Experience Your Divinity by Connecting With God (Part 1)

The divine vision, the royal clothes, the weapons, the unique chariot (vaahan), the hand of blessings and the face of dignity, love and law – 𝐌𝐚𝐚 𝐒𝐡𝐚𝐤𝐭𝐢. Preparations for the festival of Navratri involve creating the sacred space for the idol, and laying seeds of wheat on banana leaves, above which a pot is placed from where droplets of water constantly fall. Garlands of flowers are placed in this pot. A diya or light is constantly lit. Prayers and fasting take place for the nine-day period. Looking at the spiritual meaning, these rituals speak volumes about how we can experience our divinity by connecting with God.

1 ● 𝗦𝗵𝗶𝘃 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗦𝗵𝗮𝗸𝘁𝗶 means God and Soul. Each deity is a kumari (unmarried) but called Ma (mother) and shown with weapons to kill the demons. When I the Soul (Shakti) connect to the non-physical Supreme Being or God (Shiv) and remember Him, I emerge – purity (quality of a kumari), love (quality of a mother) and power (weapons that kill the demons). Purity, love and power are the original qualities of every soul.

2 ● Shakti is with 8 arms which symbolizes the 𝟖 𝐩𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐨𝐮𝐥 >> 𝚙𝚘𝚠𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚘𝚕𝚎𝚛𝚊𝚝𝚎, 𝚙𝚘𝚠𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚘 𝚊𝚌𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚖𝚘𝚍𝚊𝚝𝚎, 𝚙𝚘𝚠𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚘 𝚏𝚊𝚌𝚎, 𝚙𝚘𝚠𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚘 𝚍𝚒𝚜𝚌𝚛𝚒𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚊𝚝𝚎, 𝚙𝚘𝚠𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚘 𝚓𝚞𝚍𝚐𝚎, 𝚙𝚘𝚠𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚘 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑𝚍𝚛𝚊𝚠, 𝚙𝚘𝚠𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚘 𝚙𝚊𝚌𝚔 𝚞𝚙 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚙𝚘𝚠𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚘 𝚌𝚘-𝚘𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚊𝚝𝚎.

3 ● Shakti holds a weapon in each of the 8 hands and conquers the demons. The weapons represent tools of wisdom. When we use these tools, we finish the demons of lust, anger, greed, attachment, ego, and many other negative habits and sanskars.

4 ● When we allow the waters of spiritual wisdom to fall from the mud pot (representing our intellect) on our thoughts (seeds), our 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗯𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘀 𝗰𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿, 𝗽𝗼𝘀𝗶𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗽𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗿𝗳𝘂𝗹. The seeds germinate which means our efforts bear fruit and we experience success in every sphere of life. The flowers symbolize the emergence of divine virtues inside us, through this process.

To be continued tomorrow...