Ana (Chaldean) The invisible heaven; the astral light, the heavenly mother of the terrestrial sea. One of the triad comprising the goddesses Ana, Belita, and Damkina. As mother of the sea, a likely origin of the Christian symbology of the Virgin Mary standing on the crescent moon and of her connection with the sea. "Anna (the name of the Mother of the Virgin Mary) . . . is derived from the Chaldean Ana" (SD 1:91).

In the Hindu pantheon a cognate is Annapurna (a name of Devi-Durga, wife of Siva), meaning "full of food" -- the fecund mother, the "Astral Light in one of its multitudinous aspects" (SD 1:92).

See also ANAITIS, MARY

(See also: Ana, Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary, Occultism, Occultism Dictionary)

Saci (-devi)

The mother of Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and wife of Jagannatha Mishra of Navadvipa.

(See also: Saci, Bhakti, Bhakti Yoga, Bhakti Dictionary, Body Mind and Soul)

Shakti: (Sanskrit) "Power, energy," from the root shak, "to be able."

The active power or manifest energy of Siva that pervades all of existence. Its most refined aspect is Parashakti, or Satchidananda, the pure consciousness and primal substratum of all form.

This pristine, divine energy unfolds as ic�ha shakti (the power of desire, will, love), kriya shakti (the power of action) and jnana shakti (the power of wisdom, knowing), represented as the three prongs of Siva's trishula, or trident. From these arise the five powers of revealment, concealment, dissolution, preservation and creation.

In Saiva Siddhanta, Siva is All, and His divine energy, Shakti, is inseparable from Him. This unity is symbolized in the image of Ardhanarishvara, "half-female God." In popular, village Hinduism, the unity of Siva and Shakti is replaced with the concept of Siva and Shakti as separate entities. Shakti is represented as female, and Siva as male. In Hindu temples, art and mythology, they are everywhere seen as the divine couple. This depiction has its source in the folk-narrative sections of the Puranas, where it is given elaborate expression. Shakti is personified in many forms as the consorts of the Gods. For example, the Goddesses Parvati, Lakshmi and Sarasvati are the respective mythological consorts of Siva, Vishnu and Brahma. Philosophically, however, the caution is always made that God and God's energy are One, and the metaphor of the inseparable divine couple serves only to illustrate this Oneness.

Within the Shakta religion, the worship of the Goddess is paramount, in Her many fierce and benign forms. Shakti is the Divine Mother of manifest creation, visualized as a female form, and Siva is specifically the Unmanifest Absolute. The fierce or black (asita) forms of the Goddess include Kali, Durga, Chandi, Chamundi, Bhadrakali and Bhairavi. The benign or white (sita) forms include Uma, Gauri, Ambika, Parvati, Maheshvari, Lalita and Annapurna. As Rajarajeshvari ("divine queen of kings"). She is the presiding Deity of the Sri Chakra yantra. She is also worshiped as the ten Mahavidyas, manifestations of the highest knowledge - Kali, Tara, Shodashi, Bhuvaneshvari, Chinnamasta, Bhairavi, Dhumavati, Bagata, Matangi and Kamala. While some Shaktas view these as individual beings, most revere them as manifestations of the singular Devi. There are also numerous minor Goddess forms, in the category of gramadevata ("village Deity"). These include Pitari, "snake-catcher" (usually represented by a simple stone), and Mariyamman, "smallpox Goddess."

In the yoga mysticism of all traditions, divine energy, shakti, is experienced within the human body in three aspects:

1)    the feminine force, ida shakti,

2)    the masculine force, pingala shakti, and

3)    the pure androgynous force, kundalini shakti, that flows through the sushumna nadi.

Shakti is most easily experienced by devotees as the sublime, bliss-inspiring energy that emanates from a holy person or sanctified Hindu temple.

See: Amman, Ardhanarishvara, Goddess, Parashakti, Shaktism.

(See also: Shakti, Hinduism, Body Mind and Soul)

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Durga (Sanskrit) The inaccessible; the sakti or so-called feminine potency or powers of a spiritual being, hence often used as a name of the consort of Siva.

See also DEVI-DURGA

(See also: Durga, Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary, Occultism, Occultism Dictionary)

Goddess: Female representation or manifestation of Divinity; Shakti or Devi.

Goddess can refer to a female perception or depiction of a causal-plane being (Mahadeva) in its natural state, which is genderless, or it can refer to an astral-plane being residing in a female astral body.

To show the Divine's transcendence of sexuality, sometimes God is shown as having qualities of both sexes, e.g., Ardhanarishvara, "Half-woman God;" or Lord Nataraja, who wears a feminine earring in one ear and a masculine one in the other.

(See also: Goddess, Hinduism, Body Mind and Soul)

Kaya-vyuha - direct expansions. All the four types types of Srimati Radhika’s sakhis are nitya-siddha, and they are direct expansions (kaya-vyuha) of Srimati Radhika’s own svarupa.

She eternally manifests eight bhavas as the eight principle sakhis and Her four different types of service moods as the four different types of sakhis - namely, priya-sakhis, narma-sakhis, prana-sakhis, and parama-prestha sakhis. All these sakhis are kaya-vyuha direct expansions, whereas the sadhana-siddha gopis are not expansions.

The queens in Dvaraka fall into a different category of expansion known as vaibhava-prakasa, and the Laksmis in Vaikuntha are vaibhava-vilasa expansions of Srimati Radharani. The wives of Vamana and other avataras in Devaloka are also expansions. Durga-devi in this world is a material expansion.

