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Thread: The Divine Feminine in the Hindu tradition

  1. #11

    Re: The Divine Feminine in the Hindu tradition

    Your post is greatly appreciated, Viraja - thank you.

    Quote Originally Posted by Viraja View Post
    Namaste,

    It is a great thread. I would like to say very simply that to me, divine mother (be it Durga devi or Sri Mahalakshmi or Saraswati devi) is the embodiment of 'perfect qualities' or 'virtues'.. some of these virtues being - charity, hospitality, chastity, sincerity, truthfulness, being able to be a good mother, ability to work hard, and finally...devotion.

    To me, worship of divine mother brings about the above qualities gradually in a person - makes them perfect for Lord's worship.
    This gradual bringing about of virtue is something I can relate to very much when I consider my more recent devotional experience. Now that I am explicitly worshiping the Divine Feminine I have such a sense of relief. The orthodox Western religious conception of God as utterly transcending creation and yet demanding perfection is a burden the world can do without. To know directly that The Goddess is always there and always love is peace and joy to me. Indeed to know that ultimately I, (in common with the whole creation), AM the Goddess is enough to sustain me through any and all experiences. This gradual bringing about of virtue is simply the realignment of the manifestation with its essence. However dissatisfied I may be with my spiritual state, I can always remind myself that every atom of my body is the Divine Mother and indeed my very being is Her.
    Quote Originally Posted by renuka
    Without the divine mother, I wonder if a sadhaka will mature fully enough for 'moksha' (or even being a contributing sadhaka in the society).
    Indeed!

    Om shanti

  2. #12

    Re: The Divine Feminine in the Hindu tradition

    Greetings, Eastern Mind

    Quote Originally Posted by Eastern Mind View Post
    Vannakkam John: All the different sects and schools will see it differently. Obviously the Shakta school will give Divine Mother utmost importance, as Supreme.

    Others, not so much. In my school, for example, She is the manifest half of Siva/Shakti which is probably best represented as Ardhinarisvara, which demonstrates that She is never apart from Siva.

    But there will (as usual) be a ton of various understandings, none right or wrong, and none demonstrating the whole of Hinduism.

    Aum Namasivaya
    This is another thing I love about the Hindu world.....there can be various understandings and yet you don't all set out to kill each other or damn each other to hell for the sake of those understandings! Radical!

    As to the the Divine Mother being Supreme........
    We have two highly auspicious concepts there. For me, those concepts resonate in an harmonious way. The personal history here is no doubt causing a certain bias however.

  3. #13

    Re: The Divine Feminine in the Hindu tradition

    Namaste, Believer...

    Quote Originally Posted by Believer View Post
    Namaste,

    My biased views,
    In the religious sense, the female deities are as godly, spiritual and whole in their own right as their male counterparts. They are the other half of the divinity and they complete the picture of the divine power for humans to worship in one of the many forms - Sita/Ram, Shiv/Parvati, Radha/Krishan etc.
    Yes, this balance is no doubt taken for granted in Hinduism.....yet it is so very important.
    Quote Originally Posted by Believer View Post
    At purely intellectual/academic level, the concept of divine feminine drives home the point that women in general are not mere objects for male pleasure.
    I know this is going off at a tangent somewhat - but I would like to mention something here. The question of why women are attractive to me is one that has been a serious question for me all my life. It is only recently that I actually found the answer. (The same thing applies to women's attraction to men). At the deepest level it is the desire for duality to end....that is what I have found in myself. Having realized this, all that trouble is gone. I mean, I actually made myself mentally ill over this question of why I found women so attractive in the past. Understanding brings liberation. The wonderful thing also is, that having reconnected to the Divine Feminine, I find nothing "wrong" with duality now either. Without duality there could be no relation, no knowing, no manifestation. It's just when duality is taken to be reality that all the trouble starts.
    Quote Originally Posted by Believer View Post
    They have to be treated as equal human beings and all the respect/reverence/affection shown to men has also to be showered upon them. It basically is female empowerment for better functioning of the family unit which is the backbone of any successful society.
    Certainly.

    Om shanti

  4. #14

    Re: The Divine Feminine in the Hindu tradition

    Namaste, renuka

    Quote Originally Posted by renuka View Post
    Namaste Mortimer,

    Before I go into the Feminine Principle of the Macrocosmic Scene..I would like to bring your attention to the Microcosmic Scene.. that is the birth of a living organism.

    For the birth of a living organism we would need a Masculine Principle and a Feminine Principle.

    I am using the word Masculine Principle and Feminine Principle and not Male and Female Gender for a reason...that is in cases of partogenesis in certain species of bees mating with males(drones) is not needed.Even the Brahmasutra Bhashya makes a mention of certain species of cranes that reproduce without any male contact. read below about "Proxy Male"

    Now in cases of cloning for example the cloning of Dolly the sheep..she was a product from cloning from a ear cell of the female donor sheep.

    Here we had the DNA from the ear cell acting as the Male Principle even though the donor was a female.

