our mistakes with gratitude, and accepting every moment as one of learning.

When we cultivate compassion fearlessly, at first it can seem strange.  We might feel like we’re fighting with ourself. But this is just the struggle with the ego. When you learn to be conscious, fearless, and truly compassionate, then you realize that every action and reaction is a choice. When you choose compassion, you begin to release the shackles of egoic perception, and become more free. You can experience love and divine grace more readily and openly.

Meditation

You can meditate on this concept of compassion, concentrating on each stage for one to ten minutes, depending on your ability. With each stage of the meditation, radiate love, gratitude, and compassion, and ask forgiveness for any harm you may have caused intentionally or unintentionally.

1. First, meditate on radiating love and compassion toward the ones you love unconditionally – children and pets are ideal. When you are finished, release them completely.
2. Second, meditate on sending love and compassion to the ones you love most dearly – for example, your partner, your parents, your close friends and family, your gurus, etc. When you are finished, release them completely.
3. Third, meditate on sending love and compassion to your acquaintances and distant relatives, such as co-workers, friends, and so forth. When you are finished, release them completely.
4. Fourth, meditate on sending love and compassion to the world in general, to all those you know and don’t know. When you are finished, release them completely.
5. Finally, if you are able, meditate on sending love and compassion to your enemies, to anyone who has harmed you intentionally or unintentionally. Ask for forgiveness for any harm you may have caused them intentionally or unintentionally. When you are finished, release them completely.
6. When you are finished, radiate love to the Divine Mother, and accept Her love in return. Allow yourself to open to Her grace, and when you are finished, release all of that energy and all of the fruits of this meditation back to Her, saying OM CHANDIKAYAI NAMAH!

Questions for you!

How will you cultivate compassion in your life?

What was a moment in your life that was difficult to express compassion toward yourself or another person? How might you have reacted differently?

© 2011 Jai MAA! :: Sri Kamakhya Mahavidya Mandir. All rights reserved. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: compassion, sadhana

With our site relaunch, we’re also launching a regular blog. This is to fill a rather surprising gap on the net. Through this blog, we hope to start some discussion around issues and news items relating to Tantra, Shaktism, spiritual practice, and living in the world as a devotee of the Divine Mother. Not everyone who reads this will identify as Hindu, Tantric, or Shakta – some of you may be Pagan, Christian, Jewish, Buddhist, Muslim, atheist, agnostic, or any of a number of spiritual designations – but our mutual respect and love for the Divine Mother in Her various forms will bring us together in this forum.

If you’d like to subscribe to this blog and our other articles and podcasts, simply add our RSS feed to your news reader.

Blessings to you! Jai MAA!

© 2011 Jai MAA! :: Sri Kamakhya Mahavidya Mandir. All rights reserved. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags:

She, the blessed Goddess Mahamaya, seizes the minds of even the wise and draws them into delusion.

Remembered in distress, you remove the fear from every creature. Remembered by the untroubled, you confer even greater serenity of mind. Dispeller of poverty, suffering, and fear, who other than you is ever intent on benevolence toward all?

I adore you, Narayani, who are the good of all good, the auspicious one, to you who accomplish every intent; to you, the refuge, the all-knowing, shining Gauri!

I adore you, Narayani, who are intent on rescuing the distressed and afflicted that take refuge in you; to you, O Devi, who remove the suffering of all.

O Devi, who exists in the form of all, who are the ruler of all, possessing all power, protect us from fears. O Devi Durga, I adore you!

When pleased you destroy all afflictions, but when displeased you thwart all aspirations. No calamity befalls those who have taken refuge in you, and they who resort to you become a refuge to others.

O ruler of all, may you allay all the miseries of the three worlds and so, too, annihilate our enemies.

* Translation based on Devadatta Kali, In Praise of the Goddess: The Devi Mahatmyam and Its Meaning (Berwick, ME: Nicolas-Hays, 2003).

© 2010 Jai MAA! :: Sri Kamakhya Mahavidya Mandir. All rights reserved. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Devi Mahatmya, durga, Scriptures

This episode focuses on the Mahavidya Tara, fierce and compassionate Goddess who carries us across difficulties, some of Her mythology from Kalikapurana, and Her pranama mantras from Kamakhya. We also feature beautiful music by Mirabai and Friends and Groovananda (featuring Krishna Das).

Here are the mantras that we will be learning in this episode:

and

Many thanks to Mirabai and Friends and also to Wynne Paris and Groovananda for graciously giving permission to use their music in this podcast. If you’d like to find out more about them, you can visit them online:

Mirabai and Friends: www.mirabaiandfriends.com

Groovananda: www.wynneparis.com

You can subscribe to the podcast for free in iTunes, and you can also join us on Facebook, where we post the latest updates and photos from our temple.

If you enjoyed this podcast and would like to support our worship and future podcasts, please consider making a donation! Every little bit makes a difference. Thanks!

Listen to the podcast now by clicking the image below. Jai Maa!

© 2010 Jai MAA! :: Sri Kamakhya Mahavidya Mandir. All rights reserved. | Permalink | One comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Dasamahavidyas, Groovananda, Krishna Das, Mantra, Mirabai and Friends, music, Mythology, Shakti Vidya Podcast, Tara, Vidya: Tradition & Wisdom, Worship

(Kalikapurana 18:55-67)

Translation

O Great God, Auspicious One, Immovable One, Fierce One, Terrible One, Whose Symbol is the Bull, Source of Peace, Radiant One, the Dweller in the Cremation Ground, the Supreme Destroyer of All, the Blue-Blooded, Lord of the Mountain, the Source of All Creatures, the Bestower of Boons, the Eternal God! We adore you with devotion!

We adore the Cause of Joy, Who is without beginning, creation and existence and knowable only through meditation, Who is Shiva, free from passion, Who is Brahma, and in the shape of the linga.

We adore the Lord of the Mountain, the One with Matted Hair, Who is powerful with the power of knowledge, Who is Shiva, free from passion, Who is Brahma, and in the shape of the linga.

We adore Shiva, Whose body and mind are completely purified by the nectar of knowledge, Who resides within Himself, Who is Shiva, free from passion, Who is Brahma, and in the shape of the linga.

We adore Him, Who is the form of creation, preservation, and destruction, Who blazes like fire, Who is Shiva, free from passion, Who is Brahma, and in the shape of the linga.

We adore Him, Who resides in the ocean of deluge after the annihilation of the world, Who is the cause of dissolution and existence, Who is Shiva, free from passion, Who is Brahma, and in the shape of the linga.

We adore Him, Who is Supreme, greater than the Supreme and the Supreme soul Himself, Who is Shiva, free from passion, Who is Brahma, and in the shape of the linga.

We adore Him, Whose body is adorned by a garland of blazing fire, Who is the entire universe, Who is Shiva, free from passion, Who is Brahma, and in the shape of the linga.

We adore Him, Who is the highest object to be sought, illuminated by knowledge, the creator, Who is Shiva, free from passion, Who is Brahma, and in the shape of the linga.

We adore you, beloved of Dakshayani,  Gracious One, God of All, Great Lord, the Lord of Creatures! O Lord Shiva, be pleased with us.

O Great Lord! If You, the Lord of the World, move in grief, then all the gods become disturbed. Therefore, give up your sorrow.

O Lord of creatures! You are the cause of all causes, we adore you, be pleased with us, give up your sorrow and protect all of us.

Notes

This hymn is sung by Brahma and various gods to console Shiva in the eighteenth chapter of Kalikapurana. This episode is the account of Shiva’s grief after the famous clash between Sati and her father Daksha.

Sati has just left her body after being disrespected by her father, Daksha. In reality, Sati is Kali, and had taken incarnation as Daksha’s daughter as a boon to him for his sincere worship, but warned him that she would leave her body the moment he showed any disrespect to her or forgot that She was the Mother of the World. Additionally, as a favor to the Gods, she takes birth to woo Shiva, who has forgotten his responsibility to the world and has become too immersed in his ascetic lifestyle. Daksha holds a great sacrifice and does not invite Sati or Shiva, Sati follows through on her promise and leaves her body with the power of her yoga, choosing to take birth in another life as the daughter of a man who treated her kindly during her childhood, so that she may again marry her beloved Shiva. Essentially, Sati instantly achieves mahasamadhi, as she is a masterful yogini.

When Shiva discovers that Sati has left her body, and the reason for it, he flies into a rage and goes to destroy the sacrifice and Daksha. The sacrifice itself, fearing its destruction, turns into a deer pursued by Shiva throughout the heavens, and it finally enters the body of Sati. When Shiva sees Sati, he again becomes inconsolable with grief, and weeps continuously. He sees the gods approaching him, and not wanting to be seen or disturbed in this state, turns himself into the linga and abandons the world. The gods sing his praise to ask him to return to the worlds of gods and humankind, which need him.

© 2010 Jai MAA! :: Sri Kamakhya Mahavidya Mandir. All rights reserved. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: daksha, linga, sati, Shiva

The Das Mahavidyas (Daasha Mahaavidyaa / Dasa Mahavidya) are the ten beautiful and ferocious Great Wisdom Goddesses of the Hindu Shakta tradition.

They are powerful as individual Goddesses, and as a group they may be considered emanations of Kali, among whose many identities is Sri Sri Kamakhya Devi.

At the Sri Sri Kamakhya Temple complex on Nilachal Hill in Assam, Northeast India, there are many temples. Chief amongst them are the temples to Kamakhya herself, and to each of the Mahavidyas.

Worship of these Mahavidyas at Kamakhya is unique and unlike other Tantric traditions, and here at the Sri Kamakhya Mahavidya Mandir in Northern California, we use this same approach with the blessing of the elders at the Sri Sri Kamakhya Temple.

While much of their worship is unknown to those outside the tradition, there are a number of ways to approach these powerful Devis as a simple devotee – particularly through song and mantra. Each Devi has at least one (sometimes two) pranama mantra – that is, a mantra that is used for offering reverence and respect to a particular form of Devi. If you have a small shrine to any or all of the Das Mahavidya in your home, use these mantras to invoke the particularly potent energies of these Devis as they are manifested at our beloved Sri Sri Kamakhya Temple.

