Her superconscious child was sure beyond all doubts that Earth was breathing.

[Guest guest]

>

> " Let me put my foot on yours. I am Mother Earth. "

>

> MOTHER DIVINE

> By Suma Varughese

>

> A spiritual guru with a mass following in India and abroad, Mata

> Nirmala Devi's USP is her ability to give mass kundalini awakenings,

> even granted over cyber space, through Sahaja Yoga....

>

> Her drawing room is massive, with beautiful carved furniture and

> elaborate candelabra. The hall is ringed with a balcony, accessible

> through a carved staircase. Nirmala Devi is reputed to have designed

> the place herself. We are shown into a portico, overlooking a

> beautiful lawn. Mataji is sitting on a sofa. A few chairs have been

> laid for us, but the disciples accompanying me sink to the floor,

> hands folded in deep reverence. I do likewise. Later, as I try to

> rise, my legs feel rubbery. I wobble comically in my attempt to find

> my balance. Mataji, with deep concern, holds me and says: " Let me

> put my foot on yours. I am Mother Earth. "

>

> A great warmth fills my foot and sensation returns...

>

> Suma Varughese, MOTHER DIVINE

> http://www.lifepositive.com/Spirit/new-age-catalysts/nirmala-devi/nirmala.asp

>

 

>

> Jesus through Sikh eyes

>

> The Mother is an important figure in Sikh scripture, for the

> transcendent One is both father and mother, and Guru Nanak

> repeatedly points to the womb in which we are first lodged.

> Mother's body and joy, and the earth, our common matrix to which we

> all equally belong, are celebrated throughout the sacred scripture

> of the Sikhs.

>

> /message/8629

>

 

>

> Her superconscious child was sure beyond all doubts that Earth was

> breathing.

>

> The next evening Bhupinder gave Kash specific instructions and a

> mantra to be recited before going into meditation. As directed, Kash

> put his right palm on the ground and uttered this sacred mantra four

> times:

>

> " Om Twameva Sakshat Shri Ganesha Sakshat

> Shri Adi Shakti Mataji Shri Nirmala Devi Namoh Namah. "

>

> The dormant Kundalini energy inside his sacrum bone sprang into

> life, coursed through the central nervous system, and pierced his

> Sahasrara.

>

> At that very instant, for the first time ever, he felt the Mother

> Earth breathing. She was breathing very gently and every heave of

> Her breath felt on his palm, swelling slowly up, and then down

> again. She was a living organism just like all creatures who were

> nourished by Her.

>

> As he continued repeating the Mighty Mantra of Shri Ganesha the

> sacred Shri Bhumidevi (Mother Earth) continued inhaling and exhaling

> to reveal Her true nature. Her superconscious child was sure beyond

> all doubts that Earth was breathing. Mother Earth is alive — This

> Revealed Truth is Absolute.

>

> As he came through the celestial clouds and opened his spiritual

> eyes, the Great Adi Shakti was there to receive him. The sight of

> Her standing right in front astounded the young child. Who was this

> stunningly beautiful young Woman who had appeared out of nowhere in

> this Divine Paradise? Who was this extremely attractive Being, all

> enfolded in a dazzling red and white sari, who had come to greet

> him?

>

> http://adishakti.org/introduction/inner_seed_of_human_evolution.htm

>

 

>

> The vast and all-encompassing vision of Shri Mataji

>

> i have always believed that to do the impossible you have to see the

> invisible. After spending so many years with a single-minded purpose

> on so many topics i have begun to see the invisible. Other than Shri

> Mataji in my Sahasrara i am all alone with that vision and its yet

> unknown immensity to humanity. i hope others will one day enjoy the

> same view as, and of, the Devi.

>

> /message/8628

>

 

" Earth (Prthivi)

 

The Vedic attitude toward the earth springs from mankind's

primordial experience of being on the one hand a guest, and on the

other an offspring, of Earth. The earth is undoubtedly mother, is

close to Man, but at the same time she is also alien, other and

aloof. The earth is the foundation, the basis out of which emerges

all that exists and on which everything rests. The earth is the

basis of life and, when considered as a divine being, she always

occupies a special place among the Gods.

 

Man is of the earth and earthly, but the earth is not simply nature,

is not merely geographical or material; it is part of Man himself,

so that Man can no more live without the earth than he can live

without a body. At the same time, though he stands on the earth, he

also stands above her. Man is more than earth. The earth is the

mother of Man, but Man is also lord over the earth. Man could be

said to be like the eldest son of a widowed mother, in the

traditional Indian setting.