    So in cases of cloning..the DNA acts as the "Proxy male" and the enucleated Ova is the Feminine Principle.
    Ok - that's very powerful, the concept of the feminine principle and the masculine principle. For one thing, there is no sense of "opposite"...the duality appears spontaneously, (or naturally). I get what you are saying about gender not being the only way for the masculine and feminine principles to manifest. It's all too easy for humans to project what they take themselves to be upon nature.

    Quote Originally Posted by renuka View Post
    From Biology lets jump to the Macrocosmic Scene.

    In Hinduism there is the concept of Purusha(Masculine Principle),Prakriti(Feminine Principle).

    Both the Purusha and Prakriti combination is needed for the emergence of the phenomenal world and its multitude of Jeevas(Souls).

    Prakriti the Feminine Principle is 3 stranded flow of continuity of Gunas(Qualities) namely:

    1)Sattva(Intelligence.. imparts balance)

    2)Rajas(Energry.. causes imbalance)

    3)Tamas(Substance..creates Inertia)
    I see........so the gunas are coming from the Feminine Principle. I did not realize that.
    Quote Originally Posted by renuka View Post
    Prakriti is called Nature, the Divine Mother and the deification of the 3 Gunas is what is known as the Feminine Principle a.k.a Shakthi and each termed a Goddess. Durga(Tamas),Lakshmi(Rajas) and Saraswati(Sattva).
    Wow! I had not realized that these Goddesses were deifications of the gunas either. I wonder why I am particularly drawn toward Lakshmi (Rajas)?
    Quote Originally Posted by renuka View Post
    Coming to Western Philosophy..according to Parmahansa Yogananda the Feminine Principle is the Holy Ghost of the Trinity Fame(The Father..The Son and the Holy Ghost). So its not entirely absent..its just that its not really spoken much about.
    That is a fact!

  5. #15

    Re: The Divine Feminine in the Hindu tradition

    Thank you so much, Ram....I am getting down to reading the Devi Mahatmyam now.

    Quote Originally Posted by Ram116040 View Post
    Namaste Ji,

    The Goddess is mentioned umpteen number of times in the Vedas,Upanishads and the Puranas.The main scriptures of Shakteya(Shakti School) are Sri Devi Mahatmyam,Srimad Devi Bhagavata Purana and many Agamas/Tantras.

    My suggestion is to begin with the Devi Mahatmyam.It is the form of a story/narrative and has philosophy hidden within it.You can find various interpretations.


    http://www.hindudharmaforums.com/showthread.php?t=8471

    www.hindudharmaforums.com/showthread.php?t=13060

    http://www.hindudharmaforums.com/showthread.php?t=212

    I am not sure if there is any particular text on Devi Lakshmi.There are many narratives interspersed in the Puranas.I would like to ask other members if they know about any text dedicated to Devi Lakshmi?

    If you are into philosophy oriented literature,then you may check the Shakta Upanishads.

    The Shakta school is a vast one,within in it are many sub-schools,each having their own huge treatises.Do not get intimidated or bothered by the number/types of Shakta texts,as you keep reading you will understand.

    I request members to suggest some good books that will help John Ji.

  6. #16
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    Re: The Divine Feminine in the Hindu tradition

    Namaste John,

    In general, the feminine aspect of God is taken as prakriti or mother nature. the male aspect or masculine aspect is the substratum for prakriti. Feminine aspect is called as dynamic power of God or maya (mAyA or maayaa).

    There is a sect (sampradAta) which is specifically dedicated to the feminine aspect. They refer to by the name Adi Sakti (aadi shakti). Adi means the first and Sakti means power. She is known by the name tripurAsundarI (tripuraa-sundari). she presents the ultimate state, or the supreme Brahman of the upanishads. This sect, by the name of Sakta considers Tripurasundari as the supreme Godhead and all avatars including Rama and Krishna are under her sway.

    Note: 'Sa' and 'sa' are pronounced differently. 'Sa' is pronounced as 'sha'

    e.g. Sa as in Ship

    Hari OM
    Only God Is Truth, Everything Else Is Illusion - Ramakrishna
    Total Surrender of Ego to SELF is Real Bhakti - Ramana Maharshi

    Silence is the study of the scruptures. Meditation is the continuous thinking of Brahman which is to be meditated upon. The complete negation of both by knowledge is the vision of truth – sadAcAra-14 of Adi SankarAcArya

    namah SivAya vishnurUpAya viShNave SivarUpiNe, MBh, vanaparva, 3.39.76

    Sanskrit Dict | MW Dict | Gita Super Site | Hindu Dharma

  7. #17
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    Re: The Divine Feminine in the Hindu tradition

    Namaste John,

    In general, the wordhip of devi (feminine aspect) is connected with yogic / tAntrika (tantric) practice. the centre of meditation being rising kundalini, the serpant power, or mother kundalini / goddess kundalini, from mulAdhAra chakra (root chakra) to sahasrahAra chakra (crown chakra).

    However, Adi Sakti is also worshiped as one of the five deities panch-dev-upAsanA (worship of five deities) also known as pancayatna pujA. Five deities considered form of supreme brahman are - Ganesha, Shiva, shakti, Vishnu and Surya.

