Attention Women Devotees of Goddess! ( A repost )

[Guest guest]

devi_bhakta

 

In discussing the right way to approach the Goddess in worship, we've

run into two extremes -- both of them Male-centric:

 

(1) Men who say She should only be approached as Mother,

essentially sexless and with no thoughts "smacking of eroticism"; and

 

(2) men who say it's okay to approach Her as mystical lover, i.e.

via Hinduism's Madhurya Bhava. But again, I stress: These are MEN

talking about spiritual rules and practices which were largely

designed to accomodate the needs, thought patterns -- and, yes, hang-

ups -- of MEN.

 

But doesn't a completely different calculus come into play when a

WOMAN wishes to select *her* devotional approach to the Goddess?

Let's look again at the different bhavas (modes of devotion) I

discussed in my last post.

 

They are:

(1) Shanta - peaceful contemplater of God/dess;

(2) Dasya - servant of God/dess (like Hanuman to Rama);

(3) Sakhya - friend of God/dess (like Arjuna to Krishna);

(4) Child of God/dess ("to approach the lotus feet of the divine

mother as a child yearning and crying for one's mother," );

(5) Vatsalya - parent of God/dess (like Yashoda to Krishna, or

Ramakrishna to Kali); and

(6) (6) Madhurya - lover of God/dess (like Radha to Krishna, or

Shakti to Shiva).

 

Now, Hinduism says that a man (or woman) can take any one of these

devotional approaches to a male God -- say Rama, Krishna or Shiva.

But when it comes to the Goddess, only the Bhava of Mother (or

occasionally, child) is possible.

 

So I'm guessing (especially in light of the South Asian socio-

cultural milieu in which these "rules" arose) that the gurus were

trying to avoid the sticky issue of sexuality. Think about it: A

mentally healthy male does not look at his mother or child with any

hint of sexual feeling. However, this would not necessarily be true

if he were to think of himself as the Goddess's slave, friend or --

obviously -- lover. And so, to keep men from thinking sexually about

the Goddess -- those bhavas became taboo. Make sense? So: While the

male members slug out what it all means for us, may I invite all of

our women members to address this essential question themselves?

Why should a woman be confined to a Mother bhava? You don't carry the

same set of sexual baggage as Her male devotees. So what would be

wrong with considering yourself to be Her friend, confidante,

servant, or -- sure -- lover? (Hey, men are allowed Madhurya Bhava

with male Gods). Please weigh in on this important issue! After all,

no religion in the world gives women the crucial centrality they are

accorded in Shakta and Tantra. That means your opinions here are not

only *as* important as those of your male counterparts; they're much

MORE important!

 

Aum Maatangyai Namahe

 

 

prainbow61

 

Thank you for your thoughtful posts. As a priestess of the Goddess I

relate to Her as Her seeker, Her student, Her champion, among others.

This is sometimes similar to the relationship between a knight and a

queen in medieval Europe.