WHAT IS THE MYSTERY OF MOTHER KALI?DAS MAHAVIDYAS-02

WHO IS SHE ?

09 FACTS;-

1-MA Kali is the Hindu goddess (or Devi) of death, time, and doomsday and is often associated with root chakra and violence but is also considered a strong mother-figure and symbolic of motherly-love. 2-These manifestations of MA Kali are not “witches” as some are misguided .SHE IS THE ORIGINATOR OF The whole universe AS WELL AS THE DESTROYER ALSO..SHE IS KAMAKSHI AS WELL AS KALI.. ALSO......SHE BLESS THIS UNIVERSE AS WELL AS WARN ALSO( TO MAINTAIN EQUILIBRIUM . 3-she represents literal doorways to the highest consciousness, the oneness of Brahma, knowledge of self, the goal of the great Chakra Pujas as described in the Mahanirvana Tantra and performed with ma Kali and her magnificent Goddess clusters.

4-Shiva spoke to Parvati as follows, ““O My Beloved… in other systems a Yogi cannot be a person of sensual enjoyment (bhogi) nor can such a person of sensual enjoyment be a Yogi, but in the Kaula Tradition, both Yoga and Bhoga have a joyful union”. Similar or identical quotes are found in other texts within tantric THESE literature.

LINES POINTS OUT THAT A SPOUSE IS ALLOWED TO JOIN TANTRA MARG & GET LIBERATION . 5-Used properly, that will benefit humanity but if misused, ego and illusion may prevail and become harmful to the user or others. As we learn to control and contain the descending Shakti incrementally and use the grace of discrimination (viveka) to protect us from illusion, more blessing ensue.

6-IN OTHER CASE ,WHO ARE SEARCHING GOPIS,THEIR CONFRONTATION WITH MA BHADRAKALI IS PREDECIDED. 7-A fundamental principle of spiritual life is that we do no harm. Beyond that, Tantra aspires to break through the barriers in human consciousness that separate human illusion from divine vision. In this way, the tantric reaches a state of seeing the oneness in every aspect of nature.

8-The original source alone exists, in and through all that exists. The Yogi and Tantric have a shared goal. To turn the search light of consciousness back to its very source. Oneness pervades the source of the light from which all creation has come.

9-Like one universal hologram (a three-dimensional image), that same oneness is present in the light beams that project to form all creation as well as the background upon which the beams terminate. Thus all aspects of the manifested universe are to be seen as one with the yet fully un-manifested source.

WHAT IS THE DESCRIPTION OF HER 64 YOGINIS;--

11 FACTS;--

1-Sixty and four are the instruments of enjoyments that tempt the individual soul (jiva). Sixty and four are the divisions (kalas) within jiva; Sixty and four are the chambers of jiva’s chakras; Sixty and four; where Shiva-Shakti reside'.

2-An examination of the ancient Tantric tradition reveals a particular sanctity assigned to the number eight. The eight mother faculties (tatvas) of the manifested universe, the eight directions with four cardinal and four intermediate points (digbandahs), the eight miraculous yogic powers (ashta siddhis), eight “limbs” of Yoga (ashtanga), eight forms of the Divine Mother (ashta matrikas) are just a few examples.

3-The square of eight, or sixty-four, occupies an even more profound position in the field of Tantra which, from the point of view of the Kaula Marg practitioner, identifies both the sixty-four Yoginis and the sixty-four tantric kriyas.

4-Khechari Yantra is rich with mystic symbolism. Its very name, transcribed from the mystical mudra of tongues tip, suggests its esoteric (belonging to the select few) importance as unbounded space itself.

(Kha=space)The sacred geometry has often been associated with the root chakra. Within the Khechari Yantra. Triangle is shrouded within, and as a portion of, the hexagram star.

5-The sixty-four practical techniques (kriyas) of trance and transformation correspond with the Yogini energies within nature, all of which interact together to produce spiritual growth when the appropriate catalyst is available. Their purpose is to pull souls out of illusion.

6- This is precisely the significance of both the sixty-four hexagrams seen in the the sixty-four yoginis of the Shakti Tantric tradition. The Tantric literature itself is said to be composed of sixty-four spiritual books, also referred to as Tantras. In this sense, the word tantra conveys the meaning of “canonical manuscripts”.

