Dear Latha,
What I hope to begin to approach is the idea of "kavace hrdi
samsthite", one in whose heart resides this armor. That would be the
most amazing thing for me...to have this kavaca internalized in my
heart. I have been chanting the Devi Kavacham since August,when it
was suggested to me by one of my Sri Vidya teachers. I am thinking
that all of us working on the Chandi Path together is a very
powerful thing, especially under the auspices of Shree Maa and
Swamiji. If we ever had a chance to "realize" any part of this text,
this would be a good time!
As we move along in the Chandi Path, I am just hoping to get my
tongue used to all of the twists and turns so that it becomes more
familiar to me...I remember when I was learning Lalitha Sahasranam,
just despairing of EVER learning it...now it is so familiar to me
and the parts that used to trip me up are now my favorites because
I'm still working on them. So, beginning the Chandi, I think...."Oh,
this is so daunting! So many verses!" but then I remember that every
text I have ever learned in Sanskrit, I felt the very same way about
at the beginning..."I'll never learn this! It's too hard! It's too
long!' etc. etc. The great thing about the sankalpa is that it
overrides all of those doubts and the great thing about doing this
as part of a group is that we can all help each other stay focused.
I've been wanting to learn the Chandi Path for a long time.....this
is it!
best,
sadhvi