NOTE: The Das Mahavidyas are listed here in their name and order of emanation according to the Kamakhya tradition. This may be similar or very different to lists you have seen elsewhere, and most or even all of these mantras may be new to you in some way. Worship at Kamakhya is ancient and unique, and so these differences are to be expected. Every parampara (guru lineage) has its own recognized versions mantras and stotras that have been passed down through the ages.

Consider this set of mantras a divine gift from Kamakhya Devi to add to your understanding and love of MAA!

Update (October 2011): Due to popular demand, we updated and included the devanagari and diacritic spelling of these mantras in image format so that all platforms can access it; however, we apologize that some spelling errors have been made in the devanagari. These have been noted and are being fixed as we get time to work on it… please refer to the transliteration for most accuracy. Jai MAA!

1. Kali (She Who is Black and Beyond Time)

and/or

2. Tara (She Who Helps One to Cross Over)

and/or

3. Kamakhya (The Renowned Source and Fulfillment of Desire)

Kamakhya is closely identified with Shodashi (She Who is Sixteen)/Maha Tripura Sundari (Great Beautiful One of the Three Cities/Qualities), and is also closely identified with Kali in the Kalika Purana, Yogini Tantra, and Kamakhya Tantra.

and/or

4. Bhuvaneshwari (Beloved Goddess Whose Body is the Earth)

5. Bhairavi (The Terrible One)

6. Chinnamasta (She Who Severs Her Own Head)

and/or

7. Dhumavati (She Who Emanates Smoke)

8. Bagalamukhi / Bagala (She Whose Face is Captivating)

9. Matangi (The Elephant or Outcaste Goddess)

Matangi is closely identified with and is the Tantric form of Sarasvati (She Who Flows Continuously). While the energies of Sarasvati are focused externally on learning, academics, language, and the arts, Matangi’s energies are focused intensely inward, on deeper wisdom.

10. Kamala (The Lotus)

Kamala is closely identified with and is the Tantric form of Lakshmi (She Who Achieves All Objectives).

This is the first time these mantras have appeared together online for the sake of all devotees everywhere in the world. Many thanks to Sri Jadu Nath Sarma for his work in compiling these mantras for publication.

© 2010 Jai MAA! :: Sri Kamakhya Mahavidya Mandir. All rights reserved. | Permalink | 9 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Bhairavi, Bhuvanesvari, Dasamahavidyas, Devi, Dhumavati, Kali, Kamakhya, Kamala, Maha Tripurasundari, Mantra, Matangi, Shodashi, Tara, Vidya: Tradition & Wisdom

- Devi Mahatmyam 12.11

In this verse from the twelfth chapter of Devi Mahatmyam (also Chandi Path or simply the Chandi), the Goddess tells us that She accepts all worship, regardless of whether it is performed with proper knowledge. What is proper knowledge? The “right” mantras, the “right” procedures, the “right” pronunciation, the “right” gestures, the “right” understanding.

This verse should not be taken as a command to dispense with ritual formulas completely. Elsewhere in this chapter, the Goddess states that proper recitation of Her praises as contained in the Chandi will bring blessings, health, prosperity, and protection to those who recite it, and even gives appropriate days and places for its recitation. Proper intonation and ritual performance only serve to make the worship more and more powerful, to resonate more and more clearly.

However, no one should be chastised for performing worship “incorrectly,” when they have no knowledge or only limited knowledge of how worship “should” be performed. We must start where we are. When a little child approaches the Devi and sings Her praises, and offers worship at Her feet, do we chastise the child for her devotion, even if she performs the words and procedures not quite correctly? No! We say, “how wonderful, this little child recognizes the divine and is performing Her worship so beautifully!”  In the same way, we are all little children at our Mother’s feet. Taking the attitude of a child, we lay aside pretense and offer worship from our hearts. And in this way, we can more fully begin to recognize our total oneness with Her, that She is not actually separate from us, that She guides us.

Such sincere worship is free from ego and attachments. Today, anyone can go on the internet and find mantras that were kept secret for hundreds of years or longer. You can learn secret mantras that in many traditions require many levels of initiation to learn properly. There are also lots of books, which people buy, memorize from without any guidance (from the gurus who published them or otherwise), and then tout themselves as ritual experts! Is this sincere worship? What is the real goal here?

The kind of worship the Goddess is talking about is not the kind of commodified worship that rapaciously accumulates mantras and rituals by hopping from guru to guru and website to website and book to book, or that takes liberties to appeal to the masses for personal gain. No – the worship the Goddess is talking about is pure devotion from the heart, without entitlement, without attachment to knowledge, authority, position, or fame.

The internet is a good tool, however, and can bring us a lot of insight and knowledge, if we have a strong foundation. If we don’t, it can bring confusion and uneasiness. The same is true of books and teachers. But it is never too late to establish a good foundation, and to look upon all who brought you to that place – whether they are the holiest people, the most unscrupulous, or anywhere in between – with gratitude for how they brought you closer to Devi.

This verse tells us, then, that it is actually never too late to begin working to defeat the wily ego, and to simply offer the best you can with the knowledge and understanding you have at the time, not trying to posture or claim authority but simply saying, “this is the very best I have to offer, and it is from my heart… please accept it!”

This is also why it is so important that when one takes a guru and learns how to perform rituals, mantras, mudras, and so on, that they practice it diligently and daily so that it becomes second nature. If one wishes to have knowledge, then they should be diligent. After hundreds or thousands of times performing these mantras and rituals, only then does one begin to become comfortable with the words and procedures, and then can rest in them. For most people, this takes years of continuous effort and struggle against boredom, doubt, entitlement, and fear, until it is known backwards and forwards, inside and out, as if it is an extension of one’s self.

Once you can rest in the practice, then a whole new world begins to open – a world of new understanding and insight that cannot open otherwise. A good guru knows this, and pushes us along the way toward that insight, destroying false confidence and barriers to progress, and building up strength of spirit, capacity to love, and openness to divine wisdom.

In the end, we are all like little children in the arms of our Mother. If we can remember this in every moment, even if we are the most accomplished of sadhakas, we can cultivate more compassion for ourselves, and more compassion for everyone around us as we make our ways through life, forgiving those who have wronged us and finding guidance and insight in the most unlikely of places. The greatest saints were totally committed to their sadhanas (rigorous spiritual routine practices) – whether it was performance of Vedic ritual, performance of puja and homa, the performance of meditation, renunciation, or the composing and performance of ecstatic poetry. All of these served to elevate and expand their consciousness to the extent that it also had a positive effect on the consciousness of everyone around them, even hundreds of years after their time. Many of these saints were illiterate, low caste, or had no formal training in ritual or scripture.

So don’t let lack of knowledge keep you from offering worship to the Mother. Perform puja and homa to the best of your ability, and acknowledge that you know nothing, but offer it sincerely. Humility and grace go together hand in hand, and when we offer the best we can with humility, Mother showers us with Her grace.

In our temple, everyone is able to offer worship directly to the Devi, without intermediary. We publish an ongoing series of mantras that can be used by anyone in worship, most of which are specific to the Sri Sri Kamakhya Temple in Assam, and which are used in our Northern California temple to worship the various deities in a simple manner. You can learn them by visiting the Mantras section of our website.

© 2010 Jai MAA! :: Sri Kamakhya Mahavidya Mandir. All rights reserved. | Permalink | 2 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Chandi, Devi Mahatmya, Mantra, Worship

In our first podcast, we open with a mantra to the Goddess Matangi, a Tantric form of Sarasvati, the Goddess of learning and the arts.

Next, we share two mantras for worshipping the Goddess Kali. These mantras are used by devotees at the Kamakhya temple in Assam, and worship different forms of Kali. The mantras from the podcast are:

We also talk about the phrase “Jai Maa!” and what it means.

A beautiful song by Donna De Lory called “He Ma Durga,” which praises the Mother Goddess, closes the show. We’d like to say a special thank you to Ms. De Lory, who has graciously granted us permission to use her music on our podcasts. www.donnadelory.com

Learn pronunciation and the meaning of these mantras by listening to this podcast. Subscribe on iTunes (Coming Soon!) to get our latest educational and spiritual offerings.

We would like to continue offering these podcasts as a free service to the global community. If you have found this podcast useful or uplifting in some way, please consider making a donation to sponsor our temple.

Jai MAA!

LENGTH: 43 minutes

Problems? Download Quicktime Player

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Post tags: donna de lory, Kali, Mantra, Matangi, shakti vidya, Shakti Vidya Podcast

“The unshakeable Shakti of all Shaktis is the inner Shakti of Atma (the Self).”

- Kaulajnana-nirnaya 20.21a

© 2010 Jai MAA! :: Sri Kamakhya Mahavidya Mandir. All rights reserved. | Permalink | One comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Scriptures, shakti, Vidya: Tradition & Wisdom

KALI is the Mother of Time. One of the meanings of the word “Kala,” the root of Kali’s name, is “time.”

Time is something we can’t conquer as humans. No matter how strong, wealthy, or clever we are, time devours us in the end. It comes for us relentlessly, devouring our lives as children, as adults in middle age, and finally devours life itself in our old age when we die. But Kali devours time itself – She is beyond time.

In this sense, it’s easy to see why Kali has such a terrifying external form. It can be frightening to face our own mortality, to think about our lives slipping away second by second. Whether we are healthy or whether we are dealing with disease, death is a reality for us all. But what is really the cause of our fear? What is it that dies? In reality, we are not separate from Her. When we die, our consciousness merges with Her. In death, our bodies merge with Her as we decay into the Earth, which is no less than Her own body. No part of us is separate from Her.

To the ego, which fuels the illusion of separation, and which is attached to this life and this body, unaware of the limitless wonder of oneness with Her, She can be truly terrifying! There is no stopping Her. She vanquishes everything we are attached to as humans – every desire, every action, even life itself.

