happy devali, kali puja

reciting kali mantras will remove all bad omens. kali is a hindu goddess that is the goddess of liberation, enlightenment.

Goddess Kali is the primordial goddess of Hinduism. She is dark, violent, a figure of annihilation, the ultimate reality that is Brahman and source of all being. She is the redeemer of the universe and the benevolent mother goddess as well. She is associated with Shiva her consort. She is related to many other Hindu goddesses and she is the foremost goddess among the Dasa Mahavidyas.


Kali is associated with death, sexuality and violence. She is dark, black and fierce goddess of death and she carries the destructive power of eternal time. She is seductive, terrible and wonderful and has always something to offer. She is the primary reality, the enfolded order, formless void yet full of energy, passion, potential and form. To her worshippers, goddess Kali represents all of life from conception to the ultimate reality of death.




She is the all pervading divine mother of the universe and her name in Sanskrit is derived from the word Kal which means time. As nothing can escape from time, so nothing can escape from Kali. Her consort is Shiva and both of them inhabit the cremation grounds. The symbolism behind this abode is that the body is just temporary and any attachment to the body and the resultant ego is also temporary. Her devotees go to the cremation ground to mediate and overcome the I-am-the-body idea. Her appearance and ornaments has special significance and meaning.[/color]





The garland of 52 skulls and her skirt made of dismembered arms symbolizes the destruction of the body and hence the ego attached with the body. With these ornaments she is sending a message to her devotes that she can offer liberation to them from the attachment of the temporary body. In two of her hands, she holds a sword and a freshly severed head that is dripping blood. This represents a great battle in which she defeated the demon Raktabija.


Her black skin represents the womb of the unmanifest from which all of creation is born and into which all of creation will eventually return. Goddess Kali is depicted as standing on a white skinned Shiva who is lying beneath her. His white skin is in contrast to her black or sometimes dark blue skin. He is showing a blissful detached look on His face. Shiva is pure formless awareness sat-chit-ananda (being-consciousness-bliss) while she represents "form" eternally sustained by the underpinning of pure awareness.






Goddess Kali: The destroyer of the Ego:





She frees us from the prison of our own ego as she brings the death of the ego as the delusional self-centred view of reality. Kali and Shiva give liberation by dissolving the illusion of the ego. Thus we learn that we are the ever-existing I AM and not the impermanent body and the ego represented by the impermanent body. This is emphasized by the scene in the cremation grounds where both Kali and Shiva dwell. They are the destroyers of unreality.

When the ego sees Mother Kali it trembles with fear because the ego sees in her its own eventual demise. An individual who is attached to his/her ego will not be able to receive the vision of Mother Kali and she will appear in a fear invoking or "wrathful" form. A mature soul who engages in spiritual practice to remove the illusion of the ego sees Mother Kali as very sweet, affectionate, and overflowing with incomprehensible love for her children.

The benevolent nature of Goddess Kali:

She is associated with motherly love. Out of all the Devi forms, Kali is the most compassionate because she provides moksha or liberation to her children. She is the supreme feminine manifestation of compassion and she is ready to shower her love and affection on to anyone who care to turn their gaze toward her luminous heart.
Goddess Kali the liberator of souls:
She is the goddess of liberation or enlightenment. She is the Liberator of Souls and destroyer of all negativity in us. In fact she makes us understand that we are beings of spirit and not flesh and so liberation can only prevail when our attachment to the body comes to an end.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fiTE0...eature=related

beautiful song to kali the great divine mother for devali!

Shiva is the god of the yogis, self-controlled and celibate, while at the same time a lover of his spouse (shakti). Lord Shiva is the destroyer of the world, following Brahma the creator and Vishnu the preserver, after which Brahma again creates the world and so on. Shiva is responsible for change both in the form of death and destruction and in the positive sense of destroying the ego, the false identification with the form. This also includes the shedding of old habits and attachments.

All that has a beginning by necessity must have an end. In destruction, truly nothing is destroyed but the illusion of individuality. Thus the power of destruction associated with Lord Shiva has great purifying power, both on a more personal level when problems make us see reality more clearly, as on a more universal level. Destruction opens the path for a new creation of the universe, a new opportunity for the beauty and drama of universal illusion to unfold. As Satyam, Shivam, Sundaram or Truth, Goodness and Beauty, Shiva represents the most essential goodness.

While of course many hindu deities are associated with different paths of yoga and meditation, in Shiva the art of meditation takes its most absolute form. In meditation, not only mind is stopped, everything is dropped. In deep meditation or samadhi, even the object of the meditation (like a mantra) is transformed into its formless essence, which is the essence of everything and everyone. Thus Shiva stands for letting go of everything in the world of forms. The path of Lord Shiva is the path of the ascetic yogi.

Forms of Shiva

Shiva has many forms, which are visible in his Panchavaktra form with 5 heads, a combination of all Shiva energies : Aghora (resides in the creamation grounds), Ishana (most often appears as the shivalingam), Tat Purusha (meditating), Varna Deva (the eternal Shiva) and Saddyojat or Braddha Rudra (the old wrathful form). The last also forms the connection to the Rudraksha mala - a rosary made of the dried fruits of the Rudraksha tree.

