MOTHER knows best!

[Guest guest]

Thanks for sharing that, Adi. With the threat of

nuclear mayhem stalking the Earth once again, it was a

comfort to read these wise words. Just as we must

surrender to in our personal affairs, we must leave

the fate of the world to Her wisdom as well. We do

what we can, and leave the rest to Her.

 

Aum Maatangyai Namahe

 

--- adi_shakthi16 <adi_shakthi16 wrote:

> "You know I am a fool. I know nothing.

> Then who is it that says all these things?

> I say to the Divine Mother:

> 'O Mother, I am the machine and Thou art the

> Operator.

> I am the house and Thou art the indweller.

> I am the chariot and Thou art the Charioteer.

> I do as Thou makest me do. I speak as Thou makest me

> speak;

> I move as Thou makest me move. It is not I !

> It is all Thou ! It is all Thou !'

> Hers is the glory; we are only Her instruments."

>

>

> so, please do not worry! nothing moves except by the

> divine will!

> Mother is in charge; not vajpai not mussharaf!

>

> faith is like 'mustard' seed it moves mountains! not

> nukes!

>

> love

>

>

>

>

 

 

=====

Who Is Devi?

 

"I am Manifest Divinity, Unmanifest Divinity, and Transcendent Divinity. I am

Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva, as well as Saraswati, Lakshmi and Parvati. I am the

Sun and I am the Stars, and I am also the Moon. I am all animals and birds, and

I am the outcaste as well, and the thief. I am the low person of dreadful deeds,

and the great person of excellent deeds. I am Female, I am Male, and I am

Neuter."

 

(From the Devi Bhagavata Purana)

 

 

 

- Official partner of 2002 FIFA World Cup

http://fifaworldcup.

[Guest guest]

I agree entirely with these sentiments, we do what we can then leave

it alone.

 

I like this quote:

"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can

change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has."

Margaret Mead

 

It seems to me that faith allows us to us to prepare ourselves with

the practices to which we have been called so that when action is

needed it can be directed more clearly and more effectively.

 

It is my understanding that when we are properly attuned then both

action and inaction become more appropriately directed, both are acts

of faith.

 

My vows require that I do take action when warranted, I am not

constrained to merely observe nor to hold myself above the

interactions of the world. But in order that my actions, or

inactions, carry a spiritual quality, are timely according to the

will of the Divine, I must maintain my spiritual practice, long

before it is needed.

 

What I like about what I have been reading, is the idea that things

of the world, Maya, are not apart from the spiritual experience, that

this is produced by the Mother and it is proper for us to fully

experience that.

 

In this case we are faced with the possibility of mass destruction.

If that occurs, my religion says that the Goddess can work with that

to good end. If that does not occur, the Goddess can work with that

situation also, but none of it is predetermined.

 

A while back I asked about rituals or prayers for peace. I feel that

this is important. The concept of peace is rich ground for spiritual

inquiry and practice. If a people is unjustly enslaved and a bloody

revolution would free them, is it more spiritual to support the

revolution or to oppose bloodshed and support the status quo? Is it

more spiritual to seek the third way? What if there is no time for

lengthy considerations or the privilege of meditations and scholarly

discussion?

 

What does this day bring?

 

I am constantly reminded that it does no good to pray for peace in

the Kashmir, but cut people off in traffic right here in my own city.

Also it is short sighted to only benefit those immediately in my

environment, and have no care for those who suffer unseen to me.

 

What does this day bring?

 

On my path, there are no simplistic answers. I must consider this

moment, and balance that with the future. Sometimes my own choices

mystify me until much later. She works magic in my life if I let Her.

 

Yesterday I heard a radio announcer make a joke about the Indian-

Pakistani conflict that reinforced U.S. stereotypes about people

living here of middle eastern and indian descent. I called the radio

station to let them know that I felt that was insensitive, especially

at this time. Did it do any good? I don't know.

 

I also put more stones in my garden surrounding my newly made

labrynth and I walked it again, and again. Does it do any good? I

don't know.

 

Perhaps it does.

 

Over the last year I've made an extra effort to smile and wave at my

neighbors every day even though I have painful self conciousness and

am really afraid of strangers. Now they wave back.

