(99991,2,'2013-09-11 22:17:14','2013-09-12 05:17:14','<h3>Eastern Teacher to The West</h3>\r\n\r\nThis article tells the story of my own exploration into the mysteries of the Goddess as manifested within the Hindu pantheon as Chamunda, the fierce, emaciated and terrifying Dark Mother. She is a goddess who is particularly revered among Shaktas (believers in the primacy of the Divine Feminine), and she has historically found favor within all strata of Indian society, from the village shudras (lowest caste) to the rulers of India. Temples to her exist throughout the country: from the forts of Rajasthan to the highlands of Himachal Pradesh, to the adavasi (tribal) lands of Orissa.\r\n\r\nIn Orissa, where I was blessed to spend five months exploring, she appears primarily in two forms: i) as one of the Matrikas (Mothers), and ii) as one of the sixty-four yoginis (witches) who are themselves daughters of the Asta Matrikas (Eight Mothers). From my exploration into Chamunda I have gained an understanding of the ways in which the Goddess teaches through one of her manifest forms, and this article is an attempt to share some of what I have discovered with you.\r\n\r\n<img class=\"alignright  wp-image-99968 imgborder=0\" alt=\"chamundafire\" src=\"http://sharanya.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/chamundafire.gif\" width=\"327\" height=\"364\" /><strong>The Image of Chamunda</strong>\r\n\r\nBut here, I can only hope to present my learnings as shrouded with the veil of perception I carry as a western woman. However, I share my interpretation of the mysteries as revealed to me by Her so that Her name may be invoked and Her presence asked to help banish the ignorance and prejudice of our time. I do not pretend to fully understand Chamunda (within her original context or otherwise) or for that matter, the great mystery of the Goddess; but rather I claim to appreciate Her because of my resonance with the form and symbols offered to us from India.\r\n\r\nFrom an 8th century stone statue originally found in Dharmasala (Cuttack, Orissa) and now located at the Orissa State Museum in Bhubaneswar, I learned to see for the first time through this image what the power of the Divine Feminine can be through a figure that could (and does) readily inspire fear in both Western and Eastern onlookers. Chamunda appears to penetrate the manifest world through this sculpture of grey-black chlorite stone. She is chiseled with her most readily recognizable features: sunken eyes, sagging breasts and skeletal body; but the obvious attention and carefully-detailed precision with which she was created belie a profound respect and/or love on the part of the sculptor that is perhaps not readily understandable from our current vantage point.\r\n\r\nComing across her image amidst myriad sculptures on the floor of the museum is like dropping into a cold pool after a 20-minute steam bath. Upon first seeing her, I was instantly astounded and shocked by her presence until the realization set in that encountering Her was making my insides tingle in ways suggestive of Her great power. She is an awesome figure, with third-eye and navel raised out of the stone, veins defined over the course of her entire body, no teeth, heavily hanging earlobes and snake-entwined arms - one of which holds in its long hand a severed human head, which she grasps with finger nails that come to a point. In her other partially-intact arm she holds a skull cup or kapala at the level of her heart. She is garlanded with skulls, wears ouroboric anklets, and is seated on a corpse with her right foot on the ground and her left leg bent at the knee, foot turned, its sole to the sky. Her hair is aflame and pulled upwards, wrapped and held in place by a snake-band tiara, the center of which bears a skull.\r\n\r\nAlthough my initial contact with the fierce form of the Goddess had come to me through a dream image as Kali, both she and Chamunda are alike in many respects, related by their transformative abilities and their stature as Crones. While Kali manifests the power of time and of death, Chamunda too holds infinity and eternity. Both can be intensely frightening images of divine, feminine power especially to those unaccustomed to dealing with the Dark Goddess. Both are often similarly depicted: in the cremation ground, often seated upon a corpse or engaging in Tantrick rituals involving sex, blood and death. In this, they explicitly manifest antinomian characteristics within mainstream Hindu tradition, and they become by this provkers of (r)evolution from the inside, and transformers of worlds from the outside as they reach westerners.\r\n\r\nChamunda\'s intensity through the vehicle of the statue in Bhubaneswar shook me deep inside and stunned me. And I was nevertheless drawn to her and mystified by what she had to offer. Somehow, I could not help but feel her incredible power through the skeletal form, while at the same time, I became immediately and especially aware of how at odds with this impression and indeed terrifying she would appear to most westerners. Rationally, I wondered how in the world this figure could be known as one of the matrikas when she seemed so very far from western, as well as the traditional Hindu conception of mother, either literal or archetypal. Mother in any sense is most generally normalized to mean nurturing and life-giving. Chamunda appears to be everything but this, and I had to work to see the interconnections. On another, non-rational level, however, I could immediately feel that there was a mystery of fecundity held within those bones. I was, of course, feeling in my own bones something very old and true about her.\r\n\r\n<!--nextpage-->\r\n\r\nWhile within both Eastern and Western contexts mothers are seen as caretakers and life givers, understanding the Devi as matrika (mother) is another story. Within the world of Indian Goddess theology at least from Vedic times (circa 1,500 BCE), it seems that the devi as a mother who nourishes the world is understood as someone who must herself be replenished in order to continue to sustain life. \"If she were only to give birth and to nourish her creatures she would soon grow weak, and creation would cease.\" [1]\r\n\r\nBecause her life-generating and sustaining aspect is so powerful, she carries an insatiable hunger that is equally great. This hunger is often represented in images by showing an emaciated figure. Thus understood, the fierce devi is integral to understanding the birth/death aspect of the cycle of life in India, which makes possible the whole of manifest existence. She is obviously the living Crone, a Dark Goddess who functions as a gateway between the realms of this world and the next. Recognition of this leads to liberation; and images containing within them the fullness of samsara, as Chamunda does, serve as gateways to simultaneous embracement of life and death, duality and oneness, a holistic future and personal enrichment through the suffering of life. They hold the key to embracing the walk of the heart, where sadness and joy, pain and elation ever co-mingle.\r\n\r\nUnderstanding the goddess as both life-giver and destroyer manifests in symbolic form as a circle, or chakra within the Indian context. This chakra is reflective of the cycles of life apparent, for example, in the waxing and waning of the moon and those other cycles tied to this one, such as menstruation and the ebb and flow of the tides. A circle is the form taken by the temples dedicated to the yoginis, or sixty-four derivations of the Asta Matrikas mentioned previously who include Chamunda among them. It is therefore perhaps no coincidence that the goddess as yogini would be configured for worship by the tantricks in circular temples, since their tradition is infused with reverence for the Goddess as containing the mystery of She who is both of the source of all life and the fount of death; the One who contains All. In addition, the yoginis are also linked to yaksis (nature spirits), and they, as well as those who worshipped them, were called witches and magicians. As yogini, Chamunda and her sixty-three sisters were said to have the power to fly, to become invisible, turn humans into animals, and other such things. In many ways, these traits and the correspondence of female deities with witchcraft again brings together East and West through demonization of the Feminine.\r\n\r\nBut much like the Indo-European demonization of the pre-Christian Death/Regeneratirx aspect of the Goddess into Witch, Chamunda too was demonized and subordinated by patriarchal traditions in India. She was linked to Yama, Lord of Death, becoming less than he in Vedic hymns. An interesting suggestion, however, of her ties to pre-patriarchal roots may be found by looking at her vahana (mount), the owl. Even today in the west, this bird may still be found carrying the messages of the Dark Goddess, of the Feminine Divine who holds the mysteries of life, death and rebirth. A friend found a link between east and west on pilgrimage to the Black Madonna Notre Dame de Bon Espoir (Our Lady of Good Hope) in Dijon France. She writes of her experience,\r\n<blockquote>The oldest of the Black Madonnas...Notre Dame de Bon Espoir was yet another Black Madonna who made a tremendous impact on me. Interestingly, there is an owl carved into the side of the church where She is housed.</blockquote>\r\nTherefore, understanding the origins of the witch in prehistory and her later modifications to more fierce/violent characterizations at the hands of patriarchal peoples will perhaps help to heal some of the ills caused by misrepresentations of the Feminine while eradicating some causes of Devi’s (and by extension women’s) subordination. It might be said that if we come to understand the full nature of Her, we would see that all Her forms are those of beauty within the divine creation.\r\n\r\nWhile the term witch is in the eastern context used with negative connotation, it is important to understand that the yoginis of the temples were not demons to the tantricks. Given the tantrick insistence on reverence for the immanence of the divine and the sacredness of nature, of maniest reality, yoginis are understood as affirmations of the multifarious aspects of the Goddess. While some of these aspects can be very violent or fierce, with the goddess often depicted with sword in hand, blood and human flesh dripping from her mouth, severed heads around her waist, and other gruesome adornment, understanding her and her relationship to patriarchy over time is interesting. Such depictions, on the one hand, are likely overlays onto an ancient Crone/Death-Regeneratrix deity whose original association with death was severed from her link to life because of a dualistic patriarchal worldview that failed to recognize, for example, the interconnectedness of life and death and instead demonized women and nature as expressions of that relationship.\r\n\r\nIn contrast to gruesome depictions of the goddess Chamunda and those associated with Her, patriarchal Hinduism has begun, within the last century, to sweeten the fierce goddesses. Perhaps this is a tell-tale sign that the power of the feminine is being responded to a new and different way. That is, first, She was representative of the power of Oneness and, simply put, patriarchal consciousness (as manifested in the social, political and other realities millennia ago that have created today’s normative Hindu consciousness) sought to (and managed to) break that monopoly by rendering Her as fierce so as to facilitate specific ends, which were to carve out dualistic territory (for some reason). After supression in very specific ways for those millennia, however, She has sought to bring balance to a dichotomous worldview. In response to Her presence now, instead of the fierceness previously required to serve the purposes of a patriarchal worldview, the institutions today that which to retain power have rendered her sweet and submissive, now, to serve their ends of maintaining the status quo. Were patriarchal powers to allow Her fierceness, their reign might quickly come to an end, and this, of course, is exactly the point of honoring and remembering Her as all that She is while concurrently utilizing the power that Her fierce characteristics contain.\r\n\r\nFurther, while the word witch today still reverberates strongly with anti-God-loving sentiment for some people, to call oneself a witch as I do is an act of resistance to patriarchal obfuscation of the truth, and reclamation of women’s power within any tradition (as well as outside them). In the west, it is an appellation that is taking on an entirely new meaning, particularly with the resurgence of the goddess in the discipline known as Women’s Spirituality, through Wicca (a reclamation of indigenous European earth-based traditions) and through other forms of earth-based religion, that hold within them both the pre-historical notion of goddess as life-giver/destroyer and the more patriarchal characterization of the goddess as violent warrior, from which many, nevertheless are able to find powerful tools for creating life-affirming change.\r\n\r\nAgain before what I now call my statue of Chamunda, this time recording notes and impressions while interposing photographic moments until the museum’s 4 o’clock closing time, I eventually come to be alone with her. I am alone in that statue-filled room mesmerized, or very likely in trance, feeling as though some incredibly magical force surrounds the two of us. From my spot on the floor, I watch her watching me and ask her to teach me Her secrets. That evening, I wrote in my journal:\r\n<blockquote>From where did the ancient Saktas get her image? What are her myths and associations? How and when does she manifest? Why? What are the psychological implications of her presence as a Goddess and what do they tell us about the people who created her? Why does she exist in this fierce form that was obviously so loved (feared?) by those who worshipped her? Can she help us in the west better understand the nature of the Divine Feminine; and if so, can we find ways through her to promote self-understanding? She is starved; does she link us psychically to the root cause of/cure for anorexia? Can she help western women in the throes of addictions, especially eating disorders, with their own reclamation process? How does understanding Chamunda help me to better understand myself?</blockquote>\r\nMy questions only began to touch the surface of her depth. As a western woman living today I can never know her true or intended purpose, although I can make an educated guess informed by my academic pursuits as well as my bodily knowings and intuitions.\r\n\r\n<!--nextpage-->\r\n\r\nEven so, Chamunda through my eyes is not Chamunda in any fully Indian sense, even though I have explored her on her own ground (literally, as well as through her myths, philosophies, symbols, and worship). Rather, for me, Chamunda is an exploration into the depths of personal, and perhaps more generally the question of women’s, spirituality. Particularly within the western context of women’s spiritual development, the importance of Chamunda as a teacher can be grasped when it is understood that she holds within herself the tension of embracing both Mother and Witch archetypes; two aspects of the Feminine that have long been used to subordinate rather than empower women. Chamunda illustrates that these aspects ever inter-related, constantly situated within a flux of interchangeability that she herself manifests.\r\n\r\n<b>Chamunda and Kali: Blood Sisters</b>\r\n\r\nMy initial contact with the <i>raudra</i> or fierce form of the Goddess, as mentioned above, had come to me years earlier through a dream image as Kali, a Hindu goddess representative of the power of time and of death. In many respects, Chamunda and Kali are alike. Indeed, both are initiators into the fullest spectrum of life, and both serve to awaken us to the value of impermanence and cyclical time. Some Shakta practitioners understand both goddesses to be manifest aspects of the same ontological truth; nevertheless, both can be intensely frightening images of feminine power to those unaccustomed to dealing with the Dark Mother.\r\n\r\nIconographically, Chamunda and Kali are often similarly depicted: in the cremation ground, seated upon a corpse and engaging in practices involving sex, blood and death. At the Chamunda-Devi temple [<a href=\"/mandala/chamunda-devi-eastern-teacher-to-the-west/4/#ref\">4</a>] outside of Dharmasala (Himachal Pradesh), Chamunda is plainly understood to be a form of Kali and the ten <i>mahavidyas</i> are depicted at her shrine. The Devi as Chamunda-Kali is also mentioned in the <i>Tantrasara</i>, <i>Shaktapramoda</i> and <i>Pranatosini</i>. [<a href=\"/mandala/chamunda-devi-eastern-teacher-to-the-west/4/#ref\">5</a>]\r\n\r\nChamunda-Kali provides a gateway to: i) understanding of the Goddess in the Western psyche for juxtaposition with the Eastern manifestations of Her; ii) how Western vs. Eastern conceptions of reality play a role in determining the images of the Divine Feminine that abound in each context; and iii) the potential power of reclaiming the Dark Mother in the West with the help of images from the East.\r\n\r\n<b>Western Appreciation for the Goddess</b>\r\n\r\nFrom this brief discussion in conjunction with other goddess tales, perhaps a vision of the goddess who relates to the emotional, physical, and psychic bodies of women and men, regardless of their country of origin, by virtue of the human condition, is becoming apparent. Woven here is the notion that where women in particular are being drawn to Devi’s symbolism for its promotion of, at the very least, what may appear to be a feminist ethic, those who are attracted to her in their spiritual longing (in any of her forms) necessarily cross lines of demarcation whether social, political, or geographical—and so too does Devi. Goddess worship and feminism too needs to be able to create a container for dialogue, with both arenas developing cross-cultural methodologies that can facilitate the creation of safe space in which to then make discussions happen that relate the spiritual realities with the economic, social, and political ones. From within that space, the hope would be to generate a metaphorical fire from which truth based on a process of coming to agreement can be born. Only then can we empower women and men to be all of who and what they are, no matter what the context in which they find themselves.\r\n\r\nGiving a historicity to Indian images of the divine may help those non-Hindus interested in appreciating her from within western contexts to make informed statements and educated assertions (based upon contextual understanding) about their own uses of/for her while providing a ground for possible adaptations of Devi within a new environment. For just as the goddess centuries ago crossed from India to neighboring lands, our technological advancements today have moved us all towards a global community, which has indeed also helped to shape the transportation of Devi across oceans and continents.\r\n\r\nFor western women, images of the goddess as whole, as containing paradox, and particularly as embracing sexuality and other aspects generally suppressed under patriarchy, are healing. In the western context where transcendent male gods (or more specifically, one male god of generally Jewish or Christian disposition) dominate and no female/feminine is accorded divine status (despite the high status imparted to Mary, as discussed in the last chapter), the need for a Divine Feminine who recognized, honored and is both immanent as well as transcendent is glaring. Perhaps this is one reason why the Indian conception of goddess captures the fervor of western feminists and those seeking alternate visions of the divine that are more inclusive. Devi seems approachable in the sense that she, as her myths and iconography at the very least portend, undergoes and is much of what women recognize to be their individual truths. In her, every woman finds a piece of herself; and every man, perhaps, can learn a little more about the heart of his essential nature.\r\n\r\nThe mainstream Western images of the Divine Feminine in a contemporary context where the Abrahamic faiths prevail have largely been limited to the Virgin Mary, and perhaps if one is generous, to Sophia, the Black Madonna and Lilith. These last three however, represent an undercurrent of the Christian and Judaic faiths, and they are not recognized by many practitioners; at least not with full awareness of their power and connection to pre-patriarchal religion.\r\n\r\nIn any case, it is apparent that the Divine Feminine within our context as represented in Her most ubiquitous aspect as the Virgin Mary has little but a \"soft\" or benevolent and nurturing side. She is holy and untouchable, even by her husband; she is vehicle for the avatar Christ, but not God herself; she is incapable of engaging the more uncomfortable aspects of life; she listens and conveys the message of her followers, but does not have the power to act directly for those who worship her.\r\n\r\nThis image of Mary is put in juxtaposition within Christianity to the one God, who is All. Her place is marginal in relationship to His magnificence, and reflects the Western/patriarchal schism typified by Descartes’ mind/body duality (God as transcendent mind, Mary as earth-bound body) or more simply, the valuing of men over women and heaven over earth. Further, it underscores that the religious traditions of patriarchal cultures have unfortunately tended to pathologize the relationship of dualistic principles. In life, dualities abound, but their representation in the West has long since posed them as warring opposites where the position of the Divine Feminine (and women) is relegated to minority status.\r\n\r\nThe patriarchal worldview, particularly as expressed in the powerful \"First World\" nations of the West, has manifested skewed valuations of dualities in other spheres of life as well. It has done so to the point of ignoring (or largely ignoring) the inherent worth and wisdom of the Feminine principle and has created an urgent need for crisis prevention in the environmental, developmental, psychological and social arenas. Further, if we accept that the project of patriarchy has been based on the scientific and philosophical deconstruction of life (through exploitation of resources and peoples by Western science and paradigms supported by such traditions) and on the establishment of dualistic categories formed from reductionistic tendencies (in order to propagate the favoritism of man and culture over women and nature, e.g.), then we understand how dichotomization destroys relatedness, promotes homogenization, and makes subjugation the norm for half the population the world over.\r\n\r\nUnfortunately in both the East and West, the archetypal Feminine principle, which in India is called <i>pakriti</i>, has often been associated only with women and with nature, to the detriment of both men, women and the planet. For to deny that the Feminine has value is to deny more than gender or population; it is to deny half of the entire spectrum of life. It relegates all that is receptive, open, life-generating and nurturing to the margins of society, and it is there that we can look to find the festering sores of all the various crises of our time.\r\n\r\nFortunately, particularly within the past ten years, writers, thinkers, theologians and others across the globe in fields as diverse as the sciences, religion and women’s studies have explored the dance of life beyond the confines of duality. There, many have found that the \"opposing\" forces of life are in a play of complementarities, where tension makes growth, change, and transformation possible. In understanding that life is more of an ever-shifting dynamic balance of energetics where opposing forces create an existence filled with variety, spontaneity, laughter and music in which the soul may rejoice, a new vein of consciousness has been born in our time.\r\n\r\nThe impact of the Goddess archetype upon women and men as She re-emerges into consciousness has profound ramifications upon all aspects of life. In the East, many have been called to re-examine their relationships to the manifest Divine Feminine in actual women. On the individual as well as the collective level, She reminds us that women too are powerful, worthy of respect in this world; She teaches that respect for our bodies helps us to respect the Earthbody; She tells us that all things ugly and beautiful are Her creation. She is a \"creative trinity;\" [<a href=\"/mandala/chamunda-devi-eastern-teacher-to-the-west/4/#ref\">6</a>] serving as a gateway to simultaneous embracement of <i>both</i> duality and oneness, a symbol of integrated duality and the unconditional love that binds them. With this, many in the West have been drawn to remembering the Goddess as a potent symbol of wholeness. Many have turned to Her myths, rituals and traditions of pre-patriarchal times in order to quench their personal longing for \"something else.\" I believe that Chamunda helps to bring a special dimension to understanding the fullest sense of what that wholeness means.\r\n\r\n<b>Eastern Goddesses, Patriarchal Cultures, and a Vision from the West</b>\r\n\r\nWhile the West has tended to infuse its traditions with a dualistic split, the Eastern traditions of India have tended to concern themselves with a monological \"One\" in the realm of spirit while an overlay of patriarchal duality has settled into the societal sphere. This has wrought a complexity of contradictions in Indian society. For example, the Ganges River, sacred sphere of the Goddess Ganga who manifests through and as its waters, is the most polluted and yet simultaneously the holiest river on Earth for devout Hindus. Similarly, while the Divine Feminine is recognized and worshipped through myriad images of Goddesses (Ganga, Kali and Chamunda among them), women still occupy a marginal position in traditional Indian society.\r\n\r\nAs David Kinsley has noted: \"In the Hindu tradition a woman is taught to understand herself primarily in relation to others…It is society that puts demands on her primarily through the agents of relatives and in-laws, and not she who places demands on society that she be allowed to develop a unique, independent destiny. A central demand placed on women, particularly vis-à-vis males, is that they subordinate their welfare to the welfare of others.\" [<a href=\"/mandala/chamunda-devi-eastern-teacher-to-the-west/4/#ref\">7</a>]\r\n\r\nWhile attempts have been made to reconcile patriarchal duality at the level of society with a philosophical and religious spiritual unity, the fact of the matter is that such discontinuity invalidates and undermines both. Little progress has been made in this regard within the Indian context. But it is from within this struggle that ways of thinking that seek to heal the split of culture from embodied/immanent spirituality have more recently emerged. Many writers, but most prominently the Indian physicist and ecofeminist, Vandana Shiva, have made a case for recognizing the Divine Feminine/Goddess in order to ameliorate tension and diffuse the boundaries of derision caused by the patriarchal paradigm.\r\n\r\n<!--nextpage-->\r\n\r\nIn her book, <i>Staying Alive: Women, Ecology and Development</i>, Shiva explores one way of looking at the Divine Feminine through lenses that appreciate both transcendent as well as immanent manifestations. She proposes fully embracing the notion of <i>Pakriti</i> as a \"spiritual\" discipline rather than simply as \"nature,\" so that a more balanced worldview can be achieved. This new worldview takes into account the marginalized position of women while de facto promoting environmental sustainability and the wellbeing of diverse, autonomous communities focused on the sacredness of relationships rather than on their destruction.\r\n\r\nAccording to Shiva, Pakriti means not just the traditional counterpart to Purusa (the Divine Masculine, or the Masculine Principle of manifest culture and society), but instead the<i>entirety</i> of nature with its ability to create, sustain and destroy in order to continue the cycle of life in all its aspects. Thus, Shiva’s position asserts \"both a <i>holistic</i> perspective and an<i>inclusive</i> agenda of concerns based on its considerable respect for diversity—both in turn being principles of nature.\" [<a href=\"http://sharanya.org/articles/chamunda/chamunda4.php4#ref\">8</a>]\r\n\r\nOn another level, such thinking shows that the construct of <i>maya</i> (illusion) as found in many Indian philosophical systems is not required to solve the corundum of how manifest reality (difference) can be reconciled with the unitive One. Instead, maya can be understood as the human resistance to holding the tension of paradox in life. In this way, perhaps the women of manifest nature can reclaim their right as beings who are living testament to the power of the Goddess and be honored as such. And the \"One\" can take on new meaning as a \"dynamic system of relations wherein any particular manifestation functions simultaneously as a distinct part and the unbroken whole. The parts are not derivative of the whole, or vice versa, [nor are the parts dissolved into one another to become the whole, or vice versa.] Each aspect constitutes the other.\" [<a href=\"http://sharanya.org/articles/chamunda/chamunda4.php4#ref\">9</a>]\r\n\r\nIt is with this idea in mind that the Goddesses of East and West need to be (re)evaluated. Unfortunately, however, as we saw earlier in this article, the Western Goddess(es) of mainstream contemporary manifestation and interpretation provide little by way of role model to help us accomplish the task of aware integration of spheres on both the intra- and inter- (as well as micro- and macrocosmic) levels that permeate the realms of mind, body and spirit. Therefore, if we are to move beyond our present embeddedness in the philosophical systems of our respective contexts, any divine teacher thus considered must be a manifestation of reality that lies beyond duality while embracing of it, and must be a penetrator/trix of all worlds, symbolic and otherwise.\r\n\r\nChamunda and her sister Kali, in my opinion, represent an understanding of the limitations of a dualistic worldview while simultaneously embracing duality as facilitator for self-awareness—-the manifest universe and the physical form being vehicles for the exploration of consciousness into itself. Further, they allow communication and representation among each and every sphere of life as well as among worlds, much like the Hermes Trismegistus of Greek mythology and later hermetic philosophy who not only facilitated communication between Gods; between Gods and men; but also between the worlds of Heaven and Hell. In this way, the Divine Feminine as manifest from within the Eastern psyche serves the required purpose; for as C. MacKenzie Brown notes: \"In the Devi-Bhagavata…the goddess is both male and female, and transcends the two, but without devaluing either the transcendent or <i>samsaric</i>[earthly or immanent]<i> </i>dimensions.