Goddess of darknessKali is called as the goddess of darkness and goddess of night. As we cannot understand the meaning of light without experiencing darkness exactly the same way we cannot understand the meaning of life unless we experience "Kali" as the symbol of darkness and death. Only after darkness there is a ray of light and only after death there is rebirth. Further as the symbol of darkness, Kali represents the eternal truth of the universe that ultimately everything gets consumed including light and if there is something even after the termination and destruction of existence then it is nothingness and nowhereness represented by infinite darkness and ever expanding void. Any hope of renewed creation can spring only from this eternal darkness and void as represented by Goddess Kali.
Goddess of darkness: Bringing out Kali
As we see the manifestation of Kali in the external universe so can we find her manifesting in our inner self. The Goddess of darkness resides in the depths of our subconscious and unconscious mind. Bringing her out into the conscious mind is the biggest challenge in life. Once we initiate the path of bringing her out only then we can see the destruction and havoc that it creates on the stagnating structures of our life. This phase of destruction is a must for realizing Kali in our life.
Goddess of darkness: The destructive and constructive Kali
Here we need to understand that Kali comes with a form that devours everything that is represented by the self-focussed ego and ignorance. The destructive phase will be the time which will be full of turmoil and confusion but even during these times Kali is the one who is guiding us to true life. She carries us on her lap and brings us out into her world of infinite void. Here we lose all meaning and sense of the worldly matters and we lose the fear of life and death. We are shaken away from the self-focussed ego and we are shown the purpose of our life as decided by goddess Kali.
Goddess of darkness: We have a choice in life
In all these turbulence we should be always aware of the fact that we have a choice in life. Either we can continue in the conventional way and remain ignorant till we finally decide or we can boldly take a step towards mother Kali and embark the adventurous and existing journey of life whereby the god mother shows us the true meaning of life. Once we are through with the first phase of destruction only then we can understand the sweetness of the "second coming" of our life. Persistence and belief in goddess Kali is what we need for embarking this wonderful adventure of life where we destruct the stagnating structures in our life to build anew the creative and generative structures of life.
Goddess of darkness: The truth of Kali
The significance of Kali the goddess is to understand the truth that true liberation and salvation cannot be achieved by renouncing the world but it is only possible by living in the world, enjoying every aspect of this world without any self-focussed bonding and attachment. In this way we progress towards the purpose of our life and eventual liberation even after living a life with material manifestations. At this stage it would be prudent for us to understand the sexual nature of Kali also.
Goddess of darkness: Kali's sexuality
Kali likes the large blooming flowers of Hibiscus and it is very sacred to her. She likes the redness of the flower and this flower resembles her vagina or yoni. When fully grown this flower is deep red in colour and its long petals open on all side giving resemblance to a fully developed yoni. The blooms of Hibiscus flower represent feminine sexuality in the most natural and uninhibited form and goddess Kali likes Hibiscus flower to be dedicated to her during her worship. This flower signifies her extreme sexual disposition and her nature which is uninhibited, liberated and highly charged. She is considered as the ultimate Yogini and Duti and during sexual union with her consort she brings out divine yogic powers. She likes to enjoy and be enjoyed.
Goddess of darkness: Don't suppress the awareness
The first look at Kali disturbs us to the core. More than anything we feel the immense emotions of fear and distress. We feel like running away from this terrible and wrathful image of goddess Kali. But we must understand that there is no running away. What most of us do is "suppress" our awareness of goddess Kali and by doing this we store it as a deep fear in our subconscious and unconscious mind. This deeply suppressed fear then manifests into our consciousness in negative ways even without our knowledge. The truth is that the more we suppress her awareness the more it will haunt us.
