In the tales of the goddess Kali, and her slightly less fierce warrior incarnation Durga, the ‘demons’ she kills are the attachments that come from Ignorance and create Fear.
On the Yogi’s Path, each Deity teaches us about a different aspect of Consciousness. Durgamaa is my alter ego on Twitter because she has special significance in my life, so I especially loved receiving this video as a gift from a new friend. A great performance of traditional Indian dance…
This question I do not ponder anymore. I have lived at both ends of the financial spectrum… and the answer is Happiness. But I use a capital H for a reason…
Lakshmi, Goddess of Abundance, embodies the eternal union of spiritual and material wealth.
Everything is relative. In North America, poverty has a different context - different criteria and a different environment - from the context it has in India. For example, in North America the poor have to face the burden of a culture and society much more disconnected from Nature and sources of bodily and spiritual nourishment, as well as the energy of extreme fear of poverty that this creates in the people who observe their condition. In India, the nature of poverty differs at the material level greatly and there is much more connectivity, sense of community and connection with Nature and spiritual nourishment.
We could go further into the details… they would be endless, going in circles and never answering the question. Just as it is pointless (and negative energy) to compare one life to another, it also serves no purpose to compare poverty in one context to poverty in another. But it IS important to observe the differences… using Discernment, rather than judgement. Judgement comes from illusion and covers the True nature of the object of judgement with false qualities that come from our fears and ignorance. Discernment comes from the Heart, and allows us to discriminate one thing as being different from another, unveiling Truth. Discernment comes when we shed our samskaras (the ‘mud’ or ‘dirt’ on our lotus that comes from cultural programming) - through yoga, Ayurvedic ritucharya and meditation. Most importantly, Discernment frees up our energy to see WHY there is poverty in the world, why there is suffering… and DO something about it.
(written in response to a blog posting on UnitedYogis.com - read the full blog here)