Just as shadows are made and also destroyed by sunlight, Kali is the shining center, the master of illusion. This fearsome external form is in service of vanquishing the demons of ignorance and desire. By devouring the seeds of desire and karmic action, She frees us to recognize our inherent divinity. Kali is the shadow – her name also means “black mother” or could also be translated as “the mother of the darkness” – but She is also the source of light that casts the shadow. Kali is the sun and the moon, the night and the day. She is all of existence, and through this She shows us that it’s not enough to face the darkness. We are born into this world through the dark womb of our mothers, but at some point, to be alive we must be born and stretch our limbs and open our eyes to the light of day.

Kali devours the ego in order to remind us that we are not separate from Her. Our bodies, the earth, our mind, our spirit – all of this is the emanation of the Divine Mother. The ego tries to hide that reality, because to recognize it fully would be to render the ego meaningless… and the ego really, really wants to survive! The more we resist, the harder it gets. And we can talk about darkness and light, but these are all only plays of language for limited understanding. Kali is beyond dualism, just as She is beyond time. There is no shadow, no light. Only Kali.

The only way to overcome this fear is to surrender. In surrendering to the Divine Mother, we see immediately that this force is the intense Love of the universe itself, the process of life in all its cycles and manifestations. We see our place in it, both in the limited ways our bodies engage with this lifetime, and in the cosmic whole beyond time itself.

Sadhana (spiritual practice) is rewarding but difficult, especially over time. Time causes us to face our demons – feelings of boredom, entitlement, greed, inadequacy, confusion, and more. If we remain consistent and work through these issues, time can turn into an ally.

It may be reassuring to know that this process hasn’t been easy for anyone, and everyone has their own limitations and challenges, even the greatest sadhakas and saints. What may seem difficult to you may be easy for someone else, but what may be easy for you may be quite impossible for someone else. Yet even as time reveals challenges, it also helps us develop strengths. Clinging to Kali through all of it, surrendering to Her and to the process, can be helpful, indeed.

It may also be reassuring to know that we can’t force it. Time exists and moves forward, and all we can do is flow along with it. The spiritual life is the same. We can’t force spiritual liberation. We can’t will it to happen, any more than we can will time to stop moving. Strong sadhana provides a safe framework for surrender. Surrender and practice, practice and surrender – this is all we can do. The rest comes when we are ready, in time, no sooner and no later. There is no substitute for hard work, and no short cuts.

This is where it helps to have good guidance, especially if you wish to pursue any kind of formal sadhana. However, worshipping Kali as a bhakta (devotee) requires nothing more than simple guidance and a strong and sincere heart. Mother Kali teaches us sometimes very difficult lessons, but She also accepts all worship from Her beloved children. When She is approached with simple devotion, without fear or reservation, She showers Her children with blessings, protection and love.

You can worship Kali with this simple mantra:

Phonetic transliteration:

KAH-lee KAH-lee mah-HAH-KAH-lee KAH-lee-kay puh-puh-NAH-shih-nee |
KHUD-gah-huh-stay MUN-duh-huh-stay KAH-lee KAH-lee nuh-MO-stoo-tay ||

Translation:

Mother of time, black mother, great Kali, to the Mother who is beyond time, who defeats all wickedness;
a sword in one hand, a head in another hand, Kali, Kali, I adore you!

© 2010 Jai MAA! :: Sri Kamakhya Mahavidya Mandir. All rights reserved. | Permalink | One comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Kali, sadhana, time, Vidya: Tradition & Wisdom

In the West, there is often a lack of understanding about the tradition of touching the Guru’s feet. Such an act can seem like groveling, or an act of inflating the Guru’s ego. But this shows a very limited understanding of what it means to pay respect to the Guru.

Touching the feet of a revered elder has historical significance in India. One touches the feet of one’s parents, for instance, to show respect. When we touch the feet of the Guru, or as is often said, taking the dust of their feet, we are saying that even their feet and the dust of their feet is holy. But why? How may we philosophically understand this custom? And why is it so important?

Showing reverence for the Guru is not meant to create or increase superiority of the Guru, but rather, to create and increase humility in the devotee. Real humility is a sign of confidence free from ego. Therefore, when we touch the guru’s feet, we are saying, “I am humble and I am your servant, because I am confident in myself and you, and trust in my ability to follow your guidance and excel in it.”

This cultivation of our own humility and sublimation of our wily ego is why it is important to pay respects to elders, to follow meaningful customs and procedures. You cannot dispense with them until you have learned them, followed them, and fully understood them. Therefore, when we touch the Guru’s feet, we are following tradition, and paying respect in the same way that billions have done so for thousands of years.

There is power in this simple ceremony, and it is in essence a form of worship, a recognition of the Divine nature of the Guru. The reason we say that the Guru is God, is because the Guru shows the pathway to God. The Guru becomes more important than God for the spiritual adventurer, because while God can be felt and sensed and worshipped, the Guru is there in flesh and blood, with a voice and ears and eyes, and the experience and accomplishment to be able to guide you in the best possible way. The effective Guru doesn’t give you all the answers, but helps you stand and walk the path on your own. The effective Guru can help us tell the difference between fact and fiction, between our imagination and an experience of divine grace. The loving Guru helps to puncture our egos, which keep us separated from knowledge of the true Self, and does so with love and compassion, never in a way that shames, belittles, or damages us. Therefore, when we touch the Guru’s feet, we are saying, “I respect and revere your knowledge and wisdom, I acknowledge the countless hours of your sadhana, and I recognize even the dust of your feet as holy prasad.”

The goal of every Guru should be to help you surpass their own abilities and knowledge. They should have perfected the balance of ego-less humility and confidence, and they should have a firm knowledge and powerful demonstrated ability in their sadhanas. They should respect their lineage and pass it on faithfully and respectfully, adding their own flavor and gained experiential knowledge along the way. Therefore, when we touch the Guru’s feet, we are saying, “I offer respect not only to you, but also to the Gurus at whose feet you bowed, to the entire parampara (lineage of Gurus), all the way back to the first Guru.”

The Guru carries us from ignorance to insight, but they do so as part of a vast, moving, living stream of wisdom. Touching the feet of the Guru is a sign of respect and reverence, not only for the person, but for the entire lineage. Through this living person, you can show respect for the entire living tradition, and your gratitude for receiving its wisdom through that special teacher.

Touching the Guru’s feet, then, is an act of respect and reverence, but also of learning. We facilitate our own spiritual progress when we learn to be humble. Humility puts us in a place of learning. After all, when we accept a Guru, regardless of whether they are a diksha (initiatory) or shiksha (learning) Guru, we do so because we wish to emulate that Guru. By touching their feet, we demonstrate not only that we are ready to listen to them, but also that we are ready to transform and strengthen ourselves.

Gururbrahma gururvishnu gururdevo maheshwarah |
Gurusakshat parabrahma tasmai shree guruve namah ||

“The Guru is Brahma, the Guru is Vishnu, the Guru is the Great Lord Shiva. To be near the Guru is to be near the ultimate Oneness – I adore you, O venerable Guru!”

© 2010 Jai MAA! :: Sri Kamakhya Mahavidya Mandir. All rights reserved. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Culture & History, Featured, Vidya: Tradition & Wisdom, Worship

In this verse, Shiva speaks:

“As the Goddess has come to the great mountain Nilakuta (Nilachala) to enjoy making love with me (Shiva), she is called the goddess Kamakhya (renowned Goddess of desire), who resides there in secret.

“Since she gives love, is a loving female, is the embodiment of love, the beloved, she restores the limbs of Kama, and also destroys the limbs of Kama, she is called Kamakhya.”

Kalikapurana 62.1-2

Kama is often translated as lust or desire, but it is also love. Kama is the name of the God of love, and the urge of love and desire within.

Kama means love or desire, and akhya means well-known or renowned. Therefore, Kamakhya is literally the Renowned Goddess of Love, or the Renowned Goddess of Desire.

Kamakhya, or Kameshvari, is truly both the source and fulfillment of all desire, and the source and fulfillment of love. She teaches us that love is the absolute essence of the Divine, and that through pure, divine love we may release attachments to trivial things, and realize our true divine nature.

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Post tags: Devi, Kalikapurana, Kamakhya, Scriptures

“To the Lord of the four aims of life (Dharma/learning, Kama/love, Artha/wealth, Moksa/liberation), and who defeats all causes of suffering; I adore the One who holds the trident in His hand; I most certainly offer reverence to HE who is the pure bliss of Uma; to the Lord of Parvati who is the source of all blessings, the pure bliss of Uma, to You I give my sincere love and adoration!”

The Umananda temple in Assam is situated atop Bhasmacala Hill, or the hill of ashes, which is an island in the center of the mighty Brahmaputra river. According to myth, it was on this hill that Mahesvara (Shiva) meditated and sank himself into deep sadhana for years after the death and destruction of his wife, the Goddess Sati.

Unbeknownst to him, Sati was reincarnated as Uma (Parvati). When Uma saw Mahesvara, she decided to win his affection by becoming an accomplished yogini. Soon Uma had surpassed even Shiva in her sadhana. The God of Love, Kama, saw that Uma and Mahesvara should be together, and wanted to reunite the divine couple. However, when he disturbed Shiva from meditation, Shiva’s third eye opened in a rage, and one look turned Kama into ashes, killing him instantly, and giving the hill its name. Soon after this, Shiva saw the beautiful yogini Uma, and fell immediately in love with her, recognizing her as the Divine Mother, his own beloved. She asked him to restore Kama’s life, which Shiva did, and even now, Uma and Shiva are forever inseparable as Kameshvari/Kamakhya and Kameshvara/Umananda/Shiva.

Umananda is literally “the pure bliss of Uma.” Umananda is a name for Shiva as Kamesvara/Kameshwara, the supreme divine lover of the Divine Mother Kamakhya (Kamesvari/Kameshwari). Shiva as Umananda demonstrates the power of pure love, partnership, and divine union. This union is not egotistical, but is the complete and utter union of the Self with the Divine, the dissolution of the illusion of separation. As his name indicates, Shiva selflessly gives everything for the pure bliss of the Divine Mother. He recognizes Her as the ultimate reality, and uplifts the feminine.