\" [<a href=\"http://sharanya.org/articles/chamunda/chamunda4.php4#ref\">10</a>]\r\n\r\nFurther, it may be noted that from a perspective focused on the dynamics of inter-relationship rather than the intra-relationships of East and West, the Western relationship to \"God\" and the Eastern understanding of non-duality as a quality of \"God\" is typified by the following story:\r\n<blockquote>A Western reporter and an Indian devotee of the Goddess come across a statue of Kali. She has her four arms: the upper right raised in blessing, the lower right offering a boon (wish), the upper left holding a machete dripping with blood and the lower left gripping a severed human head by the hair. Seeing this split, the Westerner immediately asks: \"So how do you get the blessing and avoid the machete?\" The Eastern devotee angrily replies, \"That\'s not it at all...The blessing is only won when you accept both sides of her, including pain, sorrow, decay, death, and destruction. Run from her horrors, and you run from her blessings. To deny death, to act as if your little self is the center of things and must be protected from pain and preserved as long as possible—this is the real death. But embrace Kali as she is—kiss her bloody tongue and feel all four arms caress you at once—then you have life, you have freedom.\" [<a href=\"http://sharanya.org/articles/chamunda/chamunda4.php4#ref\">11</a>]</blockquote>\r\nIn this story, the boon for the Western mind would be to get beyond dualistic thinking; and the boon for the Eastern mind would be to allow this non-dualistic perspective to integrate into all spheres of life, not simply the spiritual one.\r\n\r\nBut working with images such as Chamunda and Kali, I believe, is one way to begin transforming traditional perspectives. Although a re-visioning of these goddesses in the East to include a mandate for social reform might be a worthwhile endeavor, I can only mention here the potential impact that working with them might have upon Western consciousness were, for example, a fully developed program inclusive of yoga, ritual, meditation and contemplation, etc. to be implemented by those wishing to break free of the limiting constructs of our time.\r\n\r\n<b>Revisiting the Goddess</b>\r\n\r\nTherefore, I hold that those wishing to reach beyond the schisms of Western thought (and beyond the hypocrisy of Eastern practice if one is from that context and so inclined) need to welcome a teacher capable of fully embodying both sides of duality; for one must be willing to embrace death if seeking to fully enjoy life (as the story above pointed out). The extremely intense presence of Chamunda when brought into contemplation by a seeking mind can indeed be a call to wake up to the vibrancy of life; to the reason behind the ephemeral nature of things; and indeed to the fullest sense oneself and one’s purpose in the world.\r\n\r\nFor as told in the Upanishads when Sanatkumara says to the young Narada: \"One who meditates upon and realizes the Self discovers that everything in the cosmos—energy and space, fire and water, name and form, birth and death, mind and will, word and deed, mantram and meditation—all come from the Self.\" [<a href=\"http://sharanya.org/articles/chamunda/chamunda4.php4#ref\">12</a>] The Self is therefore the embracing One and that which enables human beings to comprehend the infinite diversity of the world. The manifestations of the macrocosmic world can be easily understood in terms of the microcosmic Self and vice versa; or again in the words of Hermes Trismegistus, \"as above, so below.\"\r\n\r\nIn meditating upon the image of Chamunda and asking questions as I did about the reasons behind her powerful presence, one may be forced to ask too exactly what this Goddess desires us to see and to ultimately understand about our presence in the world: What is my role here? Why is there suffering? What is the purpose of life? Why has Patriarchy been a part of our human experience? As it says in the Chandogya Upanishad, \"You are that.\" [<a href=\"http://sharanya.org/articles/chamunda/chamunda4.php4#ref\">13</a>] And so for the individual contemplating the nature of non-dual reality while trying to reconcile manifest existence and personal experience, Chamunda can function as a portal to understanding.\r\n\r\nIt also seems appropriate that as we today search to give a meaning to our lives in these times of planetary crisis, turning to different ways of knowing and of experiencing reality may assist us in our struggles to ‘make sense of it all.’ This introduction of Chamunda as a teacher to the West is again not an attempt to co-opt or misrepresent a Hindu deity; it is simply a suggestion to be aware of more than those things with which we are readily familiar in our quest.\r\n\r\nDone with honor, respect, and with no claim at contextual understanding, opening to the patterns of collective thought that made the Goddess Chamunda a part of human reality may be a way to break the hard lines of Western dichotomy. It may help us reconnect to the ancient roots of many of the symbols, myths and traditions that have sprung from our collective human history, and it may help us connect to something deeper from within our own Western psyche. It may help us to eventually reclaim the power inherent in both Mother and Witch for the betterment of humanity.\r\n\r\nThus Chamunda-Devi may be a kind of key - not to unlocking the past, but to helping us ‘re-find’ the awareness most important for us today. Perhaps she can help us to dive into the primordial well of remembrance that exists within each of us in order to help surface feelings and intuitions that are particularly important for the creation of human as well as Gaian wholeness.\r\n\r\nAs the last line of the <i>Creed of the Star Goddess</i> tells us, \"I [the Goddess], have been with you from the beginning, and I am that which is attained at the end of desire.\"  [<a href=\"http://sharanya.org/articles/chamunda/chamunda4.php4#ref\">14</a>] We need only wish to remember in our hearts, with all of our heart, and She will reveal Her reality no matter where we live, what language we speak or what traditions we follow. As we move forward along our collective path in this evolutionary spiral we call life, may we seek always to know the truth of our past, so that we may all move together towards tomorrow. In this project, Chamunda is certainly qualified to be our guide.\r\n\r\nThe rest of my stay in India continued to be filled with Chamunda’s presence, and I began to affirm as I learned more about her that she was unknowable in any purely historical or religious sense but for my own cellular memories perhaps and more recent experiences of her. By Chamunda’s grace, however, I find that as I deepen into her mysteries and continue to invoke her in my life, I am drawn back in time so that I may discover not only her truth, but also the truth of how the track of recorded history both reveals and obscures truth. As much contemporary feminist scholarship reveals, much of recorded history obscures. By Chamunda’s grace, however, the path towards greater self-awareness was presented to me, and I continue to ask the above-mentioned questions, slowly gaining insight into her potential role as a teacher of the West.\r\n\r\nThe path towards greater self-awareness therefore has very large implications, and I continue to ask the above-mentioned questions to gain insight into Chamunda in all manifestations so that she may ultimately teach her secrets to all those willing to learn. I for one, am realizing that the mysteries of the Goddess reveal themselves to me though my personal experience, and as I open to trusting that my spirituality in this vein contains the greatest wisdom of all, the circle is closed and I am before Her once again.\r\n\r\n&nbsp;\r\n\r\n&nbsp;\r\n\r\n<a name=\"ref\"></a><hr />\r\n\r\n&nbsp;\r\n\r\n1. Kinsley, David. <i>Hindu Goddesses: Visions of the Divine Feminine in the Hindu Religious Tradition</i> (University of California Press: Berkeley) 1986 p. 149\r\n2. Dehejia, Vidya. <i>Yogini Cult and Temples: A Tantric Tradition</i> (The National Museum: New Delhi) 1986, p. 187\r\n3. The Matrikas first appear in the <i>Mahabharata</i> and have collectively been dated to about the first century A.D. Their manifestations in the literature of the epic - and post-epic periods seem to be characterized as malevolent, blood-drinking and demonic; but worship is also directed to them for protection. The Matrikas are notably a group of goddesses, the number of which becomes somewhat standardized at seven or eight in the postepic period. They are given in the <i>Visnudharmottara-purana</i> as: Yogisvari, Mahesvari, Vaisnavi, Kaumari, Brahmani, Chamunda and Varahi.\r\n4. I have visited this temple and seen these images. David Kinsley also makes mention of this fact in his work,<i>Tantric Visions of the Divine Feminine: The Ten Mahavidyas</i> (University of California Press: Berkeley) 1997, p. 16\r\n5. Kinsley, David. Ibid., p. 75\r\n6. Sheldrake, Rupert. <i>The Rebirth of Nature: The Greening of Science and God</i> (Park Street Press: Vermont) 1991 pp. 196 - 199\r\n7. Kinsley, David. <i>Hindu Goddesses</i>, ibid<i>. </i>p. 77\r\n8. Kothari, Rajni. Foreword in <i>Staying Alive: Women, Ecology and Development</i> by Vandana Shiva, (New Jersey: Zed Books) 1989, p. X. (Original italics.)\r\n9. Spretnak, Charlene. \"Radical Non-duality in Ecofeminist Philosophy\" essay <i>in Metis: A Feminist Journal of Transformative Wisdom</i>, Spring, 1996; Vol 1, No. 1., p. 11\r\n10. Brown, C. MacKenzie. <i>The Triumph of the Goddess: The Canonical Models and Theological Visions of the Devi-Bhagavata Purana</i> (SUNY Press: New York) 1990, p. 216\r\n11. Reported by Tim Ward in <i>Common Boundary</i>, March/April, 1997, p. 34\r\n12.<i> Chandogya Upanishad, </i>translated by Eknath Easwaran (Nilgiri Press: Berkeley) 1987, p. 190\r\n13. <i>Chandogya Upanishad</i>, ibid<i>.</i>, p. 183\r\n14. Adapted from the traditional (oral) poem by Doreen Valiente, British witch. Traditional.','Chamunda-Devi','','inherit','open','open','','99967-revision-v1','','','2013-09-11 22:17:14','2013-09-12 05:17:14','',99967,'<h3>Eastern Teacher to The West</h3>\r\n\r\nThis article tells the story of my own exploration into the mysteries of the Goddess as manifested within the Hindu pantheon as Chamunda, the fierce, emaciated and terrifying Dark Mother. She is a goddess who is par',0,'revision','',0),(99992,2,'2013-09-11 22:26:29','2013-09-12 05:26:29','<h4>Eastern Teacher to The West</h4>\r\n\r\nThis article tells the story of my own exploration into the mysteries of the Goddess as manifested within the Hindu pantheon as Chamunda, the fierce, emaciated and terrifying Dark Mother. She is a goddess who is particularly revered among Shaktas (believers in the primacy of the Divine Feminine), and she has historically found favor within all strata of Indian society, from the village shudras (lowest caste) to the rulers of India. Temples to her exist throughout the country: from the forts of Rajasthan to the highlands of Himachal Pradesh, to the adavasi (tribal) lands of Orissa.\r\n\r\nIn Orissa, where I was blessed to spend five months exploring, she appears primarily in two forms: i) as one of the Matrikas (Mothers), and ii) as one of the sixty-four yoginis (witches) who are themselves daughters of the Asta Matrikas (Eight Mothers). From my exploration into Chamunda I have gained an understanding of the ways in which the Goddess teaches through one of her manifest forms, and this article is an attempt to share some of what I have discovered with you.\r\n\r\n<img class=\"alignright  wp-image-99968 imgborder=0\" alt=\"chamundafire\" src=\"http://sharanya.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/chamundafire.gif\" width=\"327\" height=\"364\" /><strong>The Image of Chamunda</strong>\r\n\r\nBut here, I can only hope to present my learnings as shrouded with the veil of perception I carry as a western woman. However, I share my interpretation of the mysteries as revealed to me by Her so that Her name may be invoked and Her presence asked to help banish the ignorance and prejudice of our time. I do not pretend to fully understand Chamunda (within her original context or otherwise) or for that matter, the great mystery of the Goddess; but rather I claim to appreciate Her because of my resonance with the form and symbols offered to us from India.\r\n\r\nFrom an 8th century stone statue originally found in Dharmasala (Cuttack, Orissa) and now located at the Orissa State Museum in Bhubaneswar, I learned to see for the first time through this image what the power of the Divine Feminine can be through a figure that could (and does) readily inspire fear in both Western and Eastern onlookers. Chamunda appears to penetrate the manifest world through this sculpture of grey-black chlorite stone. She is chiseled with her most readily recognizable features: sunken eyes, sagging breasts and skeletal body; but the obvious attention and carefully-detailed precision with which she was created belie a profound respect and/or love on the part of the sculptor that is perhaps not readily understandable from our current vantage point.\r\n\r\nComing across her image amidst myriad sculptures on the floor of the museum is like dropping into a cold pool after a 20-minute steam bath. Upon first seeing her, I was instantly astounded and shocked by her presence until the realization set in that encountering Her was making my insides tingle in ways suggestive of Her great power. She is an awesome figure, with third-eye and navel raised out of the stone, veins defined over the course of her entire body, no teeth, heavily hanging earlobes and snake-entwined arms - one of which holds in its long hand a severed human head, which she grasps with finger nails that come to a point. In her other partially-intact arm she holds a skull cup or kapala at the level of her heart. She is garlanded with skulls, wears ouroboric anklets, and is seated on a corpse with her right foot on the ground and her left leg bent at the knee, foot turned, its sole to the sky. Her hair is aflame and pulled upwards, wrapped and held in place by a snake-band tiara, the center of which bears a skull.\r\n\r\nAlthough my initial contact with the fierce form of the Goddess had come to me through a dream image as Kali, both she and Chamunda are alike in many respects, related by their transformative abilities and their stature as Crones. While Kali manifests the power of time and of death, Chamunda too holds infinity and eternity. Both can be intensely frightening images of divine, feminine power especially to those unaccustomed to dealing with the Dark Goddess. Both are often similarly depicted: in the cremation ground, often seated upon a corpse or engaging in Tantrick rituals involving sex, blood and death. In this, they explicitly manifest antinomian characteristics within mainstream Hindu tradition, and they become by this provkers of (r)evolution from the inside, and transformers of worlds from the outside as they reach westerners.\r\n\r\nChamunda\'s intensity through the vehicle of the statue in Bhubaneswar shook me deep inside and stunned me. And I was nevertheless drawn to her and mystified by what she had to offer. Somehow, I could not help but feel her incredible power through the skeletal form, while at the same time, I became immediately and especially aware of how at odds with this impression and indeed terrifying she would appear to most westerners. Rationally, I wondered how in the world this figure could be known as one of the matrikas when she seemed so very far from western, as well as the traditional Hindu conception of mother, either literal or archetypal. Mother in any sense is most generally normalized to mean nurturing and life-giving. Chamunda appears to be everything but this, and I had to work to see the interconnections. On another, non-rational level, however, I could immediately feel that there was a mystery of fecundity held within those bones. I was, of course, feeling in my own bones something very old and true about her.\r\n\r\n<!--nextpage-->\r\n\r\nWhile within both Eastern and Western contexts mothers are seen as caretakers and life givers, understanding the Devi as matrika (mother) is another story. Within the world of Indian Goddess theology at least from Vedic times (circa 1,500 BCE), it seems that the devi as a mother who nourishes the world is understood as someone who must herself be replenished in order to continue to sustain life. \"If she were only to give birth and to nourish her creatures she would soon grow weak, and creation would cease.\" [1]\r\n\r\nBecause her life-generating and sustaining aspect is so powerful, she carries an insatiable hunger that is equally great. This hunger is often represented in images by showing an emaciated figure. Thus understood, the fierce devi is integral to understanding the birth/death aspect of the cycle of life in India, which makes possible the whole of manifest existence. She is obviously the living Crone, a Dark Goddess who functions as a gateway between the realms of this world and the next. Recognition of this leads to liberation; and images containing within them the fullness of samsara, as Chamunda does, serve as gateways to simultaneous embracement of life and death, duality and oneness, a holistic future and personal enrichment through the suffering of life. They hold the key to embracing the walk of the heart, where sadness and joy, pain and elation ever co-mingle.\r\n\r\nUnderstanding the goddess as both life-giver and destroyer manifests in symbolic form as a circle, or chakra within the Indian context. This chakra is reflective of the cycles of life apparent, for example, in the waxing and waning of the moon and those other cycles tied to this one, such as menstruation and the ebb and flow of the tides. A circle is the form taken by the temples dedicated to the yoginis, or sixty-four derivations of the Asta Matrikas mentioned previously who include Chamunda among them. It is therefore perhaps no coincidence that the goddess as yogini would be configured for worship by the tantricks in circular temples, since their tradition is infused with reverence for the Goddess as containing the mystery of She who is both of the source of all life and the fount of death; the One who contains All. In addition, the yoginis are also linked to yaksis (nature spirits), and they, as well as those who worshipped them, were called witches and magicians. As yogini, Chamunda and her sixty-three sisters were said to have the power to fly, to become invisible, turn humans into animals, and other such things. In many ways, these traits and the correspondence of female deities with witchcraft again brings together East and West through demonization of the Feminine.\r\n\r\nBut much like the Indo-European demonization of the pre-Christian Death/Regeneratirx aspect of the Goddess into Witch, Chamunda too was demonized and subordinated by patriarchal traditions in India. She was linked to Yama, Lord of Death, becoming less than he in Vedic hymns. An interesting suggestion, however, of her ties to pre-patriarchal roots may be found by looking at her vahana (mount), the owl. Even today in the west, this bird may still be found carrying the messages of the Dark Goddess, of the Feminine Divine who holds the mysteries of life, death and rebirth. A friend found a link between east and west on pilgrimage to the Black Madonna Notre Dame de Bon Espoir (Our Lady of Good Hope) in Dijon France. She writes of her experience,\r\n<blockquote>The oldest of the Black Madonnas...Notre Dame de Bon Espoir was yet another Black Madonna who made a tremendous impact on me. Interestingly, there is an owl carved into the side of the church where She is housed.</blockquote>\r\nTherefore, understanding the origins of the witch in prehistory and her later modifications to more fierce/violent characterizations at the hands of patriarchal peoples will perhaps help to heal some of the ills caused by misrepresentations of the Feminine while eradicating some causes of Devi’s (and by extension women’s) subordination. It might be said that if we come to understand the full nature of Her, we would see that all Her forms are those of beauty within the divine creation.\r\n\r\nWhile the term witch is in the eastern context used with negative connotation, it is important to understand that the yoginis of the temples were not demons to the tantricks. Given the tantrick insistence on reverence for the immanence of the divine and the sacredness of nature, of maniest reality, yoginis are understood as affirmations of the multifarious aspects of the Goddess. While some of these aspects can be very violent or fierce, with the goddess often depicted with sword in hand, blood and human flesh dripping from her mouth, severed heads around her waist, and other gruesome adornment, understanding her and her relationship to patriarchy over time is interesting. Such depictions, on the one hand, are likely overlays onto an ancient Crone/Death-Regeneratrix deity whose original association with death was severed from her link to life because of a dualistic patriarchal worldview that failed to recognize, for example, the interconnectedness of life and death and instead demonized women and nature as expressions of that relationship.\r\n\r\nIn contrast to gruesome depictions of the goddess Chamunda and those associated with Her, patriarchal Hinduism has begun, within the last century, to sweeten the fierce goddesses. Perhaps this is a tell-tale sign that the power of the feminine is being responded to a new and different way. That is, first, She was representative of the power of Oneness and, simply put, patriarchal consciousness (as manifested in the social, political and other realities millennia ago that have created today’s normative Hindu consciousness) sought to (and managed to) break that monopoly by rendering Her as fierce so as to facilitate specific ends, which were to carve out dualistic territory (for some reason). After supression in very specific ways for those millennia, however, She has sought to bring balance to a dichotomous worldview. In response to Her presence now, instead of the fierceness previously required to serve the purposes of a patriarchal worldview, the institutions today that which to retain power have rendered her sweet and submissive, now, to serve their ends of maintaining the status quo. Were patriarchal powers to allow Her fierceness, their reign might quickly come to an end, and this, of course, is exactly the point of honoring and remembering Her as all that She is while concurrently utilizing the power that Her fierce characteristics contain.\r\n\r\nFurther, while the word witch today still reverberates strongly with anti-God-loving sentiment for some people, to call oneself a witch as I do is an act of resistance to patriarchal obfuscation of the truth, and reclamation of women’s power within any tradition (as well as outside them). In the west, it is an appellation that is taking on an entirely new meaning, particularly with the resurgence of the goddess in the discipline known as Women’s Spirituality, through Wicca (a reclamation of indigenous European earth-based traditions) and through other forms of earth-based religion, that hold within them both the pre-historical notion of goddess as life-giver/destroyer and the more patriarchal characterization of the goddess as violent warrior, from which many, nevertheless are able to find powerful tools for creating life-affirming change.\r\n\r\nAgain before what I now call my statue of Chamunda, this time recording notes and impressions while interposing photographic moments until the museum’s 4 o’clock closing time, I eventually come to be alone with her. I am alone in that statue-filled room mesmerized, or very likely in trance, feeling as though some incredibly magical force surrounds the two of us. From my spot on the floor, I watch her watching me and ask her to teach me Her secrets. That evening, I wrote in my journal:\r\n<blockquote>From where did the ancient Saktas get her image? What are her myths and associations? How and when does she manifest? Why? What are the psychological implications of her presence as a Goddess and what do they tell us about the people who created her? Why does she exist in this fierce form that was obviously so loved (feared?) by those who worshipped her? Can she help us in the west better understand the nature of the Divine Feminine; and if so, can we find ways through her to promote self-understanding? She is starved; does she link us psychically to the root cause of/cure for anorexia? Can she help western women in the throes of addictions, especially eating disorders, with their own reclamation process? How does understanding Chamunda help me to better understand myself?</blockquote>\r\nMy questions only began to touch the surface of her depth. As a western woman living today I can never know her true or intended purpose, although I can make an educated guess informed by my academic pursuits as well as my bodily knowings and intuitions.\r\n\r\n<!--nextpage-->\r\n\r\nEven so, Chamunda through my eyes is not Chamunda in any fully Indian sense, even though I have explored her on her own ground (literally, as well as through her myths, philosophies, symbols, and worship). Rather, for me, Chamunda is an exploration into the depths of personal, and perhaps more generally the question of women’s, spirituality. Particularly within the western context of women’s spiritual development, the importance of Chamunda as a teacher can be grasped when it is understood that she holds within herself the tension of embracing both Mother and Witch archetypes; two aspects of the Feminine that have long been used to subordinate rather than empower women. Chamunda illustrates that these aspects ever inter-related, constantly situated within a flux of interchangeability that she herself manifests.\r\n\r\n<b>Chamunda and Kali: Blood Sisters</b>\r\n\r\nMy initial contact with the <i>raudra</i> or fierce form of the Goddess, as mentioned above, had come to me years earlier through a dream image as Kali, a Hindu goddess representative of the power of time and of death. In many respects, Chamunda and Kali are alike. Indeed, both are initiators into the fullest spectrum of life, and both serve to awaken us to the value of impermanence and cyclical time. Some Shakta practitioners understand both goddesses to be manifest aspects of the same ontological truth; nevertheless, both can be intensely frightening images of feminine power to those unaccustomed to dealing with the Dark Mother.\r\n\r\nIconographically, Chamunda and Kali are often similarly depicted: in the cremation ground, seated upon a corpse and engaging in practices involving sex, blood and death. At the Chamunda-Devi temple [<a href=\"/mandala/chamunda-devi-eastern-teacher-to-the-west/4/#ref\">4</a>] outside of Dharmasala (Himachal Pradesh), Chamunda is plainly understood to be a form of Kali and the ten <i>mahavidyas</i> are depicted at her shrine. The Devi as Chamunda-Kali is also mentioned in the <i>Tantrasara</i>, <i>Shaktapramoda</i> and <i>Pranatosini</i>. [<a href=\"/mandala/chamunda-devi-eastern-teacher-to-the-west/4/#ref\">5</a>]\r\n\r\nChamunda-Kali provides a gateway to: i) understanding of the Goddess in the Western psyche for juxtaposition with the Eastern manifestations of Her; ii) how Western vs. Eastern conceptions of reality play a role in determining the images of the Divine Feminine that abound in each context; and iii) the potential power of reclaiming the Dark Mother in the West with the help of images from the East.\r\n\r\n<b>Western Appreciation for the Goddess</b>\r\n\r\nFrom this brief discussion in conjunction with other goddess tales, perhaps a vision of the goddess who relates to the emotional, physical, and psychic bodies of women and men, regardless of their country of origin, by virtue of the human condition, is becoming apparent. Woven here is the notion that where women in particular are being drawn to Devi’s symbolism for its promotion of, at the very least, what may appear to be a feminist ethic, those who are attracted to her in their spiritual longing (in any of her forms) necessarily cross lines of demarcation whether social, political, or geographical—and so too does Devi. Goddess worship and feminism too needs to be able to create a container for dialogue, with both arenas developing cross-cultural methodologies that can facilitate the creation of safe space in which to then make discussions happen that relate the spiritual realities with the economic, social, and political ones. From within that space, the hope would be to generate a metaphorical fire from which truth based on a process of coming to agreement can be born. Only then can we empower women and men to be all of who and what they are, no matter what the context in which they find themselves.\r\n\r\nGiving a historicity to Indian images of the divine may help those non-Hindus interested in appreciating her from within western contexts to make informed statements and educated assertions (based upon contextual understanding) about their own uses of/for her while providing a ground for possible adaptations of Devi within a new environment. For just as the goddess centuries ago crossed from India to neighboring lands, our technological advancements today have moved us all towards a global community, which has indeed also helped to shape the transportation of Devi across oceans and continents.\r\n\r\nFor western women, images of the goddess as whole, as containing paradox, and particularly as embracing sexuality and other aspects generally suppressed under patriarchy, are healing. In the western context where transcendent male gods (or more specifically, one male god of generally Jewish or Christian disposition) dominate and no female/feminine is accorded divine status (despite the high status imparted to Mary, as discussed in the last chapter), the need for a Divine Feminine who recognized, honored and is both immanent as well as transcendent is glaring. Perhaps this is one reason why the Indian conception of goddess captures the fervor of western feminists and those seeking alternate visions of the divine that are more inclusive. Devi seems approachable in the sense that she, as her myths and iconography at the very least portend, undergoes and is much of what women recognize to be their individual truths. In her, every woman finds a piece of herself; and every man, perhaps, can learn a little more about the heart of his essential nature.