Shakti, the divine power or MAYA

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Another excerpt from one of my fave sites below. To read it right

from the start, please visit:

http://www.hinduism.co.za/newpage9.htm#Maya/%20Shakti

 

Om Shanti

Sy

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Excerpt

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The non-dualistic philosophy of Vedanta says that the acts of

creation, preservation and destruction, the universe itself and all

its living beings are the manifestations of Shakti, the divine power

or MAYA.

 

If we reason it out, we realise that all these are as illusory as a

dream. Brahman alone is the reality, and all else is unreal. Even

this very Shakti is unsubstantial, like a dream.

 

But though you reason all your life, unless you are established in

samadhi (deep meditation), you cannot go beyond the jurisdiction of

Shakti. Even when you say, "I am meditating" or "I am contemplating",

still you are moving in the realm of Shakti; within its power.

 

Brahman(Shiva) and Shakti are identical. It is like fire and its

power to burn. One cannot conceive of the sun's rays without the sun.

Thus one cannot think of Brahman without Shakti, or of Shakti without

Brahman. One cannot think of the Absolute without the relative, or of

the relative without the Absolute.

 

The primordial power (Adyashakti) is ever at play. She is creating,

preserving and destroying in play, as it were. This power is called

Kali. Kali is verily Brahman and Brahman is verily Kali. It is one

and the same reality. When we think of it as inactive, that is to

say, not engaged in the acts of creation, preservation and

destruction, then we call it Brahman. But when it engages in these

activities, then we call it Kali or Shakti. The reality is one and

the same; the difference is in name and form.

 

In the Vedas, the creation is likened to the spider and its web. The

spider brings the web out of itself and then remains in it. God is

the container of the universe and also what is contained in it. After

the creation the primal power (shakti) dwells in the universe itself.

She brings forth this phenomenal world and then pervades it.

 

Bondage and liberation are both of her making. By her maya, worldly

people become entangled in worldly maya, and again through her grace

they attain their liberation. She is called the saviour, and the

remover of the bondage that binds one to the world.

 

The sky appears blue at a distance; but look at it closely and you

will find that it has no colour. The water of the ocean looks blue at

a distance, but when you go near and take it in your hand, you find

that it is colourless. Men are deluded through her maya and have

become attached to the world.

 

Bondage and liberation are of the mind alone. It is all a question of

the mind. The mind will take the colour you dye it with. If you are

in bad company, then you will talk and think like your companions. On

the other hand, when you are in the company of devotees, you will

think and talk only of God.

 

If a person repeats the name of God, his or her body, mind and

everything become pure. Have faith in His name.

 

The bridging of the gulf between the Supreme Reality and our relative

world is provided by MAYA, the divine mother

 

The Upanishads describe the Absolute (the Supreme Reality) as being

beyond the grasp of our senses, mind and intellect; being extremely

subtle.

 

Gita, Ch.13, Verse 31.

"Being without beginning and devoid of any qualities (attributes),

the Supreme Self, imperishable, though dwelling in the body, neither

acts, nor is tainted".

 

The relative world of the senses and mind, the world we see and

experience, this world of multiplicity; how does this world originate

from the Supreme non-dual principle?

 

This bridging of the gulf betweent the Supreme Reality and our

relative world is provided by prakriti or maya or nature called

Adyashakti, the Divine Mother.(Absolute and relative, nitya and lila).

_______________________________

 

KALI, THE MOTHER OF TIME

 

As the Mahanirvana Tantra says: "To facilitate concentration of mind

and for the speedy fulfilment of aspirations, the glorious Kali, the

mother of TIME, who is really without form, is invested with forms

consistent with her attributes and activities".

 

Gita, Ch.11, Verse 32.

"I am the mighty world destroying Time,

now engaged in destroying the world".

 

Url: http://www.hinduism.co.za/newpage9.htm#Maya/%20Shakti