This union is also beyond the dualities of masculine/feminine or male/female. While the mythology places Shiva and Uma into gendered categories, these energies are beyond gender. Whether we are male or female, whether we identify as masculine or feminine (or both, or neither), regardless of our sexual orientation or gender identity, the energies of Shiva and Shakti are within each of us, and the goal of the sadhaka is to balance these energies and move beyond duality into perfect balance and blissful divine union within. The path toward that union is different for each individual, as each of us is a product of our own biology and karmas, but the goal is the same.

In daily life, this idea of cultivating an internal, balanced relationship with the divine also helps us in our relationships with other people. When Shiva recognized Uma as the Divine Mother, he was full of love for her. He recognized that she was not separate from himself, and that he had acted in anger when he literally killed the power of love out of impatience and anger. Similarly, if we have patience with ourselves and others, and when we strive to cultivate a strong relationship with the Divine Mother, we can also heal the wounded places of ourselves, restoring the power of love to its rightful place, and recognize others as not separate from the Divine Mother herself. This holds true for people we love – our spouse, family, friends – as well as for people we may not like very much. This consciousness carries us beyond dualities into total non-duality.

In other words, when one receives the divine nectar of pure love, the Divine Mother is recognized as the center of the universe, and the entire cosmos is realized as the emanation of Her pure love and beingness. This becomes the central, driving force of ahimsa, the principle of non-harm. For we recognize that when we harm others, we ultimately are harming ourselves. When we cause suffering for others, we cause suffering for ourselves.

Umananda is the destroyer of all causes of suffering, the restorer of love. Pray to Umananda when you are having trouble in any relationship, and also for the continued strength of all relationships. You can also pray to Umananda for aid in strengthening and balancing your spiritual practice.

This mantra is a pranama mantra, a mantra that offers reverence and worship to the deity. We recommend using pranama mantras as simple and effective forms of worship. Even if you have no knowledge of puja and so-called “proper” procedures, sincere recitation of pranama mantras are very effective in cultivating devotion and securing divine grace.

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Post tags: Mantra, Shiva, Vidya: Tradition & Wisdom

2. I bear the nectar of immortality. I support the Creator of living beings, the Protector of the universe, and the gracious Lord of prosperity. I bestow wealth on those who prepare the sacrifices and offer the oblations with an attentive mind.

3. I am the sovereign in whom all the auspicious deities are united. Shining with consciousness, I am foremost amongst those worthy of worship. The Gods diffuse me in every direction, my presence abiding in many places and revealed in manifold ways.

4. Through me alone all mortals live who see and breathe and hear what is said, not knowing that they abide in me. Hear me as I speak the truth to you.

5. I myself proclaim this, which is pleasing to Gods and humans alike. I make mighty whomever I wish, I make them devout and open their eyes to right understanding.

6. For the God who puts evil to flight, I draw the bow, that His arrow may strike down the hater of devotion; such is the fervor I stir within that person. Through heaven and earth I extend.

7. At the summit of creation, I bring forth the heavens. My creative power flows from amid the waters of the infinite ocean. Thence I spread through all the worlds and touch yonder heaven with my vastness.

8. I breathe forth like the wind, setting all the worlds in motion. So great have I become in my splendor, shining far beyond heaven and earth.

(poetic translation based on Devadatta Kali, In Praise of the Goddess: The Devimahatmya and Its Meaning)

The Devisukta, or Hymn to the Goddess, is found in the Rg Veda (RV 10.125), the earliest of the four Vedas or sacred wisdom texts that form the scriptural foundation for modern Hinduism. It is traditionally recited with the Devi Mahatmyam, one of the most important texts of the vast Shakta canon, and is a companion to the beautiful Ratrisukta.

In this hymn, the Goddess expresses Her primary place as the source and power of all that exists in the vast universe, including the Gods themselves. She also asserts Her identity as the absolute One – all the Gods are but facets and expressions of Her ultimate divine presence.

She also expresses Her grace, affirming that She sustains not only the sadhaka – one who has accepted a guru with humility and sincerely practices with the goal of liberation – but also those who deny Her or are totally unaware of Her existence. For those who are truly devoted and committed to spiritual discipline, Devi says that She obliterates the obstacles to their progress and spiritual awakening.

Finally, Devi proclaims Herself to be the source (yoni) of all creation, the source of creative power itself, and reveals Herself as both immanent and transcendent, being-consciousness as well as manifested reality. Ultimately, Devi is all that is, both manifest and unmanifest, embracing and surpassing the limits of the limitless universe.

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Post tags: Chandi, Devi, Devi Mahatmya, Rig Veda, Scriptures

It’s difficult to make your way through the bustling crowds at the normally serene Kamakhya temple in Assam during Ambubachi Mela. MAA’s energy is wild and potent, and She is alive in the palpable energy that pulses through the throngs of Her devotees gathered outside Her temple. Almost every square inch of the grounds is covered with crimson-clad devotees who sing, chant, meditate and shout their devotion to the Divine Mother, positioning themselves just outside Her most holy shrine during the time of Her annual menstruation.

Devotees of all varieties from across India, Nepal, Bangladesh, and a few from other countries as well, ascend the Nilachal Hills to be at MAA’s feet during this time. From regular families to black-clad aghoris, from foreign tourists to sadhus and sannyasis, this time of year calls to those who adore the Divine Mother and wish to be close to Her during Her most potent and sacred time. The festival especially draws those from the various Shakta and Shaiva Tantra kulas, generally recognized by the red or black clothes they wear, often with long dreadlocks and typically situated in group encampments outside the temple. Between 100,000 and 150,000 devotees typically reside at the Sri Sri Kamakhya Temple grounds during the four-day festival each year, and between 50,000 and 100,000 visit the temple every day during the festival. Some have claimed that as many as a quarter million people have crowded their way into the temple complex in years past.

During Ambubachi, for three days Mother Earth Herself menstruates, and all the temples in the region are closed to devotees. Inside the Kamakhya temple, MAA is bathed and dressed daily, and given a red silk cloth in consideration of Her menstrual flow, and also given fruit and light worship. Families who live near the temple cover their own shrines and offer fruit and simple worship to Devi, preferring to let Her rest. On the fourth day, the temple doors are opened, and devotees wait for hours to receive Her special darshan. Devotees plead to receive a small piece of rakta bastra, the red silk “blood cloth” upon which Devi sits during Her menses (also called anga bastra). As a talisman or amulet, this piece of cloth is said to be very auspicious and powerfully beneficial if tied onto the body, typically around the arm or wrist.

Kamakhya, or Kameshvari as She is also commonly known, is the Reknowned Goddess of Desire whose shrine is situated in a cave in the heart of the Nilachal Hills in Guwahati, Assam. As the yoni (which means source, vulva and womb) of Mahadevi, She is recognized as not only the form of desire (Kamarupa, Kamarupini), but She is the very source of our desires, and also the One who grants our desires. She is desire itself, as well as its fulfillment.

The Sanskrit term ambuvācī, from which the local Assamese word ambubachi or ambubasi is derived, literally means “the issuing forth of water,” referring to the swelling of the Earth’s waters from the onset of monsoon. Outsiders often mistakenly think that this festival is a celebration of Kamakhya’s menstruation, but in fact it is the menstruation of the entire Mother Earth, and as Kamakhya is the seat of Her yoni, it becomes the focal point for related festivities.

Being the yoni of Devi, and the Goddess here being intimately connected to the matriarchal tribes of these hills for thousands of years, it’s no wonder that this powerful and uniquely female cycle would be celebrated and venerated here.  For devotees, especially amongst Tantrics at the temple, Ambubachi is a time of tremendous power and celebration. We believe that Mother Earth cannot be impure, and that this is a time of potency and reflection. It is a time to relinquish selfish desires, to focus totally on MAA and celebrate with joy all that She is, to celebrate the gifts that Mother Earth gives to us – food, shelter, the very foundation of life – by offering Her simple worship, serving Her totally, and not asking for anything for ourselves. Recognizing one’s own selfish nature without judgment is a powerful part of releasing the ego and striving toward oneness with MAA.

How to celebrate Ambubachi in your own home

During Ambubachi, it’s important to allow Mother to rest. Every day we are asking Her for things, so on this day we serve Her rather than asking Her to serve us. In the United States, this concept is similar to Mother’s Day, when we pamper our mothers in some way to let them know how much we love and appreciate them.

Ambubachi can be difficult to place on the calendar if you’re not familiar with calculating the North Indian calendar, as it does not reliably align with common lunar events such as amavasya or purnima. It is generally celebrated close to the summer solstice on the seventh day of the month of Ashadha (Ashara in Assam), which typically falls on June 21 or 22 and ends around June 25 or 26. This is also near the start of the monsoon season. The Sri Kamakhya Mahavidya Mandir has Ambubachi on our schedule, and you can sign up for our email list to be notified of special events such as this.

Once you have determined the date of Ambubachi, you can observe this important holiday the way it is observed by the families at Kamakhya. On the first day take a piece of cloth (preferably red silk, but use what you have access to) and cover the altar or the murti. If you have a temple room in your home, close the door. You can also draw a curtain in front of the altar. This is to give MAA some privacy and rest during this time, to honor Her. We could also say that She is very, extremely powerful at this time, in the activity of purifying and regenerating the entire Earth, which is Her body itself, and it’s best to give Her a wide berth!

Several times a day (for instance, in the morning and evening) offer fruit, water and you can also offer simple arati to MAA behind the curtain or closed door. Sing songs to Her and simply offer your devotion, asking for nothing in return. You are simply there to worship Her, not to have your desires fulfilled. If you notice that you begin to ask MAA for something out of habit, let this desire go and forgive yourself. You can also recite Her pranama mantra:

kāmākhye varade devī nīla parvata vāsinī |

tvaṁ devī jagataṁ mātā yonimudre namostute ||

You may also wish to meditate silently during these three days, focusing on your gratitude to MAA, and total release of desire. Other ways to observe this time would be to participate in activities that care for the Earth. Clean up your local beach or park, water or fertilize your garden (but don’t disturb MAA by planting anything in Her body), etc.