\r\n\r\nThe mainstream Western images of the Divine Feminine in a contemporary context where the Abrahamic faiths prevail have largely been limited to the Virgin Mary, and perhaps if one is generous, to Sophia, the Black Madonna and Lilith. These last three however, represent an undercurrent of the Christian and Judaic faiths, and they are not recognized by many practitioners; at least not with full awareness of their power and connection to pre-patriarchal religion.\r\n\r\nIn any case, it is apparent that the Divine Feminine within our context as represented in Her most ubiquitous aspect as the Virgin Mary has little but a \"soft\" or benevolent and nurturing side. She is holy and untouchable, even by her husband; she is vehicle for the avatar Christ, but not God herself; she is incapable of engaging the more uncomfortable aspects of life; she listens and conveys the message of her followers, but does not have the power to act directly for those who worship her.\r\n\r\nThis image of Mary is put in juxtaposition within Christianity to the one God, who is All. Her place is marginal in relationship to His magnificence, and reflects the Western/patriarchal schism typified by Descartes’ mind/body duality (God as transcendent mind, Mary as earth-bound body) or more simply, the valuing of men over women and heaven over earth. Further, it underscores that the religious traditions of patriarchal cultures have unfortunately tended to pathologize the relationship of dualistic principles. In life, dualities abound, but their representation in the West has long since posed them as warring opposites where the position of the Divine Feminine (and women) is relegated to minority status.\r\n\r\nThe patriarchal worldview, particularly as expressed in the powerful \"First World\" nations of the West, has manifested skewed valuations of dualities in other spheres of life as well. It has done so to the point of ignoring (or largely ignoring) the inherent worth and wisdom of the Feminine principle and has created an urgent need for crisis prevention in the environmental, developmental, psychological and social arenas. Further, if we accept that the project of patriarchy has been based on the scientific and philosophical deconstruction of life (through exploitation of resources and peoples by Western science and paradigms supported by such traditions) and on the establishment of dualistic categories formed from reductionistic tendencies (in order to propagate the favoritism of man and culture over women and nature, e.g.), then we understand how dichotomization destroys relatedness, promotes homogenization, and makes subjugation the norm for half the population the world over.\r\n\r\nUnfortunately in both the East and West, the archetypal Feminine principle, which in India is called <i>pakriti</i>, has often been associated only with women and with nature, to the detriment of both men, women and the planet. For to deny that the Feminine has value is to deny more than gender or population; it is to deny half of the entire spectrum of life. It relegates all that is receptive, open, life-generating and nurturing to the margins of society, and it is there that we can look to find the festering sores of all the various crises of our time.\r\n\r\nFortunately, particularly within the past ten years, writers, thinkers, theologians and others across the globe in fields as diverse as the sciences, religion and women’s studies have explored the dance of life beyond the confines of duality. There, many have found that the \"opposing\" forces of life are in a play of complementarities, where tension makes growth, change, and transformation possible. In understanding that life is more of an ever-shifting dynamic balance of energetics where opposing forces create an existence filled with variety, spontaneity, laughter and music in which the soul may rejoice, a new vein of consciousness has been born in our time.\r\n\r\nThe impact of the Goddess archetype upon women and men as She re-emerges into consciousness has profound ramifications upon all aspects of life. In the East, many have been called to re-examine their relationships to the manifest Divine Feminine in actual women. On the individual as well as the collective level, She reminds us that women too are powerful, worthy of respect in this world; She teaches that respect for our bodies helps us to respect the Earthbody; She tells us that all things ugly and beautiful are Her creation. She is a \"creative trinity;\" [<a href=\"/mandala/chamunda-devi-eastern-teacher-to-the-west/4/#ref\">6</a>] serving as a gateway to simultaneous embracement of <i>both</i> duality and oneness, a symbol of integrated duality and the unconditional love that binds them. With this, many in the West have been drawn to remembering the Goddess as a potent symbol of wholeness. Many have turned to Her myths, rituals and traditions of pre-patriarchal times in order to quench their personal longing for \"something else.\" I believe that Chamunda helps to bring a special dimension to understanding the fullest sense of what that wholeness means.\r\n\r\n<b>Eastern Goddesses, Patriarchal Cultures, and a Vision from the West</b>\r\n\r\nWhile the West has tended to infuse its traditions with a dualistic split, the Eastern traditions of India have tended to concern themselves with a monological \"One\" in the realm of spirit while an overlay of patriarchal duality has settled into the societal sphere. This has wrought a complexity of contradictions in Indian society. For example, the Ganges River, sacred sphere of the Goddess Ganga who manifests through and as its waters, is the most polluted and yet simultaneously the holiest river on Earth for devout Hindus. Similarly, while the Divine Feminine is recognized and worshipped through myriad images of Goddesses (Ganga, Kali and Chamunda among them), women still occupy a marginal position in traditional Indian society.\r\n\r\nAs David Kinsley has noted: \"In the Hindu tradition a woman is taught to understand herself primarily in relation to others…It is society that puts demands on her primarily through the agents of relatives and in-laws, and not she who places demands on society that she be allowed to develop a unique, independent destiny. A central demand placed on women, particularly vis-à-vis males, is that they subordinate their welfare to the welfare of others.\" [<a href=\"/mandala/chamunda-devi-eastern-teacher-to-the-west/4/#ref\">7</a>]\r\n\r\nWhile attempts have been made to reconcile patriarchal duality at the level of society with a philosophical and religious spiritual unity, the fact of the matter is that such discontinuity invalidates and undermines both. Little progress has been made in this regard within the Indian context. But it is from within this struggle that ways of thinking that seek to heal the split of culture from embodied/immanent spirituality have more recently emerged. Many writers, but most prominently the Indian physicist and ecofeminist, Vandana Shiva, have made a case for recognizing the Divine Feminine/Goddess in order to ameliorate tension and diffuse the boundaries of derision caused by the patriarchal paradigm.\r\n\r\n<!--nextpage-->\r\n\r\nIn her book, <i>Staying Alive: Women, Ecology and Development</i>, Shiva explores one way of looking at the Divine Feminine through lenses that appreciate both transcendent as well as immanent manifestations. She proposes fully embracing the notion of <i>Pakriti</i> as a \"spiritual\" discipline rather than simply as \"nature,\" so that a more balanced worldview can be achieved. This new worldview takes into account the marginalized position of women while de facto promoting environmental sustainability and the wellbeing of diverse, autonomous communities focused on the sacredness of relationships rather than on their destruction.\r\n\r\nAccording to Shiva, Pakriti means not just the traditional counterpart to Purusa (the Divine Masculine, or the Masculine Principle of manifest culture and society), but instead the<i>entirety</i> of nature with its ability to create, sustain and destroy in order to continue the cycle of life in all its aspects. Thus, Shiva’s position asserts \"both a <i>holistic</i> perspective and an<i>inclusive</i> agenda of concerns based on its considerable respect for diversity—both in turn being principles of nature.\" [<a href=\"http://sharanya.org/articles/chamunda/chamunda4.php4#ref\">8</a>]\r\n\r\nOn another level, such thinking shows that the construct of <i>maya</i> (illusion) as found in many Indian philosophical systems is not required to solve the corundum of how manifest reality (difference) can be reconciled with the unitive One. Instead, maya can be understood as the human resistance to holding the tension of paradox in life. In this way, perhaps the women of manifest nature can reclaim their right as beings who are living testament to the power of the Goddess and be honored as such. And the \"One\" can take on new meaning as a \"dynamic system of relations wherein any particular manifestation functions simultaneously as a distinct part and the unbroken whole. The parts are not derivative of the whole, or vice versa, [nor are the parts dissolved into one another to become the whole, or vice versa.] Each aspect constitutes the other.\" [<a href=\"http://sharanya.org/articles/chamunda/chamunda4.php4#ref\">9</a>]\r\n\r\nIt is with this idea in mind that the Goddesses of East and West need to be (re)evaluated. Unfortunately, however, as we saw earlier in this article, the Western Goddess(es) of mainstream contemporary manifestation and interpretation provide little by way of role model to help us accomplish the task of aware integration of spheres on both the intra- and inter- (as well as micro- and macrocosmic) levels that permeate the realms of mind, body and spirit. Therefore, if we are to move beyond our present embeddedness in the philosophical systems of our respective contexts, any divine teacher thus considered must be a manifestation of reality that lies beyond duality while embracing of it, and must be a penetrator/trix of all worlds, symbolic and otherwise.\r\n\r\nChamunda and her sister Kali, in my opinion, represent an understanding of the limitations of a dualistic worldview while simultaneously embracing duality as facilitator for self-awareness—-the manifest universe and the physical form being vehicles for the exploration of consciousness into itself. Further, they allow communication and representation among each and every sphere of life as well as among worlds, much like the Hermes Trismegistus of Greek mythology and later hermetic philosophy who not only facilitated communication between Gods; between Gods and men; but also between the worlds of Heaven and Hell. In this way, the Divine Feminine as manifest from within the Eastern psyche serves the required purpose; for as C. MacKenzie Brown notes: \"In the Devi-Bhagavata…the goddess is both male and female, and transcends the two, but without devaluing either the transcendent or <i>samsaric</i>[earthly or immanent]<i> </i>dimensions.\" [<a href=\"http://sharanya.org/articles/chamunda/chamunda4.php4#ref\">10</a>]\r\n\r\nFurther, it may be noted that from a perspective focused on the dynamics of inter-relationship rather than the intra-relationships of East and West, the Western relationship to \"God\" and the Eastern understanding of non-duality as a quality of \"God\" is typified by the following story:\r\n<blockquote>A Western reporter and an Indian devotee of the Goddess come across a statue of Kali. She has her four arms: the upper right raised in blessing, the lower right offering a boon (wish), the upper left holding a machete dripping with blood and the lower left gripping a severed human head by the hair. Seeing this split, the Westerner immediately asks: \"So how do you get the blessing and avoid the machete?\" The Eastern devotee angrily replies, \"That\'s not it at all...The blessing is only won when you accept both sides of her, including pain, sorrow, decay, death, and destruction. Run from her horrors, and you run from her blessings. To deny death, to act as if your little self is the center of things and must be protected from pain and preserved as long as possible—this is the real death. But embrace Kali as she is—kiss her bloody tongue and feel all four arms caress you at once—then you have life, you have freedom.\" [<a href=\"http://sharanya.org/articles/chamunda/chamunda4.php4#ref\">11</a>]</blockquote>\r\nIn this story, the boon for the Western mind would be to get beyond dualistic thinking; and the boon for the Eastern mind would be to allow this non-dualistic perspective to integrate into all spheres of life, not simply the spiritual one.\r\n\r\nBut working with images such as Chamunda and Kali, I believe, is one way to begin transforming traditional perspectives. Although a re-visioning of these goddesses in the East to include a mandate for social reform might be a worthwhile endeavor, I can only mention here the potential impact that working with them might have upon Western consciousness were, for example, a fully developed program inclusive of yoga, ritual, meditation and contemplation, etc. to be implemented by those wishing to break free of the limiting constructs of our time.\r\n\r\n<b>Revisiting the Goddess</b>\r\n\r\nTherefore, I hold that those wishing to reach beyond the schisms of Western thought (and beyond the hypocrisy of Eastern practice if one is from that context and so inclined) need to welcome a teacher capable of fully embodying both sides of duality; for one must be willing to embrace death if seeking to fully enjoy life (as the story above pointed out). The extremely intense presence of Chamunda when brought into contemplation by a seeking mind can indeed be a call to wake up to the vibrancy of life; to the reason behind the ephemeral nature of things; and indeed to the fullest sense oneself and one’s purpose in the world.\r\n\r\nFor as told in the Upanishads when Sanatkumara says to the young Narada: \"One who meditates upon and realizes the Self discovers that everything in the cosmos—energy and space, fire and water, name and form, birth and death, mind and will, word and deed, mantram and meditation—all come from the Self.\" [<a href=\"http://sharanya.org/articles/chamunda/chamunda4.php4#ref\">12</a>] The Self is therefore the embracing One and that which enables human beings to comprehend the infinite diversity of the world. The manifestations of the macrocosmic world can be easily understood in terms of the microcosmic Self and vice versa; or again in the words of Hermes Trismegistus, \"as above, so below.\"\r\n\r\nIn meditating upon the image of Chamunda and asking questions as I did about the reasons behind her powerful presence, one may be forced to ask too exactly what this Goddess desires us to see and to ultimately understand about our presence in the world: What is my role here? Why is there suffering? What is the purpose of life? Why has Patriarchy been a part of our human experience? As it says in the Chandogya Upanishad, \"You are that.\" [<a href=\"http://sharanya.org/articles/chamunda/chamunda4.php4#ref\">13</a>] And so for the individual contemplating the nature of non-dual reality while trying to reconcile manifest existence and personal experience, Chamunda can function as a portal to understanding.\r\n\r\nIt also seems appropriate that as we today search to give a meaning to our lives in these times of planetary crisis, turning to different ways of knowing and of experiencing reality may assist us in our struggles to ‘make sense of it all.’ This introduction of Chamunda as a teacher to the West is again not an attempt to co-opt or misrepresent a Hindu deity; it is simply a suggestion to be aware of more than those things with which we are readily familiar in our quest.\r\n\r\nDone with honor, respect, and with no claim at contextual understanding, opening to the patterns of collective thought that made the Goddess Chamunda a part of human reality may be a way to break the hard lines of Western dichotomy. It may help us reconnect to the ancient roots of many of the symbols, myths and traditions that have sprung from our collective human history, and it may help us connect to something deeper from within our own Western psyche. It may help us to eventually reclaim the power inherent in both Mother and Witch for the betterment of humanity.\r\n\r\nThus Chamunda-Devi may be a kind of key - not to unlocking the past, but to helping us ‘re-find’ the awareness most important for us today. Perhaps she can help us to dive into the primordial well of remembrance that exists within each of us in order to help surface feelings and intuitions that are particularly important for the creation of human as well as Gaian wholeness.\r\n\r\nAs the last line of the <i>Creed of the Star Goddess</i> tells us, \"I [the Goddess], have been with you from the beginning, and I am that which is attained at the end of desire.\"  [<a href=\"http://sharanya.org/articles/chamunda/chamunda4.php4#ref\">14</a>] We need only wish to remember in our hearts, with all of our heart, and She will reveal Her reality no matter where we live, what language we speak or what traditions we follow. As we move forward along our collective path in this evolutionary spiral we call life, may we seek always to know the truth of our past, so that we may all move together towards tomorrow. In this project, Chamunda is certainly qualified to be our guide.\r\n\r\nThe rest of my stay in India continued to be filled with Chamunda’s presence, and I began to affirm as I learned more about her that she was unknowable in any purely historical or religious sense but for my own cellular memories perhaps and more recent experiences of her. By Chamunda’s grace, however, I find that as I deepen into her mysteries and continue to invoke her in my life, I am drawn back in time so that I may discover not only her truth, but also the truth of how the track of recorded history both reveals and obscures truth. As much contemporary feminist scholarship reveals, much of recorded history obscures. By Chamunda’s grace, however, the path towards greater self-awareness was presented to me, and I continue to ask the above-mentioned questions, slowly gaining insight into her potential role as a teacher of the West.\r\n\r\nThe path towards greater self-awareness therefore has very large implications, and I continue to ask the above-mentioned questions to gain insight into Chamunda in all manifestations so that she may ultimately teach her secrets to all those willing to learn. I for one, am realizing that the mysteries of the Goddess reveal themselves to me though my personal experience, and as I open to trusting that my spirituality in this vein contains the greatest wisdom of all, the circle is closed and I am before Her once again.\r\n\r\n&nbsp;\r\n\r\n&nbsp;\r\n\r\n<a name=\"ref\"></a><hr />\r\n\r\n&nbsp;\r\n\r\n1. Kinsley, David. <i>Hindu Goddesses: Visions of the Divine Feminine in the Hindu Religious Tradition</i> (University of California Press: Berkeley) 1986 p. 149\r\n2. Dehejia, Vidya. <i>Yogini Cult and Temples: A Tantric Tradition</i> (The National Museum: New Delhi) 1986, p. 187\r\n3. The Matrikas first appear in the <i>Mahabharata</i> and have collectively been dated to about the first century A.D. Their manifestations in the literature of the epic - and post-epic periods seem to be characterized as malevolent, blood-drinking and demonic; but worship is also directed to them for protection. The Matrikas are notably a group of goddesses, the number of which becomes somewhat standardized at seven or eight in the postepic period. They are given in the <i>Visnudharmottara-purana</i> as: Yogisvari, Mahesvari, Vaisnavi, Kaumari, Brahmani, Chamunda and Varahi.\r\n4. I have visited this temple and seen these images. David Kinsley also makes mention of this fact in his work,<i>Tantric Visions of the Divine Feminine: The Ten Mahavidyas</i> (University of California Press: Berkeley) 1997, p. 16\r\n5. Kinsley, David. Ibid., p. 75\r\n6. Sheldrake, Rupert. <i>The Rebirth of Nature: The Greening of Science and God</i> (Park Street Press: Vermont) 1991 pp. 196 - 199\r\n7. Kinsley, David. <i>Hindu Goddesses</i>, ibid<i>. </i>p. 77\r\n8. Kothari, Rajni. Foreword in <i>Staying Alive: Women, Ecology and Development</i> by Vandana Shiva, (New Jersey: Zed Books) 1989, p. X. (Original italics.)\r\n9. Spretnak, Charlene. \"Radical Non-duality in Ecofeminist Philosophy\" essay <i>in Metis: A Feminist Journal of Transformative Wisdom</i>, Spring, 1996; Vol 1, No. 1., p. 11\r\n10. Brown, C. MacKenzie. <i>The Triumph of the Goddess: The Canonical Models and Theological Visions of the Devi-Bhagavata Purana</i> (SUNY Press: New York) 1990, p. 216\r\n11. Reported by Tim Ward in <i>Common Boundary</i>, March/April, 1997, p. 34\r\n12.<i> Chandogya Upanishad, </i>translated by Eknath Easwaran (Nilgiri Press: Berkeley) 1987, p. 190\r\n13. <i>Chandogya Upanishad</i>, ibid<i>.</i>, p. 183\r\n14. Adapted from the traditional (oral) poem by Doreen Valiente, British witch. Traditional.','Chamunda-Devi','','inherit','open','open','','99967-revision-v1','','','2013-09-11 22:26:29','2013-09-12 05:26:29','',99967,'<h4>Eastern Teacher to The West</h4>\r\n\r\nThis article tells the story of my own exploration into the mysteries of the Goddess as manifested within the Hindu pantheon as Chamunda, the fierce, emaciated and terrifying Dark Mother. She is a goddess who is par',0,'revision','',0);
INSERT INTO `wp_posts` VALUES (99993,2,'2013-09-11 22:32:38','2013-09-12 05:32:38','<h4>Eastern Teacher to The West</h4>\r\n<em>by Chandra Alexandre</em>\r\n\r\n<hr />\r\n\r\nThis article tells the story of my own exploration into the mysteries of the Goddess as manifested within the Hindu pantheon as Chamunda, the fierce, emaciated and terrifying Dark Mother. She is a goddess who is particularly revered among Shaktas (believers in the primacy of the Divine Feminine), and she has historically found favor within all strata of Indian society, from the village shudras (lowest caste) to the rulers of India. Temples to her exist throughout the country: from the forts of Rajasthan to the highlands of Himachal Pradesh, to the adavasi (tribal) lands of Orissa.\r\n\r\nIn Orissa, where I was blessed to spend five months exploring, she appears primarily in two forms: i) as one of the Matrikas (Mothers), and ii) as one of the sixty-four yoginis (witches) who are themselves daughters of the Asta Matrikas (Eight Mothers). From my exploration into Chamunda I have gained an understanding of the ways in which the Goddess teaches through one of her manifest forms, and this article is an attempt to share some of what I have discovered with you.\r\n\r\n<img class=\"alignright  wp-image-99968 imgborder=0\" alt=\"chamundafire\" src=\"http://sharanya.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/chamundafire.gif\" width=\"327\" height=\"364\" /><strong>The Image of Chamunda</strong>\r\n\r\nBut here, I can only hope to present my learnings as shrouded with the veil of perception I carry as a western woman. However, I share my interpretation of the mysteries as revealed to me by Her so that Her name may be invoked and Her presence asked to help banish the ignorance and prejudice of our time. I do not pretend to fully understand Chamunda (within her original context or otherwise) or for that matter, the great mystery of the Goddess; but rather I claim to appreciate Her because of my resonance with the form and symbols offered to us from India.\r\n\r\nFrom an 8th century stone statue originally found in Dharmasala (Cuttack, Orissa) and now located at the Orissa State Museum in Bhubaneswar, I learned to see for the first time through this image what the power of the Divine Feminine can be through a figure that could (and does) readily inspire fear in both Western and Eastern onlookers. Chamunda appears to penetrate the manifest world through this sculpture of grey-black chlorite stone. She is chiseled with her most readily recognizable features: sunken eyes, sagging breasts and skeletal body; but the obvious attention and carefully-detailed precision with which she was created belie a profound respect and/or love on the part of the sculptor that is perhaps not readily understandable from our current vantage point.\r\n\r\nComing across her image amidst myriad sculptures on the floor of the museum is like dropping into a cold pool after a 20-minute steam bath. Upon first seeing her, I was instantly astounded and shocked by her presence until the realization set in that encountering Her was making my insides tingle in ways suggestive of Her great power. She is an awesome figure, with third-eye and navel raised out of the stone, veins defined over the course of her entire body, no teeth, heavily hanging earlobes and snake-entwined arms - one of which holds in its long hand a severed human head, which she grasps with finger nails that come to a point. In her other partially-intact arm she holds a skull cup or kapala at the level of her heart. She is garlanded with skulls, wears ouroboric anklets, and is seated on a corpse with her right foot on the ground and her left leg bent at the knee, foot turned, its sole to the sky. Her hair is aflame and pulled upwards, wrapped and held in place by a snake-band tiara, the center of which bears a skull.\r\n\r\nAlthough my initial contact with the fierce form of the Goddess had come to me through a dream image as Kali, both she and Chamunda are alike in many respects, related by their transformative abilities and their stature as Crones. While Kali manifests the power of time and of death, Chamunda too holds infinity and eternity. Both can be intensely frightening images of divine, feminine power especially to those unaccustomed to dealing with the Dark Goddess. Both are often similarly depicted: in the cremation ground, often seated upon a corpse or engaging in Tantrick rituals involving sex, blood and death. In this, they explicitly manifest antinomian characteristics within mainstream Hindu tradition, and they become by this provkers of (r)evolution from the inside, and transformers of worlds from the outside as they reach westerners.\r\n\r\nChamunda\'s intensity through the vehicle of the statue in Bhubaneswar shook me deep inside and stunned me. And I was nevertheless drawn to her and mystified by what she had to offer. Somehow, I could not help but feel her incredible power through the skeletal form, while at the same time, I became immediately and especially aware of how at odds with this impression and indeed terrifying she would appear to most westerners. Rationally, I wondered how in the world this figure could be known as one of the matrikas when she seemed so very far from western, as well as the traditional Hindu conception of mother, either literal or archetypal. Mother in any sense is most generally normalized to mean nurturing and life-giving. Chamunda appears to be everything but this, and I had to work to see the interconnections. On another, non-rational level, however, I could immediately feel that there was a mystery of fecundity held within those bones. I was, of course, feeling in my own bones something very old and true about her.\r\n\r\n<!--nextpage-->\r\n\r\nWhile within both Eastern and Western contexts mothers are seen as caretakers and life givers, understanding the Devi as matrika (mother) is another story. Within the world of Indian Goddess theology at least from Vedic times (circa 1,500 BCE), it seems that the devi as a mother who nourishes the world is understood as someone who must herself be replenished in order to continue to sustain life. \"If she were only to give birth and to nourish her creatures she would soon grow weak, and creation would cease.\" [1]\r\n\r\nBecause her life-generating and sustaining aspect is so powerful, she carries an insatiable hunger that is equally great. This hunger is often represented in images by showing an emaciated figure. Thus understood, the fierce devi is integral to understanding the birth/death aspect of the cycle of life in India, which makes possible the whole of manifest existence. She is obviously the living Crone, a Dark Goddess who functions as a gateway between the realms of this world and the next. Recognition of this leads to liberation; and images containing within them the fullness of samsara, as Chamunda does, serve as gateways to simultaneous embracement of life and death, duality and oneness, a holistic future and personal enrichment through the suffering of life. They hold the key to embracing the walk of the heart, where sadness and joy, pain and elation ever co-mingle.\r\n\r\nUnderstanding the goddess as both life-giver and destroyer manifests in symbolic form as a circle, or chakra within the Indian context. This chakra is reflective of the cycles of life apparent, for example, in the waxing and waning of the moon and those other cycles tied to this one, such as menstruation and the ebb and flow of the tides. A circle is the form taken by the temples dedicated to the yoginis, or sixty-four derivations of the Asta Matrikas mentioned previously who include Chamunda among them. It is therefore perhaps no coincidence that the goddess as yogini would be configured for worship by the tantricks in circular temples, since their tradition is infused with reverence for the Goddess as containing the mystery of She who is both of the source of all life and the fount of death; the One who contains All. In addition, the yoginis are also linked to yaksis (nature spirits), and they, as well as those who worshipped them, were called witches and magicians. As yogini, Chamunda and her sixty-three sisters were said to have the power to fly, to become invisible, turn humans into animals, and other such things. In many ways, these traits and the correspondence of female deities with witchcraft again brings together East and West through demonization of the Feminine.\r\n\r\nBut much like the Indo-European demonization of the pre-Christian Death/Regeneratirx aspect of the Goddess into Witch, Chamunda too was demonized and subordinated by patriarchal traditions in India. She was linked to Yama, Lord of Death, becoming less than he in Vedic hymns. An interesting suggestion, however, of her ties to pre-patriarchal roots may be found by looking at her vahana (mount), the owl. Even today in the west, this bird may still be found carrying the messages of the Dark Goddess, of the Feminine Divine who holds the mysteries of life, death and rebirth. A friend found a link between east and west on pilgrimage to the Black Madonna Notre Dame de Bon Espoir (Our Lady of Good Hope) in Dijon France. She writes of her experience,\r\n<blockquote>The oldest of the Black Madonnas...Notre Dame de Bon Espoir was yet another Black Madonna who made a tremendous impact on me. Interestingly, there is an owl carved into the side of the church where She is housed.