7-The sixty-four sacred texts of Kaula Tantra are enumerated in classical texts such as the Vamakeshvara-tantra. Similar references in classical literature includes the sixty-four yogic induced paranormal powers (siddhis).

8-Many of the siddha techniques are double edged swords. The sixty-four divisions of the arts (kalas), and, within the ancient SHaiva Siddhanta tradition, the sixty-four saints (nayanars). There are also sixty-four forms of Bhairava, sixty-four tantric mudras, as well as sixty-four siddhas, beyond even the 18 Maha Siddhas, which are more commonly celebrated, and so on.

9 -This sacred number is intimately associated with power and life itself. In the Indian classic, Mahabharata, Lord Krishna fired sixty-four arrows and in a separate skirmish, Bhishma’s armor was pierced sixty-four times. The Aitereya Brahmana speaks of the sixty-fourth and final step into the heavenly world.

10-Most importantly, the sixty-four Yoginis are understood within Kaula Marg tradition of Kriya Tantra Yoga as fundamental emanations of Maha Kali. Each of them rules over different aspects of creation, has a very distinct personality, and offers a doorway into undifferentiated awareness.

11- Thus, it is eventually understood that the number sixty-four has a profound association with the classical path of Kriya Tantra Yoga, the tantric literature of India, and the mystical experiences of sunyata and other forms of Samadhi. 33 FACTS ABOUT MA KALI;--- 1. A TIME magazine article of October 27, 1947, used MA Kali as a symbol and metaphor for the human suffering in British India during its partition that year. Swami Vivekananda wrote his favorite poem Kali the Mother in 1898. ...... Title has been given since some of these facts may be shocking for someone, soothing for devotees and interesting for others. Some of these facts may be known to someone but unknown also. 2. Kali is portrayed mostly in two forms: the popular four-armed form and the ten-armed Mahakali form. In both of her forms, she is described as being black in color but is most often depicted as blue in popular Indian art. Her eyes are described as red with intoxication, and in absolute rage, her hair is shown disheveled, small fangs sometimes protrude out of her mouth, and her tongue is lolling. She is often shown naked or just wearing a skirt made of human arms and a garland of human heads. She is also accompanied by serpents and a jackal while standing on a seemingly dead Shiva, usually right foot forward to symbolize the more popular Dakshinamarga or right-handed path, as opposed to the more infamous and transgressive Vamamarga or left-handed path.to other. 3. In the ten-armed form of Mahakali she is depicted as shining like a blue stone. She has ten faces and ten feet and three eyes. She has ornaments decked on all her limbs. There is no association with Shiva. 4. The Kalika Purana describes MA KALI as possessing a soothing dark complexion, as perfectly beautiful, riding a lion, four-armed, holding a sword and blue lotuses, her hair unrestrained, body firm and youthful. 5. In spite of her seemingly terrible form, Kali Ma is often considered the kindest and most loving of all the Hindu goddesses, as she is regarded by her devotees as the Mother of the whole Universe. And because of her terrible form, she is also often seen as a great protector. 6-When the Bengali saint Ramakrishna once asked a devotee why one would prefer to worship Mother over him, this devotee rhetorically replied, "Maharaj, when they are in trouble your devotees come running to you. But, where do you run when you are in trouble?"

7-According to Ramakrishna, darkness is the Ultimate Mother(MA KALI);- ' My Mother is the principle of consciousness. She is Akhanda Satchidananda; indivisible Reality, Awareness, and Bliss. The night sky between the stars is perfectly black. The waters of the ocean depths are the same; The infinite is always mysteriously dark. This inebriating darkness is my beloved MA Kali.' 8. Kali's most common four armed iconographic image shows each hand carrying variously a sword, a trishul (trident), a severed head and a bowl or skull-cup (kapala) catching the blood of the severed head. Two of these hands (usually the left) are holding a sword and a severed head.

9-The Sword signifies Divine Knowledge and the Human Head signifies human Ego which must be slain by Divine Knowledge in order to attain Moksha. The other two hands (usually the right) are in the abhaya (fearlessness) and varada (blessing) mudras, which means her initiated devotees (or anyone worshipping her with a true heart) will be saved as she will guide them here and in the hereafter. 10- She has a garland consisting of human heads, variously enumerated at 64 or 50 + 14 , which represents 50 Varnamala (the Garland of letters of the Sanskrit alphabet, Devanagari) & 14 MAHESHWAR SUTRA (see chart) Hindus believe Sanskrit is a language of dynamism, and each of these letters represents a form of energy, or 64 yoginis. Therefore she is generally seen as the mother of language, and all mantras. 11-She is often depicted naked which symbolizes her being beyond the covering of Maya since she is pure (nirguna) being-consciousness-bliss and far above prakriti. She is shown as very dark as she is brahman in its supreme unmanifest state.