Goddess of darkness: Embrace Kali with conscious choice
The only true way of settling with goddess Kali is to be aware of her existence and understand about her manifestations. In this way we open a path for ourselves whereby with full conscious choice we start following the path of goddess Kali. When we start following her path we slowly get initiated in her ways and gain the confidence to live a life which is in tune to our soul’s purpose and which takes us to the ultimate path of liberation. This kind of life is an adventurous one where first we destroy the conventional structures in our life which inhibits us and then we move towards building highly creative and generative structures which takes us to a trajectory of life. This metamorphosis is silent as well as violent. We need to be ready for all eventualities with a strong belief that goddess Kali is always with us and she will take us forward along a path which will eventually end in her. She makes us learn throughout our life and when we achieve our soul’s purpose she offers us total liberation.
Goddess of darkness: Breaking the restrictions
Once we get initiated on her path, we no longer feel bound to the restrictions heaped on us by the society. Though we still live in the society and the world we become highly independent in the sense that we shift the focus from our own self to "others" for the good of others. Each and every action then becomes creative and generative in nature and every such action focuses on the larger good of the world. In this way we get consciously and unconsciously guided by Goddess Kali towards our ultimate purpose of life.
Goddess of darkness: The message of the wild and independent Goddess
Kali the goddess is wild in her nature in the sense that she if fiercely independent and enjoys all the pleasures of the material world. In this form she is closely associated with all that represents life in every form. We can invoke her at the lowest of levels or the highest of levels. She does not discriminate and in fact listens to everybody and grants everybody their wishes. But behind this, there is something more. She will demand her pound of flesh. If she gives something to us then she expects sacrifices and our dedication to her works. In this way she initiates us onto her path to manifest her purpose and will. The beauty of the whole thing is that in her purpose and will we find our soul’s purpose and the ultimate path for liberation.
Goddess of darkness: The openness of goddess Kali
She is absolutely straight in her nature and does not coerce anybody to follow her. Her devotees follow her by their own will and choice. But once a choice is made there is no looking back. Destruction is her middle name and her first and last are death and darkness. She destroys to construct, she brings death to give rebirth and she plunges us into darkness to teach us the limitations of light and the eternal truth of infinite void.
Goddess of darkness: Taking practical lessons
Once we understand her teachings in practical sense we see her benevolent and motherly form where she gives back everything that she had taken from us whether be it the material comforts or the support of worldly relations. By then we have learned the lesson and enjoy all these material manifestations by being attached but simultaneously being detached from everything. In this way we get totally committed to the path of goddess kali with focus on our soul’s purpose.
Goddess of darkness: The supreme manifestation of truth
Kali, the goddess of darkness is therefore the supreme manifestation of truth which cannot be described by words. We need to experience her in our life to know her fully. In her darker aspect she swallows up everything including light. She devours gods as well as mortals. She strips the universe completely of labels and distinctions and then once she sees total void and nothingness she starts her creation anew. This is the way she initiates every devotee of hers into the path of liberation and salvation. One of her primal callings to her devotees is to follow her into the void. She proclaims that she is the way of darkness, the truth of nothingness and the life of decimation. By this Kali shows her followers the real truth of existence.
Goddess of darkness: Kali in tantric traditions
Kali has a great place in the tantric school of the Hindu tradition where she is revealed as the benefactress and embodiment of the Kula School of tantrics, their teachings, rituals and lifestyle. According to this school of thought, kali is understood as the merciful helper and destructress of evil, fear and pride. She is worshiped and loved as young, beautiful, swan-like, sensual and attractive women. Her sexual aspect is equally manifested apart from her motherly aspect. She is invoked as the divine lover as well as the divine mother.
Goddess of darkness: The transcendental Kali
Goddess Kali represents transcendental consciousness and is beyond our imaginations and comprehension. Even when all matter will be destroyed and time shall come to an end, the primordial mother shall exist. Then we will know the meaning of vast emptiness, hollowness and nothingness. During those times the true nature of the eternal night will be revealed to all of us. By then some of us would have already joined the mother by our own wish and the rest of others would have unconsciously created circumstances to destroy their "matter self" to join the mother. This will be the time that would reveal the infinite peace and happiness of the supreme void. One way or the other there is no escape from Kali. Today we have a choice to willingly embrace her. On the other hand tomorrow we might unconsciously move towards her as the play of nature. The choice is really with us to accept her today or postpone the final revelation for another life time or lifetimes.
