Honoring and Approaching Mother Divine

Today is the third day of Navaratri, and we continue to honor and celebrate all aspects of Divine Mother. She has many faces, many stories, many embodiments, and representations. All are honored and welcomed here.

Approach her with an open heart, lay bare your heart to her with frankness and humility, be as simple as a child. Kill ruthlessly the enemies that are egoism, cunningness, selfishness and crookedness. Take a total unreserved and ungrudging self-surrender to her. Sing her praise. Repeat her name. Worship her with faith and unflinching devotion.   

– Sri Swami Sivananda

For more information about the events Navaratri and forward, please visit our calendar at The Sai Humanitarian Outreach Webpage:

Mother as Leveler Paves the Way to a Life Evergreen

Goddess Durga Photo Credit: josephalmighty.multiply.com

Today is the second day of Navaratri. 

In some traditions, Navaratri is divided into sets of three days to adore different aspects of the supreme goddess. On the first three days, the Mother is invoked as a powerful force called Durga in order to destroy all our impurities, vices and defects. This can be described as a great leveling of the field, a clearing, a preparation for what comes next. 

Below follows an excerpt from the poem, "The Mother Supreme," by Sri Chinmoy, which speaks to this clearing and leveling aspect of Mother:

   Soul stirring eyes of gold delight,

   All where reigning supreme--

   Our blind secrecy's dream

   She seizes with Her all forgiving Sight.

   Torn now asunder our ego's screen, 

   Under her Smile of Grace

   Blooms quick our surrender's face.

   She paves the way to a life evergreen.

This is Who We Love, and She's Startling, Wild, and Unpredictable (!)

Today, Saturday the 5th, is the first day of the autumn celebration of Mother Divine which is known as Navaratri. This is an ideal time to draw close to and celebrate all forms of the goddess. Navaratri is celebrated all around the world by many faiths and traditions. There are almost as many customs celebrating Navaratri as there are forms of Divine Mother.

Detail of Painting by Nafeeah Kim Johnson

It is easy to adore a docile, gentle, and beautiful form of Mother Divine, however, Mother Nature teaches us that the feminine can be brutal, exacting, dangerous, and fierce. To fully love Mother Divine and appreciate her power, you must embrace all aspects of her Nature. 

Below follows an excerpt of poem by Lex Hixon from his book Mother of the Universe: Visions of the Goddess and Tantric Hymns of Enlightenment, which celebrates her wildness:

Wisdom Mother cares for this child
      more tenderly than human mother,
yet her creative and destructive actions
      are startling, wild, unpredictable
as those of a mad person.
She is surrounded by swirling energy,
manifest in various feminine forms
      as human beings and etheric beings:
powerful women warriors, peaceful contemplatives,
terrifying protectresses surrounded by flames.
Godhead in its three aspects,
Creator, Sustainer, and Revealer,
stands humbly before my Mother.
She is supreme. 

For more information about the events over the next nine days and forward, please visit our calendar at The Sai Humanitarian Outreach Webpage: 

We Have Some Very Special Guests this Weekend at Shiva Sai Mandir!

Come Celebrate Navaratri with Us, October 4th-13th

Come Join Us for Our Annual Autumnal Equinox Celebration, September 21st, 7-9pm

Come Celebrate Ganesha's Birthday With Us!