On the fourth day, remove the cloth, open the door to the temple, and clean everything thoroughly. Replace your altar cloths with ones, give all the deities new clothes, etc. Offer worship with your whole family as elaborately as you are able to, and sing devotional songs. Offer your full heart and on this day you can ask for anything you desire.  If you are a gardener or farmer, this is also a good day to plant something, symbolic of your highest and purest intentions for the coming season, year or for the rest of your life. Choose a plant accordingly that will grow in rhythm with this intention and will remind you to stay close to your true path in life during this time period, whether it is for one season or for the rest of your life.

When you ask with a pure heart and with the highest good in mind, this pleases Devi. Our Mother wants to give us what we truly need, and wants to fulfill our desires. She allows us to live joyfully and comfortably in the world, while pursuing oneness with Her. But Mother knows what is best for us, and so we must often release the rigid notions we have of what Her divine gifts will look like. When MAA gives us what we ask for, we sometimes don’t recognize the package in which it is delivered, and if we ask for harm to come to someone else, those negative energies can come right back to us to teach us a lesson. Take the time during Ambubachi to purify your heart, recognize your imperfections and humble yourself at Her feet. Through disciplined practice, devotion and humility, we can release the stranglehold of the ego, becoming more confident and growing strong, seeing in ourselves the beauty and grace that MAA radiates through us in every moment.

In this way you can observe Ambubachi and the most powerful time of the year of our Divine Mother Earth in all Her many forms.

© 2009 Jai MAA! :: Sri Kamakhya Mahavidya Mandir. All rights reserved. | Permalink | 7 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Ambubachi, Festivals, Kamakhya, Worship

These pranama mantras comes from Kamakhya, and are used by devotees there to worship Ganesha before beginning any other worship. We use these mantras in our daily worship at the Sri Kamakhya Mahavidya Mandir in Northern California.

Ganesha is an important deity throughout Hinduism. With an elephant’s head and the body of a man, he is one of the most recognizable gods, and is beloved throughout the world as the remover of obstacles, master of the arts, and cheerful, strong companion to devotees as they begin any task. He is the son of Shiva and Parvati/Mahadevi, and although he has a very large body and is playful in nature, he is also quite graceful and completely fearless. According to tradition, Shiva granted his son the boon that one must worship Ganesha first before beginning any other worship, and so this is why every puja begins with worship of Ganesha.

The first mantra is recited to worship the Ganesha that is carved into the southern niche on the outside of the Sri Sri Kamakhya temple in Guwahati. Devotees recite this mantra, leaving a coin at Ganesha’s feet and touching their head to the stone upon which he stands, and then walk around the temple in a clockwise direction, before getting into the darshan queue or performing other worship. This Ganesha is to be worshipped before entering the temple.

The second mantra is another common mantra used by devotees to worship Ganesha at Kamakhya. This mantra may also be used before beginning worship, or at any other time.

If you are a devotee of MAA Kamakhya, we recommend to learn the first mantra as your primary mantra for Ganesha, and then the second mantra. They may be recited together or individually.

Ganesha Pranama Mantra 1

Translation:

“O You Who takes away all impediments, O excellent God Whose vehicle is the mouse, Who has a protruding belly and large ears, I give praises to You, O Lord of the Multitudes.”

Ganesha Pranama Mantra 2

Translation:

“To the Lord Who stands upon a mouse, Who has great and large ears that hear every call of His devotees, O Remover of all difficulties, shelter me as I begin my worship! I bow to you, Lord of the Multitudes.”

There is no harm in using either of these mantras. One does not need initiation to use them. Devotees primarily use these mantras before beginning worship, but you may also use them before beginning any venture, to ask Ganesha to remove the obstacles from your heart and mind, and from the path in front of you. Often, our internal obstacles are the greatest and most difficult to move, and so enlisting the help of Ganapati is crucial in helping us to achieve our goal of oneness with MAA.

Ganesha is a loving and lovable Lord, recognized primarily as the God who has an elephant head. His name, Ganapati or Ganesha, means “Lord of the Multitudes,” and refers to his strength and power over evil, as well as his ability to protect and lead. His large ears are attuned to the voices of his devotees, who call to him for help in removing any obstacles in life, whether for worship, personal safety, or to achieve a goal or higher purpose. Ganesha also aids in the purification of the worshipper, removing our internal obstacles. He is the guardian of the gate, the keeper of the doorway, and so many Hindu and Jain families keep an image of Ganesha at their doorway to ward off bad energies and welcome good ones.

Ganesha is also a guardian of the Muladhara Chakra, the energy center at the base of the spine which is where the Goddess Kundalini lies sleeping. He is the guardian of Devi, and also Her son. As such, he is the gatekeeper for all worship of MAA, and acknowledging him through worship allows us to be in the right mindset for approaching our Divine Mother. As a Tantric deity, Ganesha is also a great aid to the sadhaka who seeks to awaken Kundalini through sadhana.

© 2009 Jai MAA! :: Sri Kamakhya Mahavidya Mandir. All rights reserved. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: ganesha, Kamakhya, Mantra, Vidya: Tradition & Wisdom

O Chandi!
By Whom the act of the wicked and formidable Asura (demon) was shattered,
Do Thou wander in my heart!
Destroy my selfishness and the calamities which deeply pierce me,
Arising from the mass of malice and fears (which assail me),
So that, free from danger,
And protected by the lotus cluster of Thy feet,
My swan-like mind may swim and rejoice in the Ocean of Bliss.

2.

What fear of his enemies has he who worships Thee?
The Devas who worship Thy feet
Having abandoned the form of Narasimha (lion-headed avatar of Vishnu)
Whose towering mane rivals in splendour and height towering Mouth Sumeru,
And whose fingers are outstretched to tear Hiranyakashipu (the demon),
Now worship (the lion), the enemy of the elephant,
Server of Thy feet which destroy the bonds of the Pashu.

3.

O Chandi! When the syllables, the letters of which speak of Thee,
Reach the ear, then Brahma and other Devas
Sing the truth, touching Purusha and Prakriti.
O Devi! Be today gracious to me.
Devoted as I am to the kissing of Thy sacred lotus feet,
The one and only glittering abode of the essence of the nectar of all Devatas.

4.

If, because of my following Your way of Kula,
I suffer reproach, better is it that I shall thus be without fame.
Let me not have that which comes of the worship of Keshava (Vishnu) and Kaushika (Indra);
Rather O Mother! Let my heart rest in meditation on Thy lotus feet,
Worshipped by Brahma, Hari and the Enemy of Smara
By the Eater of oblations and the Enemy of the Daitya.

5.

O Mother! If I be engaged in the constant contemplation of Thy lotus feet,
Then what is there which Siddhas have which I have not?
May Thy lotus feet be ever present to my blissful mind,
Thy feet from which exceeding mercy flows.
O propitious Mother! Do Thou forgive me.

6.

Verily and without doubt, even the Lord of Bhutas would have perished,
Maddened as He was with the joy of the embrace of (Thee Who art) His own self,
Had He not been freshened by the lotus fragrance of Thy feet.
Bathed in the honey which flows within
From the union of Shiva and Shakti.

7.

O Mother! Let the stream of heavy showers of holy devotion towards Thee
Be ever shed upon me,
Struggling and drowning, alas!, as I am in the endless Ocean of Illusion,
Without taste of the water of the Bliss of Brahman
Which devotion dispels the weight of anguish from numbers of Devas.

8.

May the glory of Thy feet dark as a rainladen cloud,
Be ever in my heart
Dispelling by its lulstre as of ten million suns
The darkness which overspreads my mind.
From its glittering womb were born the three Devatas,
Who create, maintain, and destroy the world.
Whose substance is pure consciousness and bliss.

9.

May Devi Durga Who gives victory and happiness
Dispeller of fear, Victrix of fortresses and ill-fortune
Who had power to destroy the proud enemies of the Devatas,
And Who strikes terror into the hearts of thousands (of Her foes)
Ever conquer!
She it was Who, having severed the head of the Asura Mahisha,
Crushed and killed under Her feet him who assumed the form of a buffalo
Now bellowing, now charging, and again retreating
And from whose mouth the Asura issued.

10.

In the red ocean vast and surging
Danced the great shields, weapons and streamers of the enemy,
(An ocean) clouded by the flight of discus
And the arrows of the heaving multitude of soldiers
There lay the heads of the proud and wicked Asuras
Broken and cut to pieces, tossed about by the storm of battle,
(The sight of which) sharpened the thirst and hunger of the birds of carrion.

11.

I meditate upon Devi Mahishamardini,
Rushing in frenzy now here, now there on that wondrous field of battle,
Attended by eight companion Matrikas,
And on the Mantra and Badhu Vija in the lotus of eight petals,
Within the two horns of the fierce and terrible, restless and challenging head
Bent low and slanting, of the maddened buffalo.

12.

Let the Sadhaka meditate on the dark Shiva (feminine; Mahishamardini herself).
Holding in Her hands discus, lance, axe, shield, arrow, bow and trident,
Making the gesture which dispels fear;
Her mass of hair is like a bank of cloud entwined up on Her head,
Her face, most formidable, awes (Her foes),
Making even the defiant falter,
Her laugh is loud and terrible.

13.

O Devi! Such as in this manner
Meditate upon this Thy faultless form
Or upon Thee as Durga or other form of Thine
Worshipped by Indra and other Devas,
To them it is given to attack the cities of their foes,
And conquering their enemies, to gain a kingdom;
They too acquire the nectar of the knowledge of poesy,
And power to arrest, banish and slay.

14.

Whosoever reads or hears this Hymn
Made by me in rapt meditation upon Thy lotus feet,
Wherein is said Thy Kula worship and Mantra in hidden form,
In the palms of the hands of all such
Are forthwith wealth, fulfillment of desire and liberation.
O Mother! Salutation to thee!
May You conquer!