Goddess of darkness: Tara the goddess
Tara is a goddess who is the prototype of goddess Kali. She manifests in two forms either as the star called as the night of anger or the beautiful women called the star that saves. She is considered as the second form of transcendental consciousness in Hinduism. In Buddhism she is considered very similar in nature to goddess Kali with her devouring form. She consumes the wicked and the self-focussed ego. She protects her followers from evil and she is the creator, protector and destroyer of the universe. She is a warrior goddess just like Kali and controls the power of whether. She likes sacrifices and is especially pleased with those who totally give in to her will and wishes. She is considered as the great void who leads us to the path of liberation. This aspect of Tara is described in the Mahasundari Tantra. She is the killer of fear and she is the supreme energy which can prevent us from being reborn into the cycle of life and death. The great being Brahma, the Immanent Vishnu and the Transcendent Shiva originate from her and vanish in her like the bubbles in the ocean.
Goddess of darkness: Goddess Siddharatri
Siddharatri is also called as the goddess of the spheres and is shown as a 16 years old girl. She came into existence during the time of creation of the three worlds by lord Shiva. It was a time when Shiva came into his awakened power after the creation of the three worlds. Once during these times when lord Shiva looked at the sunlight the amazing and beautiful goddess Siddharatri came into being. She is called as the wife of "Shiva with the three eyes" and she is the power of knowledge, the night of realization and the sovereign of this universe. She is called as the queen of queens that is Rajarajeshwari.
Goddess of darkness: Siddharatri, the goddess with striking form
She has one of the most striking forms among the ancient goddesses. Her face is so bright that it looks like molten gold. She is the all powerful goddess of the spheres with a crescent moon on her forehead and smile which takes away all the sufferings. She wears on her head the lingum, the yoni and a snake. The lingum signifies the masculine principle the yoni the feminine principle and the snake signifies the time. Two of her hands dispel fear and two other hands hold a noose and a hook to guide elephants. The fact that she holds a large club in one hand proves that the cult of the great goddesses probably started before the Iron Age.
Goddess of darkness: The ancient goddesses of Hinduism
The ancient goddesses of Hinduism include the fearsome and omnipotent Dasa Mahavidyas among whom Kali, Tara and Rajarajeshwari are the prominent goddesses. These are the tantric goddesses with immense power of the nature bestowed in them. They represent every aspect of nature transcending any dualism of good or bad, ugly or beautiful. They are all encompassing goddesses and are one in all and all in one. Apart from the above mentioned three the other goddesses are Uma the goddess of light and infinite knowledge, Chhinnamasta the goddess symbolizing self sacrifice by beheading, Bhairavi the terrible goddess, Dhumavati the widow queen, the cruel Bagala who incites men against men, Kamala the lotus girl of prosperity, Camunda the old goddess who is horrible to look at and Ambika who represents nature. These are ancient pre-Vedic goddesses and their origins are lost in the darkness of prehistory.
Goddess of darkness: Kundalini the embodiment of spiritual energy
The word Kundalini is one of the names of the "Great Mother". Kundalini is the path to the divine Nirvana. Kundalini or the great mother is known to exist in all of us sleeping in the depths of our lower spine. It is upon us to awaken her and move her to meet lord Shiva who resides in the middle of our head represented by the forehead. In fact when the mother goddess Kundalini is awakened, she herself shows the path in our memories which will take her towards Shiva for the divine union. Once the feminine is awakened in us in the form of Kundalini, it is a kind of second birth, a contact with another world which will lead us to ultimate liberation. Therefore awakening the feminine in one's own self is a decisive step which raises our thoughts above the triviality of the materialistic world and transfers us to an awakened dimension of life.
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