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The Goddess in India Lecture for The Joseph Campbell Series, St. Peter’s Episcopal church Rome, GA

The Goddess in India Lecture for The Joseph Campbell Series, St. Peter’s Episcopal church Rome, GA. 2/9/2005. Part 1: The Goddess in Myth and Image. Goddesses Represent Shakti. Shakti is the divine POWER of Nature Creation Life force Movement Mind Strength Destruction.

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The Goddess in India Lecture for The Joseph Campbell Series, St. Peter’s Episcopal church Rome, GA

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  1. The Goddess in IndiaLecture for The Joseph Campbell Series,St. Peter’s Episcopal churchRome, GA 2/9/2005

  2. Part 1: The Goddess in Myth and Image

  3. Goddesses Represent Shakti Shaktiis the divine POWER of Nature Creation Life force Movement Mind Strength Destruction Sundari beneath the Mango Tree.Madhya Pradesh or southern Uttar Pradesh, mid-9th century.

  4. Goddesses are Represented as • Images (murtis) • Sacred Sounds (mantras) • ‘Cosmo-grams’ (mandalas)

  5. Goddesses are Interpreted as • Multiple • The source of all things • The core of human nature • The means to spiritual freedom • Manifest in the Arts

  6. Historical Overview • Indus Valley Civilization (6500 B.C.E.-3000 B.C.E.) • Vedic Tradition (3000 B.C.E.- 500 B.C.E.) • Prthvi: Goddess of Earth • Vac: Goddess of Speech • Sarawati: River/Goddess of Arts • Pauranic Age (500 B.C.E.-500 C.E.) • Blossoming of Multiple Major Goddess Sects • Temple Traditions • Tantras (600 C.E.-1400 C.E.) • Sakta sadhana • Goddess as Consort, Teacher, Deity • Modern Period • Spread of Saktis through Ammachi and others

  7. Multiple Goddesses • Groups of goddesses, emanations of Devi • Seven Mothers (Saptamatrika) • Eight Lakshmis (Ashtalakshmi) • Eight Yoginis (protectors, classes of speech) • Nine Durgas (Navadurga) • Ten Great Wisdom Goddesses (Dasa Maha Vidya) • Sixteen Phases of the Lunar Cycle or digits of the moon (the Nitya Kala Devis) • 64 Yoginis (fierce guardians of the Goddess)

  8. Parvati..Chola period, ca 1100. Nagini. Bihar, ca. 100.

  9. Torso of a fertility goddess (yakshi), from the Great Stupa at SanchiCentral India, Madhya Pradesh Sunga period, 25 B.C.–A.D. 25Sandstone Mother Goddess Figurine Pakistan, Mohenjodaro, ca. 2,600 - 1,900 B.C. Devi as trimurti, contemporary Renuka, Maharashtra, painted stone Khond tribal image of Markama Orissa, spring 1997.

  10. Saumya (Benevolent) Forms: Consort (Radha), wife (Sita, Parvati), goddess (Saraswati, Bhudevi, Mahalakshmi) • The importance of marriage, auspiciousness • Mother Forms (Protective): Kali, Sitala, Mariyamman, Bhagavati, Durga • Earth Forms (Power and Purification): Rivers (Ganga), Shakti Pithas, Hills, Stones

  11. Some Images of the Divine Feminine in Hinduism • DURGA: Power and loveliness • SITA: Forlorn love and loyalty • RADHA: Delight and divine play • KALI: Destruction of evil • LAKSHMI: Wealth and abundance • SARASWATI: Arts, music, and knowledge • DEVI: Empress of the Universe

  12. Varahi Devi, Punjab Hills, Basohli, ca. 1660-70 Procession image of Parvati.Kapalisvara temple. Mylapur, Chennai

  13. Sita Heroine of the Ramayana epic Ideal wife Chaste, loyal, beautiful, longsuffering Rama, Sita, and Lakshmana in the Forest.India, Punjab Hills, Kangra, ca. 1790. Sita and Ram, North Indian temple images