</blockquote>\r\nTherefore, understanding the origins of the witch in prehistory and her later modifications to more fierce/violent characterizations at the hands of patriarchal peoples will perhaps help to heal some of the ills caused by misrepresentations of the Feminine while eradicating some causes of Devi’s (and by extension women’s) subordination. It might be said that if we come to understand the full nature of Her, we would see that all Her forms are those of beauty within the divine creation.\r\n\r\nWhile the term witch is in the eastern context used with negative connotation, it is important to understand that the yoginis of the temples were not demons to the tantricks. Given the tantrick insistence on reverence for the immanence of the divine and the sacredness of nature, of maniest reality, yoginis are understood as affirmations of the multifarious aspects of the Goddess. While some of these aspects can be very violent or fierce, with the goddess often depicted with sword in hand, blood and human flesh dripping from her mouth, severed heads around her waist, and other gruesome adornment, understanding her and her relationship to patriarchy over time is interesting. Such depictions, on the one hand, are likely overlays onto an ancient Crone/Death-Regeneratrix deity whose original association with death was severed from her link to life because of a dualistic patriarchal worldview that failed to recognize, for example, the interconnectedness of life and death and instead demonized women and nature as expressions of that relationship.\r\n\r\nIn contrast to gruesome depictions of the goddess Chamunda and those associated with Her, patriarchal Hinduism has begun, within the last century, to sweeten the fierce goddesses. Perhaps this is a tell-tale sign that the power of the feminine is being responded to a new and different way. That is, first, She was representative of the power of Oneness and, simply put, patriarchal consciousness (as manifested in the social, political and other realities millennia ago that have created today’s normative Hindu consciousness) sought to (and managed to) break that monopoly by rendering Her as fierce so as to facilitate specific ends, which were to carve out dualistic territory (for some reason). After supression in very specific ways for those millennia, however, She has sought to bring balance to a dichotomous worldview. In response to Her presence now, instead of the fierceness previously required to serve the purposes of a patriarchal worldview, the institutions today that which to retain power have rendered her sweet and submissive, now, to serve their ends of maintaining the status quo. Were patriarchal powers to allow Her fierceness, their reign might quickly come to an end, and this, of course, is exactly the point of honoring and remembering Her as all that She is while concurrently utilizing the power that Her fierce characteristics contain.\r\n\r\nFurther, while the word witch today still reverberates strongly with anti-God-loving sentiment for some people, to call oneself a witch as I do is an act of resistance to patriarchal obfuscation of the truth, and reclamation of women’s power within any tradition (as well as outside them). In the west, it is an appellation that is taking on an entirely new meaning, particularly with the resurgence of the goddess in the discipline known as Women’s Spirituality, through Wicca (a reclamation of indigenous European earth-based traditions) and through other forms of earth-based religion, that hold within them both the pre-historical notion of goddess as life-giver/destroyer and the more patriarchal characterization of the goddess as violent warrior, from which many, nevertheless are able to find powerful tools for creating life-affirming change.\r\n\r\nAgain before what I now call my statue of Chamunda, this time recording notes and impressions while interposing photographic moments until the museum’s 4 o’clock closing time, I eventually come to be alone with her. I am alone in that statue-filled room mesmerized, or very likely in trance, feeling as though some incredibly magical force surrounds the two of us. From my spot on the floor, I watch her watching me and ask her to teach me Her secrets. That evening, I wrote in my journal:\r\n<blockquote>From where did the ancient Saktas get her image? What are her myths and associations? How and when does she manifest? Why? What are the psychological implications of her presence as a Goddess and what do they tell us about the people who created her? Why does she exist in this fierce form that was obviously so loved (feared?) by those who worshipped her? Can she help us in the west better understand the nature of the Divine Feminine; and if so, can we find ways through her to promote self-understanding? She is starved; does she link us psychically to the root cause of/cure for anorexia? Can she help western women in the throes of addictions, especially eating disorders, with their own reclamation process? How does understanding Chamunda help me to better understand myself?</blockquote>\r\nMy questions only began to touch the surface of her depth. As a western woman living today I can never know her true or intended purpose, although I can make an educated guess informed by my academic pursuits as well as my bodily knowings and intuitions.\r\n\r\n<!--nextpage-->\r\n\r\nEven so, Chamunda through my eyes is not Chamunda in any fully Indian sense, even though I have explored her on her own ground (literally, as well as through her myths, philosophies, symbols, and worship). Rather, for me, Chamunda is an exploration into the depths of personal, and perhaps more generally the question of women’s, spirituality. Particularly within the western context of women’s spiritual development, the importance of Chamunda as a teacher can be grasped when it is understood that she holds within herself the tension of embracing both Mother and Witch archetypes; two aspects of the Feminine that have long been used to subordinate rather than empower women. Chamunda illustrates that these aspects ever inter-related, constantly situated within a flux of interchangeability that she herself manifests.\r\n\r\n<b>Chamunda and Kali: Blood Sisters</b>\r\n\r\nMy initial contact with the <i>raudra</i> or fierce form of the Goddess, as mentioned above, had come to me years earlier through a dream image as Kali, a Hindu goddess representative of the power of time and of death. In many respects, Chamunda and Kali are alike. Indeed, both are initiators into the fullest spectrum of life, and both serve to awaken us to the value of impermanence and cyclical time. Some Shakta practitioners understand both goddesses to be manifest aspects of the same ontological truth; nevertheless, both can be intensely frightening images of feminine power to those unaccustomed to dealing with the Dark Mother.\r\n\r\nIconographically, Chamunda and Kali are often similarly depicted: in the cremation ground, seated upon a corpse and engaging in practices involving sex, blood and death. At the Chamunda-Devi temple [<a href=\"/mandala/chamunda-devi-eastern-teacher-to-the-west/4/#ref\">4</a>] outside of Dharmasala (Himachal Pradesh), Chamunda is plainly understood to be a form of Kali and the ten <i>mahavidyas</i> are depicted at her shrine. The Devi as Chamunda-Kali is also mentioned in the <i>Tantrasara</i>, <i>Shaktapramoda</i> and <i>Pranatosini</i>. [<a href=\"/mandala/chamunda-devi-eastern-teacher-to-the-west/4/#ref\">5</a>]\r\n\r\nChamunda-Kali provides a gateway to: i) understanding of the Goddess in the Western psyche for juxtaposition with the Eastern manifestations of Her; ii) how Western vs. Eastern conceptions of reality play a role in determining the images of the Divine Feminine that abound in each context; and iii) the potential power of reclaiming the Dark Mother in the West with the help of images from the East.\r\n\r\n<b>Western Appreciation for the Goddess</b>\r\n\r\nFrom this brief discussion in conjunction with other goddess tales, perhaps a vision of the goddess who relates to the emotional, physical, and psychic bodies of women and men, regardless of their country of origin, by virtue of the human condition, is becoming apparent. Woven here is the notion that where women in particular are being drawn to Devi’s symbolism for its promotion of, at the very least, what may appear to be a feminist ethic, those who are attracted to her in their spiritual longing (in any of her forms) necessarily cross lines of demarcation whether social, political, or geographical—and so too does Devi. Goddess worship and feminism too needs to be able to create a container for dialogue, with both arenas developing cross-cultural methodologies that can facilitate the creation of safe space in which to then make discussions happen that relate the spiritual realities with the economic, social, and political ones. From within that space, the hope would be to generate a metaphorical fire from which truth based on a process of coming to agreement can be born. Only then can we empower women and men to be all of who and what they are, no matter what the context in which they find themselves.\r\n\r\nGiving a historicity to Indian images of the divine may help those non-Hindus interested in appreciating her from within western contexts to make informed statements and educated assertions (based upon contextual understanding) about their own uses of/for her while providing a ground for possible adaptations of Devi within a new environment. For just as the goddess centuries ago crossed from India to neighboring lands, our technological advancements today have moved us all towards a global community, which has indeed also helped to shape the transportation of Devi across oceans and continents.\r\n\r\nFor western women, images of the goddess as whole, as containing paradox, and particularly as embracing sexuality and other aspects generally suppressed under patriarchy, are healing. In the western context where transcendent male gods (or more specifically, one male god of generally Jewish or Christian disposition) dominate and no female/feminine is accorded divine status (despite the high status imparted to Mary, as discussed in the last chapter), the need for a Divine Feminine who recognized, honored and is both immanent as well as transcendent is glaring. Perhaps this is one reason why the Indian conception of goddess captures the fervor of western feminists and those seeking alternate visions of the divine that are more inclusive. Devi seems approachable in the sense that she, as her myths and iconography at the very least portend, undergoes and is much of what women recognize to be their individual truths. In her, every woman finds a piece of herself; and every man, perhaps, can learn a little more about the heart of his essential nature.\r\n\r\nThe mainstream Western images of the Divine Feminine in a contemporary context where the Abrahamic faiths prevail have largely been limited to the Virgin Mary, and perhaps if one is generous, to Sophia, the Black Madonna and Lilith. These last three however, represent an undercurrent of the Christian and Judaic faiths, and they are not recognized by many practitioners; at least not with full awareness of their power and connection to pre-patriarchal religion.\r\n\r\nIn any case, it is apparent that the Divine Feminine within our context as represented in Her most ubiquitous aspect as the Virgin Mary has little but a \"soft\" or benevolent and nurturing side. She is holy and untouchable, even by her husband; she is vehicle for the avatar Christ, but not God herself; she is incapable of engaging the more uncomfortable aspects of life; she listens and conveys the message of her followers, but does not have the power to act directly for those who worship her.\r\n\r\nThis image of Mary is put in juxtaposition within Christianity to the one God, who is All. Her place is marginal in relationship to His magnificence, and reflects the Western/patriarchal schism typified by Descartes’ mind/body duality (God as transcendent mind, Mary as earth-bound body) or more simply, the valuing of men over women and heaven over earth. Further, it underscores that the religious traditions of patriarchal cultures have unfortunately tended to pathologize the relationship of dualistic principles. In life, dualities abound, but their representation in the West has long since posed them as warring opposites where the position of the Divine Feminine (and women) is relegated to minority status.\r\n\r\nThe patriarchal worldview, particularly as expressed in the powerful \"First World\" nations of the West, has manifested skewed valuations of dualities in other spheres of life as well. It has done so to the point of ignoring (or largely ignoring) the inherent worth and wisdom of the Feminine principle and has created an urgent need for crisis prevention in the environmental, developmental, psychological and social arenas. Further, if we accept that the project of patriarchy has been based on the scientific and philosophical deconstruction of life (through exploitation of resources and peoples by Western science and paradigms supported by such traditions) and on the establishment of dualistic categories formed from reductionistic tendencies (in order to propagate the favoritism of man and culture over women and nature, e.g.), then we understand how dichotomization destroys relatedness, promotes homogenization, and makes subjugation the norm for half the population the world over.\r\n\r\nUnfortunately in both the East and West, the archetypal Feminine principle, which in India is called <i>pakriti</i>, has often been associated only with women and with nature, to the detriment of both men, women and the planet. For to deny that the Feminine has value is to deny more than gender or population; it is to deny half of the entire spectrum of life. It relegates all that is receptive, open, life-generating and nurturing to the margins of society, and it is there that we can look to find the festering sores of all the various crises of our time.\r\n\r\nFortunately, particularly within the past ten years, writers, thinkers, theologians and others across the globe in fields as diverse as the sciences, religion and women’s studies have explored the dance of life beyond the confines of duality. There, many have found that the \"opposing\" forces of life are in a play of complementarities, where tension makes growth, change, and transformation possible. In understanding that life is more of an ever-shifting dynamic balance of energetics where opposing forces create an existence filled with variety, spontaneity, laughter and music in which the soul may rejoice, a new vein of consciousness has been born in our time.\r\n\r\nThe impact of the Goddess archetype upon women and men as She re-emerges into consciousness has profound ramifications upon all aspects of life. In the East, many have been called to re-examine their relationships to the manifest Divine Feminine in actual women. On the individual as well as the collective level, She reminds us that women too are powerful, worthy of respect in this world; She teaches that respect for our bodies helps us to respect the Earthbody; She tells us that all things ugly and beautiful are Her creation. She is a \"creative trinity;\" [<a href=\"/mandala/chamunda-devi-eastern-teacher-to-the-west/4/#ref\">6</a>] serving as a gateway to simultaneous embracement of <i>both</i> duality and oneness, a symbol of integrated duality and the unconditional love that binds them. With this, many in the West have been drawn to remembering the Goddess as a potent symbol of wholeness. Many have turned to Her myths, rituals and traditions of pre-patriarchal times in order to quench their personal longing for \"something else.\" I believe that Chamunda helps to bring a special dimension to understanding the fullest sense of what that wholeness means.\r\n\r\n<b>Eastern Goddesses, Patriarchal Cultures, and a Vision from the West</b>\r\n\r\nWhile the West has tended to infuse its traditions with a dualistic split, the Eastern traditions of India have tended to concern themselves with a monological \"One\" in the realm of spirit while an overlay of patriarchal duality has settled into the societal sphere. This has wrought a complexity of contradictions in Indian society. For example, the Ganges River, sacred sphere of the Goddess Ganga who manifests through and as its waters, is the most polluted and yet simultaneously the holiest river on Earth for devout Hindus. Similarly, while the Divine Feminine is recognized and worshipped through myriad images of Goddesses (Ganga, Kali and Chamunda among them), women still occupy a marginal position in traditional Indian society.\r\n\r\nAs David Kinsley has noted: \"In the Hindu tradition a woman is taught to understand herself primarily in relation to others…It is society that puts demands on her primarily through the agents of relatives and in-laws, and not she who places demands on society that she be allowed to develop a unique, independent destiny. A central demand placed on women, particularly vis-à-vis males, is that they subordinate their welfare to the welfare of others.\" [<a href=\"/mandala/chamunda-devi-eastern-teacher-to-the-west/4/#ref\">7</a>]\r\n\r\nWhile attempts have been made to reconcile patriarchal duality at the level of society with a philosophical and religious spiritual unity, the fact of the matter is that such discontinuity invalidates and undermines both. Little progress has been made in this regard within the Indian context. But it is from within this struggle that ways of thinking that seek to heal the split of culture from embodied/immanent spirituality have more recently emerged. Many writers, but most prominently the Indian physicist and ecofeminist, Vandana Shiva, have made a case for recognizing the Divine Feminine/Goddess in order to ameliorate tension and diffuse the boundaries of derision caused by the patriarchal paradigm.\r\n\r\n<!--nextpage-->\r\n\r\nIn her book, <i>Staying Alive: Women, Ecology and Development</i>, Shiva explores one way of looking at the Divine Feminine through lenses that appreciate both transcendent as well as immanent manifestations. She proposes fully embracing the notion of <i>Pakriti</i> as a \"spiritual\" discipline rather than simply as \"nature,\" so that a more balanced worldview can be achieved. This new worldview takes into account the marginalized position of women while de facto promoting environmental sustainability and the wellbeing of diverse, autonomous communities focused on the sacredness of relationships rather than on their destruction.\r\n\r\nAccording to Shiva, Pakriti means not just the traditional counterpart to Purusa (the Divine Masculine, or the Masculine Principle of manifest culture and society), but instead the<i>entirety</i> of nature with its ability to create, sustain and destroy in order to continue the cycle of life in all its aspects. Thus, Shiva’s position asserts \"both a <i>holistic</i> perspective and an<i>inclusive</i> agenda of concerns based on its considerable respect for diversity—both in turn being principles of nature.\" [<a href=\"http://sharanya.org/articles/chamunda/chamunda4.php4#ref\">8</a>]\r\n\r\nOn another level, such thinking shows that the construct of <i>maya</i> (illusion) as found in many Indian philosophical systems is not required to solve the corundum of how manifest reality (difference) can be reconciled with the unitive One. Instead, maya can be understood as the human resistance to holding the tension of paradox in life. In this way, perhaps the women of manifest nature can reclaim their right as beings who are living testament to the power of the Goddess and be honored as such. And the \"One\" can take on new meaning as a \"dynamic system of relations wherein any particular manifestation functions simultaneously as a distinct part and the unbroken whole. The parts are not derivative of the whole, or vice versa, [nor are the parts dissolved into one another to become the whole, or vice versa.] Each aspect constitutes the other.\" [<a href=\"http://sharanya.org/articles/chamunda/chamunda4.php4#ref\">9</a>]\r\n\r\nIt is with this idea in mind that the Goddesses of East and West need to be (re)evaluated. Unfortunately, however, as we saw earlier in this article, the Western Goddess(es) of mainstream contemporary manifestation and interpretation provide little by way of role model to help us accomplish the task of aware integration of spheres on both the intra- and inter- (as well as micro- and macrocosmic) levels that permeate the realms of mind, body and spirit. Therefore, if we are to move beyond our present embeddedness in the philosophical systems of our respective contexts, any divine teacher thus considered must be a manifestation of reality that lies beyond duality while embracing of it, and must be a penetrator/trix of all worlds, symbolic and otherwise.\r\n\r\nChamunda and her sister Kali, in my opinion, represent an understanding of the limitations of a dualistic worldview while simultaneously embracing duality as facilitator for self-awareness—-the manifest universe and the physical form being vehicles for the exploration of consciousness into itself. Further, they allow communication and representation among each and every sphere of life as well as among worlds, much like the Hermes Trismegistus of Greek mythology and later hermetic philosophy who not only facilitated communication between Gods; between Gods and men; but also between the worlds of Heaven and Hell. In this way, the Divine Feminine as manifest from within the Eastern psyche serves the required purpose; for as C. MacKenzie Brown notes: \"In the Devi-Bhagavata…the goddess is both male and female, and transcends the two, but without devaluing either the transcendent or <i>samsaric</i>[earthly or immanent]<i> </i>dimensions.\" [<a href=\"http://sharanya.org/articles/chamunda/chamunda4.php4#ref\">10</a>]\r\n\r\nFurther, it may be noted that from a perspective focused on the dynamics of inter-relationship rather than the intra-relationships of East and West, the Western relationship to \"God\" and the Eastern understanding of non-duality as a quality of \"God\" is typified by the following story:\r\n<blockquote>A Western reporter and an Indian devotee of the Goddess come across a statue of Kali. She has her four arms: the upper right raised in blessing, the lower right offering a boon (wish), the upper left holding a machete dripping with blood and the lower left gripping a severed human head by the hair. Seeing this split, the Westerner immediately asks: \"So how do you get the blessing and avoid the machete?\" The Eastern devotee angrily replies, \"That\'s not it at all...The blessing is only won when you accept both sides of her, including pain, sorrow, decay, death, and destruction. Run from her horrors, and you run from her blessings. To deny death, to act as if your little self is the center of things and must be protected from pain and preserved as long as possible—this is the real death. But embrace Kali as she is—kiss her bloody tongue and feel all four arms caress you at once—then you have life, you have freedom.\" [<a href=\"http://sharanya.org/articles/chamunda/chamunda4.php4#ref\">11</a>]</blockquote>\r\nIn this story, the boon for the Western mind would be to get beyond dualistic thinking; and the boon for the Eastern mind would be to allow this non-dualistic perspective to integrate into all spheres of life, not simply the spiritual one.\r\n\r\nBut working with images such as Chamunda and Kali, I believe, is one way to begin transforming traditional perspectives. Although a re-visioning of these goddesses in the East to include a mandate for social reform might be a worthwhile endeavor, I can only mention here the potential impact that working with them might have upon Western consciousness were, for example, a fully developed program inclusive of yoga, ritual, meditation and contemplation, etc. to be implemented by those wishing to break free of the limiting constructs of our time.\r\n\r\n<b>Revisiting the Goddess</b>\r\n\r\nTherefore, I hold that those wishing to reach beyond the schisms of Western thought (and beyond the hypocrisy of Eastern practice if one is from that context and so inclined) need to welcome a teacher capable of fully embodying both sides of duality; for one must be willing to embrace death if seeking to fully enjoy life (as the story above pointed out). The extremely intense presence of Chamunda when brought into contemplation by a seeking mind can indeed be a call to wake up to the vibrancy of life; to the reason behind the ephemeral nature of things; and indeed to the fullest sense oneself and one’s purpose in the world.\r\n\r\nFor as told in the Upanishads when Sanatkumara says to the young Narada: \"One who meditates upon and realizes the Self discovers that everything in the cosmos—energy and space, fire and water, name and form, birth and death, mind and will, word and deed, mantram and meditation—all come from the Self.\" [<a href=\"http://sharanya.org/articles/chamunda/chamunda4.php4#ref\">12</a>] The Self is therefore the embracing One and that which enables human beings to comprehend the infinite diversity of the world. The manifestations of the macrocosmic world can be easily understood in terms of the microcosmic Self and vice versa; or again in the words of Hermes Trismegistus, \"as above, so below.\"\r\n\r\nIn meditating upon the image of Chamunda and asking questions as I did about the reasons behind her powerful presence, one may be forced to ask too exactly what this Goddess desires us to see and to ultimately understand about our presence in the world: What is my role here? Why is there suffering? What is the purpose of life? Why has Patriarchy been a part of our human experience? As it says in the Chandogya Upanishad, \"You are that.\" [<a href=\"http://sharanya.org/articles/chamunda/chamunda4.php4#ref\">13</a>] And so for the individual contemplating the nature of non-dual reality while trying to reconcile manifest existence and personal experience, Chamunda can function as a portal to understanding.\r\n\r\nIt also seems appropriate that as we today search to give a meaning to our lives in these times of planetary crisis, turning to different ways of knowing and of experiencing reality may assist us in our struggles to ‘make sense of it all.’ This introduction of Chamunda as a teacher to the West is again not an attempt to co-opt or misrepresent a Hindu deity; it is simply a suggestion to be aware of more than those things with which we are readily familiar in our quest.\r\n\r\nDone with honor, respect, and with no claim at contextual understanding, opening to the patterns of collective thought that made the Goddess Chamunda a part of human reality may be a way to break the hard lines of Western dichotomy. It may help us reconnect to the ancient roots of many of the symbols, myths and traditions that have sprung from our collective human history, and it may help us connect to something deeper from within our own Western psyche. It may help us to eventually reclaim the power inherent in both Mother and Witch for the betterment of humanity.\r\n\r\nThus Chamunda-Devi may be a kind of key - not to unlocking the past, but to helping us ‘re-find’ the awareness most important for us today. Perhaps she can help us to dive into the primordial well of remembrance that exists within each of us in order to help surface feelings and intuitions that are particularly important for the creation of human as well as Gaian wholeness.\r\n\r\nAs the last line of the <i>Creed of the Star Goddess</i> tells us, \"I [the Goddess], have been with you from the beginning, and I am that which is attained at the end of desire.\"  [<a href=\"http://sharanya.org/articles/chamunda/chamunda4.php4#ref\">14</a>] We need only wish to remember in our hearts, with all of our heart, and She will reveal Her reality no matter where we live, what language we speak or what traditions we follow. As we move forward along our collective path in this evolutionary spiral we call life, may we seek always to know the truth of our past, so that we may all move together towards tomorrow. In this project, Chamunda is certainly qualified to be our guide.\r\n\r\nThe rest of my stay in India continued to be filled with Chamunda’s presence, and I began to affirm as I learned more about her that she was unknowable in any purely historical or religious sense but for my own cellular memories perhaps and more recent experiences of her. By Chamunda’s grace, however, I find that as I deepen into her mysteries and continue to invoke her in my life, I am drawn back in time so that I may discover not only her truth, but also the truth of how the track of recorded history both reveals and obscures truth. As much contemporary feminist scholarship reveals, much of recorded history obscures. By Chamunda’s grace, however, the path towards greater self-awareness was presented to me, and I continue to ask the above-mentioned questions, slowly gaining insight into her potential role as a teacher of the West.\r\n\r\nThe path towards greater self-awareness therefore has very large implications, and I continue to ask the above-mentioned questions to gain insight into Chamunda in all manifestations so that she may ultimately teach her secrets to all those willing to learn. I for one, am realizing that the mysteries of the Goddess reveal themselves to me though my personal experience, and as I open to trusting that my spirituality in this vein contains the greatest wisdom of all, the circle is closed and I am before Her once again.\r\n\r\n&nbsp;\r\n\r\n&nbsp;\r\n\r\n<a name=\"ref\"></a>\r\n\r\n<hr />\r\n\r\n&nbsp;\r\n\r\n1. Kinsley, David. <i>Hindu Goddesses: Visions of the Divine Feminine in the Hindu Religious Tradition</i> (University of California Press: Berkeley) 1986 p. 149\r\n2. Dehejia, Vidya. <i>Yogini Cult and Temples: A Tantric Tradition</i> (The National Museum: New Delhi) 1986, p. 187\r\n3. The Matrikas first appear in the <i>Mahabharata</i> and have collectively been dated to about the first century A.D. Their manifestations in the literature of the epic - and post-epic periods seem to be characterized as malevolent, blood-drinking and demonic; but worship is also directed to them for protection. The Matrikas are notably a group of goddesses, the number of which becomes somewhat standardized at seven or eight in the postepic period. They are given in the <i>Visnudharmottara-purana</i> as: Yogisvari, Mahesvari, Vaisnavi, Kaumari, Brahmani, Chamunda and Varahi.\r\n4. I have visited this temple and seen these images. David Kinsley also makes mention of this fact in his work,<i>Tantric Visions of the Divine Feminine: The Ten Mahavidyas</i> (University of California Press: Berkeley) 1997, p. 16\r\n5. Kinsley, David. Ibid., p. 75\r\n6. Sheldrake, Rupert. <i>The Rebirth of Nature: The Greening of Science and God</i> (Park Street Press: Vermont) 1991 pp. 196 - 199\r\n7. Kinsley, David. <i>Hindu Goddesses</i>, ibid<i>. </i>p. 77\r\n8. Kothari, Rajni. Foreword in <i>Staying Alive: Women, Ecology and Development</i> by Vandana Shiva, (New Jersey: Zed Books) 1989, p. X. (Original italics.)