Return of the Mother

[Guest guest]

Andrew Harvey, in his book "Return of the Mother," discusses the

Divine Feminine as it exists in Ramakrishna, Aurobindo, Sufism

(especially Rumi), Buddha, Mahayana Buddhism, Taoism, Mary, and

Christ. At the end of the book he gives 10 Suggestions from the

Mother(Goddess).

 

1. I am the Mother(Goddess). I am both transcendent and immanent,

source of all that streams from it. I am one with all things in

creation and one in boundless light within and beyond it. Adore me.

 

2. Adore every being and thing, from the whale to the ladybird, as

life of my life. I am appearing in everything as everything.

 

3. Honor yourself humbly as my divine child, and see, know, and

celebrate all other beings as my divine children. Whatever you do to

or for anyone, you do to or for me.

 

4. See through constant practice of adoration that nature is the

sacred body of my sacred light, and do everything at all times to

horror its laws that are my laws and to protect it from destruction.

I and you and nature are one love, one glory; protecting nature is

protecting yourselves.

 

5. Dissolve forever all schisms and separations between sects and

religions. Whatever you adore is a face of me, and everyone is on

his or her own unique path. Know that there are as many paths as

there are people.

 

6. Dissolve forever through repeated holy inner experience of my

unity all barriers between what has been called "sacred" and what has

been called "profane". Know the whole of life as my feast. Realize

ordinary life as unbroken flow of normal miracle.

 

7. End all hatred of the body, all guilt and sexual shame, and

discover and celebrate my sacred Eros in all its ecstatic connections

and revelations. Preserve its purity and power, in my name, with

truth and fidelity and mutual honor.

 

8. Unlearn all the "religious" propaganda that rises to tell you that

you need intermediaries in your relationship with me. I can be

contacted by anyone, anywhere, at any time and in any circumstance,

simply by saying my name, however you can imagine it. No

intermediaries - no gurus, priests, "experts" - are every needed.

You and I are always, already, one.

 

9. Do not make of my worship another dogma, another mind-prison.

Remember always there is no "Mother" without the "Father",

no "Goddess" without "God". I do not want a new religion in my name;

I want the whole experience on the earth to become holy and

integrated in love. I want the return of harmony and sacred peace

and balance, the union of the sacred marriage at the greatest depth,

and in everyone, of "masculine" and "feminine", "earth" and "heaven",

body and soul, heart and intellect, prayer and action. Men are as

much my children as women; the wound of the loss of the Mother

(Goddess) is felt by women as well as men. Any separatist or

prejudiced or one-sided attempt to worship me worships only a

distorted image of me. Dare to know me in my full majesty and all-

encompassing humility, and know that there is never any end to the

journey into me and that the conditions for that journey are ever

deepening faith, radical trust, and radical humility.

 

10. If you trust and love me, put your trust and love into action in

every aspect of your life - emotional, sexual, spiritual, social,

political - with my passion, my clarity, my unsentimental

practicality. Know that my revelation is a revolution, a revolution

that demands calmly a transformation of all the terms and conditions

of life on earth. Establish justice for all in my world, in my name,

and in my spirit of all-embracing inexhaustible compassion. Let no

one be poor, or discriminated against; may all sentient beings

everywhere be cherished and safe and protected from harm by law and

by love. Turn to me now and I will fill you with all the grace,

strength, courage, and passion you need to transform the world at

every level into a living mirror of my truth, my love, and my

justice. If you truly love me, change everything for me.

 

Randy