The Devi Shakti, or the feminine spirit, manifests itself in many forms. It encompasses and supplements qualities such as strength, transformation, anger, beauty, compassion, fear, and power. These qualities are reflected in each individual, in different events, and in this universe as a whole. On the path of Yoga, this means the highest peak or the highest level of consciousness.
Shailaputri
The first name of Goddess Durga is Shailaputri. Shaila means the peak.
Why is Goddess Durga called as the daughter of the peak? The Reason behind Goddess Durga being called daughter of the peak as per scriptures
We usually think this means that the Goddess is the daughter of Mount Kailasa, but this is a very basic or lower level of understanding. On the path of Yoga, this means the highest peak or the highest level of consciousness. On the path of Yoga, this means the highest peak or the highest level of consciousness.
This is very interesting - when the energy is at its peak, only then can you notice and recognize it. Only then can you understand and experience the pure consciousness - the Devi. Before it reaches its peak you cannot understand it, because it is born out of the peak.
Here the peak is the peak of any experience, or any intense feeling. If you are 100% angry, then just see how that anger consumes your whole body. Often we do not express our anger fully. Just see, when you are 100% in anger, when you become that anger so fully, you will also come out of it very soon. When you are 100% in anything that consumes your whole being, that is when Goddess Durga is really born.
When you are totally 100% consumed in anger, then you will experience such a surge of energy and at the same time you will instantly find yourself coming out of that anger also.
Have you seen how children behave? Whatever they do, they do it 100%. If they are angry, they are angry 100% in that moment and then immediately they also drop that anger after just a few minutes. They do not get tired even if they get angry. But as an adult if you get angry, then it tires you. Why is it so? It is because you do not express your anger 100%. Now, this does not mean that you go around being angry all the time. Then you will also have to face the trouble that anger brings along.
>When you reach the peak of any experience or feeling, you experience the emergence of the Divine consciousness, because it always surges from that peak. This is the hidden meaning behind Shailaputri.
When you reach the peak of any experience or feeling, you experience the emergence of the Divine consciousness, because it always surges from that peak
Brahmacharini
The second name of the Mother Divine is Brahmacharini.
That which has no end, no shore nor beginning; That which is omnipresent and beyond which there is nothing; It is the ultimate and all-pervading.
If you close your eyes and meditate, then you will realize that when your energy rises to the peak, it becomes one with the Mother Divine; it gets soaked in the energy of the Mother Divine. The Divine is within you, and not somewhere outside.
You cannot say, “I know it”, because it is infinite. The moment you know it, it becomes finite. Nor can you say “I do not know it”, because it is definitely there. How can you not know? Can you say “I do not know my own hand”? Your hand is right there. It is there hence you know It, and It is infinite so you do not know It. Both of these realizations go hand in hand. Are you confused enough? If someone asks you, “Do you know the Mother Divine”, you can only keep quiet, because if you say, “I do not know”, then that is not true, and if I say, “I know”, then you are limiting that ‘knowing’ through words and the limited intellect. It is infinity, and Infinity cannot be comprehended or contained.
That which is omnipresent and beyond which there is nothing; It is the ultimate and all-pervading
Chandraghanta
What does the word Chandraghanta mean?
Chandra (Moon) means the mind. The mind keeps having its ups and downs. Usually, we fight with our own mind. Negative thoughts such as jealousy, hatred, etc. come in the mind and one starts struggling to get rid of them, but it does not happen. You cannot get rid of your mind. Running away from your mind does not help. The mind is like your shadow.
Chandra also signifies the various feelings or shades of emotions and thoughts (similar to the different phases of the waxing and waning moon).
We become dejected and restless the moment our mind is gripped by any negative feeling. We try to wash away all these things from our mind by doing various techniques, but it works only for a short time. After a while, the mind comes back to square one! Do not struggle to get rid of that.
Ghanta means a bell from which only one kind of sound arises. Do you ever hear multiple sounds from a bell? No matter how you play it, only one kind of sound comes from the bell. In the same way, when the mind that is scattered and entangled in different thoughts and emotions gets consolidated and established at one point (in the Divine), then it gives rise to the Divine energy within us which becomes one-pointed and rises upwards. This is what is meant by Chandraghanta. Her name literally means (The bell of the moon).
It means that state where the scattered mind becomes steady and consolidated towards one thing only. Do not run away from the mind, for the mind is also a form and manifestation of the Mother Divine. The Mother Divine is present even as sorrow, misery, hunger, and peace as well. The essence here is to take everything together - whether harmonious or unpleasant - as a collective whole, bringing all thoughts, emotions and sounds as one Naad (sound) like the sound a bell or a large gong makes. This is the meaning behind the Devi’s name Chandraghanta, and the third day of Navratri is celebrated to honour this form of the Mother Divine.
Do not run away from the mind, for the mind is also a form and manifestation of the Mother Divine
Art of Living
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