Help needed: Kali is becoming more Vedic!!!!

[Guest guest]

Dear friends,

 

Sakthi sadhana is individualized sadhana. The purpose is to realize

the Iraivan (god). The anava is that which causes attachment to the

world. This is known as Maya (the attachment via anava). According

to our actions in it, it becomes Karma. The anava is symbolized as

1) greed - cat or pig, 2) jealousy - cock, 3) anger - buffalo, 4)

ignorance - sheep, 5) lust - goat and 6) pride - man. These give

rise to lies, shame, fear, disgust, selfish attachments etc. All

these (forms of anava) are sacrificed to Kali.

 

The atma (shivan) cannot express itself as the mind (manas, buddhi,

chittam, ahamkaram) without getting Shakti from jadam (brain).

Without the shakti (as manam itself), there will be no expression of

Shivan (atma) where it will be the darkness of unawareness which is

why it lies prostrate at the feet of Kali. All these I have realized

through kali sadhana only.

 

Shakti sadhana is basically designed to overcome the hold of anava

and realize Iraivan. At the same time Sakthi sadhana also enables

one to overcome the notion of purity and impurity and to realize the

fact that Iraivan permeates all existence. A show of holiness and

the true mark of spirituality are distinct things. This is achieved

through the pancamagaram ritual. At the same time the sakthi

sadhana also has revealed (and mirrors) many truths about existence.

For example the tantrik ritual does not exclude the shudras from

sadhana nor does it exclude the womanfolk. It doesn't preach caste

and deems men as either pasu, vira or deivika according to their

temperaments and inclinations. However so, many have also abused

the sakthi sadhana in obscene rituals and black magic. Regardless of

this the sakthi sadhana stands for individual realization of god as

oppossed to blind faith alone.

 

This however stands to be usurped in my place. Originally, Kali and

the Mahavidya forms were worshipped by the lower caste people. This

is so in Malaysia. The people who worked as the low laborers and

other so called 'impure' menial work (sanitation or workers in the

graveyard) maintained these temples. Many Kali temples like this are

quite old, nearly a hundred years. They have been built and

worshipped by these poor immigrants. The higher caste during that

time do not frequent these temples nor their ceremonies. Even now

the older generation (higher caste) of my time abhors outward show

of devotion to these temples. This is because of the strong feeling

of caste. In my place there is one Kali temple (as balabhairavi)

like this. Though the higher caste people do not frequent this

temple yet many claim of the supernatural shakti in it. Many

secretly go to the temple when they have unsolvable problems and to

seek blessings. I have talked to many a person like this.

 

However, things have changed a little in my time. Living in a

multiracial country in which the majority are Muslims the younger

generation have learnt to go beyond caste identifications. Many of

the younger generation also have slowly taken to Shakti worship.

They also go to Kali temples (numbers are still small as opposed to

the benign forms of Shakti like Mahamariamman). But they have no

qualms of joining the annual celebrations of the Kali temple. Every

year the number of devotees visiting for the annual affair has grown

till this year it has reached tens of thousands and the government

sanctioned the road to be closed for temple use. People from all

walks of life regardless of caste have joined in. This is as

oppossed to a few decades ago where only the low caste join in. They

number to a few hundreds only while the rest shun it. Yet, there

still exists much misconception about Kali in my country. One of it

is that she is a devil who drinks blood and can be used for black

magic. Tantrik or Mahavidya worship in my country is more about

black magic. However even before Kali could be presented as she was

(historically) something even worse is happening. The priest of the

temple is slowly Brahmanizing the temple. This is done by having

vedic rituals at certain days and inviting the public to

participate. In one temple, they have even changed the idol (Kali)

and replaced it with the common benign form. Kali is beyond form, it

is true, but it is wrong for this to happen. It abolishes the spirit

which Kali represents which is beyond caste. By calling the Brahmin

priests who would have hesitated to step in a few decades ago (due

to impurity), they have blatantly done so now. A few years back the

ritual in the temple could be participitated by people from all

walks of life. Now it seems slowly this privilege will dissappear by

the Brahmanization of another Kali temple.

 

Kindly write in if any of the dear readers have effective ways to

stop this sad state of affairs and save a Kali temple which truly

belonged to the public. Were there any who have faced this problem

before?