 

The tension between Man and earth is conspicuously present, but

there is no separation. Vedic Man would find any attempt at

dominating or subjugating the earth incomprehensible. The earth is

an object of worship and not of exploitation, an object of awe and

not of curiosity (or research, as would be said in academic

circles). Investigation of the earth is of the same nature as

personal introspection. To harm the earth is a masochistic vice. Man

is from the earth and part of the earth, yet he surmises more and

more that he is not only of the earth, not just an earthly thing.

 

Worship addressed to the earth is not adoration of a creature as an

absolute; that is, it is not idolatry. It is rather the veneration

of the highest value in the hierarchy of existence, for " undoubtedly

this earth is the firstborn of being. " The earth as such is rich and

the owner of treasures. Man's work is not to make a shift in

ownership, despoiling, as it were, the earth of her possessions and

transferring them to the toiler. Man's work is to enjoy the

blessings of the earth, because the earth is his home, his own

family, his body...

 

The famous Prayer to the Earth, (is) one of the most beautiful hymns

of the Veda. The earth is here called not prthivi but bhumi. This

hymn depicts the universal mother, dispenser of every sort of good.

It presents a striking cosmogonic and the anthropological sequence.

 

The origins of the earth come first. When she was as yet hidden in a

fluid state in the bosom of the primeval waters, the seers were

already seeking to discern her by means of sacrifice.

 

A geographical description, or, as we could equally aptly call it, a

highly poetical vision of nature, follows. The earth is composed of

hills and plains, of snow-clad peaks, of deserts, oceans, and

rivers, of lakes and streams, trees and plants, rocks and stones.

The seasons appear with unfailing regularity and bring to her their

own gradations of climate. Even included is an account of her

fragrance which is described distinctively according to whether it

emanates from plants or from water, from the lotus, from animals,

from human beings, or even from the Gods. We are also told of her

underground treasures of jewels and gold.

 

Third, earth is the dwelling place of people. It is upon her that in

the beginning the first humans were scattered abroad. It is upon her

that they sing and dance and find their happiness. It is she who

diversifies Men's speech into different languages. It is upon her

many paths that men and women pass to and fro and it is her highways

that men use for their wagons and chariots.

 

Further, the earth is protected by the Gods; she is the conveyer of

Agni, Universal Fire, and the place where men offer ritual

sacrifice. It is upon her breast that men build their altars and

construct their tabernacles and shelters and ritual posts. It is she

in whose praise priests chant their hymns. The earth points beyond

herself by means of the cultic acts of Gods and Men.

 

She is, furthermore, the dwelling place of all living creatures,

mention of whom is not omitted. She is the home of cattle and

horses, of the beasts of the forest, of deer and birds, reptiles and

two-legged creatures.

 

She is, finally, a cosmic giant, a cosmic power, the receiver of

prayers and the bestower of blessings, the protector and the

inscrutable judge. Ecology was a sacred science for Vedic Man.

 

The Mighty Earth (Prthivi mahini)

 

1. The mighty burden of the mountains bulk rests, Earth, upon your

shoulders; rich in torrents, you germinate the seed with quickening

power.

 

2. Our hymns of praise resounding now invoke you, O far-flung Earth,

the bright one. Like a neighing steed you drive abroad your storm

clouds.

 

3. You in your sturdy strength hold fast the forests, clamping the

trees all firmly to the ground, when rains and lightning issue from

your clouds.

 

RV V, 84

 

 

 

---------------------

 

Hymn to the Earth (Bhumi Sukta )

 

1. High Truth, unyielding Order, Consecration, Ardor and Prayer and

Holy Ritual uphold the Earth; may she, the ruling Mistress of what

has been and what will come to be, for us spread wide a limitless

domain.

 

2. Untrammeled in the midst of men, the Earth, adorned with heights

and gentle slopes and plains, bears plants and herbs of various

healing powers. May she spread wide for us, afford us joy!

 

3. On whom are ocean, river, and all waters, on whom have sprung up

food and ploughman's crops, on whom moves all that breathes and

stirs abroad — Earth, may she grant to us the long first draught!

 

4. To Earth belong the four directions of space. On her grows food;

on her the ploughman toils. She carries likewise all that breathes

and stirs. Earth, may she grant us cattle and food in plenty!

