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HINDU - DEVI - DIVINE MOTHER
THE GODDESSES OF STRENGTH AND POWER
Today hundreds of millions of Hindu men and women
conduct regular pujas to the deity known as Devi, or sometimes
simply the Goddess. For some she is their primary deity, while for
others she is part of a greater pantheon. Embodying the feminine
principle, she has innumerable aspects and manifestations. All Hindu
goddesses, in fact, can be seen as different forms of Devi. In some
she is benign and gentle, while in others she is dynamic and
ferocious, but in all forms she is helpful to her devotees.
Primarily she is the Mother Goddess, from whom all creation is born.
For many Hindus, however, the most important aspect of the Goddess
is Durga, the warrior deity who fights adversity. The Goddess may
also appear as the consort or feminine complement of a major male
deity.
Goddess worship was widespread in early prehistoric
India. Later, invading populations brought with them new ideas and
elevated the popularity of male gods. Although the primary deity
worshiped in most major Hindu temples today is masculine, worship of
the Goddess coexists in shrines and temples throughout India. |
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Today, Devi is seen in manifold forms, all
representing the creative force in the world, as Maya and prakriti,
the force that galvanizes the divine ground of existence into
self-projection as the cosmos. She is not merely the Earth, though
even this perspective is covered by Parvati (Durga's previous
incarnation). All the various Hindu female entities are seen as
forming many faces of the same female Divinity.
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SHAKTI:
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DEVI: Sometimes
known simply as the Goddess, who appears in some form in
every region of India. She is often identified as the
creative energy of the universe, and is considered by
her followers the equal of Vishnu and Shiva.
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KALI: The great mother of time, symbol of all of the wild
and chaotic forces of nature, in whom all things are
created, preserved and destroyed.
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DURGA: The goddess
Durga is represented as having ten arms and is the great
destroyer of giants. Radiant goddess of power and
beauty, killer of the horrific buffalo demon, destroyer
of greed, egotism and ignorance.
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LAKSHMI: (again)
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AMMAN:
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JAGADDHATRI:
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SIMHAMUKHA: The Tibetan Tantric Lion-headed Dakini or
Sky-Dancing Goddess of clear, direct and wrathful
compassion, the remover of obstacles who subdues evil
spirits, and destroys negative thought and delusions of
the mind.
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He who sparkles in your eyes,
who lights the heavens and hides in the souls of all creatures is
God,
your Self.
Siva Yogaswami of the Natha Sampradaya
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