(translation by Arthur Avalon, et al.)

The Mahishamardini Stotra, from the Kulachudamani Tantra, is a beautiful hymn meant to be recited by the sadhaka (Tantric practitioner) to glorify Devi. Within the stotra is contained in code the secret mantra for Mahishamardini, also known as Mahishasura Mardini, She Who Defeats the Buffalo Demon:

OM MAHISHAMARDINI SVAHA!

This mantra is to be given by a qualified guru in order to reap the rewards of the mantra.

In this hymn, the violent struggle represents the struggle within, the necessary battle with ahamkara, literally the “I-maker,” and often referred to simply as the ego. It is that function of the mind which creates the illusion of separateness. The ego is a wily creature, constantly taking on different forms, as the buffalo demon Mahishasura does in the mythology. But step for step, Chandi (Durga, Mahamaya, Mahadevi) transforms along with him, chasing right behind him and outwitting the demon at every turn, until she finally defeats him with a stroke of Her sword.

We must be similarly vigilant in our pursuit of crushing and defeating the ego. It will rear its ugly head in surprising ways, whether in smugness, righteous anger, or even in self-pity. The Mahishamardini Stotra reminds us that with Devi on our side, and with a fierce commitment to the path with guidance of guru and Kula, these things can be overcome.

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Post tags: Devi, durga, mahishamardini, Scriptures

OM tryambakaṃ yajāmahe sugandhiṃ puṣṭi-vardhanam |

urvārukam iva bandhanān mṛtyor mukṣīya māmṛtāt ||

Mahamrityunjaya Mantra

“Praise to the Three-Eyed One, who increases prosperity, who has a sweet fragrance, who frees the world from all disease and death – liberate me as easily as the cucumber is severed from the vine; (O Shiva,) grant me immortality!”

- Rig Veda 7.59.12

The Mahamrityunjaya Mantra (Mantra of Great Victory Over Death) is a powerful mantra to Lord Shiva, who is also called Mrityunjaya, “the one who is victorious over death.” It is also one of the most ancient Vedic mantras. This powerfully transformative mantra has a very strong yet soothing vibrational energy, and has a variety of applications in daily life.

The cucumber is a fruit that grows on a vine, and if you’ve ever grown them, you will know that they, like other similar fruits and gourds, will not fall away from the vine on their own. They will stay on the vine until they rot. Similarly, without the moment of liberation, we too will remain attached to our ego, to this illusory world, until our bodies rot away and the seeds of our karma are planted again, to be born again into the cycle of rebirth. With this mantra we ask Lord Shiva to release us from this cycle, while still in this life. Removing the cucumber when it is ripe is very easy – you can simply pluck it from the vine – in a similar way, with sadhana (focused practice with a goal in mind), we too may easily cross from unknowing into knowing. So we ask Lord Shiva to help us, to liberate us as easily as we harvest the simple gourd.

Chanted for those who need healing from illness, by those facing death, in moments when you need solace and comfort, to receive protection from injury, in praise of Shiva, or for the ultimate quest for liberation and oneness with God, this ancient mantra is one of the most beloved and well known in the Vedic canon.

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Post tags: Mantra, Shiva, Vidya: Tradition & Wisdom

1. OM! The goddess RATRI (Night), approaching, illumines every direction with HER eyes. SHE has put on all HER glories.
    
2. The immortal Goddess has filled the world’s breadth, heights, and depths with HER light. SHE drives away the darkness.
    
3. The approaching goddess follows upon HER sister, USHA (Dawn), at whose coming the darkness likewise departs.
    
4. Now SHE is upon us: at HER coming we go to rest as birds to their nest in a tree.
    
5. The villagers have gone to rest, and so, too, all the creatures that walk or fly, even the ravenous hawks.
    
6. Ward off the she-wolf and the wolf, ward off the thief, O wave of darkness, and be easy for us to pass through.
    
7. For now, the palpable blackness crushes down upon me, O Dawn, collect it dutifully.
    
8. As you would accept a precious herd of cattle, O daughter of heaven, O Night, accept this hymn, offered as if to a conqueror.
    

- Rig Veda 10.127, trans. Devadatta Kali, In Praise of the Goddess (2003)

The Ratrisukta is a beautiful poem in praise of the Vedic Goddess Ratri, the Goddess of the Night.  Ratri is Maya, the power that creates the world and also plunges it into spiritual darkness.  Ratri is also the symbol of our embodied human state.

This poem is also part of a collection of poems traditionally chanted with the Chandi Path, or Devi Mahatmyam, without which the chanting is not considered complete. By offering praise to Ratri after the chanting of the Chandi, we recognize that we must go through darkness to reach the light of self-realization. Beyond ignorance and knowledge is the illumination of DEVI – who is pure reality and pure being (sat), pure consciousness (cit or chit), and bliss (ananda). This leads to the highest state of being – satchidananda, or being-consciousness-bliss – pure divinity.

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Post tags: Chandi, Devi Mahatmya, Rig Veda, Scriptures

yā bhūtvā prakṛtinatyaṁ  tanoti jagadādyatām ||

“I offer reverence the Goddess Kameshvari, Mahamaya, the embodiment of the world, who is the Primordial Force of the world, and who causes the world to emerge.”

- Kalikapurana 72:62

tvaṁ kartri saṁvajagataṁ vidyā tvaṁ muktidāyinī |

parāparātmikā devī sthūlasukṣmātmikā tathā ||

prasīda tvaṁ mahādevī prasannāyāṁ śubhe tvayi |

devāḥ sarve prasīdinta jaturvaṁgaprade’nadhe ||

“YOU are the Primordial Force, the Goddess, YOU are the earth and water, YOU are the matter of the world, YOU are the embodiment of the world. The entire world is created by YOU, YOU are superior wisdom, who causes liberation. O Great Goddess! YOU are the essence of both that which is far away and that which is near, YOU are the soul of subtle and gross elements, be pleased with us. O Auspicious Goddess! When YOU are worshipped, all the Gods are pleased. O Auspicious One! YOU fulfill the four-fold aims of life (Kama/love & pleasure, Artha/wealth & glory, Dharma/righteousness & virtue, Moksha/liberation).”

- Kalikapurana 72:74-6

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Post tags: Kalikapurana, Scriptures

“If a foreigner comes to this pitha which is away from his homeland, then he could worship the deity according to his own rites.”

- Kalikapurana 64.34

kāmeśvarīstu kāmākhyām pujayet tu yathecchayā |
dakṣiṇyādvāmabhāvatva sarvathā siddhimāpluyāt ||

“All desires are fulfilled for the one who worships Kameshvari in Kamakhya according to vāmācāra or dakṣiṇācāra.”

- Kalikapurana 74.140

This liberal attitude taken by the Kalikapurana in terms of the modes of worship is the same that exists at the Sri Sri Kamakhya Temple in Assam, where devotees offer their worship directly to Devi.

Here at the Sri Kamakhya Mahavidya Mandir, we also affirm this tradition of welcoming all who wish to honor the Divine Mother, regardless of their religious affiliation.  Both vāmācāra (left-hand path) and dakṣiṇācāra (right-hand path) are welcome here, and we do not discriminate against anyone. Our Divine Mother loves all her children – how can we deny HER any of their worship and company? Jai MAA!

To join us for worship, see our worship schedule »

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Post tags: Kalikapurana, Scriptures

Kamakhya has many names. Amongst them:

• Kamakhya: She Who Grants Desire
• Kameshvari: Supreme Goddess of Love
• Kamakshi: She Whose Eyes Are Full of Desire
• Lalita: She Who is Easy to Approach
• Shodashi (Assamese: Shorashi):
• Maha Tripura Sundari: The Great Beautiful One of the Three Worlds
• Shri Raja Rajeshwari: She Who is the Ultimate Ruler of the Universe
• Kali: She Who is Beyond Time
• Durga: She Who is Difficult to Approach
• Chandi: She Who Tears Apart Thought
• Mahamaya: Great Goddess of Illusion
• Mahadevi: Great Goddess

She is associated strongly with the Dasha Mahavidyas, the Ten Great Wisdom Goddesses. These fierce and beautiful devis (goddesses) are both complete unto themselves, as well as emanations of Mahadevi herself. Kamakhya is uniquely identified with two Mahavidyas,  both Kali and Shodashi/Maha Tripurasundari.  She is both ferocious and benign, light and dark, she transcends and defies duality. She is Mahamaya, and takes on all forms of the Divine – thus any deity may be worshipped as a form of Her. She is the source of all creation, the sustainer of all living things, and the destructive, transformative force to which all things return.

Her pranam mantras, or mantras for showing reverence and worship, are:

and/or

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Post tags: Dasamahavidyas, Devi, Kamakhya

Worship of the Mother Goddess and related Tantra-based rituals have their endless fount atop the Nilachal Hills: the sacred shrine of Sri Sri Kamakhya. Situated on the southern banks o f the Louhitya, known as the mighty river Brahmaputra, these hills are part of the metropolis of Guwahati, the capital city of Assam. Situated within these hills are the temples of the Dasamahavidya, Anga Devata, and other temples dedicated to various deities. Mention of this Shakti temple of Kamakhya is found in Bhagavatas, Puranas, several of the Tantras, and many other ancient Scriptures.

According to mythology, Lord Siva in HIS frenzied grief carried the lifeless body of his consort Sati on his shoulders,  and Vishnu dismembered the body with his Sudarshan Chakra. The Yoni (genitalia) of Sati fell on the hill, representing the body of Siva, which turned blue (nila). Thus the hills became the Nilasailya or Nilachal Hills. The temple is said to have been originally built surrounding the Yonimandala by Kamdeva with the help of Biswakarma, and is a symbol of great veneration and is regarded as a source of divine power and influence. Different modes of Shakti puja of the Tantric path are centered around this symbol, which projects the very essence of the creative process of the universe.