\r\n9. Spretnak, Charlene. \"Radical Non-duality in Ecofeminist Philosophy\" essay <i>in Metis: A Feminist Journal of Transformative Wisdom</i>, Spring, 1996; Vol 1, No. 1., p. 11\r\n10. Brown, C. MacKenzie. <i>The Triumph of the Goddess: The Canonical Models and Theological Visions of the Devi-Bhagavata Purana</i> (SUNY Press: New York) 1990, p. 216\r\n11. Reported by Tim Ward in <i>Common Boundary</i>, March/April, 1997, p. 34\r\n12.<i> Chandogya Upanishad, </i>translated by Eknath Easwaran (Nilgiri Press: Berkeley) 1987, p. 190\r\n13. <i>Chandogya Upanishad</i>, ibid<i>.</i>, p. 183\r\n14. Adapted from the traditional (oral) poem by Doreen Valiente, British witch. Traditional.','Chamunda-Devi','','inherit','open','open','','99967-revision-v1','','','2013-09-11 22:32:38','2013-09-12 05:32:38','',99967,'<h4>Eastern Teacher to The West</h4>\r\n<em>by Chandra Alexandre</em>\r\n\r\n<hr />\r\n\r\nThis article tells the story of my own exploration into the mysteries of the Goddess as manifested within the Hindu pantheon as Chamunda, the fierce, emaciated and terrifying',0,'revision','',0),(99994,2,'2013-10-14 23:17:55','2013-10-15 06:17:55','<h4>Eastern Teacher to The West</h4>\n<em>by Chandra Alexandre</em>\n\n<hr />\n\n<img class=\"alignright  wp-image-99968 imgborder=0\" alt=\"chamundafire\" src=\"http://sharanya.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/chamundafire.gif\" width=\"250\" height=\"278\" />\n\nThis article tells the story of my own exploration into the mysteries of the Goddess as manifested within the Hindu pantheon as Chamunda, the fierce, emaciated and terrifying Dark Mother. She is a goddess who is particularly revered among Shaktas (believers in the primacy of the Divine Feminine), and she has historically found favor within all strata of Indian society, from the village shudras (lowest caste) to the rulers of India. Temples to her exist throughout the country: from the forts of Rajasthan to the highlands of Himachal Pradesh, to the adavasi (tribal) lands of Orissa.\n\nIn Orissa, where I was blessed to spend five months exploring, she appears primarily in two forms: i) as one of the Matrikas (Mothers), and ii) as one of the sixty-four yoginis (witches) who are themselves daughters of the Asta Matrikas (Eight Mothers). From my exploration into Chamunda I have gained an understanding of the ways in which the Goddess teaches through one of her manifest forms, and this article is an attempt to share some of what I have discovered with you.\n\nBut here, I can only hope to present my learnings as shrouded with the veil of perception I carry as a western woman. However, I share my interpretation of the mysteries as revealed to me by Her so that Her name may be invoked and Her presence asked to help banish the ignorance and prejudice of our time. I do not pretend to fully understand Chamunda (within her original context or otherwise) or for that matter, the great mystery of the Goddess; but rather I claim to appreciate Her because of my resonance with the form and symbols offered to us from India.\n\n<strong>The Image of Chamunda</strong>\n\nFrom an 8th century stone statue originally found in Dharmasala (Cuttack, Orissa) and now located at the Orissa State Museum in Bhubaneswar, I learned to see for the first time through this image what the power of the Divine Feminine can be through a figure that could (and does) readily inspire fear in both Western and Eastern onlookers. Chamunda appears to penetrate the manifest world through this sculpture of grey-black chlorite stone. She is chiseled with her most readily recognizable features: sunken eyes, sagging breasts and skeletal body; but the obvious attention and carefully-detailed precision with which she was created belie a profound respect and/or love on the part of the sculptor that is perhaps not readily understandable from our current vantage point.\n\nComing across her image amidst myriad sculptures on the floor of the museum is like dropping into a cold pool after a 20-minute steam bath. Upon first seeing her, I was instantly astounded and shocked by her presence until the realization set in that encountering Her was making my insides tingle in ways suggestive of Her great power. She is an awesome figure, with third-eye and navel raised out of the stone, veins defined over the course of her entire body, no teeth, heavily hanging earlobes and snake-entwined arms - one of which holds in its long hand a severed human head, which she grasps with finger nails that come to a point. In her other partially-intact arm she holds a skull cup or kapala at the level of her heart. She is garlanded with skulls, wears ouroboric anklets, and is seated on a corpse with her right foot on the ground and her left leg bent at the knee, foot turned, its sole to the sky. Her hair is aflame and pulled upwards, wrapped and held in place by a snake-band tiara, the center of which bears a skull.\n\nAlthough my initial contact with the fierce form of the Goddess had come to me through a dream image as Kali, both she and Chamunda are alike in many respects, related by their transformative abilities and their stature as Crones. While Kali manifests the power of time and of death, Chamunda too holds infinity and eternity. Both can be intensely frightening images of divine, feminine power especially to those unaccustomed to dealing with the Dark Goddess. Both are often similarly depicted: in the cremation ground, often seated upon a corpse or engaging in Tantrick rituals involving sex, blood and death. In this, they explicitly manifest antinomian characteristics within mainstream Hindu tradition, and they become by this provkers of (r)evolution from the inside, and transformers of worlds from the outside as they reach westerners.\n\nChamunda\'s intensity through the vehicle of the statue in Bhubaneswar shook me deep inside and stunned me. And I was nevertheless drawn to her and mystified by what she had to offer. Somehow, I could not help but feel her incredible power through the skeletal form, while at the same time, I became immediately and especially aware of how at odds with this impression and indeed terrifying she would appear to most westerners. Rationally, I wondered how in the world this figure could be known as one of the matrikas when she seemed so very far from western, as well as the traditional Hindu conception of mother, either literal or archetypal. Mother in any sense is most generally normalized to mean nurturing and life-giving. Chamunda appears to be everything but this, and I had to work to see the interconnections. On another, non-rational level, however, I could immediately feel that there was a mystery of fecundity held within those bones. I was, of course, feeling in my own bones something very old and true about her.\n\n<!--nextpage-->\n\nWhile within both Eastern and Western contexts mothers are seen as caretakers and life givers, understanding the Devi as matrika (mother) is another story. Within the world of Indian Goddess theology at least from Vedic times (circa 1,500 BCE), it seems that the devi as a mother who nourishes the world is understood as someone who must herself be replenished in order to continue to sustain life. \"If she were only to give birth and to nourish her creatures she would soon grow weak, and creation would cease.\" [1]\n\nBecause her life-generating and sustaining aspect is so powerful, she carries an insatiable hunger that is equally great. This hunger is often represented in images by showing an emaciated figure. Thus understood, the fierce devi is integral to understanding the birth/death aspect of the cycle of life in India, which makes possible the whole of manifest existence. She is obviously the living Crone, a Dark Goddess who functions as a gateway between the realms of this world and the next. Recognition of this leads to liberation; and images containing within them the fullness of samsara, as Chamunda does, serve as gateways to simultaneous embracement of life and death, duality and oneness, a holistic future and personal enrichment through the suffering of life. They hold the key to embracing the walk of the heart, where sadness and joy, pain and elation ever co-mingle.\n\nUnderstanding the goddess as both life-giver and destroyer manifests in symbolic form as a circle, or chakra within the Indian context. This chakra is reflective of the cycles of life apparent, for example, in the waxing and waning of the moon and those other cycles tied to this one, such as menstruation and the ebb and flow of the tides. A circle is the form taken by the temples dedicated to the yoginis, or sixty-four derivations of the Asta Matrikas mentioned previously who include Chamunda among them. It is therefore perhaps no coincidence that the goddess as yogini would be configured for worship by the tantricks in circular temples, since their tradition is infused with reverence for the Goddess as containing the mystery of She who is both of the source of all life and the fount of death; the One who contains All. In addition, the yoginis are also linked to yaksis (nature spirits), and they, as well as those who worshipped them, were called witches and magicians. As yogini, Chamunda and her sixty-three sisters were said to have the power to fly, to become invisible, turn humans into animals, and other such things. In many ways, these traits and the correspondence of female deities with witchcraft again brings together East and West through demonization of the Feminine.\n\nBut much like the Indo-European demonization of the pre-Christian Death/Regeneratirx aspect of the Goddess into Witch, Chamunda too was demonized and subordinated by patriarchal traditions in India. She was linked to Yama, Lord of Death, becoming less than he in Vedic hymns. An interesting suggestion, however, of her ties to pre-patriarchal roots may be found by looking at her vahana (mount), the owl. Even today in the west, this bird may still be found carrying the messages of the Dark Goddess, of the Feminine Divine who holds the mysteries of life, death and rebirth. A friend found a link between east and west on pilgrimage to the Black Madonna Notre Dame de Bon Espoir (Our Lady of Good Hope) in Dijon France. She writes of her experience,\n<blockquote>The oldest of the Black Madonnas...Notre Dame de Bon Espoir was yet another Black Madonna who made a tremendous impact on me. Interestingly, there is an owl carved into the side of the church where She is housed.</blockquote>\nTherefore, understanding the origins of the witch in prehistory and her later modifications to more fierce/violent characterizations at the hands of patriarchal peoples will perhaps help to heal some of the ills caused by misrepresentations of the Feminine while eradicating some causes of Devi’s (and by extension women’s) subordination. It might be said that if we come to understand the full nature of Her, we would see that all Her forms are those of beauty within the divine creation.\n\nWhile the term witch is in the eastern context used with negative connotation, it is important to understand that the yoginis of the temples were not demons to the tantricks. Given the tantrick insistence on reverence for the immanence of the divine and the sacredness of nature, of maniest reality, yoginis are understood as affirmations of the multifarious aspects of the Goddess. While some of these aspects can be very violent or fierce, with the goddess often depicted with sword in hand, blood and human flesh dripping from her mouth, severed heads around her waist, and other gruesome adornment, understanding her and her relationship to patriarchy over time is interesting. Such depictions, on the one hand, are likely overlays onto an ancient Crone/Death-Regeneratrix deity whose original association with death was severed from her link to life because of a dualistic patriarchal worldview that failed to recognize, for example, the interconnectedness of life and death and instead demonized women and nature as expressions of that relationship.\n\nIn contrast to gruesome depictions of the goddess Chamunda and those associated with Her, patriarchal Hinduism has begun, within the last century, to sweeten the fierce goddesses. Perhaps this is a tell-tale sign that the power of the feminine is being responded to a new and different way. That is, first, She was representative of the power of Oneness and, simply put, patriarchal consciousness (as manifested in the social, political and other realities millennia ago that have created today’s normative Hindu consciousness) sought to (and managed to) break that monopoly by rendering Her as fierce so as to facilitate specific ends, which were to carve out dualistic territory (for some reason). After supression in very specific ways for those millennia, however, She has sought to bring balance to a dichotomous worldview. In response to Her presence now, instead of the fierceness previously required to serve the purposes of a patriarchal worldview, the institutions today that which to retain power have rendered her sweet and submissive, now, to serve their ends of maintaining the status quo. Were patriarchal powers to allow Her fierceness, their reign might quickly come to an end, and this, of course, is exactly the point of honoring and remembering Her as all that She is while concurrently utilizing the power that Her fierce characteristics contain.\n\nFurther, while the word witch today still reverberates strongly with anti-God-loving sentiment for some people, to call oneself a witch as I do is an act of resistance to patriarchal obfuscation of the truth, and reclamation of women’s power within any tradition (as well as outside them). In the west, it is an appellation that is taking on an entirely new meaning, particularly with the resurgence of the goddess in the discipline known as Women’s Spirituality, through Wicca (a reclamation of indigenous European earth-based traditions) and through other forms of earth-based religion, that hold within them both the pre-historical notion of goddess as life-giver/destroyer and the more patriarchal characterization of the goddess as violent warrior, from which many, nevertheless are able to find powerful tools for creating life-affirming change.\n\nAgain before what I now call my statue of Chamunda, this time recording notes and impressions while interposing photographic moments until the museum’s 4 o’clock closing time, I eventually come to be alone with her. I am alone in that statue-filled room mesmerized, or very likely in trance, feeling as though some incredibly magical force surrounds the two of us. From my spot on the floor, I watch her watching me and ask her to teach me Her secrets. That evening, I wrote in my journal:\n<blockquote>From where did the ancient Saktas get her image? What are her myths and associations? How and when does she manifest? Why? What are the psychological implications of her presence as a Goddess and what do they tell us about the people who created her? Why does she exist in this fierce form that was obviously so loved (feared?) by those who worshipped her? Can she help us in the west better understand the nature of the Divine Feminine; and if so, can we find ways through her to promote self-understanding? She is starved; does she link us psychically to the root cause of/cure for anorexia? Can she help western women in the throes of addictions, especially eating disorders, with their own reclamation process? How does understanding Chamunda help me to better understand myself?</blockquote>\nMy questions only began to touch the surface of her depth. As a western woman living today I can never know her true or intended purpose, although I can make an educated guess informed by my academic pursuits as well as my bodily knowings and intuitions.\n\n<!--nextpage-->\n\nEven so, Chamunda through my eyes is not Chamunda in any fully Indian sense, even though I have explored her on her own ground (literally, as well as through her myths, philosophies, symbols, and worship). Rather, for me, Chamunda is an exploration into the depths of personal, and perhaps more generally the question of women’s, spirituality. Particularly within the western context of women’s spiritual development, the importance of Chamunda as a teacher can be grasped when it is understood that she holds within herself the tension of embracing both Mother and Witch archetypes; two aspects of the Feminine that have long been used to subordinate rather than empower women. Chamunda illustrates that these aspects ever inter-related, constantly situated within a flux of interchangeability that she herself manifests.\n\n<b>Chamunda and Kali: Blood Sisters</b>\n\nMy initial contact with the <i>raudra</i> or fierce form of the Goddess, as mentioned above, had come to me years earlier through a dream image as Kali, a Hindu goddess representative of the power of time and of death. In many respects, Chamunda and Kali are alike. Indeed, both are initiators into the fullest spectrum of life, and both serve to awaken us to the value of impermanence and cyclical time. Some Shakta practitioners understand both goddesses to be manifest aspects of the same ontological truth; nevertheless, both can be intensely frightening images of feminine power to those unaccustomed to dealing with the Dark Mother.\n\nIconographically, Chamunda and Kali are often similarly depicted: in the cremation ground, seated upon a corpse and engaging in practices involving sex, blood and death. At the Chamunda-Devi temple [<a href=\"/mandala/chamunda-devi-eastern-teacher-to-the-west/4/#ref\">4</a>] outside of Dharmasala (Himachal Pradesh), Chamunda is plainly understood to be a form of Kali and the ten <i>mahavidyas</i> are depicted at her shrine. The Devi as Chamunda-Kali is also mentioned in the <i>Tantrasara</i>, <i>Shaktapramoda</i> and <i>Pranatosini</i>. [<a href=\"/mandala/chamunda-devi-eastern-teacher-to-the-west/4/#ref\">5</a>]\n\nChamunda-Kali provides a gateway to: i) understanding of the Goddess in the Western psyche for juxtaposition with the Eastern manifestations of Her; ii) how Western vs. Eastern conceptions of reality play a role in determining the images of the Divine Feminine that abound in each context; and iii) the potential power of reclaiming the Dark Mother in the West with the help of images from the East.\n\n<b>Western Appreciation for the Goddess</b>\n\nFrom this brief discussion in conjunction with other goddess tales, perhaps a vision of the goddess who relates to the emotional, physical, and psychic bodies of women and men, regardless of their country of origin, by virtue of the human condition, is becoming apparent. Woven here is the notion that where women in particular are being drawn to Devi’s symbolism for its promotion of, at the very least, what may appear to be a feminist ethic, those who are attracted to her in their spiritual longing (in any of her forms) necessarily cross lines of demarcation whether social, political, or geographical—and so too does Devi. Goddess worship and feminism too needs to be able to create a container for dialogue, with both arenas developing cross-cultural methodologies that can facilitate the creation of safe space in which to then make discussions happen that relate the spiritual realities with the economic, social, and political ones. From within that space, the hope would be to generate a metaphorical fire from which truth based on a process of coming to agreement can be born. Only then can we empower women and men to be all of who and what they are, no matter what the context in which they find themselves.\n\nGiving a historicity to Indian images of the divine may help those non-Hindus interested in appreciating her from within western contexts to make informed statements and educated assertions (based upon contextual understanding) about their own uses of/for her while providing a ground for possible adaptations of Devi within a new environment. For just as the goddess centuries ago crossed from India to neighboring lands, our technological advancements today have moved us all towards a global community, which has indeed also helped to shape the transportation of Devi across oceans and continents.\n\nFor western women, images of the goddess as whole, as containing paradox, and particularly as embracing sexuality and other aspects generally suppressed under patriarchy, are healing. In the western context where transcendent male gods (or more specifically, one male god of generally Jewish or Christian disposition) dominate and no female/feminine is accorded divine status (despite the high status imparted to Mary, as discussed in the last chapter), the need for a Divine Feminine who recognized, honored and is both immanent as well as transcendent is glaring. Perhaps this is one reason why the Indian conception of goddess captures the fervor of western feminists and those seeking alternate visions of the divine that are more inclusive. Devi seems approachable in the sense that she, as her myths and iconography at the very least portend, undergoes and is much of what women recognize to be their individual truths. In her, every woman finds a piece of herself; and every man, perhaps, can learn a little more about the heart of his essential nature.\n\nThe mainstream Western images of the Divine Feminine in a contemporary context where the Abrahamic faiths prevail have largely been limited to the Virgin Mary, and perhaps if one is generous, to Sophia, the Black Madonna and Lilith. These last three however, represent an undercurrent of the Christian and Judaic faiths, and they are not recognized by many practitioners; at least not with full awareness of their power and connection to pre-patriarchal religion.\n\nIn any case, it is apparent that the Divine Feminine within our context as represented in Her most ubiquitous aspect as the Virgin Mary has little but a \"soft\" or benevolent and nurturing side. She is holy and untouchable, even by her husband; she is vehicle for the avatar Christ, but not God herself; she is incapable of engaging the more uncomfortable aspects of life; she listens and conveys the message of her followers, but does not have the power to act directly for those who worship her.\n\nThis image of Mary is put in juxtaposition within Christianity to the one God, who is All. Her place is marginal in relationship to His magnificence, and reflects the Western/patriarchal schism typified by Descartes’ mind/body duality (God as transcendent mind, Mary as earth-bound body) or more simply, the valuing of men over women and heaven over earth. Further, it underscores that the religious traditions of patriarchal cultures have unfortunately tended to pathologize the relationship of dualistic principles. In life, dualities abound, but their representation in the West has long since posed them as warring opposites where the position of the Divine Feminine (and women) is relegated to minority status.\n\nThe patriarchal worldview, particularly as expressed in the powerful \"First World\" nations of the West, has manifested skewed valuations of dualities in other spheres of life as well. It has done so to the point of ignoring (or largely ignoring) the inherent worth and wisdom of the Feminine principle and has created an urgent need for crisis prevention in the environmental, developmental, psychological and social arenas. Further, if we accept that the project of patriarchy has been based on the scientific and philosophical deconstruction of life (through exploitation of resources and peoples by Western science and paradigms supported by such traditions) and on the establishment of dualistic categories formed from reductionistic tendencies (in order to propagate the favoritism of man and culture over women and nature, e.g.), then we understand how dichotomization destroys relatedness, promotes homogenization, and makes subjugation the norm for half the population the world over.\n\nUnfortunately in both the East and West, the archetypal Feminine principle, which in India is called <i>pakriti</i>, has often been associated only with women and with nature, to the detriment of both men, women and the planet. For to deny that the Feminine has value is to deny more than gender or population; it is to deny half of the entire spectrum of life. It relegates all that is receptive, open, life-generating and nurturing to the margins of society, and it is there that we can look to find the festering sores of all the various crises of our time.\n\nFortunately, particularly within the past ten years, writers, thinkers, theologians and others across the globe in fields as diverse as the sciences, religion and women’s studies have explored the dance of life beyond the confines of duality. There, many have found that the \"opposing\" forces of life are in a play of complementarities, where tension makes growth, change, and transformation possible. In understanding that life is more of an ever-shifting dynamic balance of energetics where opposing forces create an existence filled with variety, spontaneity, laughter and music in which the soul may rejoice, a new vein of consciousness has been born in our time.\n\nThe impact of the Goddess archetype upon women and men as She re-emerges into consciousness has profound ramifications upon all aspects of life. In the East, many have been called to re-examine their relationships to the manifest Divine Feminine in actual women. On the individual as well as the collective level, She reminds us that women too are powerful, worthy of respect in this world; She teaches that respect for our bodies helps us to respect the Earthbody; She tells us that all things ugly and beautiful are Her creation. She is a \"creative trinity;\" [<a href=\"/mandala/chamunda-devi-eastern-teacher-to-the-west/4/#ref\">6</a>] serving as a gateway to simultaneous embracement of <i>both</i> duality and oneness, a symbol of integrated duality and the unconditional love that binds them. With this, many in the West have been drawn to remembering the Goddess as a potent symbol of wholeness. Many have turned to Her myths, rituals and traditions of pre-patriarchal times in order to quench their personal longing for \"something else.\" I believe that Chamunda helps to bring a special dimension to understanding the fullest sense of what that wholeness means.\n\n<b>Eastern Goddesses, Patriarchal Cultures, and a Vision from the West</b>\n\nWhile the West has tended to infuse its traditions with a dualistic split, the Eastern traditions of India have tended to concern themselves with a monological \"One\" in the realm of spirit while an overlay of patriarchal duality has settled into the societal sphere. This has wrought a complexity of contradictions in Indian society. For example, the Ganges River, sacred sphere of the Goddess Ganga who manifests through and as its waters, is the most polluted and yet simultaneously the holiest river on Earth for devout Hindus. Similarly, while the Divine Feminine is recognized and worshipped through myriad images of Goddesses (Ganga, Kali and Chamunda among them), women still occupy a marginal position in traditional Indian society.\n\nAs David Kinsley has noted: \"In the Hindu tradition a woman is taught to understand herself primarily in relation to others…It is society that puts demands on her primarily through the agents of relatives and in-laws, and not she who places demands on society that she be allowed to develop a unique, independent destiny. A central demand placed on women, particularly vis-à-vis males, is that they subordinate their welfare to the welfare of others.\" [<a href=\"/mandala/chamunda-devi-eastern-teacher-to-the-west/4/#ref\">7</a>]\n\nWhile attempts have been made to reconcile patriarchal duality at the level of society with a philosophical and religious spiritual unity, the fact of the matter is that such discontinuity invalidates and undermines both. Little progress has been made in this regard within the Indian context. But it is from within this struggle that ways of thinking that seek to heal the split of culture from embodied/immanent spirituality have more recently emerged. Many writers, but most prominently the Indian physicist and ecofeminist, Vandana Shiva, have made a case for recognizing the Divine Feminine/Goddess in order to ameliorate tension and diffuse the boundaries of derision caused by the patriarchal paradigm.\n\n<!--nextpage-->\n\nIn her book, <i>Staying Alive: Women, Ecology and Development</i>, Shiva explores one way of looking at the Divine Feminine through lenses that appreciate both transcendent as well as immanent manifestations. She proposes fully embracing the notion of <i>Pakriti</i> as a \"spiritual\" discipline rather than simply as \"nature,\" so that a more balanced worldview can be achieved. This new worldview takes into account the marginalized position of women while de facto promoting environmental sustainability and the wellbeing of diverse, autonomous communities focused on the sacredness of relationships rather than on their destruction.\n\nAccording to Shiva, Pakriti means not just the traditional counterpart to Purusa (the Divine Masculine, or the Masculine Principle of manifest culture and society), but instead the<i>entirety</i> of nature with its ability to create, sustain and destroy in order to continue the cycle of life in all its aspects. Thus, Shiva’s position asserts \"both a <i>holistic</i> perspective and an<i>inclusive</i> agenda of concerns based on its considerable respect for diversity—both in turn being principles of nature.\" [<a href=\"http://sharanya.org/articles/chamunda/chamunda4.php4#ref\">8</a>]\n\nOn another level, such thinking shows that the construct of <i>maya</i> (illusion) as found in many Indian philosophical systems is not required to solve the corundum of how manifest reality (difference) can be reconciled with the unitive One. Instead, maya can be understood as the human resistance to holding the tension of paradox in life. In this way, perhaps the women of manifest nature can reclaim their right as beings who are living testament to the power of the Goddess and be honored as such. And the \"One\" can take on new meaning as a \"dynamic system of relations wherein any particular manifestation functions simultaneously as a distinct part and the unbroken whole. The parts are not derivative of the whole, or vice versa, [nor are the parts dissolved into one another to become the whole, or vice versa.] Each aspect constitutes the other.