OUR DIVINE MOTHER

     Your inner urge for the realization of the Truth is, indeed, Commendable. Glad to hear that Sri Yoganandaji of Los Angeles, California, has written to you to meditate on the Divine Mother and receive Her Blessings. As desired by you I shall try to explain to you the various processes involved in it, in my own way.

In the Holy Gita the Supreme Lord says:

                          I am the Father of the Universe, the

                          Mother, the Supporter, the Grandsire,

                          the Holy One to be known etc.,

                                                                        (Chapter.........17 )

     Really, God is our Supreme Mother and Father. He is above all forms and names. Yet the devotees call Him by various names dear to them. Some call Him as Mother, others as Father and still others as It or That etc. Truly speaking God has no particular Sex. But when we try to worship Him in endearing terms, we unconsciously import into Him the Mother or Father idea so dear to us.

     Where women are highly valued and respected, there God is placed in the position of the Supreme Mother. More than Father, Mother is near and dear to one and all. Mother is an embodiment of love, mercy, forgiveness and all other sweet and soothing qualities, which bring peace and solace to all struggling and suffering souls. However loving, the Father may, at times, be extremely stern; but Mother is always gentle and forgiving. Every living being knows instinctively the sweet love of the Mother. There is no need to teach any one this love, as it is a matter of common experience to one and all.

     Since all Creation emanates from God, He is endearingly called the Divine Mother. He is the One All-pervasive Infinite Existence-Consciousness-Bliss. Our Divine Mother being One with Him, must also be Infinite and All-pervasive. There is no place where She is not. All the worlds are filled with her Supreme Presence. Since Her Presence is of the nature of pure consciousness, She cannot be seen with our physical eyes, which are accustomed to dwell on the plane of duality and limitation.

     The one fact that we all can be certain of is, that we are all existing in Her Infinite All-pervasive Bosom. Just as a wave is resting on the Bosom of the wide ocean, so also are we through the Core of our being, resting on the Infinite Bosom of our Divine Mother. In order to realize Her Supreme Presence, we have to necessarily dive deep into the source of 'I' ness. Since our 'I' ness is at the back of all objective consciousness, if we wish to know the source of 'I' ness itself, we cannot seek the aid of objective methods; we have to necessarily fall back upon the 'I' ness itself. As our 'I' ness flows into itself more and more, sinks deeper and deeper, we begin to feel the Presence of the Divine Mother, till at last when we actually reach Its root, we directly come face to face with Her, as One Infinite Existence-Consciousness-Bliss. How to achieve this, is the real question?

     Since our 'I' ness is involved in the mind, if we take the mind to its source, the Heart, the 'I' ness also reaches It. The mind can reach the Heart by sinking into itself deeper and deeper. But the mind being under the spell of sense attractions, is continually flowing out into the external world and is in a state of total unrest. In order to extricate the mind from the grip of the externals, it has to be tutored to believe that the source of real happiness is within and not anywhere outside in the perishable objects of the world. When once the mind is convinced that the source of all happiness is within, it gives up its mad rush towards the externals and turns its attention inwards. As it sinks into itself, it steadily goes deeper and deeper towards its own source, the Heart. Now it comes into the awareness of the Divine Mother as one Infinite Ocean of All-pervasive Consciousness.

     So,if one with eyes closed, withdrawing his mind from the externals, tries to sink into himself, he will gradually come to feel the Blissful Presence of the Divine Mother within. This requires constant and steady practise; for it is extremely difficult for the mind to extricate itself from the attraction of the externals. Persistent Practise is the only way. Only after realizing the Presence of the Divine Mother within, we will be able to experience the same without also, because now our vision carries with it the Consciousness of the underlying unity.

     After realizing the Presence of the Divine Mother, we will be able to worship Her. There can be no worship without an offering. Do we really possess anything, that we can call our own, to be offered to Her in token of our devotion? When everything in the seen and unseen worlds belong to Her, what is it that we can offer to Her ? Is there any meaning if we offer Her objects that are of Her Own Creation ? Since we wish to worship Her we must necessarily offer Her something that we may call our own. All along we deluded ourselves into thinking that the coconuts, flowers, fruits etc., that we offered in devotional worship belongs to us. But now we have realized our error in calling these objects as our own, since our body, mind, intellect and our everything really belongs to Her. Let us honestly admit our folly and fall at Her Lotus Feet beseeching Her forgiveness and Mercy.

     Really, is there no object to be offered to Her in worship ? We need not despair, since there is one thing which continues to remain with us, the sense of our 'I' ness, our ego-sense. Even this ego-sense is Her own, for nothing can exist without Her. But the ego, in its ignorance feels that it is a separate, independent existence. If at all there is anything that we can offer to Her, it is only this ego-sense, that has been instrumental in creating a great gulf between us and our Divine Mother. There can be no greater offering than this, our ego-sense. All the external offerings must slowly and steadily lead us on to the Supreme offering of our Ego-sense at the Lotus Feet of our Divine Mother. If this essential fact is forgotten, all the external ceremonies and offerings lose their real significance; and instead of becoming uplifting influences, they become sources of perpetual trouble and turmoil over petty details and observances, that have no lasting value.

     Hence, all the external worship and offerings of man enable him gradually to get over the false sense of possession and finally lead him on to the Supreme Offering of his own Ego-sense to the Divine Mother. In total surrender we realize our oneness with Her. The Divine Mother in Her turn receives us into Her Infinite All-Blissful Bosom and showers on us the inestimable Blessing of Eternal One-ness with Her. What more do we require ? All glory to the Eternal Divine Mother and Her Eternal Child.

JAI SRI RAM