Book review (E.A.Payne, The Saktas)

[Guest guest]

Namaste.

 

I was interested to learn from Nora's posting about the publication of

Payne's book by Dover.

 

However, the review that was posted does not tell the whole story about

what sort of book it is.

 

The first thing to be noted is that this is not a new book. Dover

Publications specializes in reprinting old titles, and Payne's book is no

exception -- it was first published back in 1933.

 

As the review below says, there has been 'much condemnation and abuse' of

the shakta tradition. What the review doesn't say is that Payne himself

adds to the condemnation. He writes from a point of view that is not only

external to the shakta tradition, but hostile to the tradition.

 

Payne does make a serious attempt to study the character and history of

shakta religion. But he does so as a Christian who wants to better

understand the competition.

 

Payne's opinions and studies lead him to some strange conclusions.

 

For instance, he regards ritualism as one of the three defining qualities

of shakta religion, yet he also observes that some of Ramprasad's bhakti

songs speak of a need to go beyond ritual worship.

 

So Payne concludes that Ramprasad is (I'm quoting from memory) 'a

non-shakta voice within shaktism'.

 

I'm not trying to dissuade anyone from reading the book. Obviously I've

done so myself! My concern is simply that if you're thinking of buying a

copy, I want you to have some idea what sort of book you'll be paying for.

 

Blessings to all,

Colin

>Tittle : The Saktas : An introductory and Comparative Study

>Author : Ernest A. Payne

>Publisher : Dover Publication, Inc, Mineola, N.Y

>ISBN : 0-486-29866-3

>Many elements in the Indian religion have been neglected, or

>adversely criticized, simply because they have been distasteful to

>Westerm students and Saktism is one of the phases on Indian religion

>which has received much condemnation and abuse, it is also one of the

>phases which has been little studied especially its philosophical

>side. Yet throughout India, and particularly in Bengal, there are

>hundreds of thousands of Saktas, and they are the product of the most

>important and widespread movements with Hinduism, a movement however

>dark some of its expression may be , has produced some remarkable

>type of genuine piety, and a considerable literature.

>There are three chief characteristic of Saktism namely :

>1) Diety as Destroyer

>2) Its conception of God as Mother

>3) Its attention to ceremonial

[Guest guest]

hi colin, very interesting observations.

 

yes, book reviews are helpful to some extent - i always read the back

of the cover page to see what others have to say about a particular

book. beleieve me, many times i have purchased so called 'best

sellers' and have been sorely disappointed afrter buying them and

reading them... most times, book reviews are not 'objective' - they

always reflect the 'prejudices' and 'opinions' or biases of the

reviwer. would you not agree?

 

of late, what i do is i go to 'barnes and noble' and browse through

the books over a cup of coffee (caramel macchiato)and if a book has

too many pictures ( i must confess the artist in me loves to look at

them) and too little literary description, i avoid buying them!!!

 

your comments on 'ritualism' in shaktism... it is generally belived,

when a spiritual aspirant statrs on his journey, he normally takes

the first step of ritualistic worship - offering prayers to the

goddess (or god). performing worship in a sytematic way by offering

flowers, water, incnse, light, naivedyam (food offering) etc... ,

observing all the purificatory rites, performing mantra sadhana ,

observing penances etc..... etc.... this type of spiritual discipline

is very neccessary in the beginning stages of a devotee's spiritual

plgrimage.... this is the stage of 'apara' bhakti ... but for bhakti

to mature into 'jnana' or the 'para' stage ( the higher stage),

ritualitic worship has to be supplemented with deep meditation

or 'inqury' .... our beloved shri ramakrishna , who was the

designated priest at the dakshineshwer temple, performed all the

rituals dilligently but there came a time in his liife that he

abandoned all rituals ansd was lost in 'samadhi' -deep

contemplation... when Rani Rasmati, the owner of the temple was

informed of this she brushed this complaint aside and said 'that is

the bhava of a god(ess ) intoxicated person- unmuktha bhava."

 

so , for kali bhaktas like ramprasad , rituals became unnecessary

only after they had attained the higher stage of realization but

beginners on the path, all forms of spiritual discipline are

necessary before 'bhakti' blossoms into 'jnana.' - mantra sadhana,

tantra sadhana and yantra sadhna.... the whole nine yards!!!!!

