Who is Shakti
“Energy, ability, strength, effort, power, capability” is the primordial cosmic energy and represents the dynamic forces that are thought to move through the entire universe. Shakti is the personification of the Energy that is creative, sustaining, as well as destructive, sometimes referred to as auspicious source energy.
Whether it is the birth of matter or whether it is the birth of consciousness; whether the earth is born or heaven, everything is born through the mystery that lies hidden in the depths of Existence. Therefore I have said that those who have looked upon God as mother – as Durga or Amba – their understanding is much deeper than those who look upon Him as Father. If God exists anywhere, He is feminine, for man does not have the ability and the patience to give birth to such a vast Universe. That which gives birth to the myriads of stars and moons must have a womb, without which it is impossible.
Therefore the three extensions of the Jewish order – Judaism, Christianity and Islam – have given a very wrong concept of God to the world – that of God, the Father. This is a very dangerous concept for it gratifies the ego of man. Man looks upon himself as established in the form of God but this has no connection with the Reality of Existence. More befitting, more proper, is the concept of a Universal Mother. But this can only be understood when you understand the Feminine Mystery, when you understand Lao Tzu. Else it cannot be understood.
Have you ever seen the image of Kali? She is the mother, she is terrible! In one hand she holds a human skull! She is the mother – her eyes are filled with the ocean of tenderness. Down below – she stands on the chest of someone! Someone lies crushed under her feet! Why? Because that which creates, destroys also. Destruction is the other part of creation.
Those were wonderful people who conceived this image. They were people with great imagination who could visualise great possibilities. They have erected the image of Mother standing on a dead body! In her hands she holds the head of a dead man, dripping blood. Round her neck she wears a necklace of skulls but she has the eyes of the Mother, the Heart of the Mother from where the milk flows – and yet, the necklace of skulls!
Actually, the Annihilation of the Universe starts from the very place where creation starts. The circle completes at the same point. Therefore the mother gives birth but when she becomes terrible she can also give death. When a woman becomes terrible she becomes extremely dangerous. She has a great store of energy. The energy is the same whether it creates or destroys.
The imagination of those who conceived of the Mother as an embodiment both of creation and destruction was a very far-sighted imagination but together with this it was very deep and very near Truth.
Lao Tzu says, “That alone is the original source of the Earth and Heaven.” Everything takes birth therein. But remember everything is re-absorbed in the same place. That is the ultimate source also. It is altogether continuous. This Feminine Existence, this passive awaiting empty Existence is never divided. It is continuous – without any discontinuity whatsoever. As I said before, the lamp is lighted and extinguished; but darkness is continuous. Birth comes, life becomes visible; but death is ceaseless.
Mountains appear and disappear, the valley remains forever. When the mountains are there, the valley can be seen; when they are no more, the valley cannot be seen but its existence is ceaseless – altogether ceaseless. It does not cease when the mountains cease. Its power is indivisible, indestructible. No matter how much energy is withdrawn from this emptiness, it never decreases.
A man misses, a woman never misses. A man is enfeebled, a woman never.
Those whom we ordinarily call women, they too do not waste away as much as men. If a woman gains the full knowledge of her Feminine Mystery, she can remain established in an immaculate beauty even in old age. This is difficult for man. A man comes like a storm and goes away. If a woman attains to the height of her motherhood, she can remain beautiful till her last moment of existence.
Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh
Devi Puran
Ya Devi Sarva-bhuteshu, Shaktirupenn-samsthitaa,
Namastesy, Namestesy, Namestesy
Namho-namah
Divine Mother/ Shakti as primordial devi, rays out her attendants and shaktis as modifications of Moon, Sun and Fire. Universe/Pramatma/Supreme Soul has no place, no qualities, is without the ability to act. Only when united with Maa Bhagwati may ‘HE’ act. This is based on the subtle and practical idea of God/Paramatma as pure consciousness, witness of the triple manifestation of his Shakti. This Shakti, the very essence of the three gunas of Sattvas, Rajas, and Tamas, is the cause of all manifestation in the universe and as a human being.
The three shaktis, by blending and reblending, create all thingsMaa Bhagwati (Adi Parashakti) Adi Parashakti..is also commonly known and called as Maa Bhagwati, Maa Ambey, Mahashakti or Devi Maa. Adi Parashakti means “The Eternally Limitless Power”. That is, she is the Power beyond this universe. She is the active energy that both creates and dissolves the entire universe.
From the Devi Bhagavatam Purana
“I am Manifest, Unmanifest, and Transcendent Divinity; I am Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva, As well as Saraswati, Lakshmi and Parvati. I am the Earth, the Sun and the Stars, And I am also the Moon. I am all animals and birds, And I am the outcaste as well, and the thief. I am the low person of dreadful deeds, And the great person of excellent deeds. I am Female, I am Male, and I am Neuter.” How is She worshiped? The ancient sage Sri Adi Shankara best defines a Shakta’s ideal devotional aspiration: “Let my every word be a prayer to Thee, Every movement of my hands a ritual gesture to Thee, Every step I take a circumambulation of Thy image, Every morsel I eat a rite of sacrifice to Thee, Every time I lay down a prostration at Thy feet; Every act of personal pleasure and all else that I do, Let it all be a form of worshiping Thee.”