  14. Radha • Beloved of Krishna • Cowherdess (gopi) • Represents the soul’s longing for union with the divine

  15. Kali • Power of time, death, destruction, and yogic transformation ChamundaNepal, 14th century.

  16. Lakshmi • Prosperity, abundance, love, wealth, goodness

  17. Saraswati • Arts, music, learning Gayatri Devi, contemporary Jain goddess Sarasvati. Gujarat, 1153.

  18. Devi • Queen of the Universe • Bestower of bliss

  19. Sakta Theology • One Supreme Goddess is source of all • Mahadevi • Both ‘male’ and ‘female’ and transcendent • Unity that contains multiplicity/plurality. She is the ‘one’ in all things. • She takes form as the multiple gods and goddesses. • The one Goddess is holographic and ‘tricosmic’ • Self-replicating on all levels • Universe, self, and means to liberations • Replicating ‘grid’ is the mandala. • Uses ‘illusion’ (maya) to veil Herself. • Uses grace (krpa) reveal herself.

  20. The Goddess and Spiritual Practice • Saktism: The Way of Power

  21. Worship of the Goddess in Hinduism Yaa devi sarvabhuteshu buddhirupena samsthitaa Namastasyai namastasyai namastasyai namo namaha To that goddess who dwells within all beings in the form of intellect, I bow again and again and again - Chandi Path (Devi Mahatmya), Ch. 5, v. 20 Chola period, 8th century C.E.Southern India,

  22. Tantric Yogini Images • The yogini is an adept who initiates and teaches • 10th-11th Century temple images • Body as site of sacred power • Esoteric knowledge • Male initiates

  23. Navaratri: Nine Nights Worship of the Goddess • Semiannual celebration, in the bright moon fortnight of Chaitra (March-April) and Ashwin (September-October) • Recitation of Chandipath and Lalita Sahasranama • Triple goddess: Durga/Lakshmi/Saraswati • Ashtami, Vijayadashami: Victory over evil

  24. Sri Vidya: The Supreme Wisdom • Tripurasundari, the Beauty of the Three Worlds • Rajarajeshwari, Empress of the Universe • Lalitamba: The Playful One • Lalita Sahasranama and Saundarya Lahari • Mantra, mudras, dhyana, puja to Sri Yantra • Identification with Devi, reversal of the process of creation within oneself

  25. Elements of Worship • Image (murti) • Sacred sound (mantra) • Deity as sound • Sacred image (mandala) • Guru • Identification of self (atman) with deity with guru with mantra with mandala. • “interweaving” (Tantra)

  26. Power of Transformation • Kundalini Shakti: coiled in muladhara chakra • Awakened through grace or spiritual practice • Transformation of physical and subtle bodies • Unification with Paramashiva in sahasrara chakra: jivanmukti, liberation in life

  27. Goddess in a Patriarchy? • Priests have access to esoteric ritual and theological knowledge • Priests manage spiritual power for the welfare of others • Priests represent and channel divine energies • Priests have spiritual, ritual, and social power

  28. Female Spiritual Role Models • Goddesses – usually Lakshmi, Parvati, sometimes Durga (Phoolan Devi, Indira Gandhi) • Heroines – Sita, Kannaki, wives • Saints (bhaktas) – Mirabai, Lalleshwari, Antal, Karaikkal Amma, unmarried and unconventional, extraordinary devotion to a male god/husband • Sannyasinis – Gargi, renunciants, intellectual • Gurus – Celibate, unmarried, charismatic • Yoginis – Married or unmarried, sexually active adepts and teachers, embodiments of Devi (goddess)

  29. Saint Karaikkal Ammaiyar Tamil Nadu, Chola period, 12th century. Sri Amritananda Mayi Ma Yogini with DiscipleWest Bengal, Murshidabad, 18th century. Shree Ma

  30. Broader Contributions of Goddess Worship • Regeneration of ecological awareness through pilgrimage and sacred geography • Sacralization of mundane existence through puja • Transform consciousness through Kundalini Yoga and meditation on Devi as mind • Knowledge of ultimate structures of the universe • Social benefits: gender egalitarianism, upliftment of both men and women

  31. Carrie’s Question: “Do we need a Goddess?” Hindu answer: God is just one half of God-dess and the latter contains the former.

  32. Conclusion • Carrie’s Question: • “Do we need a Goddess?” • Hindu Answer • God is one half of God-dess and the latter contains the former.

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