    Tantras are step by step procedures for evolution of consciousness until individual consciousness is one with cosmic or universal consciousness. It starts from external worship - rituals, to mixed (external and internal) to purely internal.

    internal is taken as mental process like kundalini yoga, rising of kundalini, and also doing puja mentally by protruding deity from ajna chakra (3rd eye) and then mentally performing puja with all ingrediants like flowers etc are also visualized and offered (mentally). After worship is over, the form is pulled back.

    There is one purANa (puraaNa) by the name Devi bhAgavat. mArkanDeya purANa also contains verses praising shakti. it is called as canDI pATha. Devi mAhatmya is also found in it.

    Adi SankarAcArya ji's composition saundarya lahiri is very popular and one of the main scripture of the Sakta-s.

    17th century illustrious saint bhAskararAya mAkhin revived and popularized this sect.

    Basics scriptures of Sakta-s are

    Devi Mahatmya
    Devi bhagavat Maha Purana
    Lalita Sahasranam - 1000 names of Tripura sundari.
    Saundarya Lahiri

    Shaiva-s (worshipers of Siva s Supreme Brahman) worship shakti as a medium to reach the supreme Shiva.

    some more info about tantra-s

    http://www.shraddhananda.com/Introdu...iptures_5.html
    Only God Is Truth, Everything Else Is Illusion - Ramakrishna
    Total Surrender of Ego to SELF is Real Bhakti - Ramana Maharshi

    Silence is the study of the scruptures. Meditation is the continuous thinking of Brahman which is to be meditated upon. The complete negation of both by knowledge is the vision of truth – sadAcAra-14 of Adi SankarAcArya

    namah SivAya vishnurUpAya viShNave SivarUpiNe, MBh, vanaparva, 3.39.76

    Sanskrit Dict | MW Dict | Gita Super Site | Hindu Dharma

  8. #18

    Re: The Divine Feminine in the Hindu tradition

    Namaste, Amrut.

    Quote Originally Posted by Amrut View Post
    Namaste John,

    In general, the feminine aspect of God is taken as prakriti or mother nature. the male aspect or masculine aspect is the substratum for prakriti. Feminine aspect is called as dynamic power of God or maya (mAyA or maayaa).

    There is a sect (sampradAta) which is specifically dedicated to the feminine aspect. They refer to by the name Adi Sakti (aadi shakti). Adi means the first and Sakti means power. She is known by the name tripurAsundarI (tripuraa-sundari). she presents the ultimate state, or the supreme Brahman of the upanishads. This sect, by the name of Sakta considers Tripurasundari as the supreme Godhead and all avatars including Rama and Krishna are under her sway.

    Note: 'Sa' and 'sa' are pronounced differently. 'Sa' is pronounced as 'sha'

    e.g. Sa as in Ship

    Hari OM
    This is most informative and interesting.
    By the way - I very much appreciate your parentheses and pronunciation helps.

  9. #19
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    Re: The Divine Feminine in the Hindu tradition

    Quote Originally Posted by Ram116040 View Post

    I am not sure if there is any particular text on Devi Lakshmi.There are many narratives interspersed in the Puranas.I would like to ask other members if they know about any text dedicated to Devi Lakshmi?

    Namaste Ram ji,

    I know that Sri Lakshmi Tantra deals exclusively with Mahalakshmi sadhana.

    Also, in the dasa-mahavidyas, some regard goddess Kamala as the 'tantric Lakshmi'. There are specific beeja to propitiate her.

    Additonally, on a recent search, I landed on the information that 'Pancaratra' school of Vaishnavam views Sri Mahalakshmi as supreme being. One can look-up preliminary information here: https://en-gb.facebook.com/yogi.anan.../3577987026580.

    Pranam.
    jai hanuman gyan gun sagar jai kapis tihu lok ujagar

  10. #20

    Re: The Divine Feminine in the Hindu tradition

    Namaste J,
    Quote Originally Posted by John Mortimer View Post
    At the deepest level it is the desire for duality to end....that is what I have found in myself.
    Welcome to Hinduism, Āstika!
    Without duality there could be no relation, no knowing, no manifestation. It's just when duality is taken to be reality that all the trouble starts.
    Duality is, though, real. Just that the vision has to be further integrated from bottom to top.

    Because one should not, in the meantime, lose sight of the power of Sat- the power of Identity- that enables one to see things exactly as they are.

    On the other hand, Devi Ma invites one to join the party right there beyond the duality- so much to explore- and all that is as real as it gets- even while Identity is still there, and the other "eye" of duality-no-duality is also still there.
    Things to remember:

    1. Life = yajña
    2. Depth of Āstika knowledge is directly proportional
    to the richness of Sanskrit it is written in
    3. Āstika = Bhārata ("east") / Ārya ("west")
    4. Varṇa = tripartite division of Vedic polity
    5. r = c. x²
    where,
    r = realisation
    constant c = intelligence
    variable x = bhakti

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