12-She has no permanent qualities—she will continue to exist even when the universe ends. It is therefore believed that the concepts of color, light, good, bad do not apply to her—she is the pure, un-manifested energy, the Adi-shakti. 13--The Tantric interpretation of MA Kali standing on top of her husband is as follows:-

A-The Shiv tattava (Divine Consciousness as Shiva) is inactive, while the Shakti tattava (Divine Energy as Kali) is active.

B-Shiva and Kali represent Brahman, the Absolute pure consciousness which is beyond all names, forms and activities. Kali, on the other hand, represents the potential (and manifested) energy responsible for all names, forms and activities.

C-She is his Shakti, or creative power, and is seen as the substance behind the entire content of all consciousness. She can never exist apart from Shiva or act independently of him, just as Shiva remains a mere corpse without Kali i.e., Shakti, all the matter/energy of the universe, is not distinct from Shiva, or Brahman, but is rather the dynamic power of Brahman.

D-Hence, Kali is Para Brahman in the feminine and dynamic aspect while Shiva is the male aspect and static. She stands as the absolute basis for all life, energy and beneath her feet lies, Shiva, a metaphor for mass, which cannot retain its form without energy. 14. If the Kali steps out with the left foot and holds the sword in her right hand, she is the terrible form of Mother, the Smashan Kali of the cremation ground. She is worshiped by tantrics, the followers of Tantra, who believe that one's spiritual discipline practiced in a smashan (cremation ground) brings success quickly. Sharda Devi, the consort of Ramakrishna Paramhansa, worshipped Smashan Kali at Dakshineshwar. 15-Another legend depicts the infant Shiva calming Kali. In this similar story, Kali has defeated her enemies on the battlefield and begun to dance out of control, drunk on the blood of the slain. To calm her down and to protect the stability of the world, Shiva is sent to the battlefield, as an infant, crying aloud. Seeing the child's distress, MA Kali ceases dancing to care for the helpless infant. She picks him up, kisses his head, and proceeds to breast feed the infant Shiva. This legend is notable because it shows MA Kali in her benevolent, maternal aspect, with which she is not usually identified. 16. Mahakali translated as Great Kali, is sometimes considered as a greater form of Kali, identified with the Ultimate reality of Brahman. It can also be used as an honorific of the Goddess Kali, signifying her greatness by the prefix "Mahā-". Mahakali, in Sanskrit, is etymologically the feminized variant of Mahakala or Great Time (which is interpreted also as Death), an epithet of the God Shiva in Hinduism.

17-Mahakali is the presiding Goddess of the first episode of the Devi Mahatmya. Here she is depicted as Devi in her universal form as Shakti. Here Devi serves as the agent who allows the cosmic order to be restored. 18. MA Kali is depicted in the Mahakali form as having ten heads, ten arms, and ten legs. Each of her ten hands is carrying a various implement which vary in different accounts, but each of these represent the power of one of the Devas or Hindu Gods and are often the identifying weapon or ritual item of a given Deva. The implication is that Mahakali subsumes and is responsible for the powers that these deities possess and this is in line with the interpretation that Mahakali is identical with Brahman.

19-HER TEN HEADS POINTS OUT THAT SHE HERSELF IS DAS MAHAVIDHYA ,,,,,,,,,,,,,THE CREATOR & DESTROYER OF UNIVERSE.....While not displaying ten heads, an "ekamukhi" or one headed image may be displayed with ten arms, signifying the same concept: the powers of the various Gods come only through Her grace. 20. If Kali steps on Shiva with her right foot and holds the sword in her left hand, she is considered to be Dakshina Kali. The Dakshina Kali Temple has important religious associations with the Jagannath Temple and it is believed that Daksinakali is the guardian of the kitchen of the Lord Jagannath Temple. Puranic tradition says that in Puri, Lord Jagannath is regarded as Daksinakalika. Goddess Dakshinakali plays an important role in the 'Niti' of Saptapuri Amavasya.