\" [<a href=\"http://sharanya.org/articles/chamunda/chamunda4.php4#ref\">9</a>]\n\nIt is with this idea in mind that the Goddesses of East and West need to be (re)evaluated. Unfortunately, however, as we saw earlier in this article, the Western Goddess(es) of mainstream contemporary manifestation and interpretation provide little by way of role model to help us accomplish the task of aware integration of spheres on both the intra- and inter- (as well as micro- and macrocosmic) levels that permeate the realms of mind, body and spirit. Therefore, if we are to move beyond our present embeddedness in the philosophical systems of our respective contexts, any divine teacher thus considered must be a manifestation of reality that lies beyond duality while embracing of it, and must be a penetrator/trix of all worlds, symbolic and otherwise.\n\nChamunda and her sister Kali, in my opinion, represent an understanding of the limitations of a dualistic worldview while simultaneously embracing duality as facilitator for self-awareness—-the manifest universe and the physical form being vehicles for the exploration of consciousness into itself. Further, they allow communication and representation among each and every sphere of life as well as among worlds, much like the Hermes Trismegistus of Greek mythology and later hermetic philosophy who not only facilitated communication between Gods; between Gods and men; but also between the worlds of Heaven and Hell. In this way, the Divine Feminine as manifest from within the Eastern psyche serves the required purpose; for as C. MacKenzie Brown notes: \"In the Devi-Bhagavata…the goddess is both male and female, and transcends the two, but without devaluing either the transcendent or <i>samsaric</i>[earthly or immanent]<i> </i>dimensions.\" [<a href=\"http://sharanya.org/articles/chamunda/chamunda4.php4#ref\">10</a>]\n\nFurther, it may be noted that from a perspective focused on the dynamics of inter-relationship rather than the intra-relationships of East and West, the Western relationship to \"God\" and the Eastern understanding of non-duality as a quality of \"God\" is typified by the following story:\n<blockquote>A Western reporter and an Indian devotee of the Goddess come across a statue of Kali. She has her four arms: the upper right raised in blessing, the lower right offering a boon (wish), the upper left holding a machete dripping with blood and the lower left gripping a severed human head by the hair. Seeing this split, the Westerner immediately asks: \"So how do you get the blessing and avoid the machete?\" The Eastern devotee angrily replies, \"That\'s not it at all...The blessing is only won when you accept both sides of her, including pain, sorrow, decay, death, and destruction. Run from her horrors, and you run from her blessings. To deny death, to act as if your little self is the center of things and must be protected from pain and preserved as long as possible—this is the real death. But embrace Kali as she is—kiss her bloody tongue and feel all four arms caress you at once—then you have life, you have freedom.\" [<a href=\"http://sharanya.org/articles/chamunda/chamunda4.php4#ref\">11</a>]</blockquote>\nIn this story, the boon for the Western mind would be to get beyond dualistic thinking; and the boon for the Eastern mind would be to allow this non-dualistic perspective to integrate into all spheres of life, not simply the spiritual one.\n\nBut working with images such as Chamunda and Kali, I believe, is one way to begin transforming traditional perspectives. Although a re-visioning of these goddesses in the East to include a mandate for social reform might be a worthwhile endeavor, I can only mention here the potential impact that working with them might have upon Western consciousness were, for example, a fully developed program inclusive of yoga, ritual, meditation and contemplation, etc. to be implemented by those wishing to break free of the limiting constructs of our time.\n\n<b>Revisiting the Goddess</b>\n\nTherefore, I hold that those wishing to reach beyond the schisms of Western thought (and beyond the hypocrisy of Eastern practice if one is from that context and so inclined) need to welcome a teacher capable of fully embodying both sides of duality; for one must be willing to embrace death if seeking to fully enjoy life (as the story above pointed out). The extremely intense presence of Chamunda when brought into contemplation by a seeking mind can indeed be a call to wake up to the vibrancy of life; to the reason behind the ephemeral nature of things; and indeed to the fullest sense oneself and one’s purpose in the world.\n\nFor as told in the Upanishads when Sanatkumara says to the young Narada: \"One who meditates upon and realizes the Self discovers that everything in the cosmos—energy and space, fire and water, name and form, birth and death, mind and will, word and deed, mantram and meditation—all come from the Self.\" [<a href=\"http://sharanya.org/articles/chamunda/chamunda4.php4#ref\">12</a>] The Self is therefore the embracing One and that which enables human beings to comprehend the infinite diversity of the world. The manifestations of the macrocosmic world can be easily understood in terms of the microcosmic Self and vice versa; or again in the words of Hermes Trismegistus, \"as above, so below.\"\n\nIn meditating upon the image of Chamunda and asking questions as I did about the reasons behind her powerful presence, one may be forced to ask too exactly what this Goddess desires us to see and to ultimately understand about our presence in the world: What is my role here? Why is there suffering? What is the purpose of life? Why has Patriarchy been a part of our human experience? As it says in the Chandogya Upanishad, \"You are that.\" [<a href=\"http://sharanya.org/articles/chamunda/chamunda4.php4#ref\">13</a>] And so for the individual contemplating the nature of non-dual reality while trying to reconcile manifest existence and personal experience, Chamunda can function as a portal to understanding.\n\nIt also seems appropriate that as we today search to give a meaning to our lives in these times of planetary crisis, turning to different ways of knowing and of experiencing reality may assist us in our struggles to ‘make sense of it all.’ This introduction of Chamunda as a teacher to the West is again not an attempt to co-opt or misrepresent a Hindu deity; it is simply a suggestion to be aware of more than those things with which we are readily familiar in our quest.\n\nDone with honor, respect, and with no claim at contextual understanding, opening to the patterns of collective thought that made the Goddess Chamunda a part of human reality may be a way to break the hard lines of Western dichotomy. It may help us reconnect to the ancient roots of many of the symbols, myths and traditions that have sprung from our collective human history, and it may help us connect to something deeper from within our own Western psyche. It may help us to eventually reclaim the power inherent in both Mother and Witch for the betterment of humanity.\n\nThus Chamunda-Devi may be a kind of key - not to unlocking the past, but to helping us ‘re-find’ the awareness most important for us today. Perhaps she can help us to dive into the primordial well of remembrance that exists within each of us in order to help surface feelings and intuitions that are particularly important for the creation of human as well as Gaian wholeness.\n\nAs the last line of the <i>Creed of the Star Goddess</i> tells us, \"I [the Goddess], have been with you from the beginning, and I am that which is attained at the end of desire.\"  [<a href=\"http://sharanya.org/articles/chamunda/chamunda4.php4#ref\">14</a>] We need only wish to remember in our hearts, with all of our heart, and She will reveal Her reality no matter where we live, what language we speak or what traditions we follow. As we move forward along our collective path in this evolutionary spiral we call life, may we seek always to know the truth of our past, so that we may all move together towards tomorrow. In this project, Chamunda is certainly qualified to be our guide.\n\nThe rest of my stay in India continued to be filled with Chamunda’s presence, and I began to affirm as I learned more about her that she was unknowable in any purely historical or religious sense but for my own cellular memories perhaps and more recent experiences of her. By Chamunda’s grace, however, I find that as I deepen into her mysteries and continue to invoke her in my life, I am drawn back in time so that I may discover not only her truth, but also the truth of how the track of recorded history both reveals and obscures truth. As much contemporary feminist scholarship reveals, much of recorded history obscures. By Chamunda’s grace, however, the path towards greater self-awareness was presented to me, and I continue to ask the above-mentioned questions, slowly gaining insight into her potential role as a teacher of the West.\n\nThe path towards greater self-awareness therefore has very large implications, and I continue to ask the above-mentioned questions to gain insight into Chamunda in all manifestations so that she may ultimately teach her secrets to all those willing to learn. I for one, am realizing that the mysteries of the Goddess reveal themselves to me though my personal experience, and as I open to trusting that my spirituality in this vein contains the greatest wisdom of all, the circle is closed and I am before Her once again.\n\n&nbsp;\n\n&nbsp;\n\n<a name=\"ref\"></a>\n\n<hr />\n\n&nbsp;\n\n1. Kinsley, David. <i>Hindu Goddesses: Visions of the Divine Feminine in the Hindu Religious Tradition</i> (University of California Press: Berkeley) 1986 p. 149\n2. Dehejia, Vidya. <i>Yogini Cult and Temples: A Tantric Tradition</i> (The National Museum: New Delhi) 1986, p. 187\n3. The Matrikas first appear in the <i>Mahabharata</i> and have collectively been dated to about the first century A.D. Their manifestations in the literature of the epic - and post-epic periods seem to be characterized as malevolent, blood-drinking and demonic; but worship is also directed to them for protection. The Matrikas are notably a group of goddesses, the number of which becomes somewhat standardized at seven or eight in the postepic period. They are given in the <i>Visnudharmottara-purana</i> as: Yogisvari, Mahesvari, Vaisnavi, Kaumari, Brahmani, Chamunda and Varahi.\n4. I have visited this temple and seen these images. David Kinsley also makes mention of this fact in his work,<i>Tantric Visions of the Divine Feminine: The Ten Mahavidyas</i> (University of California Press: Berkeley) 1997, p. 16\n5. Kinsley, David. Ibid., p. 75\n6. Sheldrake, Rupert. <i>The Rebirth of Nature: The Greening of Science and God</i> (Park Street Press: Vermont) 1991 pp. 196 - 199\n7. Kinsley, David. <i>Hindu Goddesses</i>, ibid<i>. </i>p. 77\n8. Kothari, Rajni. Foreword in <i>Staying Alive: Women, Ecology and Development</i> by Vandana Shiva, (New Jersey: Zed Books) 1989, p. X. (Original italics.)\n9. Spretnak, Charlene. \"Radical Non-duality in Ecofeminist Philosophy\" essay <i>in Metis: A Feminist Journal of Transformative Wisdom</i>, Spring, 1996; Vol 1, No. 1., p. 11\n10. Brown, C. MacKenzie. <i>The Triumph of the Goddess: The Canonical Models and Theological Visions of the Devi-Bhagavata Purana</i> (SUNY Press: New York) 1990, p. 216\n11. Reported by Tim Ward in <i>Common Boundary</i>, March/April, 1997, p. 34\n12.<i> Chandogya Upanishad, </i>translated by Eknath Easwaran (Nilgiri Press: Berkeley) 1987, p. 190\n13. <i>Chandogya Upanishad</i>, ibid<i>.</i>, p. 183\n14. Adapted from the traditional (oral) poem by Doreen Valiente, British witch. Traditional.','Chamunda-Devi','','inherit','open','open','','99967-autosave-v1','','','2013-10-14 23:17:55','2013-10-15 06:17:55','',99967,'<h4>Eastern Teacher to The West</h4>\n<em>by Chandra Alexandre</em>\n\n<hr />\n\n<img class=\"alignright  wp-image-99968 imgborder=0\" alt=\"chamundafire\" src=\"http://sharanya.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/chamundafire.gif\" width=\"250\" height=\"278\" />\n\nThis arti',0,'revision','',0),(99995,2,'2013-09-11 22:33:51','2013-09-12 05:33:51','<h4>Eastern Teacher to The West</h4>\r\n<em>by Chandra Alexandre</em>\r\n\r\n<hr />\r\n\r\nThis article tells the story of my own exploration into the mysteries of the Goddess as manifested within the Hindu pantheon as Chamunda, the fierce, emaciated and terrifying Dark Mother. She is a goddess who is particularly revered among Shaktas (believers in the primacy of the Divine Feminine), and she has historically found favor within all strata of Indian society, from the village shudras (lowest caste) to the rulers of India. Temples to her exist throughout the country: from the forts of Rajasthan to the highlands of Himachal Pradesh, to the adavasi (tribal) lands of Orissa.\r\n\r\n<img class=\"alignright  wp-image-99968 imgborder=0\" alt=\"chamundafire\" src=\"http://sharanya.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/chamundafire.gif\" width=\"327\" height=\"364\" /><strong>The Image of Chamunda</strong>\r\n\r\nIn Orissa, where I was blessed to spend five months exploring, she appears primarily in two forms: i) as one of the Matrikas (Mothers), and ii) as one of the sixty-four yoginis (witches) who are themselves daughters of the Asta Matrikas (Eight Mothers). From my exploration into Chamunda I have gained an understanding of the ways in which the Goddess teaches through one of her manifest forms, and this article is an attempt to share some of what I have discovered with you.\r\n\r\nBut here, I can only hope to present my learnings as shrouded with the veil of perception I carry as a western woman. However, I share my interpretation of the mysteries as revealed to me by Her so that Her name may be invoked and Her presence asked to help banish the ignorance and prejudice of our time. I do not pretend to fully understand Chamunda (within her original context or otherwise) or for that matter, the great mystery of the Goddess; but rather I claim to appreciate Her because of my resonance with the form and symbols offered to us from India.\r\n\r\nFrom an 8th century stone statue originally found in Dharmasala (Cuttack, Orissa) and now located at the Orissa State Museum in Bhubaneswar, I learned to see for the first time through this image what the power of the Divine Feminine can be through a figure that could (and does) readily inspire fear in both Western and Eastern onlookers. Chamunda appears to penetrate the manifest world through this sculpture of grey-black chlorite stone. She is chiseled with her most readily recognizable features: sunken eyes, sagging breasts and skeletal body; but the obvious attention and carefully-detailed precision with which she was created belie a profound respect and/or love on the part of the sculptor that is perhaps not readily understandable from our current vantage point.\r\n\r\nComing across her image amidst myriad sculptures on the floor of the museum is like dropping into a cold pool after a 20-minute steam bath. Upon first seeing her, I was instantly astounded and shocked by her presence until the realization set in that encountering Her was making my insides tingle in ways suggestive of Her great power. She is an awesome figure, with third-eye and navel raised out of the stone, veins defined over the course of her entire body, no teeth, heavily hanging earlobes and snake-entwined arms - one of which holds in its long hand a severed human head, which she grasps with finger nails that come to a point. In her other partially-intact arm she holds a skull cup or kapala at the level of her heart. She is garlanded with skulls, wears ouroboric anklets, and is seated on a corpse with her right foot on the ground and her left leg bent at the knee, foot turned, its sole to the sky. Her hair is aflame and pulled upwards, wrapped and held in place by a snake-band tiara, the center of which bears a skull.\r\n\r\nAlthough my initial contact with the fierce form of the Goddess had come to me through a dream image as Kali, both she and Chamunda are alike in many respects, related by their transformative abilities and their stature as Crones. While Kali manifests the power of time and of death, Chamunda too holds infinity and eternity. Both can be intensely frightening images of divine, feminine power especially to those unaccustomed to dealing with the Dark Goddess. Both are often similarly depicted: in the cremation ground, often seated upon a corpse or engaging in Tantrick rituals involving sex, blood and death. In this, they explicitly manifest antinomian characteristics within mainstream Hindu tradition, and they become by this provkers of (r)evolution from the inside, and transformers of worlds from the outside as they reach westerners.\r\n\r\nChamunda\'s intensity through the vehicle of the statue in Bhubaneswar shook me deep inside and stunned me. And I was nevertheless drawn to her and mystified by what she had to offer. Somehow, I could not help but feel her incredible power through the skeletal form, while at the same time, I became immediately and especially aware of how at odds with this impression and indeed terrifying she would appear to most westerners. Rationally, I wondered how in the world this figure could be known as one of the matrikas when she seemed so very far from western, as well as the traditional Hindu conception of mother, either literal or archetypal. Mother in any sense is most generally normalized to mean nurturing and life-giving. Chamunda appears to be everything but this, and I had to work to see the interconnections. On another, non-rational level, however, I could immediately feel that there was a mystery of fecundity held within those bones. I was, of course, feeling in my own bones something very old and true about her.\r\n\r\n<!--nextpage-->\r\n\r\nWhile within both Eastern and Western contexts mothers are seen as caretakers and life givers, understanding the Devi as matrika (mother) is another story. Within the world of Indian Goddess theology at least from Vedic times (circa 1,500 BCE), it seems that the devi as a mother who nourishes the world is understood as someone who must herself be replenished in order to continue to sustain life. \"If she were only to give birth and to nourish her creatures she would soon grow weak, and creation would cease.\" [1]\r\n\r\nBecause her life-generating and sustaining aspect is so powerful, she carries an insatiable hunger that is equally great. This hunger is often represented in images by showing an emaciated figure. Thus understood, the fierce devi is integral to understanding the birth/death aspect of the cycle of life in India, which makes possible the whole of manifest existence. She is obviously the living Crone, a Dark Goddess who functions as a gateway between the realms of this world and the next. Recognition of this leads to liberation; and images containing within them the fullness of samsara, as Chamunda does, serve as gateways to simultaneous embracement of life and death, duality and oneness, a holistic future and personal enrichment through the suffering of life. They hold the key to embracing the walk of the heart, where sadness and joy, pain and elation ever co-mingle.\r\n\r\nUnderstanding the goddess as both life-giver and destroyer manifests in symbolic form as a circle, or chakra within the Indian context. This chakra is reflective of the cycles of life apparent, for example, in the waxing and waning of the moon and those other cycles tied to this one, such as menstruation and the ebb and flow of the tides. A circle is the form taken by the temples dedicated to the yoginis, or sixty-four derivations of the Asta Matrikas mentioned previously who include Chamunda among them. It is therefore perhaps no coincidence that the goddess as yogini would be configured for worship by the tantricks in circular temples, since their tradition is infused with reverence for the Goddess as containing the mystery of She who is both of the source of all life and the fount of death; the One who contains All. In addition, the yoginis are also linked to yaksis (nature spirits), and they, as well as those who worshipped them, were called witches and magicians. As yogini, Chamunda and her sixty-three sisters were said to have the power to fly, to become invisible, turn humans into animals, and other such things. In many ways, these traits and the correspondence of female deities with witchcraft again brings together East and West through demonization of the Feminine.\r\n\r\nBut much like the Indo-European demonization of the pre-Christian Death/Regeneratirx aspect of the Goddess into Witch, Chamunda too was demonized and subordinated by patriarchal traditions in India. She was linked to Yama, Lord of Death, becoming less than he in Vedic hymns. An interesting suggestion, however, of her ties to pre-patriarchal roots may be found by looking at her vahana (mount), the owl. Even today in the west, this bird may still be found carrying the messages of the Dark Goddess, of the Feminine Divine who holds the mysteries of life, death and rebirth. A friend found a link between east and west on pilgrimage to the Black Madonna Notre Dame de Bon Espoir (Our Lady of Good Hope) in Dijon France. She writes of her experience,\r\n<blockquote>The oldest of the Black Madonnas...Notre Dame de Bon Espoir was yet another Black Madonna who made a tremendous impact on me. Interestingly, there is an owl carved into the side of the church where She is housed.</blockquote>\r\nTherefore, understanding the origins of the witch in prehistory and her later modifications to more fierce/violent characterizations at the hands of patriarchal peoples will perhaps help to heal some of the ills caused by misrepresentations of the Feminine while eradicating some causes of Devi’s (and by extension women’s) subordination. It might be said that if we come to understand the full nature of Her, we would see that all Her forms are those of beauty within the divine creation.\r\n\r\nWhile the term witch is in the eastern context used with negative connotation, it is important to understand that the yoginis of the temples were not demons to the tantricks. Given the tantrick insistence on reverence for the immanence of the divine and the sacredness of nature, of maniest reality, yoginis are understood as affirmations of the multifarious aspects of the Goddess. While some of these aspects can be very violent or fierce, with the goddess often depicted with sword in hand, blood and human flesh dripping from her mouth, severed heads around her waist, and other gruesome adornment, understanding her and her relationship to patriarchy over time is interesting. Such depictions, on the one hand, are likely overlays onto an ancient Crone/Death-Regeneratrix deity whose original association with death was severed from her link to life because of a dualistic patriarchal worldview that failed to recognize, for example, the interconnectedness of life and death and instead demonized women and nature as expressions of that relationship.\r\n\r\nIn contrast to gruesome depictions of the goddess Chamunda and those associated with Her, patriarchal Hinduism has begun, within the last century, to sweeten the fierce goddesses. Perhaps this is a tell-tale sign that the power of the feminine is being responded to a new and different way. That is, first, She was representative of the power of Oneness and, simply put, patriarchal consciousness (as manifested in the social, political and other realities millennia ago that have created today’s normative Hindu consciousness) sought to (and managed to) break that monopoly by rendering Her as fierce so as to facilitate specific ends, which were to carve out dualistic territory (for some reason). After supression in very specific ways for those millennia, however, She has sought to bring balance to a dichotomous worldview. In response to Her presence now, instead of the fierceness previously required to serve the purposes of a patriarchal worldview, the institutions today that which to retain power have rendered her sweet and submissive, now, to serve their ends of maintaining the status quo. Were patriarchal powers to allow Her fierceness, their reign might quickly come to an end, and this, of course, is exactly the point of honoring and remembering Her as all that She is while concurrently utilizing the power that Her fierce characteristics contain.\r\n\r\nFurther, while the word witch today still reverberates strongly with anti-God-loving sentiment for some people, to call oneself a witch as I do is an act of resistance to patriarchal obfuscation of the truth, and reclamation of women’s power within any tradition (as well as outside them). In the west, it is an appellation that is taking on an entirely new meaning, particularly with the resurgence of the goddess in the discipline known as Women’s Spirituality, through Wicca (a reclamation of indigenous European earth-based traditions) and through other forms of earth-based religion, that hold within them both the pre-historical notion of goddess as life-giver/destroyer and the more patriarchal characterization of the goddess as violent warrior, from which many, nevertheless are able to find powerful tools for creating life-affirming change.\r\n\r\nAgain before what I now call my statue of Chamunda, this time recording notes and impressions while interposing photographic moments until the museum’s 4 o’clock closing time, I eventually come to be alone with her. I am alone in that statue-filled room mesmerized, or very likely in trance, feeling as though some incredibly magical force surrounds the two of us. From my spot on the floor, I watch her watching me and ask her to teach me Her secrets. That evening, I wrote in my journal:\r\n<blockquote>From where did the ancient Saktas get her image? What are her myths and associations? How and when does she manifest? Why? What are the psychological implications of her presence as a Goddess and what do they tell us about the people who created her? Why does she exist in this fierce form that was obviously so loved (feared?) by those who worshipped her? Can she help us in the west better understand the nature of the Divine Feminine; and if so, can we find ways through her to promote self-understanding? She is starved; does she link us psychically to the root cause of/cure for anorexia? Can she help western women in the throes of addictions, especially eating disorders, with their own reclamation process? How does understanding Chamunda help me to better understand myself?</blockquote>\r\nMy questions only began to touch the surface of her depth. As a western woman living today I can never know her true or intended purpose, although I can make an educated guess informed by my academic pursuits as well as my bodily knowings and intuitions.\r\n\r\n<!--nextpage-->\r\n\r\nEven so, Chamunda through my eyes is not Chamunda in any fully Indian sense, even though I have explored her on her own ground (literally, as well as through her myths, philosophies, symbols, and worship). Rather, for me, Chamunda is an exploration into the depths of personal, and perhaps more generally the question of women’s, spirituality. Particularly within the western context of women’s spiritual development, the importance of Chamunda as a teacher can be grasped when it is understood that she holds within herself the tension of embracing both Mother and Witch archetypes; two aspects of the Feminine that have long been used to subordinate rather than empower women. Chamunda illustrates that these aspects ever inter-related, constantly situated within a flux of interchangeability that she herself manifests.\r\n\r\n<b>Chamunda and Kali: Blood Sisters</b>\r\n\r\nMy initial contact with the <i>raudra</i> or fierce form of the Goddess, as mentioned above, had come to me years earlier through a dream image as Kali, a Hindu goddess representative of the power of time and of death. In many respects, Chamunda and Kali are alike. Indeed, both are initiators into the fullest spectrum of life, and both serve to awaken us to the value of impermanence and cyclical time. Some Shakta practitioners understand both goddesses to be manifest aspects of the same ontological truth; nevertheless, both can be intensely frightening images of feminine power to those unaccustomed to dealing with the Dark Mother.\r\n\r\nIconographically, Chamunda and Kali are often similarly depicted: in the cremation ground, seated upon a corpse and engaging in practices involving sex, blood and death. At the Chamunda-Devi temple [<a href=\"/mandala/chamunda-devi-eastern-teacher-to-the-west/4/#ref\">4</a>] outside of Dharmasala (Himachal Pradesh), Chamunda is plainly understood to be a form of Kali and the ten <i>mahavidyas</i> are depicted at her shrine. The Devi as Chamunda-Kali is also mentioned in the <i>Tantrasara</i>, <i>Shaktapramoda</i> and <i>Pranatosini</i>. [<a href=\"/mandala/chamunda-devi-eastern-teacher-to-the-west/4/#ref\">5</a>]\r\n\r\nChamunda-Kali provides a gateway to: i) understanding of the Goddess in the Western psyche for juxtaposition with the Eastern manifestations of Her; ii) how Western vs. Eastern conceptions of reality play a role in determining the images of the Divine Feminine that abound in each context; and iii) the potential power of reclaiming the Dark Mother in the West with the help of images from the East.\r\n\r\n<b>Western Appreciation for the Goddess</b>\r\n\r\nFrom this brief discussion in conjunction with other goddess tales, perhaps a vision of the goddess who relates to the emotional, physical, and psychic bodies of women and men, regardless of their country of origin, by virtue of the human condition, is becoming apparent. Woven here is the notion that where women in particular are being drawn to Devi’s symbolism for its promotion of, at the very least, what may appear to be a feminist ethic, those who are attracted to her in their spiritual longing (in any of her forms) necessarily cross lines of demarcation whether social, political, or geographical—and so too does Devi. Goddess worship and feminism too needs to be able to create a container for dialogue, with both arenas developing cross-cultural methodologies that can facilitate the creation of safe space in which to then make discussions happen that relate the spiritual realities with the economic, social, and political ones. From within that space, the hope would be to generate a metaphorical fire from which truth based on a process of coming to agreement can be born. Only then can we empower women and men to be all of who and what they are, no matter what the context in which they find themselves.\r\n\r\nGiving a historicity to Indian images of the divine may help those non-Hindus interested in appreciating her from within western contexts to make informed statements and educated assertions (based upon contextual understanding) about their own uses of/for her while providing a ground for possible adaptations of Devi within a new environment. For just as the goddess centuries ago crossed from India to neighboring lands, our technological advancements today have moved us all towards a global community, which has indeed also helped to shape the transportation of Devi across oceans and continents.