| Mother Kali Google Images |
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Aum Sri Ramakrishna Sharanam||
||Aum
Namo Narayanaya||
It
is sometimes beyond expression to relate to the way the internet has
revolutionised our lives. Mans' appetite for cutting edge information and
breaking news seems to have found adequate satisfaction through this
information highway and at times, he even suffers a bit of information
indigestion due to excessive consumption. Be that as it may, apart from a
little discomfort, indigestion has not lead to death in any way. The feeling of
being so empowered with access to such a vast reservoir of information at your
fingertips is simply remarkable and fine-tuned to a point that topics of
interest appear on your desktop in an organised manner, through a process
called RSS feeds.
RSS
takes the latest headlines from different websites and pushes those headlines
as they are published down to your computer for quick scanning. In my
enthusiasm and excitement to experiment with this technology, I would have
ticked a few boxes over a period of time. One such feed which appeared on my
screen today was spring blooms available in South Africa. My eyes
and mind were served with a feast of colour and delicate beauty wonderfully
exhibited by tulips to an appreciative audience. Disciplined yet mischievously
soliciting attention, they invoke a chain of good emotions. When one
speaks of tulips, one immediately thinks of Holland where the flower is
cultivated commercially on a massive scale. However, history traces the farming
of tulips to the Ottoman Empire, Mongolia, Northern China, Siberia and Ukraine.
Whilst my mind was processing all this information, I stumbled upon a spiritual
idea that channeled my thoughts to the ensuing festival of Navarathri - held in
glorification of the supreme consciousness in the form of the Divine Mother.
It
is a geographical fact that Holland lies below sea level. Through ingenious
engineering, the Dutch who were restricted in terms of living ground, started
to reclaim land from the sea and built dykes as a means to keep the sea from
flooding the land. This was complemented by windmills which powered pumps to
prevent swamping. These dykes and windmills have become a landmark of Holland
and have become a symbol of the Dutch nations' struggle with water.
The
globe which is made up of 70 percent water and 30 percent land mass shall
always be under threat of being engulfed by the sea. Like that... our little
islands of peace and joy are constantly under threat from desires, anger,
falsehood, hatred, jealousy and other uncharitable thoughts. When left
unchecked, these tendencies flood and overwhelm to such an extent that our
actions and behaviour deviates from the divine and becomes demonic. Such
individuals become the bane of civilisation and isolate themselves into a cage
of misery.
Seeking
succor and mercy from the Lord under these trying conditions, we take refuge at
the feet of the divine Mother Durga. Durga freely translated into English means
a fort or impenetrable force. Mother thus forms the line of defense against
these undesirable elements that erode and drown our noble qualities. As
Kali, She quells the insatiable desires and subdues the ego, creating space for
pure and sublime thoughts to rule the mind. Armed with special weapons and
supreme Shakti, Mother reigns terror amongst the ignoble tendencies augmenting
the thoughts and actions rooted in 'dharmic' and divine values to shine.
Now
that we have the grace of Mother Durga, it is important that we also sustain
and preserve this gain made against the external elements. Like the windmills
which prevent the land from becoming swampy by pumping out standing water, we
bow before and seek the blessings of Mother Lakshmi who is the preservative
energy. As much as we may contain the attack from sense stimuli and the
external world, we also have to deal with our past 'karmas' and 'samskaras'.
Mother Lakshmi bestows abundance - in the form of spiritual energy, grace and
knowledge which will help us to maintain a state of spiritual equilibrium.
This
enables the devotee to be in a state of readiness to elevate his spiritual
consciousness. Sri Ramakrishna looked upon the world as 'maya' and He explained
that 'avidya maya' represents dark forces of creation (eg. sensual desire, selfish
actions, evil passions, greed, lust and cruelty) which keep people on lower
planes of consciousness. These forces are responsible for human entrapment in
the cycle of birth and death, and they must be fought and vanquished.
'Vidya
maya', on the other hand, represents higher forces of creation (eg. spiritual
virtues, selfless action, enlightening qualities, kindness, purity, love, and
devotion) which elevate human beings to the higher planes of consciousness.
After
the sea is kept at bay and the swampy areas are pumped out, the land is now
ready to be farmed. The fertile land provides much nutrition to the country and
brings in much revenue through commercial tulip farming. The devotee in the
final three days embraces the Mother in the form of Saraswati. With the mind
and heart now purified, the seeds of God can now be planted and fertilised by
deep devotion, and this will give rise to knowledge of the self and the nature
of this creation. Suspended in awe from viewing the millions of vibrantly coloured
tulips, the knowledge of the essence of the self suspends one in ecstasy and
joy-indescribable, as Sri Ramakrishna always said.
There
is no other way than to take refuge at the feet of God. In the Gospel of Sri
Ramakrishna, Master states that a Mother shall drop her chores and run
immediately to attend to a crying child. We must therefore claim that
protection and grace of our Divine Mother by crying with intense tears of
devotion to Her. She will come, protect us, guide us and give us liberation as
it is mentioned in the famous Devi sloka, She is 'sristi', 'stithi',
'vinashanam': ie. the creator, preserver and destroyer of evil to give
liberation.
May
Mother bless us all, is my sincere prayer. Wishing you all strength and
devotion during the Navarathri festival.
With
love and prayers always
Yogan