(See also: Kaya-vyuha, Bhakti, Bhakti Yoga, Bhakti Dictionary, Body Mind and Soul)

Dharani-devi

The presiding goddess of the earth. Also called Bhumi.

(See also: Dharani-devi, Bhakti, Bhakti Yoga, Bhakti Dictionary, Body Mind and Soul)

Purana:

Purana (Puraana). Any of a number of collections of ancient legends and lore embodying the principles of the universal, eternal religion and ethics. There are 18 Puranas, the most famous being the Mahabhagavatham and the Devi Bhagavatham.

(See also: Purana, Hinduism, Hinduism Dictionary, Sanskrit Dictionary, Body Mind and Soul)

Swaaha Devi:

Swaaha Devi (Svaahaa Dhevee). The deity who is invoked by the word swaaha, the wife of Agni, the God of Fire. She is the power of digestion.

(See also: Swaaha Devi, Hinduism, Hinduism Dictionary, Sanskrit Dictionary, Body Mind and Soul)

Tulasi - a sacred plant whose leaves and blossoms are used by Vaisnavas in the worship of Lord Krsna; a partial expansion of Vrnda-devi.

(See also: Tulasi, Bhakti, Bhakti Yoga, Bhakti Dictionary, Body Mind and Soul)

Shaktism: Hindu tradition which focuses on the creative power (shakti) of the Goddess Devi, wife of Shiva.

 (See also: Shaktism, Eastern Philosophy, Body Mind and Soul)

A beautiful assembly of poems and prayers on the theme of LOVE and TRANSCENDENCE.

�We will read them during the transit tomorrow on the most sacred places on the Isle of Wight.
We invite you to pray for World peace and love during the Transit of Venus at 11am GMT on 8th June 2004 for fifteen minutes. This will be the biggest global mass prayer meeting in the history of the World. You will find some multifaith prayers and poems, and a list of goddess names for your use on this page. Or make up your own prayer in accordance with your own faith or lack thereof. Or, do what thou wilt.�

Read more here: » Venus Transit: Multifaith prayers and poems, and a list of goddess names

MOTHER KALI

The Destroyer of Demoniac Attributes

It is unfortunate that Devi is ignorantly understood by many as a mere blood-thirsty Hindu Goddess. No! Devi is not a vicious demoness nor is She the property of the Hindus alone. Devi does not belong to any religion. Devi is that conscious power of God. The words Devi, Shakti, etc., and the ideas of different forms connected with these names are concessions granted by the sages due to the limitations of the human intellect; they are by no means the ultimate definitions of Shakti.

From " Hindu Fasts & Festivals " by Sri Swami Sivananda.

Read more here: » Kali: The Hindu Godess Mother Kali

Buddha was born approximately 560 B.C. in Northern India. Through his life, Buddha gave the concept of Nirvana unprecedented exposure to a large portion of the Eastern world with his achievement of and subsequent teachings about the state of enlightenment. The attainment of Buddhahood or Nirvana is a central tenet of Buddhist teachings. Within the realm of Christianity, the historical Christ echoed the same teaching, though in a veiled form, by saying that the Kingdom of Heaven is within us.

Read more here: » Buddha: The Life of Gautama Buddha

Sarada Devi, Ramakrishna Paramhansa's spouse and spiritual companion, showered endless love on all. Ramakrishna called her "My Shakti" and worshipped her as the Divine Mother. He said that she was the incarnation of Goddess Saraswati.

Sarada Devi's mission was to uplift all without bias of caste or religion. Among her devotees was Amzad, who went to jail for thieving. When Amzad came to see her after a long stint in jail, the Mother simply said: "Amzad, I have been really worried."

(See also: Sarada Devi, Spiritual Guidance, God and Religion, Peace on Earth, Peace of Mind, Love and Happiness, Life and Beyond, Body Mind and Soul)

Read more here: » Sarada Devi: Ma Sarada Devi, Universal Mother  

The Lalitasahasranama enumerates the one thousand names of Devi as Lalita-parameshwari . When Manmata , the god of love, was reduced to ashes by Shiva’s opening his third eye, the ashes were collected by Chitrakarman, one of Shiva’s attendants, who used it for drawing the figure of a man.

When Shiva glanced at the figure, it leaped into life at once. The artist advised the person so created to pray to Shiva, by reciting the Sata-Rudriya. Pleased at his devotion, Shiva blessed him with the overlordship of the world for 60,000 years. On hearing this, Brahma cried in dismay, '' Bhand, Bhand ’’ and so the person came to have the name Bhanda.

(See also: Devi Lalita, God and Religion, Peace on Earth, Peace of Mind, Love and Happiness, Life and Beyond, Body Mind and Soul)

Read more here: » Devi Lalita: One Thousand Names Of Devi Lalita  

In Hindu devotional practice, three kinds of external symbols are used for worship of the Supreme Being, who is actually formless and nameless. The most external is that of divine images cast in human form, with paraphernalia symbolising supra-human divinity.

The most subtle is that of the mantras or divine names with certain sounds. A mantra is divine power clothed in sound. Between these two come the yantras or chakras , representing the deity in geometrical diagrams. Worshippers of Shakti consider the Srichakra the holiest and most significant of divine symbols.

(See also: Srichakra, God and Religion, Peace on Earth, Peace of Mind, Love and Happiness, Life and Beyond, Body Mind and Soul)

Read more here: » Srichakra: Role Of Srichakra In Devi Worship  

Map over all archives. See also: Sacred Space, Sacred Places, Power Places, Enlightenment, Spiritual Growth, Meaning of Dreams, Yoga, Mayan Calendar, 2012, Spiritual Awakening, Lucid Dreaming, Chakra and Consciousness.

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