\r\n\r\nFor western women, images of the goddess as whole, as containing paradox, and particularly as embracing sexuality and other aspects generally suppressed under patriarchy, are healing. In the western context where transcendent male gods (or more specifically, one male god of generally Jewish or Christian disposition) dominate and no female/feminine is accorded divine status (despite the high status imparted to Mary, as discussed in the last chapter), the need for a Divine Feminine who recognized, honored and is both immanent as well as transcendent is glaring. Perhaps this is one reason why the Indian conception of goddess captures the fervor of western feminists and those seeking alternate visions of the divine that are more inclusive. Devi seems approachable in the sense that she, as her myths and iconography at the very least portend, undergoes and is much of what women recognize to be their individual truths. In her, every woman finds a piece of herself; and every man, perhaps, can learn a little more about the heart of his essential nature.\r\n\r\nThe mainstream Western images of the Divine Feminine in a contemporary context where the Abrahamic faiths prevail have largely been limited to the Virgin Mary, and perhaps if one is generous, to Sophia, the Black Madonna and Lilith. These last three however, represent an undercurrent of the Christian and Judaic faiths, and they are not recognized by many practitioners; at least not with full awareness of their power and connection to pre-patriarchal religion.\r\n\r\nIn any case, it is apparent that the Divine Feminine within our context as represented in Her most ubiquitous aspect as the Virgin Mary has little but a \"soft\" or benevolent and nurturing side. She is holy and untouchable, even by her husband; she is vehicle for the avatar Christ, but not God herself; she is incapable of engaging the more uncomfortable aspects of life; she listens and conveys the message of her followers, but does not have the power to act directly for those who worship her.\r\n\r\nThis image of Mary is put in juxtaposition within Christianity to the one God, who is All. Her place is marginal in relationship to His magnificence, and reflects the Western/patriarchal schism typified by Descartes’ mind/body duality (God as transcendent mind, Mary as earth-bound body) or more simply, the valuing of men over women and heaven over earth. Further, it underscores that the religious traditions of patriarchal cultures have unfortunately tended to pathologize the relationship of dualistic principles. In life, dualities abound, but their representation in the West has long since posed them as warring opposites where the position of the Divine Feminine (and women) is relegated to minority status.\r\n\r\nThe patriarchal worldview, particularly as expressed in the powerful \"First World\" nations of the West, has manifested skewed valuations of dualities in other spheres of life as well. It has done so to the point of ignoring (or largely ignoring) the inherent worth and wisdom of the Feminine principle and has created an urgent need for crisis prevention in the environmental, developmental, psychological and social arenas. Further, if we accept that the project of patriarchy has been based on the scientific and philosophical deconstruction of life (through exploitation of resources and peoples by Western science and paradigms supported by such traditions) and on the establishment of dualistic categories formed from reductionistic tendencies (in order to propagate the favoritism of man and culture over women and nature, e.g.), then we understand how dichotomization destroys relatedness, promotes homogenization, and makes subjugation the norm for half the population the world over.\r\n\r\nUnfortunately in both the East and West, the archetypal Feminine principle, which in India is called <i>pakriti</i>, has often been associated only with women and with nature, to the detriment of both men, women and the planet. For to deny that the Feminine has value is to deny more than gender or population; it is to deny half of the entire spectrum of life. It relegates all that is receptive, open, life-generating and nurturing to the margins of society, and it is there that we can look to find the festering sores of all the various crises of our time.\r\n\r\nFortunately, particularly within the past ten years, writers, thinkers, theologians and others across the globe in fields as diverse as the sciences, religion and women’s studies have explored the dance of life beyond the confines of duality. There, many have found that the \"opposing\" forces of life are in a play of complementarities, where tension makes growth, change, and transformation possible. In understanding that life is more of an ever-shifting dynamic balance of energetics where opposing forces create an existence filled with variety, spontaneity, laughter and music in which the soul may rejoice, a new vein of consciousness has been born in our time.\r\n\r\nThe impact of the Goddess archetype upon women and men as She re-emerges into consciousness has profound ramifications upon all aspects of life. In the East, many have been called to re-examine their relationships to the manifest Divine Feminine in actual women. On the individual as well as the collective level, She reminds us that women too are powerful, worthy of respect in this world; She teaches that respect for our bodies helps us to respect the Earthbody; She tells us that all things ugly and beautiful are Her creation. She is a \"creative trinity;\" [<a href=\"/mandala/chamunda-devi-eastern-teacher-to-the-west/4/#ref\">6</a>] serving as a gateway to simultaneous embracement of <i>both</i> duality and oneness, a symbol of integrated duality and the unconditional love that binds them. With this, many in the West have been drawn to remembering the Goddess as a potent symbol of wholeness. Many have turned to Her myths, rituals and traditions of pre-patriarchal times in order to quench their personal longing for \"something else.\" I believe that Chamunda helps to bring a special dimension to understanding the fullest sense of what that wholeness means.\r\n\r\n<b>Eastern Goddesses, Patriarchal Cultures, and a Vision from the West</b>\r\n\r\nWhile the West has tended to infuse its traditions with a dualistic split, the Eastern traditions of India have tended to concern themselves with a monological \"One\" in the realm of spirit while an overlay of patriarchal duality has settled into the societal sphere. This has wrought a complexity of contradictions in Indian society. For example, the Ganges River, sacred sphere of the Goddess Ganga who manifests through and as its waters, is the most polluted and yet simultaneously the holiest river on Earth for devout Hindus. Similarly, while the Divine Feminine is recognized and worshipped through myriad images of Goddesses (Ganga, Kali and Chamunda among them), women still occupy a marginal position in traditional Indian society.\r\n\r\nAs David Kinsley has noted: \"In the Hindu tradition a woman is taught to understand herself primarily in relation to others…It is society that puts demands on her primarily through the agents of relatives and in-laws, and not she who places demands on society that she be allowed to develop a unique, independent destiny. A central demand placed on women, particularly vis-à-vis males, is that they subordinate their welfare to the welfare of others.\" [<a href=\"/mandala/chamunda-devi-eastern-teacher-to-the-west/4/#ref\">7</a>]\r\n\r\nWhile attempts have been made to reconcile patriarchal duality at the level of society with a philosophical and religious spiritual unity, the fact of the matter is that such discontinuity invalidates and undermines both. Little progress has been made in this regard within the Indian context. But it is from within this struggle that ways of thinking that seek to heal the split of culture from embodied/immanent spirituality have more recently emerged. Many writers, but most prominently the Indian physicist and ecofeminist, Vandana Shiva, have made a case for recognizing the Divine Feminine/Goddess in order to ameliorate tension and diffuse the boundaries of derision caused by the patriarchal paradigm.\r\n\r\n<!--nextpage-->\r\n\r\nIn her book, <i>Staying Alive: Women, Ecology and Development</i>, Shiva explores one way of looking at the Divine Feminine through lenses that appreciate both transcendent as well as immanent manifestations. She proposes fully embracing the notion of <i>Pakriti</i> as a \"spiritual\" discipline rather than simply as \"nature,\" so that a more balanced worldview can be achieved. This new worldview takes into account the marginalized position of women while de facto promoting environmental sustainability and the wellbeing of diverse, autonomous communities focused on the sacredness of relationships rather than on their destruction.\r\n\r\nAccording to Shiva, Pakriti means not just the traditional counterpart to Purusa (the Divine Masculine, or the Masculine Principle of manifest culture and society), but instead the<i>entirety</i> of nature with its ability to create, sustain and destroy in order to continue the cycle of life in all its aspects. Thus, Shiva’s position asserts \"both a <i>holistic</i> perspective and an<i>inclusive</i> agenda of concerns based on its considerable respect for diversity—both in turn being principles of nature.\" [<a href=\"http://sharanya.org/articles/chamunda/chamunda4.php4#ref\">8</a>]\r\n\r\nOn another level, such thinking shows that the construct of <i>maya</i> (illusion) as found in many Indian philosophical systems is not required to solve the corundum of how manifest reality (difference) can be reconciled with the unitive One. Instead, maya can be understood as the human resistance to holding the tension of paradox in life. In this way, perhaps the women of manifest nature can reclaim their right as beings who are living testament to the power of the Goddess and be honored as such. And the \"One\" can take on new meaning as a \"dynamic system of relations wherein any particular manifestation functions simultaneously as a distinct part and the unbroken whole. The parts are not derivative of the whole, or vice versa, [nor are the parts dissolved into one another to become the whole, or vice versa.] Each aspect constitutes the other.\" [<a href=\"http://sharanya.org/articles/chamunda/chamunda4.php4#ref\">9</a>]\r\n\r\nIt is with this idea in mind that the Goddesses of East and West need to be (re)evaluated. Unfortunately, however, as we saw earlier in this article, the Western Goddess(es) of mainstream contemporary manifestation and interpretation provide little by way of role model to help us accomplish the task of aware integration of spheres on both the intra- and inter- (as well as micro- and macrocosmic) levels that permeate the realms of mind, body and spirit. Therefore, if we are to move beyond our present embeddedness in the philosophical systems of our respective contexts, any divine teacher thus considered must be a manifestation of reality that lies beyond duality while embracing of it, and must be a penetrator/trix of all worlds, symbolic and otherwise.\r\n\r\nChamunda and her sister Kali, in my opinion, represent an understanding of the limitations of a dualistic worldview while simultaneously embracing duality as facilitator for self-awareness—-the manifest universe and the physical form being vehicles for the exploration of consciousness into itself. Further, they allow communication and representation among each and every sphere of life as well as among worlds, much like the Hermes Trismegistus of Greek mythology and later hermetic philosophy who not only facilitated communication between Gods; between Gods and men; but also between the worlds of Heaven and Hell. In this way, the Divine Feminine as manifest from within the Eastern psyche serves the required purpose; for as C. MacKenzie Brown notes: \"In the Devi-Bhagavata…the goddess is both male and female, and transcends the two, but without devaluing either the transcendent or <i>samsaric</i>[earthly or immanent]<i> </i>dimensions.\" [<a href=\"http://sharanya.org/articles/chamunda/chamunda4.php4#ref\">10</a>]\r\n\r\nFurther, it may be noted that from a perspective focused on the dynamics of inter-relationship rather than the intra-relationships of East and West, the Western relationship to \"God\" and the Eastern understanding of non-duality as a quality of \"God\" is typified by the following story:\r\n<blockquote>A Western reporter and an Indian devotee of the Goddess come across a statue of Kali. She has her four arms: the upper right raised in blessing, the lower right offering a boon (wish), the upper left holding a machete dripping with blood and the lower left gripping a severed human head by the hair. Seeing this split, the Westerner immediately asks: \"So how do you get the blessing and avoid the machete?\" The Eastern devotee angrily replies, \"That\'s not it at all...The blessing is only won when you accept both sides of her, including pain, sorrow, decay, death, and destruction. Run from her horrors, and you run from her blessings. To deny death, to act as if your little self is the center of things and must be protected from pain and preserved as long as possible—this is the real death. But embrace Kali as she is—kiss her bloody tongue and feel all four arms caress you at once—then you have life, you have freedom.\" [<a href=\"http://sharanya.org/articles/chamunda/chamunda4.php4#ref\">11</a>]</blockquote>\r\nIn this story, the boon for the Western mind would be to get beyond dualistic thinking; and the boon for the Eastern mind would be to allow this non-dualistic perspective to integrate into all spheres of life, not simply the spiritual one.\r\n\r\nBut working with images such as Chamunda and Kali, I believe, is one way to begin transforming traditional perspectives. Although a re-visioning of these goddesses in the East to include a mandate for social reform might be a worthwhile endeavor, I can only mention here the potential impact that working with them might have upon Western consciousness were, for example, a fully developed program inclusive of yoga, ritual, meditation and contemplation, etc. to be implemented by those wishing to break free of the limiting constructs of our time.\r\n\r\n<b>Revisiting the Goddess</b>\r\n\r\nTherefore, I hold that those wishing to reach beyond the schisms of Western thought (and beyond the hypocrisy of Eastern practice if one is from that context and so inclined) need to welcome a teacher capable of fully embodying both sides of duality; for one must be willing to embrace death if seeking to fully enjoy life (as the story above pointed out). The extremely intense presence of Chamunda when brought into contemplation by a seeking mind can indeed be a call to wake up to the vibrancy of life; to the reason behind the ephemeral nature of things; and indeed to the fullest sense oneself and one’s purpose in the world.\r\n\r\nFor as told in the Upanishads when Sanatkumara says to the young Narada: \"One who meditates upon and realizes the Self discovers that everything in the cosmos—energy and space, fire and water, name and form, birth and death, mind and will, word and deed, mantram and meditation—all come from the Self.\" [<a href=\"http://sharanya.org/articles/chamunda/chamunda4.php4#ref\">12</a>] The Self is therefore the embracing One and that which enables human beings to comprehend the infinite diversity of the world. The manifestations of the macrocosmic world can be easily understood in terms of the microcosmic Self and vice versa; or again in the words of Hermes Trismegistus, \"as above, so below.\"\r\n\r\nIn meditating upon the image of Chamunda and asking questions as I did about the reasons behind her powerful presence, one may be forced to ask too exactly what this Goddess desires us to see and to ultimately understand about our presence in the world: What is my role here? Why is there suffering? What is the purpose of life? Why has Patriarchy been a part of our human experience? As it says in the Chandogya Upanishad, \"You are that.\" [<a href=\"http://sharanya.org/articles/chamunda/chamunda4.php4#ref\">13</a>] And so for the individual contemplating the nature of non-dual reality while trying to reconcile manifest existence and personal experience, Chamunda can function as a portal to understanding.\r\n\r\nIt also seems appropriate that as we today search to give a meaning to our lives in these times of planetary crisis, turning to different ways of knowing and of experiencing reality may assist us in our struggles to ‘make sense of it all.’ This introduction of Chamunda as a teacher to the West is again not an attempt to co-opt or misrepresent a Hindu deity; it is simply a suggestion to be aware of more than those things with which we are readily familiar in our quest.\r\n\r\nDone with honor, respect, and with no claim at contextual understanding, opening to the patterns of collective thought that made the Goddess Chamunda a part of human reality may be a way to break the hard lines of Western dichotomy. It may help us reconnect to the ancient roots of many of the symbols, myths and traditions that have sprung from our collective human history, and it may help us connect to something deeper from within our own Western psyche. It may help us to eventually reclaim the power inherent in both Mother and Witch for the betterment of humanity.\r\n\r\nThus Chamunda-Devi may be a kind of key - not to unlocking the past, but to helping us ‘re-find’ the awareness most important for us today. Perhaps she can help us to dive into the primordial well of remembrance that exists within each of us in order to help surface feelings and intuitions that are particularly important for the creation of human as well as Gaian wholeness.\r\n\r\nAs the last line of the <i>Creed of the Star Goddess</i> tells us, \"I [the Goddess], have been with you from the beginning, and I am that which is attained at the end of desire.\"  [<a href=\"http://sharanya.org/articles/chamunda/chamunda4.php4#ref\">14</a>] We need only wish to remember in our hearts, with all of our heart, and She will reveal Her reality no matter where we live, what language we speak or what traditions we follow. As we move forward along our collective path in this evolutionary spiral we call life, may we seek always to know the truth of our past, so that we may all move together towards tomorrow. In this project, Chamunda is certainly qualified to be our guide.\r\n\r\nThe rest of my stay in India continued to be filled with Chamunda’s presence, and I began to affirm as I learned more about her that she was unknowable in any purely historical or religious sense but for my own cellular memories perhaps and more recent experiences of her. By Chamunda’s grace, however, I find that as I deepen into her mysteries and continue to invoke her in my life, I am drawn back in time so that I may discover not only her truth, but also the truth of how the track of recorded history both reveals and obscures truth. As much contemporary feminist scholarship reveals, much of recorded history obscures. By Chamunda’s grace, however, the path towards greater self-awareness was presented to me, and I continue to ask the above-mentioned questions, slowly gaining insight into her potential role as a teacher of the West.\r\n\r\nThe path towards greater self-awareness therefore has very large implications, and I continue to ask the above-mentioned questions to gain insight into Chamunda in all manifestations so that she may ultimately teach her secrets to all those willing to learn. I for one, am realizing that the mysteries of the Goddess reveal themselves to me though my personal experience, and as I open to trusting that my spirituality in this vein contains the greatest wisdom of all, the circle is closed and I am before Her once again.\r\n\r\n&nbsp;\r\n\r\n&nbsp;\r\n\r\n<a name=\"ref\"></a>\r\n\r\n<hr />\r\n\r\n&nbsp;\r\n\r\n1. Kinsley, David. <i>Hindu Goddesses: Visions of the Divine Feminine in the Hindu Religious Tradition</i> (University of California Press: Berkeley) 1986 p. 149\r\n2. Dehejia, Vidya. <i>Yogini Cult and Temples: A Tantric Tradition</i> (The National Museum: New Delhi) 1986, p. 187\r\n3. The Matrikas first appear in the <i>Mahabharata</i> and have collectively been dated to about the first century A.D. Their manifestations in the literature of the epic - and post-epic periods seem to be characterized as malevolent, blood-drinking and demonic; but worship is also directed to them for protection. The Matrikas are notably a group of goddesses, the number of which becomes somewhat standardized at seven or eight in the postepic period. They are given in the <i>Visnudharmottara-purana</i> as: Yogisvari, Mahesvari, Vaisnavi, Kaumari, Brahmani, Chamunda and Varahi.\r\n4. I have visited this temple and seen these images. David Kinsley also makes mention of this fact in his work,<i>Tantric Visions of the Divine Feminine: The Ten Mahavidyas</i> (University of California Press: Berkeley) 1997, p. 16\r\n5. Kinsley, David. Ibid., p. 75\r\n6. Sheldrake, Rupert. <i>The Rebirth of Nature: The Greening of Science and God</i> (Park Street Press: Vermont) 1991 pp. 196 - 199\r\n7. Kinsley, David. <i>Hindu Goddesses</i>, ibid<i>. </i>p. 77\r\n8. Kothari, Rajni. Foreword in <i>Staying Alive: Women, Ecology and Development</i> by Vandana Shiva, (New Jersey: Zed Books) 1989, p. X. (Original italics.)\r\n9. Spretnak, Charlene. \"Radical Non-duality in Ecofeminist Philosophy\" essay <i>in Metis: A Feminist Journal of Transformative Wisdom</i>, Spring, 1996; Vol 1, No. 1., p. 11\r\n10. Brown, C. MacKenzie. <i>The Triumph of the Goddess: The Canonical Models and Theological Visions of the Devi-Bhagavata Purana</i> (SUNY Press: New York) 1990, p. 216\r\n11. Reported by Tim Ward in <i>Common Boundary</i>, March/April, 1997, p. 34\r\n12.<i> Chandogya Upanishad, </i>translated by Eknath Easwaran (Nilgiri Press: Berkeley) 1987, p. 190\r\n13. <i>Chandogya Upanishad</i>, ibid<i>.</i>, p. 183\r\n14. Adapted from the traditional (oral) poem by Doreen Valiente, British witch. Traditional.','Chamunda-Devi','','inherit','open','open','','99967-revision-v1','','','2013-09-11 22:33:51','2013-09-12 05:33:51','',99967,'<h4>Eastern Teacher to The West</h4>\r\n<em>by Chandra Alexandre</em>\r\n\r\n<hr />\r\n\r\nThis article tells the story of my own exploration into the mysteries of the Goddess as manifested within the Hindu pantheon as Chamunda, the fierce, emaciated and terrifying',0,'revision','',0),(99996,2,'2013-09-11 22:34:21','2013-09-12 05:34:21','<h4>Eastern Teacher to The West</h4>\r\n<em>by Chandra Alexandre</em>\r\n\r\n<hr />\r\n\r\nThis article tells the story of my own exploration into the mysteries of the Goddess as manifested within the Hindu pantheon as Chamunda, the fierce, emaciated and terrifying Dark Mother. She is a goddess who is particularly revered among Shaktas (believers in the primacy of the Divine Feminine), and she has historically found favor within all strata of Indian society, from the village shudras (lowest caste) to the rulers of India. Temples to her exist throughout the country: from the forts of Rajasthan to the highlands of Himachal Pradesh, to the adavasi (tribal) lands of Orissa.\r\n\r\n<img class=\"alignright  wp-image-99968 imgborder=0\" alt=\"chamundafire\" src=\"http://sharanya.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/chamundafire.gif\" width=\"327\" height=\"364\" />\r\n\r\nIn Orissa, where I was blessed to spend five months exploring, she appears primarily in two forms: i) as one of the Matrikas (Mothers), and ii) as one of the sixty-four yoginis (witches) who are themselves daughters of the Asta Matrikas (Eight Mothers). From my exploration into Chamunda I have gained an understanding of the ways in which the Goddess teaches through one of her manifest forms, and this article is an attempt to share some of what I have discovered with you.\r\n\r\nBut here, I can only hope to present my learnings as shrouded with the veil of perception I carry as a western woman. However, I share my interpretation of the mysteries as revealed to me by Her so that Her name may be invoked and Her presence asked to help banish the ignorance and prejudice of our time. I do not pretend to fully understand Chamunda (within her original context or otherwise) or for that matter, the great mystery of the Goddess; but rather I claim to appreciate Her because of my resonance with the form and symbols offered to us from India.\r\n\r\n<strong>The Image of Chamunda</strong>\r\n\r\nFrom an 8th century stone statue originally found in Dharmasala (Cuttack, Orissa) and now located at the Orissa State Museum in Bhubaneswar, I learned to see for the first time through this image what the power of the Divine Feminine can be through a figure that could (and does) readily inspire fear in both Western and Eastern onlookers. Chamunda appears to penetrate the manifest world through this sculpture of grey-black chlorite stone. She is chiseled with her most readily recognizable features: sunken eyes, sagging breasts and skeletal body; but the obvious attention and carefully-detailed precision with which she was created belie a profound respect and/or love on the part of the sculptor that is perhaps not readily understandable from our current vantage point.\r\n\r\nComing across her image amidst myriad sculptures on the floor of the museum is like dropping into a cold pool after a 20-minute steam bath. Upon first seeing her, I was instantly astounded and shocked by her presence until the realization set in that encountering Her was making my insides tingle in ways suggestive of Her great power. She is an awesome figure, with third-eye and navel raised out of the stone, veins defined over the course of her entire body, no teeth, heavily hanging earlobes and snake-entwined arms - one of which holds in its long hand a severed human head, which she grasps with finger nails that come to a point. In her other partially-intact arm she holds a skull cup or kapala at the level of her heart. She is garlanded with skulls, wears ouroboric anklets, and is seated on a corpse with her right foot on the ground and her left leg bent at the knee, foot turned, its sole to the sky. Her hair is aflame and pulled upwards, wrapped and held in place by a snake-band tiara, the center of which bears a skull.\r\n\r\nAlthough my initial contact with the fierce form of the Goddess had come to me through a dream image as Kali, both she and Chamunda are alike in many respects, related by their transformative abilities and their stature as Crones. While Kali manifests the power of time and of death, Chamunda too holds infinity and eternity. Both can be intensely frightening images of divine, feminine power especially to those unaccustomed to dealing with the Dark Goddess. Both are often similarly depicted: in the cremation ground, often seated upon a corpse or engaging in Tantrick rituals involving sex, blood and death. In this, they explicitly manifest antinomian characteristics within mainstream Hindu tradition, and they become by this provkers of (r)evolution from the inside, and transformers of worlds from the outside as they reach westerners.\r\n\r\nChamunda\'s intensity through the vehicle of the statue in Bhubaneswar shook me deep inside and stunned me. And I was nevertheless drawn to her and mystified by what she had to offer. Somehow, I could not help but feel her incredible power through the skeletal form, while at the same time, I became immediately and especially aware of how at odds with this impression and indeed terrifying she would appear to most westerners. Rationally, I wondered how in the world this figure could be known as one of the matrikas when she seemed so very far from western, as well as the traditional Hindu conception of mother, either literal or archetypal. Mother in any sense is most generally normalized to mean nurturing and life-giving. Chamunda appears to be everything but this, and I had to work to see the interconnections. On another, non-rational level, however, I could immediately feel that there was a mystery of fecundity held within those bones. I was, of course, feeling in my own bones something very old and true about her.\r\n\r\n<!--nextpage-->\r\n\r\nWhile within both Eastern and Western contexts mothers are seen as caretakers and life givers, understanding the Devi as matrika (mother) is another story. Within the world of Indian Goddess theology at least from Vedic times (circa 1,500 BCE), it seems that the devi as a mother who nourishes the world is understood as someone who must herself be replenished in order to continue to sustain life. \"If she were only to give birth and to nourish her creatures she would soon grow weak, and creation would cease.\" [1]\r\n\r\nBecause her life-generating and sustaining aspect is so powerful, she carries an insatiable hunger that is equally great. This hunger is often represented in images by showing an emaciated figure. Thus understood, the fierce devi is integral to understanding the birth/death aspect of the cycle of life in India, which makes possible the whole of manifest existence. She is obviously the living Crone, a Dark Goddess who functions as a gateway between the realms of this world and the next. Recognition of this leads to liberation; and images containing within them the fullness of samsara, as Chamunda does, serve as gateways to simultaneous embracement of life and death, duality and oneness, a holistic future and personal enrichment through the suffering of life. They hold the key to embracing the walk of the heart, where sadness and joy, pain and elation ever co-mingle.\r\n\r\nUnderstanding the goddess as both life-giver and destroyer manifests in symbolic form as a circle, or chakra within the Indian context. This chakra is reflective of the cycles of life apparent, for example, in the waxing and waning of the moon and those other cycles tied to this one, such as menstruation and the ebb and flow of the tides. A circle is the form taken by the temples dedicated to the yoginis, or sixty-four derivations of the Asta Matrikas mentioned previously who include Chamunda among them. It is therefore perhaps no coincidence that the goddess as yogini would be configured for worship by the tantricks in circular temples, since their tradition is infused with reverence for the Goddess as containing the mystery of She who is both of the source of all life and the fount of death; the One who contains All. In addition, the yoginis are also linked to yaksis (nature spirits), and they, as well as those who worshipped them, were called witches and magicians. As yogini, Chamunda and her sixty-three sisters were said to have the power to fly, to become invisible, turn humans into animals, and other such things. In many ways, these traits and the correspondence of female deities with witchcraft again brings together East and West through demonization of the Feminine.