What does it mean to choose the Shakta path? (was Shaktism..)

[Guest guest]

colin, one more time! thanks for some heartwarming thoughts...

 

i enjoyed your statement the real importannce is not whether shakti

is that, highest or not, she connects the heights and depths ! that

is describing the 'motherhood of god' in the best possible terms...

 

colin, you have summed up in one sentence the core of svetashvatara

upanishads.. (the upanishads followed by sree vidya upasakas)

 

please read on....

 

The qualities of Shakti (Divine Power)

 

The Svetashvatara Upanishad describes the qualities of the manifest

creation inhabited by the divine power of God (devatma-shakti).

Unlike the Prakriti of the Samkhya school, the Shakti that is

described here is not independent of Brahman but an aspect of Him.

The Upanishad describes the qualities of the manifested creation in

the following manner (I.4):

 

" We know Him with one hub, three divisions, sixteen ends, sixteen

supports (spokes), six sets of eight each, whose one noose has

innumerable forms, whose paths are distinguished as three and whose

delusion arises out of two causes."

 

 

 

The symbolism is explained below:

 

One hub: The One Creative Principle, called Iswara

 

Three Divisions: The three qualities namely sattva, rajas and tamas

(Vishnu, Brahma and Mahesa)

 

Sixteen Ends: The five gross elements ( mahabhutas), the five sense

organs (jnanedriyas), the five organs of action (karmendriyas) and

the mind (manas).

 

Fifty supports: They are the five viparyayas (ignorance, infatuation,

love, anger and fear), the 28 weaknesses , nine opposites of

happiness (tushti) and eight opposites of perfections ( siddhis).

 

Twenty counter supports: They are the five sense organs, five organs

of action and their objects.

 

Six sets of eight each: They are 1. Prakriti with its eight

principles of gross elements, mind, buddhi and ego-sense, 2. eight

types of minerals (dhatus) found in the body, 3. eight types of

wealth or abundance (aisvarya), 4. eight types of feelings or mental

states (bhava), 5. the eight types of gods (devas), and 6. eight

qualities of the self (atma guna).

 

The one noose with innumerable forms: It is the desire or kama which

manifests itself in many forms and holds the beings in bondage.

 

The three paths: These are the three paths to salvation namely, the

path of knowledge (gnanamarg) , the path of devotion (bhaktimarg) and

the path of action (karmamarg).

 

The two causes of delusion: They are the good actions and bad actions

performed with desire which lead to delusion only.

 

The subsequent verse speaks of Brahman as a river of five streams

flowing from five terrifying and crooked sources, whose vital breaths

are five, who is at the root of the five perceptions, five whirl

pools, five pains that are divided into five branches of fifty each.

The five streams are perceptions flowing from the five sensory

organs, the five vital breaths are the five types of prana that flows

in the body, the five whirlpools are the five types of mental

afflictions caused due to ignorance, desire etc."

 

courtesy v, jayaram's hindu website

 

yes, dear colin she is the partner of 'brahman' -both are

inseperable! "like fire and its power to burn" says our beloved shri

ramakrishna!!!

 

how can one ever describe'brahman' ? even the great yagnavalakya in

brihadaranyaka upanishads could not describe 'brahman' in words and

when his female disciple gargi kept on plodding the great guru for an

answer , even he lost patience and said 'stop, asking so many

annoying questions."

 

So, how can we all be so sure Brahman is he or she? does it matter?

is gender so important in describing this awareness of sat-chit-

ananda?

 

aonce a person realizes brahman, he/she becomes 'brahaman' - the

knower of brahman is brahman !!!!!

 

love and best wishes...

 

please keep on sharing some gems with us ... makes this group a place

of joy and ecstasy!!!!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

> in the passage I recently quoted from the Uma Samhita of the Shiva

Purana.

>

> There are also statements that focus praiseful attention on Shakti,

while

> describing her as the partner of the Brahman. I'm thinking for

instance of

> the Saundaryalahari (Ocean of Beauty) in which she is called

> "Parabrahma-mahishi".

>

> There are, after all, many ways of naming and picturing the

supreme, the

> highest. I suggest to you that real importance of Shakti is that,

highest

> or not, she connects the heights and the depths.

>

> A passage from the Pandit Shiva Candra, an associate of Sir John

Woodroffe:

>

> "In water, on land, and in space the Mother dances before the eyes

of the

> Sadhaka, to whom the world thus appears true. When the world become

full of

> the Mother, then all the gunas cease to be enemies. Nothing is then

a

> stain. It is no longer necessary to regard the world as stained,

and to

> look upon another as stainless." (Woodroffe (ed); _Principles of

Tantra_,

> Ganesh, Madras, 1986, Vol 1 page 178)

>

> A Tantric view? Yes, but also a Puranic one, for the very words

Shakti,

> Mahamaya and Prakriti -- all found in the Puranas -- speak of the

> continuity between the Brahman and the Samsara, the eternal and the

> transient, the Spirit and the flesh.

>

> Other religions and cultures of worship acknowledge this continuity

in

> various ways, yet it seems to me that the shakta vision declares it

with

> particular clarity and power.

>

> >You note that you have been pursuing these same issues for years,

and

> >I can only thank you once again for choosing to honor this Group

with

> >your findings.

>

> I'm very pleased to have found this Group. I hope that the findings

in this

> message are of interest.

>

> Om shantih,

>

> Colin.