Shiva NatarajAnother form is the Nataraj. Shiva Nataraj's dance represents both the destruction and the creation of the universe and reveals the cycles of death, birth and rebirth. His Dance of Bliss is for the welfare of the world. In the pose of Nataraj, the King of Dance is giving darshan to his beloved devotees within the "Hall of Consciousness", which is the heart of man. Under his feet, Shiva crushes the demon of ignorance called Apasmara Purusha, caused by forgetfulness. One hand is stretched across his chest and points towards the uplifted foot, indicating the release from earthly bondage of the devotee. The fire represents the final destruction of creation, but the dance of the Nataraj is also an act of creation, which arouses dormant energies and scatters the ashes of the universe in a pattern that will be the design of the ensuing creation.

Yet another manifestation of Lord Shiva is said to be Hanuman, the ultimate karma yogi, in never-ending selfless service to Ram. The fact that this is not really clear can be perfectly explained by the understanding that a true karma yogi will never take the credit for his acts, as they would otherwise not be entirely selfless. The ego would still get the credit. So, in order to respect Shiva as a true karma yogi, let us not pay too much attention to this manifestation.

Mahamrityunyaya ShivaThe Mahamrityunyaya form of Shiva is the great conqueror of death. The Mahamrityunjaya mantra is one of the two main mantras of the Vedas, next to the Gayatri mantra. It is chanted to remove death and disease. This form of Shiva also is the being of pure joy, referring to the unconditioned enjoyment of the perfectly peaceful mind. That is the true nature of the divine elixir that this Shiva offers his devotees in no less than four hands.

Another main form of Shiva is Ardhnarishwara, half Shiva, half Shakti. Also related to Shiva is Indra.

Attributes of Lord Shiva

Shiva's main attributes are :

* the trident that represents the three gunas
* the snakes that show he is beyond the power of death and poison and also stand for the Kundalini energy.
* the sound of Shiva's two-sided drum maintains the rhythm of the heartbeat and creates the sound AUM in the overtones.
* the vehicle of Shiva is the white bull called Nandi (the joyful).
* Shiva is often seated on a tiger skin or wears a tiger skin, with the tiger representing the mind.
* Shiva lives on Mount Kailasa in the Himalayas.

Relationships

Shiva & ParvatiThe power or energy of Shiva is Shakti, his spouse, of which Parvati is probably the most popular form. Shiva's first wife was Sati and his second wife was Parvati. They are also known by many other names, such as Uma, Gauri, Durga, Kali, Annapurna and Shakti. His sons are Ganesha and Kartikeya.

Shiva and Parvati are often shown as sitting in happy, intimate embrace. They also like to discuss philosophy. Shiva taught Parvati on Vedanta (transcendent knowledge), while Parvati tought him Sankhya (cosmological knowledge). Both were perfected yogis.

After their marriage, they left for mount Kailash and immersed themselves completely in a sexual intercourse so strong that the deity of desire Kama was reborn when their sweat mingles with his ashes. Their love was so intense that it shook the cosmos and frightened even the gods.

The balance between male and female can also be obtained in marriage, when both partners complement each other to form an ultimate oneness, which is the source of creation. When Shiva does his destructive Tandava dance, Parvati is said to complement him with a slow, creative step of her own, calming him with her soft glances. While Shiva shows a wilder nature that is both ascetic and erotic, Parvati stands for the middle path of the householder. As Shiva exulted in his romantic dalliance with her, the true mother in her longed for a child. Shiva resisted the life of a householder, but Parvati's desire for it was greater than his resistance. Hence first Ganesha was born, later also Kartikay.

In another aspect the Mother Divine is called Mahakali. In this aspect she is the warrior Mother who is fighting all the time against the hostile forces, against human imperfection, limitation, bondage and death. At the same time, she is all Compassion for the sincere seekers. In all Her divine aspects, the transcendental Mother is full of Compassion, but in this aspect she is undoubtedly the Mother of supernal Compassion. Mahakali has more Compassion than the others, for she does not allow anyone to cherish imperfection in the physical plane, the vital plane, the mental plane, or in any other plane. It is her infinite Compassion that frees men from the fetters of ignorance.

what a wonderful thing to say murugan, this is why i love her so much!

Thanks Mahakali and my favorite god is also Kali. I always see her as a destroyer of evil to spread peace in the world.

In the indian culture, Diwali is the main festival and Kali puja is very famous. Many people wear Rudraksha Mala on the day. Rudraksha is the symbol of Lord Shiva.

its Dewali again! Jai Kali!

and She, the true form of time, who by herself creates and destroys all, is personified as the pyre. There, after life, all mortals and their wishes, dreams and reflections come to their fruition, a pile of worthless ashes

http://www.shivashakti.com/kali.htm

Originally Posted by mahakali

its Dewali again! Jai Kali!

My diwali wishes to you mahakali