21-MA DAKSINAKALI IS A WARNING FORM TO CREATION;--

02 POINTS;- 1-One South Indian tradition tells of a dance contest between Shiva and Kali. After defeating the two demons Sumbha and Nisumbha, Kali takes up residence in the forest of Thiruvalankadu or Thiruvalangadu. She terrorizes the surrounding area with her fierce, disruptive nature.

2-One of Shiva's devotees becomes distracted while performing austerities, and asks Shiva to rid the forest of the destructive goddess. When Shiva arrives, Kali threatens him, claiming the territory as her own. Shiva challenges Kali to a dance contest; both of them dance and Kali matches Shiva in every step that he takes until Shiva takes the "Urdhvatandava" step, by vertically raising his right leg. Kali refuses to perform this step, which would not befit her as a woman, and became pacified. 22-A-In her most famous pose as Daksinakali, popular legends say that Kali, becoming drunk on the blood of her victims on the battlefield, dances with destructive frenzy. She is about to destroy the whole universe when, urged by all the gods, Shiva lies in her way to stop her. In her fury, she fails to see the body of Shiva lying amongst the corpses on the battlefield and steps upon his chest.Realizing Shiva lies beneath her feet, her anger is pacified and she calms her fury.

22-B-Though not included in any of the puranas, popular legends state that MA Kali was ashamed at the prospect of keeping her husband beneath her feet and thus stuck her tongue out in shame. The Devi-BhagavataPurana which goes into great depths about the goddess MA Kali, reveals the tongue's actual symbolism. 23-MA Kali comes from the Sanskrit root word Kal which means time. There is nothing that escapes the all-consuming march of time. Tibetan Buddhism Her counterpart is male with the name Kala. 24-It is partly correct to sayMA Kali is a goddess of death but She brings the death of the ego as the illusory self-centered view of reality. Nowhere in the Hindu stories is She seen killing anything but demons nor is She associated specifically with the process of human dying like the Hindu god Yama (who really is the god of death). 25-It is true that both MA Kali and Shiva are said to inhabit cremation grounds and devotees often go to these places to meditate. This is not to worship death but rather it is to overcome the I-am-the-body idea by reinforcing the awareness that the body is a temporary condition.

26-Shiva and Kali are said to inhabit these places because it is our attachment to the body that gives rise to the ego. Shiva and Kali grant liberation by removing the illusion of the ego. Thus we are the eternal I AM and not the body. This is underscored by the scene of the cremation grounds. 27-Of all the forms of Devi, She is the most compassionate because She provides moksha or liberation to Her children. She is the counterpart of Shiva the destroyer. They are the destroyers of unreality. The ego sees Mother Kali and trembles with fear because the ego sees in Her its own eventual demise.

28-A person who is attached to his or her ego will not be receptive to Mother Kali and she will appear in a fearsome 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. 29-Ma Kali wears a garland of skulls and a skirt of dismembered arms because the ego arises out of identification with the body. In truth we are beings of spirit and not flesh. So liberation can only proceed when our attachment to the body ends. Thus the garland and skirt are trophies worn by Her to symbolize having liberated Her children from attachment to the limited body. She holds a sword and a freshly severed head dripping blood. 30--As the story goes, this represents a great battle in which she destroyed the demon Raktabija. Her black skin represents the womb of the quantum unmanifest from which all of creation arises and into which all of creation will eventually dissolve.

31-She is depicted as standing on Shiva who lays beneath Her with white skin (in contrast to Her black or sometimes dark blue skin). He has a blissful detached look. Shiva represents pure formless awareness Sat-Chit-Ananda (being-consciousness-bliss) while She represents "form" eternally supported by the substratum of pure awareness. 32-By not understanding the story behind Mother Kali it is easy to misinterpret Her iconography. Attaching the idea of sexuality to Mother Kali has no basis in Her at all. There is nothing that associates Her with sexuality in the Hindu stories. In fact it is just the opposite. She is one of the few Goddesses who is celibate practicing austerity and renunciation! 33-The notion that She is the goddess of death, sex and violence is simply utter nonsense. When we study the life of the great saint Ramakrishna ( famous MA Kali worshippers), or listen to the traditional Hindu devotional songs to Kali, there is no hint of this death-sex-violence notion. BE A TRUTH SEEKER... OR FACE HER ......

......SHIVOHAM.......