 

This morning one of my neighbors was arrested for threatening another

of my neighbors with a gun.

 

I'll still wave. I don't think that it can hurt. It's just

challenging.

 

I don't know what will make a difference. I can only hope to be

guided. I can only be guided if I try and maintain a channel of

communication to the Divine. I'm not always right about the channel.

I'm not always right about the Divine. Everything changes.

 

What does this day bring?

 

It brought me you.

 

prainbow

 

, Devi bhakta <devi_bhakta> wrote:

>We do

> what we can, and leave the rest to Her.

>

> Aum Maatangyai Namahe

 

 

> > Hers is the glory; we are only Her instruments."

> >

> >

> > so, please do not worry! nothing moves except by the

> > divine will!

> > Mother is in charge; not vajpai not mussharaf!

> >

> > faith is like 'mustard' seed it moves mountains! not

> > nukes!

> >

> > love

[Guest guest]

Thanks prainbow:

 

I really enjoyed reading your beautiful reflections on this most

relevant and timely of topics.

 

It seems like Shaktism to me -- the most practical of Sadhanas, in

that there is no "disconnect" between the realm of the spirit and the

realm of the world. You really can't be an ascetic, distancing

yourself from the world and its tragedies and triumphs, and

thinking, "It does not matter; it is all an illusion."

 

When people think on Shaktism or Tantra, they often get caught up in

the formal ritual of it -- especially, in the case of some observers,

the more lurid and sensational aspects of that ritual, rather than

the more common, everyday approaches.

 

But Sadhana goes beyond formal ritual and into the world. When we say

that "Everything is Shakti," it is not just important-

sounding "spiritual" discussion. It implies the need to go out there

and *live* your faith, to actively transform your perception of the

world (and therefore the way you move in and interact with it), so

that every movement really *is* an act of worship, every word *is*

Her mantra. What a worthwhile enterprise!

 

Nora, who is a registered nurse as you probably know, once commented

to me that "nursing is itself tantra." And it is, if the nurse

perceives her work correctly. It is taking the THEORY that we may

read about or hear about or discuss in Groups like this one -- and

actually putting it into PRACTICE. When people equate Tantra with

sex, it is like equating marriage with sex, or life itself with sex.

Sure, it's an important, even essential part of the picture. But even

the most sexually active people on earth are doing something else

better than 90 percent of the time. So if you call yourself a

Tantric, but only equate Tantrism with sex -- well, you're no better

than, say, the Christian makes a show of attending church on Sundays,

but forgets about their "religion" the rest of the week.

 

Shaktism is eminently practical. Because Devi is Herself perceived as

both life and the process of living, Her faith deals with the

practical aspects of life and living -- which is, frankly, more than

most people really want from their religion. For most people religion

is a shelter from the world, and a way to escape from it. Devi can be

scary for them, because She represents life beyond mere theory.

 

In discussing nursing as sadhana or Tantra, Nora added, "I couldn't

accept the idea of meditation in the pooja room, while I could hear

voicees crying in pain or calling for help. The whole thing made no

sense, because the real sadhana is out there in the real world."

 

That also provides a "practical" answer to those who would say that

Shaktism fails to recognize Shiva, or that it is a mere "feminist

cult." In fact, Shakti could never deny Shiva because each needs the

other; each assumes its opposite; and it is through Shiva that Shakti

creates life. Shakti is energy, power, action, movement -- and all of

these concepts require for their definition a static, non-moving

matrix upon and against which ins motion acts. If you're at all

familiar with electrical theory you might call it the static ground.

Or more colloquially, the blank screen upon which the action of a

film unfolds.

 

Shiva is by nature the Divine Ascetic. He does not desire the world.

However, Shakti is able to excite (and become) that desire -- and

there is the origin of what we consider Creation. Devi is the force

that moves Shiva out of his renunciate's retreat and into the

famed "Shiva Family" in which he is popularly depicted in Hindu

religious art. It is Devi who enables Shiva -- simply That Which Is --

to take on the role of "That Which Becomes."

 

The obvious depth of love for life, and the concern for actly rightly

within the context of Life is -- in many ways -- a practical

distillation of the Shakta's way.

 

Aum Maatangyai Namahe