Morningsong: Devi Kavacham

[Guest guest]

Namaste Dear Morningsong: So insightful. We all need to remember

these words: She is part of us, totally and completely, as well as

all creation. There is nothing which is not Her. She gives and She

takes, and She blesses and destroys. If we try to prevent Her from

changing anything, we loose all, but, if we flow with Her, surrender

to Her, we gain freedom.

Easy to say, hard to do. But, everytime I resist change, I get hurt

in some way, on some level. And, everytime, I accept the changes, I

feel wonderful. Then I am one with Her.

Hope you are well. Hope to see you at the mandir soon.

 

Jai Maa Jai Swami

 

vishweshwar

 

 

 

, " c_morningsong "

<c_morningsong wrote:

>

> Namaste'

>

> I wanted to respond to a question from Vish and another from Srini.

> Sorry this is so long...Please forgive me if I make any mistakes.

>

> >Vish asked:

> " While I have great faith that the kavach works, how can one know

> objectively that one is putting on Chandi's armor? I can understand

> that a pure soul can have total protection, but if a

> devotee of limited awakening puts on Her armor, does that devotee

> only gain partial protection? And, if that is so, what can one do

> to increase the power of Her protection? "

>

> My understanding of the Kavach is that the protection offered is more

> of the realization that She is everywhere. I don't know if it

> actually protects us from the world, but rather gives us the

> understanding that what we perceive is Her lila all swirled together

> with a lot of maya. The Kavach offers us a way to align our

> individual consciousness with the greater Truth that She is

> everywhere and everything by first recognizing that She is in all

> parts of our bodies and our lives. I don't think there can be

> a " partial protection " because there can never be less of God

> anywhere. Since the protection is an increase in our faith and

> devotion, the way we become more protected is by chanting it more!

>

>

> >Srini asked:

> " First is the Viniyoga. In that, " that which bind the the Gods of all

> the directions " is the principle. These Gods are enumerated in the

> Cosmic Puja: Soma, Ishana, Indra, Agni, Yama, Nairrita, Varuna, Vayu.

> What is it that binds the Gods?

>

> This reminds me of the first verse of the Durga Sapta Sloki where it

> says " She, this Supreme Goddess, the Great Measurement of

> Consciousness, attracts the perceiving capacity of all sensible

> beings with such force as to thrust them into the ignorance of

> egotistic attachment. "

>

> I've been trying to understand this verse for a long time. I think

> that what is being said here is that as soon as we begin to seek God

> we are immediately caught in duality and bound by the belief that

> there is some separation between ourselves and our Beloved. So we

> (and /as the Gods) need the Kavatch to continually remind ourselves

> that there is no separation.

>

> >Srini asked:

> " In verse 3, " second is the Goddess of Sacred Study and third is the

> Goddess of the delight of Practice " .

> The seeker is inspired and meets the Guru. S/he receives the

> knowledge. But invariably the knowledge is not practiced.

> What prevents knowledge from being practiced? "

>

> I was just thinking about this the other day: First is the Goddess

> of Inspiration - We become inspired to begin our relationship with

> the Divine. Second, the Goddess of Sacred Study - we begin to study

> to know about the Divine. Third is the Goddess of the Delight of

> Practice - We find joy in learning and practice what we are

> learning. There are uncountable things (asuras) which keep us from

> practicing. They all have one thing in common; they are part of the

> armies of thoughts that Maa is soon to rid us of. So when we are

> able to find delight in our practice we know that the Divine is

> actually responsive to us and our actions, again showing us that our

> individual consciousness is One with that Divine Consciousness.

>

> If it's okay I would like to continue this idea...

>

> The Goddess of Purifying Austerity is Fourth - as our practice begins

> to work it's magic on us we become more sattvik, desiring to act from

> our own purity and desire for right living. We begin to focus more

> attention on our relationship with the Divine, and less on the things

> of the world. Fifth is the Goddess who Nurtures Divinity - we begin

> to nuture the Divinity within ourselves, others and all of creation;

> sharing love and beauty with our environment. Six is the One who is

> Ever Pure - our practice becomes so much a part of who we are that we

> come to the understanding that All is already perfect, whole and

> complete. Seventh is the Dark Night of Overcoming Egotism -

> Unfortunately, even with all of this understanding and practice we

> still on occasion are tempted to not walk our talk. We can be

> forgetful of what is true and then, before we even realize what has

> happened, some sense of separation creeps in. But just when we think

> all is lost, the Goddess of the Great Radiant Light is eighth - and

> suddenly we remember Who we are, that our Divine Mother is here with

> us always, that we have never been apart from Her, and we are One in

> Her. Ninth is the Goddess who Grants Perfection - and we attain our

> goal of Perfect Unity.

>

> Thank you for giving me the chance to share these thoughts And

> especially to Maa and Swamiji for giving us this sankalpa.

>

> Jai Maa Jai Swamiji

>

> OM Shanti

> Morningsong

>