Some years ago, it came to me in meditation that what the world needs today is more consciousness of the mother aspect of God, to balance the overly masculine, intellectual approach to life that is so dominant nowadays.
With all our great mental insights, we fail to realise that this world is not real. In our essence, we are a part of the Infinite, and it is God who is playing our particular role in life. God is uniquely present in each of us. He has His own song to sing through everyone. The whole purpose of this great drama is to realise that you are God.
Now, the saints tell us that the easiest way to know God is by venerating Him as Divine Mother.
Paramhansa Yogananda said that the Mother is closer than the Father, and that we can appeal to her heart as a child appeals to its earthly mother.
What part does the Divine Mother play in our worship? She gives us a form toward which we can direct our love. It's helpful to think of God as something outside and separate from ourselves. Divine love is without limit or form, but human love wants to take the Infinite and condense it into one person. This tendency is good, in the sense that it gives us a focus for our love, without which it would be vague. Having a concrete image of God is like having stepping stones that bring us to the point where suddenly we see that it's all One.
To feel devotion for the Divine Mother, in the beginning we often need to think in terms of a human form. When i came to Paramhansa Yogananda, i was tired of being intellectual, and i wanted to develop devotion. I began praying to Divine Mother, and i would visualise the face of my godmother. That may seem ridiculous, but she had a loving nature that reminded me of the innocence and sweetness that i was trying to develop. In this way, i gradually tuned in to the consciousness of the Mother, so that when i think of Her now, i don't think of any form.
The trouble with worshiping God only as Father is that He tends to present the image of a judge – somewhat stern and aloof. But Divine Mother is filled with compassion. The Mother will always forgive you, even if you've done wrong.
We need the limited to remind us of the Infinite. But even if God should come to you as Divine Mother, friend, or a beloved, always remember to see Infinite Consciousness behind those eyes i'll never forget a time when i was sitting at Yogananda's feet while he was editing a manuscript. I was thinking how fortunate it was that i had found him, and when he finished his editing, he asked me to help him stand. He looked into my eyes with so much joy and love, and said, "Just a bulge of the ocean!" It was as if the Infinite was looking at me through those eyes.
I was loving the form, but it was the ocean that produced that form. It's the ocean that sustains all our forms. Ultimately, love for the Divine Mother is only love of your own true Self. You need to bring it back to that reality, not in self-love, but in knowing that God is everywhere, and that you, too, are everywhere.
This Talk by: Swami Kriyananda was First Published on www.speakingtree.in
Navratri Begin tomorrow - Read relevant other posts here - http://www.aseemseth.blogspot.in/search/label/NavRatris
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