Navaratri; mantra; building a routine
The Adiveda Weekly #20
Hari Aum Sadhakas!
Happy Navaratri! Today is day seven of the nine days and nine nights dedicated to the worship of Durga in her nine different forms. The next three days of the festival (ends on 4th October) are dedicated to the enchanting Saraswati – the goddess of learning, arts, science and wisdom.
The Hindu way of life
Hinduism is a way of life, and our ancient sages gave us many rituals and festivals meant to ensure that we never forget the goal of human life. Consciously or unconsciously these rituals help to nurture that one single aspiration in us, that our culture has been enshrining within itself from eternity. Even if our conscious minds forget the purpose for which we are born, that purpose will remain imprinted on the level of our subconscious. Thus, the Hindu calendar is studded with numerous festivals, all intended to take us back to our roots.
Navaratri is celebrated twice a year, once in spring and once in autumn. In these following days and nights let us beseech the Divine Mother in her various forms to enter into us and dispel the darkness of the accumulated ignorance of our true nature with the glowing lamp of knowledge which only she can light for us.
Reflection of the week
“Seen on the background of eternity, the drama of our lives, enacted on the stage of space and time, is only a show of light and shade, like a TV show. It is only a creation of the mind and like all TV shows it passes, flows and vanishes into the space from which it came. This phenomenon is what Hinduism calls maya – shakti of the goddess who has produced this phenomenal world which has its basis in ignorance of the true nature of reality.”
For your everyday practice
Chanting this mantra will invoke the power of Durga who is the epitome of feminine power. She does not need a consort.
“Ya Devi sarvabhuteshu, shakti rupena samsthita,
Namasthasyai, namasthasyai, namasthasyai namo namaha!”
“O Goddess who manifests herself in the form of power in all creatures,
To thee I bow again, and again and yet again!”
For your health and well-being
Build a morning routine.
How do you begin your day? How you slowly wake your body up and introduce the experience of the world on a daily basis to your nervous system can dictate how the rest of your day unfolds. If you are able to arise before dawn and spend those dark hours of stillness in quiet contemplation/meditation, followed by a bath/shower, then yoga/exercise, and the setting of intentions for your day – then you are off to a good start! On the other hand, if you wake up well past dawn, immediately look at your phone, roll out of bed and start work or a have a conversation with someone – you have forced the world upon your nervous system and body – without a period of adjustment – and the experience of your day can follow that same chaotic energy.
By Dr. Poorna Menon, Doctor of Naturopathic Medicine
From Vanamali Mataji’s desk
The view of the world as given by our ancient rishis has been corroborated by Quantum Physics. They have discovered that we are connected to every single thing in the cosmos by this one underlying energy field that they call “The Field” and which our rishis called Prakriti. The tiniest bit of matter is not solid as we have been led to believe but only energy in motion. This pulsating energy field is the centre of our existence. Our eyes deceive us into imagining a reality that does not exist in the way we perceive it. But we are so fascinated by this world which has been created by this enchantress that we forget the purpose for which we have taken a human birth. In order to remind us of this purpose and reconnect with this source of the universal energy of the Divine Mother, the Hindu culture has demarcated two festivals in the year dedicated to the remembrance of that energy.
The nine days of Navaratri are meant for reflection and removal of our negative traits and the acquisition of positive qualities. These nine days can be divided into three parts. The first three days are kept for the worship of Maha Kali, the next three days for Maha Lakshmi and the last three days for Maha Saraswati. Some people also worship the Nava Durgas or the nine aspects of Durga on each day.
Important dates this week
Durga Ashtami and Saraswati Puja on Monday, 3rd October
Durga Navami on Tuesday, 4th October
Vijayadashami, Dussehra, Durga Visarjan and Sai Baba Mahasamadhi on Wednesday, 5th October
Ekadashi on Thursday, 6th October
Full Moon on Sunday, 9th October
That’s all for now. What would you like to see more of? Let us know! Thank you very much for reading.
At your service,
The Adiveda Team
Благодарю 🙏🤍 низкий Вам поклон 🙏