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Kali, The Divine Mother:
Mahashakti
“The Primordial Power is ever at play.
She is creating, preserving, and destroying in play,
as it were. This Power is called kAli. kAli is verily
Brahman, and Brahman is verily kAli. It is one and the
same Reality."
"Oh, She plays in different ways. It is She alone who
is known as MahA-kAli, Nitya-kAli, ShmashAna-kAli,
RakshA-kAli, and ShyAmA-kAli. ShyAmA-kAli has a
somewhat tender aspectand is worshipped in the Hindu
households. She is the Dispenser of boons and the
Dispeller of fear. People worship RakshA-kAli, the
Protectress, in times of epidemic, famine, earthquake,
drought and flood. ShmashAna-kAli is the embodiment of
the power of destruction."
"The Divine Mother wants to continue playing with Her
created beings. In a game of hide-and-seek the running
about soon stops if in the beginning all the players
touch the 'granny'. If all touch her, than how can the
game go on? That displeases Her. Her pleasure is in
continuing the game."
"It is as if the Divine Mother said to the human mind
in confidence, with a sign from Her eye, 'Go and enjoy
the world'. How can one blame the mind? The mind can
disentangle itself from worldliness if,
through Her grace, She makes it turn toward Herself.
Only then does it become devoted to the Lotus Feet of
the Divine Mother."
"The jnAnis, who adhere to the non-dualistic
philosophy of VedAnta, say that the acts of creation,
preservation and destruction, the universe itself and
all its living beings,
are the manifestation of Shakti, the Divine Power. If
you reason it out, you will realize that all these are
as illusory as a dream. Brahman alone is the Reality,
and all else is unreal. Even this very Shakti is
unsubstantial, like a dream."
"Not a leaf moves except by the will of God.
Where is man's free will? All are under the will of
God. Therefore I say: 'O Mother, I am the machine and
Thou art the Operator; I am the chariot and Thou art
the Driver. I move as Thou movest me; I do as Thou
makest me do'."
"Is it possible to understand God's action and His
motive? He creates, He preserves, and He destroys. Can
we ever understand why He destroys? I say to the
Divine Mother: 'O Mother, I do not need to understand.
Please give me love for Thy Lotus Feet'. The aim of
human life is to attain bhakti. As for other things,
the Mother knows best."
"Is kAli, my Divine Mother, of a black complexion? She
appears black because She is viewed from a distance;
but when intimately known She is no longer so. The sky
appears blue at a distance, but look at it
close by and you will find that it has no colour.
The water of the ocean looks blue at a distance, but
when you go near and take it in your hand, you find
that it is colourless."
"Though you reason all your life, unless you are
established in SamAdhi, you cannot do beyond the
jurisdiction of Shakti. Even when you say, 'I am
meditating', or 'I am contemplating', still you are
moving in the realm of Shakti, within It's power."
"One must propitiate the Divine Mother, the Primal
Energy, in order to obtain God's grace. God Himself is
MahAmAyA, who deludes the world with Her illusion and
conjures up the magic of creation, preservation and
destruction."
"The Divine Mother is always playful and sportive.
This universe is Her play. She is self-willed and must
always have Her own way. She is full of bliss. She
gives freedom
to one out of a hundred thousand."
"The worship of Shakti is extremely difficult. It is
no joke. I passed two years as the handmaid of the
Divine Mother. But my natural attitude has always been
that of a child toward its mother. I regard the
breasts of any woman as those of my own mother."
"He who is attributeless also has attributes.
He who is Brahman is also Shakti. When thought of as
inactive, He is called Brahman, and when thought of as
Creator, Preserver,
and Destroyer, He is called the Primordial Energy,
kAli."
"Brahman and Shakti are identical, like fire and its
power to burn. When we talk of fire we automatically
mean also its power to burn.
Again, the fire's power to burn implies the fire
itself. If you accept the one you must accept
the other."
"In my present state of mind [Oct.24, 1882] I can eat
a little fish soup if it has been offered to the
Divine Mother beforehand. I can't eat any meat, even
if it is offered to the Divine Mother; but I taste it
with the end of my finger lest She should be angry."
"Once a man realizes God through intense dispassion,
he is no longer attached to woman. Even if he must
lead the life of a householder, he is free from fear
of and attachment to woman. Suppose there are two
magnets, one big and the other small. Which one will
attract the iron? The big one, of course. God is the
big magnet. Compared to Him, woman is a small one. He
who has realized God does not look upon a woman with
the eye of lust; so he is not afraid of her.
He perceives clearly that women are but so many
aspects of the Divine Mother.
He worships them all as the Mother Herself."
In response to a question from Mahima about
'something holding us back' from spiritual progress
"Why? Cut the reins. Cut them with the sword of God's
name. 'The shackles of kAla, time, are cut by kAli's
name.'"
"God is engaged in three kinds of activity:
creation, preservation and destruction. Death is
inevitable. All will be destroyed at the time of
dissolution. Nothing will remain. At that time the
Divine Mother will gather up the seeds for the future
creation, even as the elderly mistress of the house
keeps in her hotchpotch-pot little bags of cucumber
seeds,
'sea-foam', blue pills, and other miscellaneous
things. The Divine Mother will take her seeds out
again at the time of the new creation."
"You know I am a fool. I know nothing. Then who is it
that says all these things? I say to the Divine
Mother: 'O Mother, I am the machine and Thou art the
Operator. I am the house and Thou art the indweller.
I am the chariot and Thou art the Charioteer. I do as
Thou makest me do. I speak as Thou makest me speak; I
move as Thou makest me move. It is not I ! It is all
Thou ! It is all Thou !' Hers is the glory; we are only Her
instruments.”
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