Eternal Wisdom Abides

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In a concluding essay to the MOTHER OF THE UNIVERSE volume of

Ramprasad's ecstatic poetry:

 

"Such a vision of Divine Reality eludes definition, and the fact that

Kali is widely worshiped in India, particularly in West Bengal, may

bewilder non-Hindus and some Hindus as well. Perhaps the harsh

realities of famine, homelessness, disease, death, and natural

disasters such as droughts, floods, earthquakes, and tidal waves have

forged a deep realism about life's suffering in the inherently

mystical and poetic people of Bengal. Hence, merely a serene

depiction of Ultimate Reality would not be congruent with their

profound experiences of life. Mother Kali is worshiped by her

devotees as the Source of All, the creatrix and destroyer of limited

existence as we know it. She is dark in color because God is the

supreme mystery, defying all human definitions. She is represented as

naked to indicate that human notions of ornament, propriety, and

artifice do not apply to the Divine. Instead of ascribing the shadow

side of life to Satan and only sweetness and radiance to God, Hindus

see in Kali the paradox of life itself -- pleasure and pain, creation

and destruction, life and death. Kali is benign, beautiful, _and_

terrifying, as is her creation, which Hindus call the _lila_ or

cosmic drama of the Great Goddess. Her sword cuts the bonds of

delusion, such as lust, anger, greed, pride, and possessiveness. The

severed head in one of her hands and her waistband of human hands

symbolize the death of narcissism and the surrender of the fruits of

our actions, sweet and bitter, to the ultimate souce, who is

God/Goddess.

 

"Sri Ramakrishna (1836 - 1886) taught that Kali is imaged as dark

because humans distance Divine Reality from their consciousness

through fear and ignorance. He pointed out that the ocean also looks

black or blue-black from a distance. But when we approach the ocean

and scoop up a handful of water, it is experienced as clear and

colorless. Similarly, when one approaches Kali very intimately, one

encounters radiance, clarity, and God's unconditional love for us

all."

 

~~pp. 208-209, "Some Reflections On Ramprasad" by Shuma Chakravarty

 

^^^^^^^

 

~~from "Who can keep a blazing fire tied in a cotton cloth?"

 

Proliferating systems of ritual and philosophy

attempt to throw dust into the eyes

of the eternal wisdom that abides in every soul.

How can any system transcend the play of relativity?

But when relative existence is revealed

as the country fair of Mother's sheer delight,

there are no teachers and nothing to teach,

no students and nothing to learn.

The actors and their lines are simply expressions

of the Wisdom Goddess

who directs this entire drama.

Be confident that you will soon awaken fully

as the essence of her reality!

 

The courageous lover tastes the bliss of the Beloved

and enters the secret city of the Goddess,

passing beyond the threshold of ecstasy

into the open expanse of enlightenment.

 

Astonished by this sudden journey,

Mother's poet now sings madly:

"My delusion is gone, gone, utterly gone!

Who can obscure truth?

Who can keep a blazing fire tied in a cotton cloth?"

 

~~Ramprasad, p. 86-7, translated by Lex Hixon,

"MOTHER OF THE UNIVERSE: Visions of the Goddess and Tantric Hymns of

Enlightenment"

 

^^^^^^^

 

Rooted deeply into you, Beloved,

you nurture the flowering of our souls.

 

Your Light warms us, grows us,

energizes us, transforms us.

 

In the full-flowering,

our heartpetals are cast

into the wind of Your very Breath,

breathing around & thru us,

holily, all-caressingly.

 

O Love, *whose* is this seeding

-- from the flower of our being,

Yours or ours?

 

Whose is this bleeding

-- of the very sap

that juices our living?

 

Yet, in our dying-into-You,

You emancipate us, most completely.

 

~~wynn manners

 

*

 

Link to "Isis Encountering" by Eric J. Ashford

 

~~on-line only a few days

 

~~a visionary experiencing of Sophia as the Goddess Isis

 

http://cosmicwind.net/800/Cmwl/ExperiencingSophia/IsisEncountering.html

 

*

 

That link URL is so long it will put the concluding l of .html on the

next line. You have to make sure the entire .html is in your Address

URL window for the connection to work.