JayaMahaDevi

They may not be the same God, but they are ALL certainly from male-dominated oppressive power structures that emply monotheism as an agent of social control.

For those who say nothing material can lead to spiritual growth then all those who make japa should put down their beads, all that worship murthis should get rid of their idols, all people who meditate will no longer have a place to sit, no more aarti lamps, no more any instrument of worship, and just abandon the body while you are at it too since it's material and "not real". Those who claim that all is an illusion is entering into a self-contradiction. If all things material are not "real" then there is no way to even have the conversation on what reality is or not. And to say that anything material is somehow less than some supposed lofty state of transcendence negates life and existence in and of itself as though it is not as worthy as some place fathomed by the human mind, that if it even exists, is only known by most because they read about it or heard it somewhere. Patriarchal hegemonies and most male-dominated political and religious power structures have systematically and repeatedly stamped out, destroyed, assimilated, converted, and demonized tribal and clan based styles of living and that were often matriarchal, focused on female divinities and mother goddesses, and valued the Earth as a source of life, seeing all existence as a beautiful cyclic blissful place and respected the fertility and the cycle of life. These cultures often used many substances provided by the Earth to connect with their deities, to solve conflicts, to recognize a coming of age, to commune with gods and more. Male dominated societies with male-dominated religions that had male gods as a monotheistic supreme being have introduced a body hating, earth hating, woman hating, intoxicant barring, and existence denying social state that has made all the conditions favorable for rampant decline in mental stability, destruction of the Earth, oppression, violence, dissent, and every social ill imaginable. The body and the Earth may have much more to reveal than can even be dreamed. To deny the body and the earth and call them materialistic and less than is to deny life itself.

You are wise. Yesterday I read more than half of the Tripura Rahasya and it confirmed many things I had found as "truth" in my own searching. I realize the practices are not available, but my Guru is a Samrat of Tantra, and I without a doubt know that he probably knows them. I would love to speak with you more. I will send ways to communicate with me online to you privately.

I don't believe it's lime the fruit but lime as slaked lime or calcium hydroxide. Slaked lime mixed with tumeric, water and heat creats the brilliant vermillion red kumkuma. Though there are some sources which say to add citric acid... But I don't know about mixing citric acid with calcium hydroxide because it reacts very violently to acids.

People who must be in sects, and seperate themselves with humanity always find fault in others whether it be a man, a woman, a god or Goddess if it does not fit the qualifications and standards of their sect. However people who transcend all that get the divine blessing as seeing all things as emanations of the supreme. And every path as valid. Not saying this is just Vaishnavas who do this, other sects do it as well. In fact there are not many people who are not guilty of trying to find fault in other paths, peoples, tribes, creeds, classes, castes, sects. Etc. But you know, if it was not meant to be in existence in the universe, it wouldn't be. Even the Asuras, who are said to be "demons" (but are just actually power seeking deities) have their place. They too are emanations of the divine! If you can see even a "demon" or whatever you want to call it as an emanation of the divine then you KNOW that God is taking you places.

Compared to the millions of animals killed and tortured everyday in western civilization for food every day, this is very light indeed. Listen sweet child of God, we are in the Kali Yuga. Surely you know this? There are unspeakable horrors everywhere you turn in the world today. Seek refuge in whatever form of God you believe in, and turn you rage inwards to your own personal shortcomings of God. Burn away all your own shortcomings so you can get liberation and not have to come back to this place!

Well unfortunatley when people decide to see themselves seperate through caste, creed, class, gender, sects, religions, nationalities, languages, lineages, etc. Then what you get is strife. People will quarrel over petty differences, when in reality we are all god's children. No matter who you are, who you worship, what color you are, what gender you are, etc. We are all the divine embodiment of souls... And if people realized the truth they would see their selves, and god in everyone and everything else. However, we don't live in the Golden age anymore ;-) </was>

I do not see anything as REALLY distinct. It is only distinct through the play of Maya. But when you see reality you will see all things in existence as one.

The water that everyone drinks is full of fish and other animals, including all manner of dead things before it reaches your lips. And even if you are drinking pure cow milk, are you not drinking her blood which has been changed through chemical processes? You should try cultivating purity of the mind. All of things in creating is pure, if you have evil and impurity of the mind then you will see certain people, items, activities and aspects of creation as evil. When you have purity of the mind you transcend all that. Then you see all things are there for a reason, that all people exist for a reason, every event happens for a reason, etc. Just a thought.

Hi, My local temple holds a Rahu Kala Puja to Goddess Shakti every Sunday. I have a basic idea of what it is, and what it does, but I wanted to know more about it. What is involved, what I should wear, what I should expect, things I should and should not do. I do not go to many temples or do many pujas with others, call me a hermit... But that is just my nature. But I have been drawn to go and perform this Puja. So can someone please educate me on this Puja some more? Thanks!

With all the people here on this board, it is a shame only 25 people have signed the petition for Maa Ganga. When I hear that people defile her body with garbage, sewage, chemicals and other vile things it brings tears to my eyes. Would anyone go into a temple or to a shrine and put these foul things on any murthy of God/dess? No I don't think so! I think it is just as equally wrong to put foul things into the body of Maa Ganga. She has a living presence here on Earth and humans who know full well that she is sacred has polluted her presence and ruined it for future generations. Even though I know that this is a product of Kali Yuga, it is still a shame, and it still makes me cry. Our Earth is a sacred nurturing mother, and look how we have fouled her? Look at how we dump chemicals into her veins, and throw garbage on her body. Would anyone do this to their own home or mother? No! Then why do this to our Earth Maa and Maa Ganga? Shame on anyone who does these things.

Let us look at the image of Hari Hara...

God may have many forms such as Maa, Shiva, Krishna, Vishnu, etc. But ALL forms are emanations of one divine soul... So why should we see ANYTHING as seperate. The divine soul in fact has no name, gender, forms until it manifests through Shakti. So why argue about this god being seperate from that god, and that this path is higher than that path. That is all futile arguments. All have god as a divine spark within them, and through that personal spark they can go back to the source. Shiva is God's destructive personality as Vishnu is the personality the preserves... But in the end, they are all indeed one in the same. Seeing everything as seperate will also keep YOU seperate from God, and it is also the reason why people must see themselves as distinct from each other through paths, creeds, classes, castes, genders, etc. Yes we all have minor differences but we are all gods children. And all emanations of God are infact all connected to one divine source. I choose to worship that as Maha Devi Mata, but does that make me any different from someone who worships Shiva or someone who worships Krishna? Only by the name we are calling out in our prayers in the images we choose to see as the form of our beloved.

Why are you posting this hundreds of times? It is not necessary and it is annoying. Moderators?

Oh and about the nakedness thing, I think it also has this esoteric meaning: Before Maa removes Maya for you to show you the truth (i.e. the outer garments) you *must* become her child. She will not show the truth to those who do not sit in her lap like an innocent child and depend on her and call her as Maa for all that they need. Only when you have become innocent like a child and treat the Mahadevi as Mata, then and only then can she reveal all the secrets and splendor of the universe!