The Feminine Divine

Almost every creative artist - from poet to filmmaker- has sought to explore at some point through his creative practices, and personal life in some cases, the nature of consciousness from various angles. No surprise that drug abuse is also very prevalent among many creative personalities where altered states of consciousness are deemed necessary for pushing the limits of the subconscious mind.

In his captivating and thought-provoking book Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience, psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi explores the state of consciousness that he calls flow, a state of complete immersion in the moment where people experience a deep sense of satisfaction and happiness. The achievement of this state is dependent on the ability to harness attention, ‘free inner life from the threat of chaos…and from the rigid conditioning of biological urges…and hence to become independent from the social controls that exploit both.’ To say that the goal of all religious practice is similar will not be erroneous for the development of religion itself is a creative act propelled by particular historical contexts.

The rise of modern spiritual movements, and branches like the Protestants, Arya Samajists, Sufis and Buddhists, that emerged from the different world religions, evidenced the need to re-contextualize thought to suit different historical periods.

Understanding the nature of the world and human consciousness is an intrinsic part of religious and spiritual pursuit. Among the world religions, Hinduism’s abundance of religious iconography is a testament of this pursuit translated into art, a form that could be understood by the common man. These artistic depictions of the various gods and goddesses address various aspects of the internal and external worlds. To view the religion in this way is to understand it at a deeper level where each divine entity is a manifestation of particular human tendencies and traits, as well as characteristics of the natural world.

This Sunday marks the second day in the nine-day Navratam (navnine, ratam - night) celebrations that will culminate on the tenth day known as Vijayadashmi or Dussehra.

Navratam is dedicated to the feminine divine. The Goddess Durga is worshipped on the first three days. Her vehicle is the tiger or lion, representing her conquest over violence and cruelty. She is the moving force, the destroyer of negativities - lust, hate, anger, jealousy, to name a few. However as Swami Chinmayananda writes, the mere destruction of the negatives is not enough. This purging represents an emptying. What is emptied must be re-filled. Negativity is replaced with positive attributes.

The next three days that follow are therefore dedicated to the Goddess Lakshmi. Usually associated with material wealth, it is however not her only function. Wealth is also spiritual - love, kindness and such virtues. The lotus flower on which she stands is the tree of life.

It grows in muddy waters, yet retains its purity and beauty. Lakshmi presides over all of nature and is the sustaining force - health and wealth, both material and spiritual are necessary for living. Having transcended the negative and armed with positive thoughts, the seeker is prepared for the acquisition and development of knowledge.

The last three days of Navratam are dedicated to the Goddess Saraswati - goddess of knowledge - whose vehicle is the swan. The swan, according to Hindu religious literature, has the ability to sift the milk out of a mixture of milk and water and consume only that, leaving behind the water. It is representative of the discriminating intellect that has the ability to separate real from unreal, good from bad.

To be fully conscious is to possess this faculty of discrimination that is not driven by instinct.

Vijayadashmi, the tenth day, represents the conquest of the ten senses. On this day, the visarjan (immersion) of the Durga mūrti (idol/form), made especially for the nine-day festival, is done in a water source. It is one of the largest festivals in Northern India, particularly in Calcutta while, in Trinidad, the public form of the festival is becoming more popular with the passage of each year. For Hindus on a path towards what we may in modern times call flow, religious festivals function as reminders that the final destination is that of detachment - to be in, but spirituality divorced from the material world.

The immersion of the clay mūrti represents the dissolving of the material, the movement from outer to inner, for the memory stays with us.

The iconography of the religion is important to this end, a reminder of the quest to transcend the material while cultivating the senses to experience beauty in all of nature.