The mysticism surrounding the worship of the goddess Kamakhya has also lent a mysterious aura to the whole region, and various social norms have sprung up which are quite distinct in comparison to other places in the world.

The countless pieces of sculpted stone scattered all over the Nilachal Hills bear mute testimony to the beauty of the original stone temple of Kamakhya. The main temple was covered in sculpted images of the sixty four Yoginis and eighteen Bhairavas. Owing to disputes, the ravages of time and natural calamities, only the base of the original temple survives. However, various rulers and kings in later periods have added to the remnants of the original temple, and the present structure is a medley of architectural styles hailing from different periods and dynasties. Through the ages, various rulers took up the worship of Kamakhya and these rulers either invited or brought various families of scholars and priests from various parts of the country to perform the rites and rituals associated with the deities. The royal patronage of Shakti worship became dominant over the other forms of worship in Kamarupa and surrounding areas.

Different families of priests, according to the hierarchy laid down in the scriptures, were brought at different times for the performance of the various rites, rituals and duties associated with the worship of the Mother Goddess Kamakhya. As per scriptural tenets, the system of worship is an elaborate affair requiring the participation of several different classes of priests designated as:

1. Brahmas well versed in the Vedas, Puranas and Samhitas for the supervision of the rites and rituals to be conducted
2. Pujaris or Pujaks for the performance of the rites and ritualistic practices; i.e, the pujas
3. Bidhipathaks for the reading of the Bidhi (Scriptures) to guide the pujaris in the observance of the rules of such pujas and the recitation of the mantras
4. Hotas for the performance of the Homa (Sacred Fire) or the rites associated with the fire altar
5. Chandipathaks for reciting the Chandi, the book of chants related to the invocation of the Goddess

The duties related to the preparation of the daily offering of bhog (food) items are entrusted to Brahmin families called the Supakars. Apart from the Brahmins a host of non-Brahmin families formed the majority of the workers and servants of the deity. These families were directly responsible for the smooth functioning of the entire process of worship and were part and parcel to the ritualistic practices. Here also the different categories of duties led to the creation of distinct groups and were named as:

• Athporia or Astha Prahari, the keepers of security and supervisors of cleanliness inside the temple
• Duari, the door keepers
• Bolikata, persons involved in the sacrifice of the offered animals
• Tamuli, the arrangers of the naivedyas or offerings
• Bhandar, the supplier of the raw materials of the bhog and naivedyas
• Bharali, the store keeper
• Mali, the supplier of flowers and fruits
• Malakar, the makers of the garlands
• Paneri, the water supplier
• Gayan-Bayan, the singers and musicians
• Seel and others involved in various ritualistic requirements, such the cutting of hair, distribution of the bhog, etc.

All these categories of priests and workers formed the entire community of Shebaits of the Deity, and they were all required to perform their designated duties on a daily basis, as well as during various annual ceremonies and festivals.

Worship is based on the sankalpa (dedication) of the Nitya Puja (daily worship) which invokes the blessings of the Goddess for the entire population of the state. Daily worship is a continuous process without any break throughout the year, except during the three nights of Ambubachi.

The worship of the Goddess Kamakhya in HER various forms encompass a host of festivals and ceremonies which has contributed to the rich cultural fabric of the region and the main ones are enumerated here:

• Makar Sangkranti (Magh Bihu), January
• Ratanti Kali Puja,  January/February
• Saraswati Puja, January/February
• Shivaratri, February/March
• Doul Yatra (Holi), March
• Durga Doul and Shiva Doul, March/April
• Basanti Puja, March/April
• Madan Puja, March/April
• Chaitra Sankranti (Bohag Bihu), April
• Puja of Gramya Devata, May/June
• Ambubachi Mela, June
• Dakshinang Sangkranti (Kali Puja), July
• Manasa Puja (Debaddhwani), August
• Krishna Janmastami, August/September
• Durga Puja, October
• Lakshmi Puja, October
• Kartik Sangkranti (Kati Bihu), October/ November
• Shyama Puja (Dipawali), November
• Dhanya Chedan, November/December
• Katyayani Brata, Sadhan Brata, November
• Pohan Biya or Hara Gauri Bibah, December/January

Apart from the Kamakhya Temple, there are innumerable temples and kundas (ponds) scattered all over the Nilachal Hills. According to an estimate by the Archaeological Survey of India, there probably existed more than a hundred sometime in the past. The temples that still remain today are:

Dasamahavidya

• Kamakhya Temple (includes Matangi and Kamala)
• Bhubaneswari Temple
• Bagatamukhi Temple
• Kali Temple
• Tara Temple
• Dhumavati Temple
• Bhairavi Temple
• Chinnamasta Temple

Other Temples

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Post tags: Archaeology, Culture & History, Kamakhya

Dhumavati is the Goddess of mortality, death and everything that is inauspicious. Her companion is the crow, a carrion eater. She wears clothes taken from a corpse in the smashan (cremation ground), and she carries a winnowing basket. In the image here, she also carries a flaming kapala (bowl made of human skull), which represents detachment from egoic pursuits.

Dhumavati’s name means “Emanating Smoke” or “Full of Smoke,” referring to the smoke and vapors of the cremation grounds, as well as to Her mastery of maya (illusion). To sit in the cremation ground for sadhana, one must be fearless. Cremation grounds are often located in wild places, where tigers and other beasts roam at night, and are full of insects, serpents, and the spirits of the demonic and dead. Fearlessness is not necessarily the absence of fear, but the willingness to face and move through one’s fears with absolute courage thereby overcoming them, and mastery of this is gotten through non-attachment to desire (vairagya). Vairagya is also essential to master control of the mind, which is key to any sadhana.

In one sense, as a widow, Dhumavati has been severed from her identity (her husband), and the duties one must do as a wife (karma). Her duty is to cultivate devotion and detachment from worldly desires, making herself unattractive and undesirable to the outside world through the traditional symbols of shaved head, plain white clothes (the color of mourning), lack of ornaments (some widows do wear ornaments, just as some images of Dhumavati show her wearing ornaments), and lack of makeup or sindoor. The symbols that made her beautiful as a wife are stripped away, her fullness of beauty giving way to the dryness of detachment. In a single moment, desire is transmuted into detachment. Although Dhumavati may be seen as a symbol of inauspiciousness, in fact she grants the most auspicious qualities to the sadhak. Widows – especially when they are aged sadhikas – often hold great wisdom, and should be treated with respect.

The truly fearless devotee through sadhana is able to move through Dhumavati’s maya into truly clear vision. Beyond this illusion is the promise of immortality, of liberation (moksha). Dhumavati grants the power to overcome seemingly insurmountable obstacles, such as the fear of death itself, which binds us to our physical bodies.

Her pranam mantra is:

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Post tags: Dasamahavidyas, Devi, Dhumavati

The holy Nilachal Hills, where the famous temple of Mother Goddess Sri Sri Kamakhya has been shining with pride and glory, is now a part of the metropolis Guwahati, the gateway to Northeast India. The mighty Brahmaputra, mentioned as Louhitya in Sanskrit epics and Puranas, is flowing on the northern side of these sacred hills. Near the holy shrine of the Mother Goddess there are temples of the Dasamahavidya, Lord Shiva, other Deities and numerous Gupta Peethas scattered all around.

The history of Assam is closely related to the history of Sri Sri Kamakhya. Mention of this Shakti temple of Kamakhya has been made in Devi Bhagavata, Devi Purana, Kalika Purana, Yogini Tantra, Hevajra Tantra, Tantra Chudamani, and is cited many more times in other ancient literature. According to Hevajra Tantra (8th century C.E.) and Kalika Purana (earlier than 1000 C.E.) the deity of Sri Sri Kamakhya in Kamarupa had become already established as the main center of Tantric worship. The Kalika Purana and Yogini Tantra already extol Assam as a land where Shakta Tantra was fully established.

The temple of Sri Sri Kamakhya in the Nilachal Hills is the springboard and centerpiece of Shakta worship in India. Situated between the two hill ethnic groups that follow the matriarchal system, the Khasis of the Austro-Asiatic family and the Garos of the Mongoloid group, the temple of Kamakhya is regarded as belonging to a Goddess who represents the pro-creative aspects of nature. SHE is a Mother Goddess. No image of the deity is worshipped in the temple; it is the yoni of the Goddess Sati, the consort of Lord Shiva, that is enshrined within.

Sex worship, in whatever form, was common throughout the Austro-Asiatic and other countries in the ancient past. Robert Briffault in his Sex in Civilization says that “the Roman Saturnalia and carnival of Southern Europe are similar instance in the West.” V. F. Calverton is more comprehensive in his opinion: “Survival of sex-worship was common through the dark ages.” In the temple of Sri Sri Kamakhya, the yoni symbol of the Mother Goddess is regarded as a source of magic influence and is a living relic of an ancient custom. This temple itself is a living relic of the ancient Austro-Asiatic cultural impact on this land, and a beautiful assimilation of patronization by the series of dynasties who ruled Kamarupa until the British took control over Assam in 1826.

The Kamakhya temple’s origins are pre-Aryan. Religious literature tells us that the temple of Kamakhya was built with stones by Kamdeva with the help of Biswakarma. The temple was originally full of beautiful architectural and sculptural wonders. Perhaps due to some upheaval against religion or natural disaster, the upper part of the temple was ravaged and the lower part was gradually buried. The temple was covered with sixty four carved stone images Yoginis and eighteen carved stone images of Bhairavas, which one can still find in the present temple.