 

5. On whom the men of olden days roamed far, on whom the conquering

Gods smote the demons, the home of cattle, horses, and of birds, may

Earth vouchsafe to us good fortune and glory!

 

6. Bearer of all things, hoard of treasures rare, sustaining mother,

Earth the golden-breasted who bears the Sacred Universal Fire, whose

spouse is Indra — may she grant us wealth!

 

7. Limitless Earth, whom the Gods, never sleeping, protect forever

with unflagging care, may she exude for us the well-loved honey,

shed upon us her splendor copiously!

 

8. Earth, who of yore was Water in the oceans, discerned by the

Sages' secret powers, whose immortal heart, enwrapped in Truth,

abides aloft in the highest firmament, may she procure for us

splendor and power, according to her highest royal state!

 

9. On whom the flowing Waters, ever the same, course without cease

or failure night and day, may she yield milk, this Earth of many

streams, and shed on us her splendor copiously!

 

10. May Earth, whose measurements the Ashvins marked, over whose

breadth the foot of Visnu strode, whom Indra, Lord of power, freed

from foes, stream milk for me, as a mother for her son!

 

11. Your hills, O Earth, your snow-clad mountain peaks, your

forests, may they show us kindliness! Brown, black, red,

multifarious in hue and solid is this vast Earth, guarded by Indra.

Invincible, unconquered, and unharmed, I have on her established my

abode.

 

12. Impart to us those vitalizing forces that come, O Earth, from

deep within your body, your central point, your navel; purify us

wholly. The Earth is mother; I am son of Earth.

 

The Rain-giver is my father; may he shower on us blessings!

 

13. The Earth on which they circumscribe the altar, on which a band

of workmen prepare the oblation, on which the tall bright

sacrificial posts are fixed before the start of the oblation —

may Earth, herself increasing, grant us increase!

 

14. That man, O Earth, who wills us harm, who fights us, who by his

thoughts or deadly arms opposes, deliver him to us, forestalling

action.

 

15. All creatures, born from you, move round upon you. You carry all

that has two legs, three, or four. To you, O Earth, belong the five

human races, those mortals upon whom the rising sun sheds the

immortal splendor of his rays.

 

16. May the creatures of earth, united together, let flow for me the

honey of speech! Grant to me this boon, O Earth.

 

17. Mother of plants and begetter of all things, firm far-flung

Earth, sustained by Heavenly Law, kindly and pleasant is she. May we

ever dwell on her bosom, passing to and fro!

 

18. As a vast abode, Earth, you have become great. Great is your

movement, great your trembling, your quaking. The Lord all-powerful

ceaselessly protects you. O Earth, grant us to shine like burnished

gold, and let no enemy ever wish us ill!

 

19. Agni resides on earth, within the plants. The Waters contain

Agni; in the stones is he. Agni abides deep in the hearts of Men. In

cattle and in horses there are Agnis.

 

20. Agni blazes and flashes from the height of heaven. To the God

Agni belong all airy spaces, Agni it is whom mortal men enkindle,

conveyer of offerings, lover of the clarified butter.

 

21. May she who is clothed with Fire, whose knees are blackened,

grant me sharpness of wit and furnish me with splendor!

 

22. May Earth on which men offer to the Gods the sacrifice and

decorous oblations, where dwells the human race on nourishment

proper to the requirements of its nature — may this great Earth

assure us life and breath, permitting us to come to ripe old age.

 

23. Instill in me abundantly that fragrance, O Mother Earth, which

emanates from you and from your plants and waters, that sweet

perfume that all celestial beings are wont to emit, and let no enemy

ever wish us ill!

 

24. Your fragrance which has entered into the lotus, wherewith the

immortal Gods at the Sun-daughter's wedding were redolent, O Earth,

in times primeval — instill in me abundantly that fragrance, and

let no enemy ever wish us ill!

 

25. Your fragrance which adheres to human beings, the good cheer and

the charm of women and men, that which is found in horses and in

warriors, that which is in wild beasts and in the elephant, the

radiance that shines about a maiden — O Earth, steep us, too,

deeply in that fragrance, and let no enemy ever wish us ill!

 

26. Earth is composed of rock, of stone, of dust; Earth is compactly

held, consolidated. I venerate this mighty Earth, the golden-

breasted!

 

27. Her upon whom the trees, lords of the forest, stand firm,

unshakable, in every place, this long-enduring Earth we now invoke,

the giver of all manner of delights.

