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Go Back   Spiritual Forums > Religions & Faiths > Hinduism

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  #1  
Old 20-09-2017, 12:12 PM
Bindu* Bindu* is offline
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Transformation - Navratri 2017

.



Today it's the start of Navaratri ! 9 Days of immersing in the Shakti. Goddess. Spiritual energy of Brahman.....


"Navratri, or the festival of nine nights, is celebrated to worship the various forms of the Mother Divine through prayers, chants, meditation, fasting and other spiritual practices. It is also the time of the year to turn inward and nurture, rejuvenate and replenish our soul."


One of my favourite times of the year. Time for offering up all limitations and negativities to the Shakti/Godess, for transformation. It's powerful time for increased meditation, mantra and practice.


First three days is focused some more on Kali - transformation.
2nd three days is focused more on Lakshmi - abundance and grace.
3:rd three days is focused more on Saraswati the inflow of wisdom.


https://www.artofliving.org/navratri/understanding-devi
Quote:
The energy, which is the womb of the entire creation, which has given birth to all that is,is called Devi, or Divine Mother. Everything in this creation, your body, mind, intellect, ego; the physical and subtle energies, are all the manifestation of the one energy into many different forms. And this one energy is called Devi. That is why Mother Divine is also called Shakti which literally means energy.

If you have to lift your hand, it requires certain energy, certain strength for something to happen. So, this whole universe is governed by Shakti and tapping into this Shakti is what Navratri is all about. And Pooja(worship) and spiritual practices are a means of tapping into this Shakti. So during the nine nights of Navratri, the Devi is worshipped in all Her names and forms.


Quote:
Navratri is a vibrant festival, known for its array of colors and gaiety. It is also associated with silence, with a strong focus on chanting shlokas, fasting, and prayers. Many people look at it as a time to turn inward through meditation.

If you're a meditator or looking at starting meditation, here are 5 reasons why should meditate during Navratri:

1. During Navratri, the nature is in balance, so meditating at this time brings our body and mind into balance.

During the summer solstice (when the Sun reaches its northernmost point of equator, marking the beginning of summer) and the winter solstice (the astronomical phenomenon marking the shortest day and the longest night of the year), the sun goes to extremes. But during Navratri, the sun is right in the middle. This helps to bring balance, and when the nature is in balance, meditation helps us to also get into that balance mode.

2. If you have been wanting to meditate but have not with your practice, it’s a good time to start or restart.

Sometimes we feel that we ought to have done so much meditation, but we just get the chance, or maybe we got too bogged down with life to take out time for meditation. You need not

Navratri is the time where you can press the Ctrl+Alt+Delete button and make a new beginning. Vijaya Dashami is particularly the time to start off anything new. So, it doesn't matter if you forgot to meditate or have not been able to yet, Navratri is the time to make a fresh beginning.

3. The impact and fruits of your meditation are much more during the days of Navratri.

It is believed that when we do any practice in a group, its benefits are multiplied and obtained faster. So, when everyone joins together and does meditation during Navratri, the group consciousness has the power to elevate you faster.

4. The positive impact of your meditation gets carried over even long after Navratri is over.

If you meditate for these nine days of the Navratri festival, its effect lingers on for more time. It's like Immunization. You do it once but its effect lingers for much longer. The mantras, the chanting during Navratri, help us to get into a meditative state much more effectively. This rejuvenates us and the energy gets carried forward for many months.

5. During Navratri, deep, restful meditations are inevitable.

When you take a shower, you have to make an effort to get wet. However, in the rain, getting wet is inevitable. Similarly, meditating round the year normally takes a little effort to get started. But during Navratri, the environment is such that your meditation


Great time for meditation.

The Collective force of millions of people doing this simultaneously have an impact for invocing the spiritial force (Shakti).

For me generally one of the favourite times of the year. It's autumn season of transformation in nature. It getting darker. Lights are lit and mantras are sung.


Here Krishna Das is chanting sweetly to the Shakti;
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nKc4tbCzBSA


Goddess pictures are getting the headlead on the puja table:

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  #2  
Old 20-09-2017, 12:46 PM
Bindu* Bindu* is offline
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.




From eminent wise vedic astrologer Julia Swansons blog today.
Quote:
Venus and the Heart of the Lion *Regulus* come together as as omen for the first day of the Divine Mother Festival (Navratri). The Divine Mother's love (Venus) is an inexhaustible supply (Regulus/Magha nakshatra). Durga Mata (Divine Mother Shakti) rides the Lion (Magha/Regulus, the Lion-hearted) as she battles the forces of evil in our world. The lion represents the sacred power we must all master to succeed in this game of life. Jai Maa! ✨��✨ (thanks Julene for this image share)

Good omen as Venus (shukra) the planet of love turns up with the powerful star Regulus. It bodes well for this Navratri. The love of the Shakti aspect will perhaps be more potent.



Shakti, a mass of bliss, leaps out in manifestion as the creation out of love....


From the Upanishads....;
"The creation comes out of bliss..is upheld by bliss...return to bliss....!


.
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  #3  
Old 21-09-2017, 01:47 AM
Shivani Devi Shivani Devi is offline
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Namaste.

Wishing you all a joyous and fulfilling Navratri.



Om Namah Shivaya
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Old 22-09-2017, 03:04 PM
Bindu* Bindu* is offline
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Julia Swanson:
Quote:
The autumn equinox (today!) is very tied in with the Nine Nights of Mother Divine of the Vedic tradition. They don't always literally coincide, but when they do as in this year, the message seems even more powerful: "The autumn equinox symbolizes the principles of inner death and descent in the process of enlightenment. It reveals that in order to change, we must firstly face the darkness of our own inner underworld, and descend with the aid of our spiritual Mother to fight the ego and evil within, to emerge with the light and knowledge extracted from darkness [at the winter solstice]..."