An analytical study reveals that there is no mention whatsoever in any stone or copper inscription, text, sloka, or oral materials of 7th – 9th century that Sri Sri Kamakhya was a Deity of any of the Kings of Kamarupa. On the other hand, historical evidence indicates that Kumar Bhaskara Varma (d. 650 C.E.) was a devotee of Lord Shiva. After him, the kings of Shalastambha dynasty (650-750 C.E.) were distinctly Buddhist, and again from Balavarmana II (750 C.E.) to Balavarmana III (875 C.E.) the deity of the dynasty was Lord Shiva in HIS different forms. Then finally, during the rule of Vanamalarmana, the Kameswara-Maha Gauri became the official deity of the dynasty, which continued until Indrapala (1030 C.E.). Somehow the name of Kameswara-Maha Gauri again vanished via the royal edicts of King Gopala (1075 C.E.). Hence it is apparent that the original temple of Sri Sri Kamakhya may have been built before Kumar Bhaskara Varma, and to shed more light on it we can draw reference from a book by P.C. Choudhury titled Assam-Bengal Relations: “The remains centering round the present temple of Kamakhya belong to different period history, beginning with 7th century if not earlier.” At the same time it is also generally believed that the Kamakhya temple was built during the rule of Pala Dynasty.

As it was necessary to determine the age of the Sri Sri Kamakhya Temple, the department of Geo-Sciences, University of Gauhati, came forward and conducted a Radio Carbon Isotope age determination experiment. The result indicates that the bottom layer of the temple is 2200 years old, and the second layer is 1500 years old. From this exercise it can be assessed that the original temple was built before Christ, and an attempt to rebuild the temple was made during 500 C.E. Though there is no concrete historical evidence available on the original temple, there is evidence on the second layer in the form of a stone inscription found in the Nilachal Hills that was cut during the rule of Surendravermana (Mahendravarmana?) in 500 C.E. Thus a conclusion can be drawn that during 500 C.E. a beautiful stone temple of Sri Sri Kamakhya was erected in the Nilachal Hills.

There is less controversy with the upper part of Sri Sri Kamakhya Temple, as there are written records available from the period of King Bishwasingha of the Koch Behar Kingdom. Biswasingha, who came to power in 1515 C.E., rebuilt the temple of Sri Sri Kamakhya (1515-1525). It is generally believed that between 1553-1554 the temple was destroyed by the invading Muslim commander Kalapahar in his crusade against Hindu temples, but history says otherwise. Kalapahar invaded the Koch Kingdom in 1568, and there is no historical record found anywhere that Kalapahar came to Guwahati. It is again becomes even more controversial when the written records indicate that King Naranarayan started renovating the temple in 1555 and completed in 1565. Thus, the story of Kalapahar destroying the temple in 1553-1554 is confusing. There are possibilities of a natural catastrophe that occurred during the later part of the period of Biswahsingha, which could have damaged the upper part of the temple.

After the Koch Kingdom the Ahoms became patrons of the Sri Sri Kamakhya Temple, and the influence of the Ahoms is clearly visible in the present temple. Moreover, there are many stone inscriptions and copper plates that elaborate the active involvement of the Ahom kings with the Sri Sri Kamakhya Temple.

Historical evidence indicates that between the 11th and 12th centuries, when there were repeated looting expeditions  from Bihar and Bengal into Assam, the temples of the Nilachal Hills, including the Kamakhya Temple, were damaged and looted by Nasiruddin (1227) and Malik Uzbek Tughril Khan (1225 and 1257). During these looting expeditions the temple complex was likely severely damaged.

The temple was repaired with stone chips, Portland cement and steel reinforcement after the massive earthquake of 1897, and this was done during 1910-1915. Further repair work was also undertaken after the famous earthquake of 1950. Apart from that, the dome of the temple was also renovated during the sixties, with the contributions of donors.

There has been no serious effort made to study and document the history of the Nilachal Hills and the Kamakhya Temple to date, and only scattered information can be found, which cannot be chronologically linked with desired homogeneity.  There is no publication in a single cover which one can refer to regarding the documented history of the temple. On the other hand, it would also be wrong to say that there has been no work done at all, but it is a strenuous task to collect articles and research papers published since 1837, which are scattered throughout the world in various journals.

Nevertheless, Kamakhya is not only a religious center, but also a place of natural life. This abode of the Great Goddess abounds in natural beauty. Nature bestows all her charm and fills the place with beauteous grandeur. Kamakhya supplies all the amenities of life. The Bhubaneswari Temple to the east of Kamakhya stands on the top of a hill 690 ft. high and overlooks the Guwahati town and the Brahmaputra river. Thus the natural scenery of hills and rivers, the exquisite beauty of the surroundings, the supernatural significance, the sincere devotion of the dwellers, all these make the Sri Sri Kamakhya Temple a seat of inexplicable mystery.

© 2009 Jai MAA! :: Sri Kamakhya Mahavidya Mandir. All rights reserved. | Permalink | 2 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Archaeology, Culture & History, Kamakhya

Bagalamukhi (or Bagala), on one level, is beautiful but ferocious. She can be a trickster Goddess, using trickery and illusion to unmask deeper truths.

Bagalamukhi punishes the wicked and fiercely protects the righteous. Her name means “She whose face has the power to captivate and control.” According to some myths about her, she uses her beauty as a deadly weapon against evil and demonic forces. Her name can also be translated as “She with the face of a crane,” a bird associated with deceit, and also a bird that swallows its prey whole – just as Bagalamukhi swallowed Shiva whole in one of her origin myths. She is the Goddess who smashes through the ego, shattering it so that we may be liberated from illusion.

Bagalamukhi’s sacred color is yellow, and her temple at Kamakhya is painted a vivid and shocking yellow. Devotees throughout India wear yellow and pray to her using malas made of turmeric beads. At Kamakhya she is offered yellow flowers, and like other Devis at Kamakhya her puja is secret.

She can be seen in some places as a very important folk goddess, counteracting the destructive power of gossip. Devotees appeal to Bagalamukhi when they are being verbally attacked, or when gossip is threatening them, to stop wagging tongues. However, her devotees would be well advised to cultivate truth and a distaste for gossip themselves, as this Goddess has no tolerance for it!

The most common imagery of Bagalamukhi shows her holding the tongue of the demon Madan. Madan had been given the siddhi (magical power) of the fruition of speech – that is, anything he said came to be. He immediately began abusing this power and murdering people with it. Bagalamukhi confronted him, grabbed his tongue, and stopped him from speaking.

Many pray to Bagalamukhi to help them with court cases, legal matters, and to defeat their enemies. But it’s worth noting that regardless of whatever the popular concept of Bagalamukhi may be, the real power of Bagalamukhi can be found in one’s own sadhana, if one knows where and how to look.

At Kamakhya, Bagalamukhi’s pranam mantra (mantra for paying respect and offering worship) is:

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Post tags: Bagalamukhi, Dasamahavidyas, Devi, Mantra, Vidya: Tradition & Wisdom

The traditional belief is that our sacred Mother Earth is also like a fertile woman. The earth cultivates and germinates seeds and grows crops – becoming pregnant as if in coition. That is why the woman’s womb is compared to Kshetra for cultivation. Ambubachi symbolises this phenomena of an ancient agricultural concept. In the Bodo community it is called Amthisua, in Hindu society of lower Assam it is called Amoti or Ameti, and in West Bengal it is called Ambabati.

According to tradition, we are the children of Mother Earth. Thus, the concept of Ambubachi possesses agricultural, social, and religious ideas that contributed to the emergence of this phenomenon, resulting in observance of rituals for the occasion.

The concept of the cult of Mother Earth has been in its process of gradual evolution and elevation, merging in the Upanishadic and Mythological ages with the concept of Shri Devi, Maha Lakhsmi, and Devi being identified with crops and cereals simultaneously, and in turn ultimately identified with Maha Devi Durga in the form of Sakambhari. Mother Earth is defined in a later Upanishad, called Narayana Upanishad, which states that Mother Earth is religiously worshipped and adored as Devi Basundhari.

Against this background of Goddess Earth being identified with Shakta forms of Devi are Goddesses like Sri, Mahalakshmi or Mahamaya symbolising the concept of fertility, sex and procreation. Hence Ambubachi in Kamakhya Peetha assumes prominence and adds luster to this ancient, prestigious, and unique seat of the Indian Shakti cult and Tantricism, which is the sacred abode of the Mother Goddess in the form of the yoni (vulva or womb) in the Garbha (itself meaning “womb,” referring to the inner sanctum of the deity) of the temple located in the Nilachal Hills. Devi Mahamaya or Devi Durga is said to manifest here in various forms and rupas – as a virgin and also as a spouse of Lord Shiva. In amorous mood in her Sambhoga form (rupa) she is Goddess Kama – and thus called Kamakhya for satisfying her love with Lord Shiva.

In earlier times, the Tantrik priests of the temple spoke about the emergence of red coloured water flowing below the Yoni Mandala during the period of Ambubachi. No worship takes place during the three days commencing on the 7th day of Ashara (June 21 or 22). The temple remains closed and visitors are not allowed to enter. On the fourth day after performing various rituals such as bathing and puja, the doors of the temple are opened for devotees. Everything is made clean, and the entire temple complex is also given a fresh look. Meanwhile, a large number of pilgrims (estimated between 50,000-200,000 depending on the year) amass at the temple.

A prevalent belief connected with the celebration of Ambubachi Mela is that the pieces of red cloth used by Devi during the three days of her menstrual cycle are greatly beneficial and auspicious for a devotee if he or she is able to put on such a piece. After the main puja, the process of distribution to visiting pilgrims takes place, and this item is highly sought after.

The color red is symbolic of Shaktism. It associates Rajas and also pro-creativity. Devi is said to be very pleased with this color. In the Kamakhya Tantra, Devi Kamakhya is described as extremely beautiful, dressed with red garments. Hence the receipt of a piece of red cloth used in the Devi Pith is definitely considered to be of great value by the devotees.

With great religious faith, thousands of pilgrims from all over the world visit Kamakhya to attend the festival. As the temple remains closed for three days, this period is observed as Mela (festival or fair) outside the temple. During these four days the Nilachal Hills come alive with Kirtan and Bhajan round the clock. When the doors of the temple are opened, thousands of devotees come for Darshan, and to receive blessings from the Mother Goddess.

© 2009 Jai MAA! :: Sri Kamakhya Mahavidya Mandir. All rights reserved. | Permalink | 5 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Ambubachi, Devi, Festivals, Kamakhya, Menstruation