 

28. Whether we stand upright or sit, whether we stay quite still or

walk, whether we walk with right foot or left, never may we stumble

upon Earth!

 

29. O purifying Earth, I you invoke! O patient Earth, by Sacred Word

enhanced, bearer of nourishment and strength, of food and ghee —

O Earth, we would approach you with due praise!

 

30. Pure may the Waters flow over our bodies! That which defiles

— I fling it upon our foes! I cleanse myself, O Earth, as with a

filter.

 

31. Your regions, Earth, to eastward and to northward, southward and

westward, may they receive me kindly, whenever on their paths I

travel. Never, when standing on your surface, may I totter!

 

32. Do not thrust us aside from in front or behind, from above or

below! Be gracious, O Earth. Let us not encounter robbers on our

path. Restrain the deadly weapon!

 

33. As wide a vista of you as my eye may scan, O Earth, with the

kindly help of Sun, so widely may my sight be never dimmed in all

the long parade of years to come!

 

34. Whether, when I repose on you, O Earth, I turn upon my right

side or my left, or whether, extended flat upon my back, I meet your

pressure from head to foot, be gentle, Earth! You are the couch of

all!

 

35. Whatever I dig up of you, O Earth, may you of that have quick

replenishment! O purifying One, may my thrust never reach right unto

your vital points, your heart!

 

36. Your circling seasons, nights succeeding days, your summer, O

Earth, your splashing rains, our autumn, your winter and frosty

season yielding to spring — may each and all produce for us their

milk!

 

37. This cleansing Earth, who trembles before the Serpent, who

guards the fires that dwell within the waters, who castigates the

god-insulting demons, has chosen for her mate Indra, not Vrtra,

surrendering herself to the powerful one, the potent.

 

38. On her are erected the platform and the sheds of oblation; on

her is reared the sacrificial post. On her the brahmins, knowers of

the rites, recite their hymns, intone their melodies.

 

On her the priests set forth the sacrifice, that Indra may drink

Soma.

 

39. On her those sages of old, the Seven Seers who fashioned these

worlds, performing the sacrifice by dint of holy rite and creative

Fervor, sang hymns and lo! the cows came to birth!

 

40. May Earth afford us all that copious wealth for which we long!

May Bhaga play his part and Indra go before to show the way!

 

41. May Earth, the stage where mortals sing and play with varied

shouts and noises, which resounds with cries of war or beatings of

the drum, drive far my foemen and rid me of all rivals!

 

42. Earth is the source of food, of rice and barley; from her derive

the five tribes of men. To rain-steeped Earth, the Rain-giver's

wife, be homage!

 

43. Her castles are built by the Gods, her plains the arena in which

men wage war. The matrix of all things is Earth. May the Lord of

life dispose for our enjoyment all her regions!

 

44. May the Goddess Earth, bearer of many a treasure and of wealth

stored up in diverse hidden places, the generous sharer of riches,

impart to us, in addition to gold and gems, a special portion of her

favor!

 

45. May Earth who bears mankind, each different grouping maintaining

its own customs and its speech, yield up for me a thousand streams

of treasure, like a placid cow that never resists the hand.

 

46. The snake and the scorpion which viciously bite, which, chilled

by winter, lie slothfully hidden, the wriggling worm, all that stirs

in the rains — may it, creeping, not creep on us! Instead, may

you grant us the blessing of all that is wholesome!

 

47. From your numberless tracks by which mankind may travel, your

roads on which move both chariots and wagons your paths which are

used by the good and the bad, may we choose a way free from foes and

robbers! May you grant us the blessing of all that is wholesome!

 

48. She carries in her lap the foolish and also the wise. She bears

the death of the wicked as well as the good. She lives in friendly

collaboration with the boar, offering herself as sanctuary to the

wild pig.

 

49. The creatures of your forests, dwellers in woods, lions, tigers,

man-eaters that prowl about, hyena and wolf, misfortune stalking

around, demons both male and female, chase them far!

 

50. All evil spirits, male and female alike, drive far from us, O

Earth, the ones that grab and the ones that devour, all vampires and

all demons! Drive each and every one to distant realms!

 

51. Over the earth the winged bipeds fly, swans and falcons, eagles,

birds of all kinds. On her the wind comes rushing, Matarishvan,

raising the dust, causing the trees to tremble and dragging in his

victory train the Fire.