Happy Navratri Necromancer and all !

Equinox today as well. Adding to the transition of energies at this point...

The first three days of Navratri is dedicated to Durga/kali the slayer of negativities and obstacles.
First day I felt excited. Then typically comes up a lot of negativities and issues to deal with. 2nd day of Navratri yesterday was for me filled of negativies and depression. This was actually expected as I felt it before during other years when the Shakti stirs up things in you for elimination.

Today it's gone and feeling upbeat...

Tomorrow starts focus on Lakshmi...





https://www.kalimandir.org/worship-of-shakti/
Quote:
Navaratri and its Significance

During Navaratri the whole of India adores the Mother and worships Her with great devotion. (Dussara, Durga Puja and Navaratri are one and the same.) On the first three nights, Durga or the destructive aspect of the Mother is worshipped. On the succeeding three nights it is the creative aspect, or Lakshmi, that is adored. On the last three nights the knowledge aspect, or Sarasvati, is invoked. The tenth day is “Vijaya-dasami day” or the “day of Victory”.

There is a special significance in this arrangement. When the Devi is worshipped by a devotee in this order, as Durga She first destroys the evil propensities that lurk in his mind. Then, as Lakshmi, She implants therein the divine qualities conductive to spiritual unfoldment. Then, as Sarasvati, She bestows true knowledge on him.
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Old 22-09-2017, 03:31 PM
Bindu* Bindu* is offline
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A great book by Swami Chidananda about Shakti and Navratri:





http://www.dlshq.org/download/godmother.htm
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Old 23-09-2017, 04:52 AM
Shivani Devi Shivani Devi is offline
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Originally Posted by Bindu*
.

A great book by Swami Chidananda about Shakti and Navratri:





http://www.dlshq.org/download/godmother.htm
Awesome! Thank you! I shall read it, after I have totally finished with:

Prakasha-Vimarsha, The Light of Consciousness: The Core of Tantrik Spiritual Philosophy
By Christopher Tompkins and Christopher Wallis

http://www.shaivayoga.com/Writings_f...a_Vimarsha.pdf

I will tell you the whole story now about that Mantra I posted above and about Swami Chidananda in regards.

My ex-husband was/is a member (now a fully-fledged Swami) of the Divine Life Society, whilst I preferred to have no 'Guru' even though, according to Hindu tradition, my husband already was.

Swami Chidananda visited Australia in 2002 and as he was my husband's Guru, he was totally ecstatic; over the moon that he got to have the last opportunity to receive personal darshan and pay his respects. My husband invited me along, but I did not want to go...I had absolutely no interest in going.

Well, with that, my husband reminded me of my dharma and basically said "if I want you to go, you will go...that's all there is to it" and so, because I followed dharma to the letter, I reluctantly went along and tried to appear interested. Swami Chidananda just didn't 'do it' for me...but on to the story.

Whilst I was at the host's residence, my husband said to me; "I have arranged for you to receive 'mantra diksha' from Swami Chidananda"...and inside, I was like "oh great...just what I did not want...I'm only here to observe..." but seeing as the arrangements were made, what choice did I have really?

So, I approached Swami Chidananda, not really feeling anything whatsoever...not knowing what to do beyond respectfully going up and touching his feet as I saw others do...he just seemed like this plain old 'Indian guy'...very quiet, totally unassuming...and then he spoke:

"So, you wish to receive Mantra diksha from me, do you?"

All I could do was nod my head and try to avert my gaze because I had heard that it was disrespectful for me to look at him directly.

Then he said "okay then, this Mantra is for you" and he then spoke the Mantra above and said it was a Mantra for worshiping the Divine Goddess.

With that, I sorta said..."excuse me, Swami, Sir, but I am a devotee of Lord Shiva, can't I have a Shiva mantra instead?...please?"

With that, he laughed and said "I know what you are! but also understand one thing, the way to Lord Shiva is through Shakti only"

I sorta grumbled with "why does God need a 'broker' in every religion out there?...why can't I just approach Him directly?".

Swami Chidananda replied "by worshiping Shakti, you already are!"

I was still rather miffed, but got him to write down that mantra so I wouldn't forget it and then I bowed again and thanked him.

I chanted the mantra he gave me for a few months, but then reverted back to chanting Mahamrityunjaya Mantra because that made me 'feel stuff' where the Devi mantra did not.

Now, with all that has happened today, I can see the 'Divine hand' at work here and I never miss such things....so thank you.

Om Klim Kalikaye Namah
Om Namah Shivaya
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Old 23-09-2017, 05:54 AM
Divine Consciousness Divine Consciousness is offline
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In Navratri in my city people gather around Mother Durga and plays Ras Garba and Dandiya Ras (both folk dance of Gujrat).
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Old 23-09-2017, 10:43 PM
Bindu* Bindu* is offline
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Quote:
Awesome! Thank you! I shall read it, after I have totally finished with:

Prakasha-Vimarsha, The Light of Consciousness: The Core of Tantrik Spiritual Philosophy
By Christopher Tompkins and Christopher Wallis

http://www.shaivayoga.com/Writings_f...a_Vimarsha.pdf

I will tell you the whole story now about that Mantra I posted above and about Swami Chidananda in regards.

Thanks a lot !
Great article and mantra story....

I actually are waiting for Christopher Wallis new book to arrive in the mail.

https://www.amazon.com/Recognition-S.../dp/098976138X

A commentary on Pratyabhijna-hrdaya.
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