From October 9 till October 17, 2018 Hindus worldwide will be engaged in 9 days and nights of celebration of the Divine Mother. This festival is known as the Navratri or Nine Nights of the Divine Mother.
In this article I look briefly at the Divine Mother. Briefly because She is Everything. There is no end to Her Glory and Greatness.
Narendra Mishra, “Glory to the Divine Mother – Navratri 2018,” Awakening Spark, 9/10/2018 at https://awakeningspark.com/blog/glory-to-the-divine-mother-navratri-2018
There are two major Navratri celebrations every year that correspond to the start of the Spring and Autumn. These seasonal transitional periods have long been observed to be difficult, often heralding much change.
Thus the ancient seers recommended worship of the Highest Principle and the Highest Cause during this time to assist humanity in navigating these changes. They recommended worship of the Divine Mother.
The principle of the Divine Mother is found throughout the world in almost all cultures and religions. In Hinduism, she is the Goddess Durga, Kali, Lakshmi, Saraswati, and many others. In the Christian world she is the Mother Mary. For the Chinese she is Quan Yin. For the Greeks she is Athena, and Aphrodite, and many others. I can go on and on.
Why the Divine Mother? The Divine Mother is the manifesting Principle of the Divine Father. The Divine Father is the pure, unitive, universal, Consciousness that is latent. It is the ground or foundation of Being. The Divine Mother is this same energy in action, movement, and manifestation.
The Divine Mother and the Divine Father are ONE. There is no difference. In Hindu iconography there is the half male, half female form of Shiva and Parvati which denotes the equality and identity of the Divine Mother and Father.
Of the Divine Mother, Sri Ramakrishna has said:
“The Divine Mother revealed to me in the Kali temple that it was She who had become everything. She showed me that everything was full of Consciousness. The image was Consciousness, the water was Consciousness, the altar was Consciousness, the water vessels were Consciousness, the doorsill was Consciousness, the marble floor was Consciousness-all was Consciousness.” (1)
That pure Consciousness is transcendental. It is the Father – the Brahman. That Consciousness in manifestation is the Shakti – the Divine Mother.
This immanent world, the world of manifestation, comes out from Her like waves upon the infinite ocean of Consciousness.
She is the mystic syllable- the AUM, the AMEN. She is the grand unified field of physics. She is the primordial energy that births stars, planets, and galaxies.
She is the tenderness in a flower blossom, the fierceness of a raging waterfall. She is the wetness in water, the heat in fire.
Where can Her glory end? She is the Divine Mother. She is EVERYTHING.
Jai Maa!
Footnotes
(1) Swami Nikhilananda, trans. The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna. Ramakrishna-Vivekananda Center, New York, 1973, 15.