 

52. May she in whom the bright and also the dark, the day and the

night, associate, though separate, the far-flung Earth, oft times by

rain made fertile, graciously settle each one in his well-loved

abode!

 

53. Heaven and Earth and the space in between have set me in a wide

expanse! Fire, the Sun, the Waters, the Gods, have joined to give me

inspiration.

 

54. Behold me now, victorious! My name is the highest in all the

earth. Ruling in all regions, I subdue all! I conquer!

 

55. When at the Gods' command, O Goddess, you unfurled yourself,

revealing your grandeur, then you were imbued with beauty and charm.

You shaped and fashioned the world's four regions.

 

56. In village or forest, in all the places where man meets man, in

market or forum, may we always say that which is pleasing to you!

 

57. Just as a horse scatters dust, so Earth, when she came into

being, scattered the peoples — Earth, gracious leader and

protectress of the world, who holds in firm grasp both trees and

plants.

 

58. The words that I speak are sweet as honey! My glances meet with

fair glances in return. Vehement am I, swift and impetuous! Those

who gnash their teeth I utterly vanquish!

 

59. Peaceful and fragrant, gracious to the touch, may Earth, swollen

with milk, her breasts overflowing, grant me her blessing together

with her milk!

 

60. The Maker of the world sought her with oblations when she was

shrouded in the depth of the ocean. A vessel of gladness, long

cherished in secret, the earth was revealed to mankind for their joy.

 

61. Primeval Mother, disperser of Men, you, far-flung Earth, fulfill

all our desires. Whatever you lack, may the Lord of creatures, the

First-born of Right, supply to you fully!

 

62. May your dwellings, O Earth, free from sickness and wasting,

flourish for us! Through a long life, watchful, may we always offer

to you our tribute!

 

63. O Earth, O Mother, dispose my lot in gracious fashion that I be

at ease. In harmony with all the powers of Heaven set me, O Poet, in

grace and good fortune! " AV XII, 1

 

Professor Raimundo Panikkar, The Vedic Experience

 

 

----

 

" The earth wisdom of the surviving native traditions of our

planet speaks of a simplicity which our world lacks. It is a wisdom

which addresses the heart, recognizing our kinship with each other

and the rest of creation. It is sacramental and incarnational rather

than transcendent in its approach to spirituality. It has a humility

which frequently underscores our `civilized' Western

paranoia. For the native traditions, the Earth Mother is a reality:

the earth which feeds us and gives us plentifully all that we need.

 

The `primitive' experience of the Goddess is not one of fear

and torment, it is one of perfect familiarity and respect. When the

Nez Perce Indians of North America were presented with the prospect

of agriculture as a means of survival, their spokesman, Smohalla,

very rightly replied: `My young men shall never work. Men who work

cannot dream and wisdom come in dreams. You ask me to plough the

ground. Shall I take a knife and tear my mother's breast? Then

when I die She will not take me to her bosom to rest. You ask me to

dig for stone. Shall I dig under her skin for bones? Then when I die I

cannot enter her body and be born again. You ask me to cut grass and

make hay and sell it and be rich like the white man. But how can I

cut off my mother's hair? It is bad law and my people cannot obey

it. I want my people to stay with me here. All dead humans will come

to life again. We must wait here in the house of our ancestors and

be ready to meet in the body of our mother.'...

 

The cult of the earth mother celebrates the fact that we are

surrounded and enclosed by the creation of the Mother. If we

threaten creation, then it fights back, as James Lovelock, using the

ancient Greek earth mother's name as metaphor for the planet, has

expressed: `Gaia . . . is no doting mother tolerant of

misdemeanors . . . she is stern and tough, always keeping the world

warm and comfortable for those who obey the rules, but ruthless in

her destruction of who transgress.' Ge or Gaia combines both the

nurturing and destructive aspects which polarize the Goddess being

the nurse of the young, the providing mother, and also the sender of

ghosts and demons, the Goddess of death whose realm lay within her

own body. One of her title is Melantho (the Black One).

 

The West has exiled itself from the primal experience of native

spirituality. There is no space to detail the destruction wrought by

colonization where natural spiritualities, habitats and culture have

been ruthlessly overlaid by Western patterns, 'because they were

good for progress.' This is not a feminist argument only, but one

which is arising in many hearts. The manipulative and destructive

patterns of the West have now been successfully inculcated

throughout the Third World — a heritage which we still have to

reap. "

 

Caitlín Matthews, Sophia: Goddess of Wisdom