We regard a wife, daughter, mother or sister as sacred too.

[Guest guest]

, " jagbir singh "

<adishakti_org wrote:

>

> The theme of blaming women for men's lust

>

> Except for religious fanatics, most humans do not view " women being

> seen as dirty and impure and a temptation for men " . The worst of

> the religious fanatics are those who slice off their clitorises so

> that not only will these women in future not tempt them, but also

> not tempt husbands in coitus with moans of their own pleasure.

> These religious men want to feel all the power and pleasure of

> penetrating dominated women at will, and thus take inhuman steps to

> deny them the same. After all, their women were originally created

> from a man's rib. How much respect do you think those indoctrinated

> with this belief have for women?...

>

> We all revere the Divine Feminine and regard a wife, daughter,

> mother or sister as sacred too. The patriarchal religious fanatics

> will too if they realize the Divine Feminine (Shekinah/Holy Spirit/

> Ruh/) within .......... or want to take part in the Last Judgment

> and Al-Qiyamah. So do you see Her triumphing and leaving them no

> choice? Why do you think some Muslim nations have begun blocking

> the http://al-qiyamah.org/ site? Maybe you do not have the power to

> force change but She definitely has.

>

 

The Indian Religion of the Goddess Shakti

 

The third unique quality of the Shakti-worship is the active

participation of women in the ceremonies. Ordinarily women are always

kept apart in India. Everyone has heard of the Purdah system, which

holds in some parts of India the women-folk life-long in their

houses. But the Shakta treats them as altogether equal; even more.

She, his Wife, is regarded by him as his Shakti Goddess; She,

the mother of his children, represents to him the Great Mother. Such

an attitude is naturally reflected in the daily life of Shakti Hindu

families, where the mother--quite contrary to Miss Mayo's statements

in " Mother India " --is much venerated. There is the so-called

Panchatattva Ritual--the most important ritual of Sakthism, which is

still nowadays performed in Bengal. The name " Panchatattva " is

derived from the words " Pancha " , five, and " Tattva " , elements.

The five elements of this ritual are Wine, Meat, Fish, Parched Corn

and Sexual Union. Men and women meet as equal partners. They sit

together--the man beside the women--in a circle, called Chakra.

Following elaborate rites, they offer to the Goddess wine, meat, fish

and corn. After that they take their meal, which consists these four

elements; the idea being that they unite themselves with Shakti in

these products and fruits. The highest presentment of the Goddess for

the Shakta is the women who is sitting by his side. By uniting with

her--according to the Maithuna rites--he experiences the bliss of the

great union of Shiva and Shakti. Pro-creation is the individual

counterpart of Cosmic Creation. It must be understood that the

purpose of the physical union of the Shakta with his Shakti in this

ritual is not satisfaction of his physical senses but the spiritual

realisation of the highest union of the individual with the

Goddess, the Cosmic-Whole. It may be mentioned that, as far as I have

heard, during the ceremonies in Bengal the last mentioned Maithuna

rites are not actually performed but are only indicated, as for

example by bowing to the woman sitting at his side in the Chakra.

Nothing is wrong or forbidden according to Sakthism, if it is done

with a pure heart and spiritual feeling.

 

Certainly it is possible that, weak as man's nature is, abuses of

this special rite have taken place--and it would be wrong to deny

that they are in fact happening. But my intention here is to show its

spiritual meaning and intention; which, in my opinion, cannot be

affected by abuse in its interpretation; and the principle of the

rite is sound, grand and spiritual.

 

Here Devi is shown as Sarvambikesha or the Complete Goddess. This

title is made up of three Sanskrit terms -- sarva (complete), ambika

(mother), isha (god); thus identifying Her as the Complete Deity from

whom both Feminine and Masculine forms of divinity arise.

 

All the rites of Sakthism, of which I have here mentioned only one,

tend in such a direction as to awaken within him the spiritual and

aesthetically productive forces of man. As soon as these usually

slumbering forces are awakened, the Shakta knows and feels himself as

being born again within the spiritual world. The Shakta says, " As I

am born in my physical body from my mother, so I must be spiritually

born again from my spiritual mother, the Goddess Shakti. " By the

grace of Shakti the Shakta himself becomes Brahma. As a matter of

fact, every spiritual man strives for the attainment of such a state,

of being reborn in the spiritual sense. Only the expressions are

different and the means and ways vary. In Sakthism it is striking to

notice with what absoluteness and how independently of all other

systems of religion the physical appearance and the highest spiritual

realisation are combined together. If Shakti is everywhere, then she

is, too, in the bodily appearance of the women and there, however

veiled, in her fullest essence. So he makes use of her for the

greatest spiritual aim of man, namely to be reborn by the grace of

Shakti.

 

Now I have said that this aim of being reborn within the spiritual

motherhood is known to almost every religion, and, although Buddhism

in its fundamental basis at first seems to be utterly different from

Sakthism, yet Northern Buddhism knows well what is meant by Shakti.

Mahayana Buddhism, as it is prevalent in Tibet, by which country

Sakthism too has been much influenced, has introduced into its system

during its development the Goddess Tara. She represents what Shakti

is for Sakthism. She is the embodiment of all that within the

spiritual realisation is distinctly female; and it is a very secret

saying in esoteric Northern Buddhism that man, by being reborn from

Tara, will become a Buddha, that is, will attain the highest

spiritual state of life to which man is destined and for which he is

striving. Within esoteric Christianity there is the picture of Jesus

Christ lying in the stable-manger as the new-born child before

the immaculate Virgin Mary. It is intended to portray not only the

story of the historical birth of Jesus, but at the same time a

representation of the idea that we all have to be reborn as such a

Christ-child of the Virgin Mary, the Shakti of Christianity.

 

You see, there can be discovered, within so widely differing

religious systems as Sakthism, Northern Buddhism and Christianity,

the same important idea as that of being reborn by the grace of

Shakti as Brahma, of being reborn by Tara as a Buddha, and of being

reborn by Madonna as a Christian. As a matter of fact, the female

spiritual element as it is venerated by Sakthism, being a living

truth, can to a certain extent become a combining factor to embrace

the great cultural outlook both of the East and the West. Humanity is

one over all the earth, and Womanhood is its essential part. In

Sakthism the idea of the spiritual creative force of Womanhood finds

its most absolute and exclusive expression. For this reason this

system is so interesting and striking for anyone who takes the

trouble to go more deeply into it. Shakti, as she is pleased to

reveal herself today, is present, too, within the depths of European

culture. It would take me too far a field to prove it by further

details. I would only mention that Goethe concludes his great

poem, " Faust " , with the words: " The eternal female is raising us " .

Certainly, Goethe had no knowledge of the system of Sakthism and of

those texts, which we are now privileged to study. But by his poetical

inspiration he touched by himself the truth, which we find so clearly

expressed in the system of Sakthism. If one would try to express the

deepest meaning which Sakthism may have for us in our days, it cannot

be done better than by those words which the mystical chorus sings at

the end of this great poem: Das Ewig Weibliche zieht uns hinan. " The

eternal female is raising us " .

 

" The eternal female is raising us. " - Goethe

 

http://www.iloveulove.com/spirituality/hindu/indianshakti.htm