 

so once you attain the stage of 'para bhakti. all rituals and

pilgrimages and book knowledge are thrown to the winds...

 

enjoy this poem...

 

TRISANDHYAA JE BOLE KAALII,

PUUJAA SANDHYAA SE KI CHAAY//

 

 

SANDHYAA TAAR SANDHAANE PHIRE,

KABHU SANDHI NAAHI PAAY//

 

 

GAYAA GANGA PRABHAASAADI,

KAASHII KANCHII KEBAA CHAAY//

 

 

KAALII KAALII BOLE AAMAAR,

AJAPAA JODI PHURAAY//

 

 

Whoever calls upon the name of Kali at the threee times of prayer,

has no need of Pujas or sandhya meditation exercises.

 

 

Who is searching (or waiting ) for Sandhya to come before praying,

never will attain to union.

 

 

Then no one will desire the lustre of Gayaa, the Ganges, Benaris or

Kanchipuram (which appear dull by comparison).

 

 

I am calling Kali Kali, which is my continuous natural repetition of

her mantra.

 

 

love and infinite love

 

NAMASKAR!

[Guest guest]

hi colin, you are 100% right regarding book reviews... they never

tell the whole story but they are at best 'way pointers' - many

times, reviews reflect the opinions, projections, prejudices or

biases of the reviewer- so many times. i would buy a book just

because it is on the best seller list or the author has won the

pulitzer prize or been awarded the nobel prize - only to find that

the book in question is not exactly all that 'great' or sometimes

there are books that not get high ratings but make very 'enjoyable'

reading...

 

 

you have made a very interesting observation regarding 'ritualistic'

worship in shaktism...

 

in the beginning stages of 'bhakti or devotion ,, rituals or

spiritual discipline is very important - this is true of all paths

regardless of shaktism, shaivism, etc.... this is because in the

lower stages of bhakthi, the spiritual aspirant needs all the 'help'

he can get to progress in the pursuit of the higher goal of self-

realization but as the aspirant progresses , for this 'apara' bhakti

to evolve into 'para' bhakti or 'para' jnana . we need to go beyong

mere ritualistic worship... so mantra, tantra, yantra all the

foundations on which this 'Jnana ' is built... BUT ONCE THE SPIRITUAL

ASPIRANT REACHES THE 'PARa' BHAKTI STAGE, , THEN RITUALS ETC are of

secondary importance...

 

as we all know shri ramakrishna was the head priest at the

dakshineshwer temple and his prescribed duties were to perform all

the worship to 'maa bhavatarini' - but as shri ramakrishna progressed

in his spiritual journey, he often wento into states of 'samadhi'

and 'spiritual ecstasy' and failed to perform his prescribed duties

of the head priest - when this was reported to 'rani rasmati' , the

onwer of the temple, she brished the complaint aside saying'leave

THAKR ALONE HE IS IN THE STATE OF UNMUKTHA BHAVA (GOD-INTOXICATION)!

 

IN CLOSING, HERE IS A HYMN TO CELEBRATE THIS SENTIMENT...

 

TRISANDHYAA JE BOLE KAALII,

PUUJAA SANDHYAA SE KI CHAAY//

 

 

SANDHYAA TAAR SANDHAANE PHIRE,

KABHU SANDHI NAAHI PAAY//

 

 

GAYAA GANGA PRABHAASAADI,

KAASHII KANCHII KEBAA CHAAY//

 

 

KAALII KAALII BOLE AAMAAR,

AJAPAA JODI PHURAAY//

 

 

Whoever calls upon the name of Kali at the threee times of prayer,

has no need of Pujas or sandhya meditation exercises.

 

 

Who is searching (or waiting ) for Sandhya to come before praying,

never will attain to union.

 

 

Then no one will desire the lustre of Gayaa, the Ganges, Benaris or

Kanchipuram (which appear dull by comparison).

 

 

I am calling Kali Kali, which is my continuous natural repetition of

her mantra.

 

that is the stage of a para-bhakta - no need for rituals,

pilgrimages, book-learning... because the goddess has taken permanent

residence in the temple of the heart!

 

jai gurudeva!

 

jai mahakali!