\r\n\r\nBut much like the Indo-European demonization of the pre-Christian Death/Regeneratirx aspect of the Goddess into Witch, Chamunda too was demonized and subordinated by patriarchal traditions in India. She was linked to Yama, Lord of Death, becoming less than he in Vedic hymns. An interesting suggestion, however, of her ties to pre-patriarchal roots may be found by looking at her vahana (mount), the owl. Even today in the west, this bird may still be found carrying the messages of the Dark Goddess, of the Feminine Divine who holds the mysteries of life, death and rebirth. A friend found a link between east and west on pilgrimage to the Black Madonna Notre Dame de Bon Espoir (Our Lady of Good Hope) in Dijon France. She writes of her experience,\r\n<blockquote>The oldest of the Black Madonnas...Notre Dame de Bon Espoir was yet another Black Madonna who made a tremendous impact on me. Interestingly, there is an owl carved into the side of the church where She is housed.</blockquote>\r\nTherefore, understanding the origins of the witch in prehistory and her later modifications to more fierce/violent characterizations at the hands of patriarchal peoples will perhaps help to heal some of the ills caused by misrepresentations of the Feminine while eradicating some causes of Devi’s (and by extension women’s) subordination. It might be said that if we come to understand the full nature of Her, we would see that all Her forms are those of beauty within the divine creation.\r\n\r\nWhile the term witch is in the eastern context used with negative connotation, it is important to understand that the yoginis of the temples were not demons to the tantricks. Given the tantrick insistence on reverence for the immanence of the divine and the sacredness of nature, of maniest reality, yoginis are understood as affirmations of the multifarious aspects of the Goddess. While some of these aspects can be very violent or fierce, with the goddess often depicted with sword in hand, blood and human flesh dripping from her mouth, severed heads around her waist, and other gruesome adornment, understanding her and her relationship to patriarchy over time is interesting. Such depictions, on the one hand, are likely overlays onto an ancient Crone/Death-Regeneratrix deity whose original association with death was severed from her link to life because of a dualistic patriarchal worldview that failed to recognize, for example, the interconnectedness of life and death and instead demonized women and nature as expressions of that relationship.\r\n\r\nIn contrast to gruesome depictions of the goddess Chamunda and those associated with Her, patriarchal Hinduism has begun, within the last century, to sweeten the fierce goddesses. Perhaps this is a tell-tale sign that the power of the feminine is being responded to a new and different way. That is, first, She was representative of the power of Oneness and, simply put, patriarchal consciousness (as manifested in the social, political and other realities millennia ago that have created today’s normative Hindu consciousness) sought to (and managed to) break that monopoly by rendering Her as fierce so as to facilitate specific ends, which were to carve out dualistic territory (for some reason). After supression in very specific ways for those millennia, however, She has sought to bring balance to a dichotomous worldview. In response to Her presence now, instead of the fierceness previously required to serve the purposes of a patriarchal worldview, the institutions today that which to retain power have rendered her sweet and submissive, now, to serve their ends of maintaining the status quo. Were patriarchal powers to allow Her fierceness, their reign might quickly come to an end, and this, of course, is exactly the point of honoring and remembering Her as all that She is while concurrently utilizing the power that Her fierce characteristics contain.\r\n\r\nFurther, while the word witch today still reverberates strongly with anti-God-loving sentiment for some people, to call oneself a witch as I do is an act of resistance to patriarchal obfuscation of the truth, and reclamation of women’s power within any tradition (as well as outside them). In the west, it is an appellation that is taking on an entirely new meaning, particularly with the resurgence of the goddess in the discipline known as Women’s Spirituality, through Wicca (a reclamation of indigenous European earth-based traditions) and through other forms of earth-based religion, that hold within them both the pre-historical notion of goddess as life-giver/destroyer and the more patriarchal characterization of the goddess as violent warrior, from which many, nevertheless are able to find powerful tools for creating life-affirming change.\r\n\r\nAgain before what I now call my statue of Chamunda, this time recording notes and impressions while interposing photographic moments until the museum’s 4 o’clock closing time, I eventually come to be alone with her. I am alone in that statue-filled room mesmerized, or very likely in trance, feeling as though some incredibly magical force surrounds the two of us. From my spot on the floor, I watch her watching me and ask her to teach me Her secrets. That evening, I wrote in my journal:\r\n<blockquote>From where did the ancient Saktas get her image? What are her myths and associations? How and when does she manifest? Why? What are the psychological implications of her presence as a Goddess and what do they tell us about the people who created her? Why does she exist in this fierce form that was obviously so loved (feared?) by those who worshipped her? Can she help us in the west better understand the nature of the Divine Feminine; and if so, can we find ways through her to promote self-understanding? She is starved; does she link us psychically to the root cause of/cure for anorexia? Can she help western women in the throes of addictions, especially eating disorders, with their own reclamation process? How does understanding Chamunda help me to better understand myself?</blockquote>\r\nMy questions only began to touch the surface of her depth. As a western woman living today I can never know her true or intended purpose, although I can make an educated guess informed by my academic pursuits as well as my bodily knowings and intuitions.\r\n\r\n<!--nextpage-->\r\n\r\nEven so, Chamunda through my eyes is not Chamunda in any fully Indian sense, even though I have explored her on her own ground (literally, as well as through her myths, philosophies, symbols, and worship). Rather, for me, Chamunda is an exploration into the depths of personal, and perhaps more generally the question of women’s, spirituality. Particularly within the western context of women’s spiritual development, the importance of Chamunda as a teacher can be grasped when it is understood that she holds within herself the tension of embracing both Mother and Witch archetypes; two aspects of the Feminine that have long been used to subordinate rather than empower women. Chamunda illustrates that these aspects ever inter-related, constantly situated within a flux of interchangeability that she herself manifests.\r\n\r\n<b>Chamunda and Kali: Blood Sisters</b>\r\n\r\nMy initial contact with the <i>raudra</i> or fierce form of the Goddess, as mentioned above, had come to me years earlier through a dream image as Kali, a Hindu goddess representative of the power of time and of death. In many respects, Chamunda and Kali are alike. Indeed, both are initiators into the fullest spectrum of life, and both serve to awaken us to the value of impermanence and cyclical time. Some Shakta practitioners understand both goddesses to be manifest aspects of the same ontological truth; nevertheless, both can be intensely frightening images of feminine power to those unaccustomed to dealing with the Dark Mother.\r\n\r\nIconographically, Chamunda and Kali are often similarly depicted: in the cremation ground, seated upon a corpse and engaging in practices involving sex, blood and death. At the Chamunda-Devi temple [<a href=\"/mandala/chamunda-devi-eastern-teacher-to-the-west/4/#ref\">4</a>] outside of Dharmasala (Himachal Pradesh), Chamunda is plainly understood to be a form of Kali and the ten <i>mahavidyas</i> are depicted at her shrine. The Devi as Chamunda-Kali is also mentioned in the <i>Tantrasara</i>, <i>Shaktapramoda</i> and <i>Pranatosini</i>. [<a href=\"/mandala/chamunda-devi-eastern-teacher-to-the-west/4/#ref\">5</a>]\r\n\r\nChamunda-Kali provides a gateway to: i) understanding of the Goddess in the Western psyche for juxtaposition with the Eastern manifestations of Her; ii) how Western vs. Eastern conceptions of reality play a role in determining the images of the Divine Feminine that abound in each context; and iii) the potential power of reclaiming the Dark Mother in the West with the help of images from the East.\r\n\r\n<b>Western Appreciation for the Goddess</b>\r\n\r\nFrom this brief discussion in conjunction with other goddess tales, perhaps a vision of the goddess who relates to the emotional, physical, and psychic bodies of women and men, regardless of their country of origin, by virtue of the human condition, is becoming apparent. Woven here is the notion that where women in particular are being drawn to Devi’s symbolism for its promotion of, at the very least, what may appear to be a feminist ethic, those who are attracted to her in their spiritual longing (in any of her forms) necessarily cross lines of demarcation whether social, political, or geographical—and so too does Devi. Goddess worship and feminism too needs to be able to create a container for dialogue, with both arenas developing cross-cultural methodologies that can facilitate the creation of safe space in which to then make discussions happen that relate the spiritual realities with the economic, social, and political ones. From within that space, the hope would be to generate a metaphorical fire from which truth based on a process of coming to agreement can be born. Only then can we empower women and men to be all of who and what they are, no matter what the context in which they find themselves.\r\n\r\nGiving a historicity to Indian images of the divine may help those non-Hindus interested in appreciating her from within western contexts to make informed statements and educated assertions (based upon contextual understanding) about their own uses of/for her while providing a ground for possible adaptations of Devi within a new environment. For just as the goddess centuries ago crossed from India to neighboring lands, our technological advancements today have moved us all towards a global community, which has indeed also helped to shape the transportation of Devi across oceans and continents.\r\n\r\nFor western women, images of the goddess as whole, as containing paradox, and particularly as embracing sexuality and other aspects generally suppressed under patriarchy, are healing. In the western context where transcendent male gods (or more specifically, one male god of generally Jewish or Christian disposition) dominate and no female/feminine is accorded divine status (despite the high status imparted to Mary, as discussed in the last chapter), the need for a Divine Feminine who recognized, honored and is both immanent as well as transcendent is glaring. Perhaps this is one reason why the Indian conception of goddess captures the fervor of western feminists and those seeking alternate visions of the divine that are more inclusive. Devi seems approachable in the sense that she, as her myths and iconography at the very least portend, undergoes and is much of what women recognize to be their individual truths. In her, every woman finds a piece of herself; and every man, perhaps, can learn a little more about the heart of his essential nature.\r\n\r\nThe mainstream Western images of the Divine Feminine in a contemporary context where the Abrahamic faiths prevail have largely been limited to the Virgin Mary, and perhaps if one is generous, to Sophia, the Black Madonna and Lilith. These last three however, represent an undercurrent of the Christian and Judaic faiths, and they are not recognized by many practitioners; at least not with full awareness of their power and connection to pre-patriarchal religion.\r\n\r\nIn any case, it is apparent that the Divine Feminine within our context as represented in Her most ubiquitous aspect as the Virgin Mary has little but a \"soft\" or benevolent and nurturing side. She is holy and untouchable, even by her husband; she is vehicle for the avatar Christ, but not God herself; she is incapable of engaging the more uncomfortable aspects of life; she listens and conveys the message of her followers, but does not have the power to act directly for those who worship her.\r\n\r\nThis image of Mary is put in juxtaposition within Christianity to the one God, who is All. Her place is marginal in relationship to His magnificence, and reflects the Western/patriarchal schism typified by Descartes’ mind/body duality (God as transcendent mind, Mary as earth-bound body) or more simply, the valuing of men over women and heaven over earth. Further, it underscores that the religious traditions of patriarchal cultures have unfortunately tended to pathologize the relationship of dualistic principles. In life, dualities abound, but their representation in the West has long since posed them as warring opposites where the position of the Divine Feminine (and women) is relegated to minority status.\r\n\r\nThe patriarchal worldview, particularly as expressed in the powerful \"First World\" nations of the West, has manifested skewed valuations of dualities in other spheres of life as well. It has done so to the point of ignoring (or largely ignoring) the inherent worth and wisdom of the Feminine principle and has created an urgent need for crisis prevention in the environmental, developmental, psychological and social arenas. Further, if we accept that the project of patriarchy has been based on the scientific and philosophical deconstruction of life (through exploitation of resources and peoples by Western science and paradigms supported by such traditions) and on the establishment of dualistic categories formed from reductionistic tendencies (in order to propagate the favoritism of man and culture over women and nature, e.g.), then we understand how dichotomization destroys relatedness, promotes homogenization, and makes subjugation the norm for half the population the world over.\r\n\r\nUnfortunately in both the East and West, the archetypal Feminine principle, which in India is called <i>pakriti</i>, has often been associated only with women and with nature, to the detriment of both men, women and the planet. For to deny that the Feminine has value is to deny more than gender or population; it is to deny half of the entire spectrum of life. It relegates all that is receptive, open, life-generating and nurturing to the margins of society, and it is there that we can look to find the festering sores of all the various crises of our time.\r\n\r\nFortunately, particularly within the past ten years, writers, thinkers, theologians and others across the globe in fields as diverse as the sciences, religion and women’s studies have explored the dance of life beyond the confines of duality. There, many have found that the \"opposing\" forces of life are in a play of complementarities, where tension makes growth, change, and transformation possible. In understanding that life is more of an ever-shifting dynamic balance of energetics where opposing forces create an existence filled with variety, spontaneity, laughter and music in which the soul may rejoice, a new vein of consciousness has been born in our time.\r\n\r\nThe impact of the Goddess archetype upon women and men as She re-emerges into consciousness has profound ramifications upon all aspects of life. In the East, many have been called to re-examine their relationships to the manifest Divine Feminine in actual women. On the individual as well as the collective level, She reminds us that women too are powerful, worthy of respect in this world; She teaches that respect for our bodies helps us to respect the Earthbody; She tells us that all things ugly and beautiful are Her creation. She is a \"creative trinity;\" [<a href=\"/mandala/chamunda-devi-eastern-teacher-to-the-west/4/#ref\">6</a>] serving as a gateway to simultaneous embracement of <i>both</i> duality and oneness, a symbol of integrated duality and the unconditional love that binds them. With this, many in the West have been drawn to remembering the Goddess as a potent symbol of wholeness. Many have turned to Her myths, rituals and traditions of pre-patriarchal times in order to quench their personal longing for \"something else.\" I believe that Chamunda helps to bring a special dimension to understanding the fullest sense of what that wholeness means.\r\n\r\n<b>Eastern Goddesses, Patriarchal Cultures, and a Vision from the West</b>\r\n\r\nWhile the West has tended to infuse its traditions with a dualistic split, the Eastern traditions of India have tended to concern themselves with a monological \"One\" in the realm of spirit while an overlay of patriarchal duality has settled into the societal sphere. This has wrought a complexity of contradictions in Indian society. For example, the Ganges River, sacred sphere of the Goddess Ganga who manifests through and as its waters, is the most polluted and yet simultaneously the holiest river on Earth for devout Hindus. Similarly, while the Divine Feminine is recognized and worshipped through myriad images of Goddesses (Ganga, Kali and Chamunda among them), women still occupy a marginal position in traditional Indian society.\r\n\r\nAs David Kinsley has noted: \"In the Hindu tradition a woman is taught to understand herself primarily in relation to others…It is society that puts demands on her primarily through the agents of relatives and in-laws, and not she who places demands on society that she be allowed to develop a unique, independent destiny. A central demand placed on women, particularly vis-à-vis males, is that they subordinate their welfare to the welfare of others.\" [<a href=\"/mandala/chamunda-devi-eastern-teacher-to-the-west/4/#ref\">7</a>]\r\n\r\nWhile attempts have been made to reconcile patriarchal duality at the level of society with a philosophical and religious spiritual unity, the fact of the matter is that such discontinuity invalidates and undermines both. Little progress has been made in this regard within the Indian context. But it is from within this struggle that ways of thinking that seek to heal the split of culture from embodied/immanent spirituality have more recently emerged. Many writers, but most prominently the Indian physicist and ecofeminist, Vandana Shiva, have made a case for recognizing the Divine Feminine/Goddess in order to ameliorate tension and diffuse the boundaries of derision caused by the patriarchal paradigm.\r\n\r\n<!--nextpage-->\r\n\r\nIn her book, <i>Staying Alive: Women, Ecology and Development</i>, Shiva explores one way of looking at the Divine Feminine through lenses that appreciate both transcendent as well as immanent manifestations. She proposes fully embracing the notion of <i>Pakriti</i> as a \"spiritual\" discipline rather than simply as \"nature,\" so that a more balanced worldview can be achieved. This new worldview takes into account the marginalized position of women while de facto promoting environmental sustainability and the wellbeing of diverse, autonomous communities focused on the sacredness of relationships rather than on their destruction.\r\n\r\nAccording to Shiva, Pakriti means not just the traditional counterpart to Purusa (the Divine Masculine, or the Masculine Principle of manifest culture and society), but instead the<i>entirety</i> of nature with its ability to create, sustain and destroy in order to continue the cycle of life in all its aspects. Thus, Shiva’s position asserts \"both a <i>holistic</i> perspective and an<i>inclusive</i> agenda of concerns based on its considerable respect for diversity—both in turn being principles of nature.\" [<a href=\"http://sharanya.org/articles/chamunda/chamunda4.php4#ref\">8</a>]\r\n\r\nOn another level, such thinking shows that the construct of <i>maya</i> (illusion) as found in many Indian philosophical systems is not required to solve the corundum of how manifest reality (difference) can be reconciled with the unitive One. Instead, maya can be understood as the human resistance to holding the tension of paradox in life. In this way, perhaps the women of manifest nature can reclaim their right as beings who are living testament to the power of the Goddess and be honored as such. And the \"One\" can take on new meaning as a \"dynamic system of relations wherein any particular manifestation functions simultaneously as a distinct part and the unbroken whole. The parts are not derivative of the whole, or vice versa, [nor are the parts dissolved into one another to become the whole, or vice versa.] Each aspect constitutes the other.\" [<a href=\"http://sharanya.org/articles/chamunda/chamunda4.php4#ref\">9</a>]\r\n\r\nIt is with this idea in mind that the Goddesses of East and West need to be (re)evaluated. Unfortunately, however, as we saw earlier in this article, the Western Goddess(es) of mainstream contemporary manifestation and interpretation provide little by way of role model to help us accomplish the task of aware integration of spheres on both the intra- and inter- (as well as micro- and macrocosmic) levels that permeate the realms of mind, body and spirit. Therefore, if we are to move beyond our present embeddedness in the philosophical systems of our respective contexts, any divine teacher thus considered must be a manifestation of reality that lies beyond duality while embracing of it, and must be a penetrator/trix of all worlds, symbolic and otherwise.\r\n\r\nChamunda and her sister Kali, in my opinion, represent an understanding of the limitations of a dualistic worldview while simultaneously embracing duality as facilitator for self-awareness—-the manifest universe and the physical form being vehicles for the exploration of consciousness into itself. Further, they allow communication and representation among each and every sphere of life as well as among worlds, much like the Hermes Trismegistus of Greek mythology and later hermetic philosophy who not only facilitated communication between Gods; between Gods and men; but also between the worlds of Heaven and Hell. In this way, the Divine Feminine as manifest from within the Eastern psyche serves the required purpose; for as C. MacKenzie Brown notes: \"In the Devi-Bhagavata…the goddess is both male and female, and transcends the two, but without devaluing either the transcendent or <i>samsaric</i>[earthly or immanent]<i> </i>dimensions.\" [<a href=\"http://sharanya.org/articles/chamunda/chamunda4.php4#ref\">10</a>]\r\n\r\nFurther, it may be noted that from a perspective focused on the dynamics of inter-relationship rather than the intra-relationships of East and West, the Western relationship to \"God\" and the Eastern understanding of non-duality as a quality of \"God\" is typified by the following story:\r\n<blockquote>A Western reporter and an Indian devotee of the Goddess come across a statue of Kali. She has her four arms: the upper right raised in blessing, the lower right offering a boon (wish), the upper left holding a machete dripping with blood and the lower left gripping a severed human head by the hair. Seeing this split, the Westerner immediately asks: \"So how do you get the blessing and avoid the machete?\" The Eastern devotee angrily replies, \"That\'s not it at all...The blessing is only won when you accept both sides of her, including pain, sorrow, decay, death, and destruction. Run from her horrors, and you run from her blessings. To deny death, to act as if your little self is the center of things and must be protected from pain and preserved as long as possible—this is the real death. But embrace Kali as she is—kiss her bloody tongue and feel all four arms caress you at once—then you have life, you have freedom.\" [<a href=\"http://sharanya.org/articles/chamunda/chamunda4.php4#ref\">11</a>]</blockquote>\r\nIn this story, the boon for the Western mind would be to get beyond dualistic thinking; and the boon for the Eastern mind would be to allow this non-dualistic perspective to integrate into all spheres of life, not simply the spiritual one.\r\n\r\nBut working with images such as Chamunda and Kali, I believe, is one way to begin transforming traditional perspectives. Although a re-visioning of these goddesses in the East to include a mandate for social reform might be a worthwhile endeavor, I can only mention here the potential impact that working with them might have upon Western consciousness were, for example, a fully developed program inclusive of yoga, ritual, meditation and contemplation, etc. to be implemented by those wishing to break free of the limiting constructs of our time.\r\n\r\n<b>Revisiting the Goddess</b>\r\n\r\nTherefore, I hold that those wishing to reach beyond the schisms of Western thought (and beyond the hypocrisy of Eastern practice if one is from that context and so inclined) need to welcome a teacher capable of fully embodying both sides of duality; for one must be willing to embrace death if seeking to fully enjoy life (as the story above pointed out). The extremely intense presence of Chamunda when brought into contemplation by a seeking mind can indeed be a call to wake up to the vibrancy of life; to the reason behind the ephemeral nature of things; and indeed to the fullest sense oneself and one’s purpose in the world.\r\n\r\nFor as told in the Upanishads when Sanatkumara says to the young Narada: \"One who meditates upon and realizes the Self discovers that everything in the cosmos—energy and space, fire and water, name and form, birth and death, mind and will, word and deed, mantram and meditation—all come from the Self.\" [<a href=\"http://sharanya.org/articles/chamunda/chamunda4.php4#ref\">12</a>] The Self is therefore the embracing One and that which enables human beings to comprehend the infinite diversity of the world. The manifestations of the macrocosmic world can be easily understood in terms of the microcosmic Self and vice versa; or again in the words of Hermes Trismegistus, \"as above, so below.\"\r\n\r\nIn meditating upon the image of Chamunda and asking questions as I did about the reasons behind her powerful presence, one may be forced to ask too exactly what this Goddess desires us to see and to ultimately understand about our presence in the world: What is my role here? Why is there suffering? What is the purpose of life? Why has Patriarchy been a part of our human experience? As it says in the Chandogya Upanishad, \"You are that.\" [<a href=\"http://sharanya.org/articles/chamunda/chamunda4.php4#ref\">13</a>] And so for the individual contemplating the nature of non-dual reality while trying to reconcile manifest existence and personal experience, Chamunda can function as a portal to understanding.\r\n\r\nIt also seems appropriate that as we today search to give a meaning to our lives in these times of planetary crisis, turning to different ways of knowing and of experiencing reality may assist us in our struggles to ‘make sense of it all.’ This introduction of Chamunda as a teacher to the West is again not an attempt to co-opt or misrepresent a Hindu deity; it is simply a suggestion to be aware of more than those things with which we are readily familiar in our quest.\r\n\r\nDone with honor, respect, and with no claim at contextual understanding, opening to the patterns of collective thought that made the Goddess Chamunda a part of human reality may be a way to break the hard lines of Western dichotomy. It may help us reconnect to the ancient roots of many of the symbols, myths and traditions that have sprung from our collective human history, and it may help us connect to something deeper from within our own Western psyche. It may help us to eventually reclaim the power inherent in both Mother and Witch for the betterment of humanity.\r\n\r\nThus Chamunda-Devi may be a kind of key - not to unlocking the past, but to helping us ‘re-find’ the awareness most important for us today. Perhaps she can help us to dive into the primordial well of remembrance that exists within each of us in order to help surface feelings and intuitions that are particularly important for the creation of human as well as Gaian wholeness.\r\n\r\nAs the last line of the <i>Creed of the Star Goddess</i> tells us, \"I [the Goddess], have been with you from the beginning, and I am that which is attained at the end of desire.\"  [<a href=\"http://sharanya.org/articles/chamunda/chamunda4.php4#ref\">14</a>] We need only wish to remember in our hearts, with all of our heart, and She will reveal Her reality no matter where we live, what language we speak or what traditions we follow. As we move forward along our collective path in this evolutionary spiral we call life, may we seek always to know the truth of our past, so that we may all move together towards tomorrow. In this project, Chamunda is certainly qualified to be our guide.\r\n\r\nThe rest of my stay in India continued to be filled with Chamunda’s presence, and I began to affirm as I learned more about her that she was unknowable in any purely historical or religious sense but for my own cellular memories perhaps and more recent experiences of her. By Chamunda’s grace, however, I find that as I deepen into her mysteries and continue to invoke her in my life, I am drawn back in time so that I may discover not only her truth, but also the truth of how the track of recorded history both reveals and obscures truth. As much contemporary feminist scholarship reveals, much of recorded history obscures. By Chamunda’s grace, however, the path towards greater self-awareness was presented to me, and I continue to ask the above-mentioned questions, slowly gaining insight into her potential role as a teacher of the West.\r\n\r\nThe path towards greater self-awareness therefore has very large implications, and I continue to ask the above-mentioned questions to gain insight into Chamunda in all manifestations so that she may ultimately teach her secrets to all those willing to learn. I for one, am realizing that the mysteries of the Goddess reveal themselves to me though my personal experience, and as I open to trusting that my spirituality in this vein contains the greatest wisdom of all, the circle is closed and I am before Her once again.\r\n\r\n&nbsp;\r\n\r\n&nbsp;\r\n\r\n<a name=\"ref\"></a>\r\n\r\n<hr />\r\n\r\n&nbsp;\r\n\r\n1. Kinsley, David. <i>Hindu Goddesses: Visions of the Divine Feminine in the Hindu Religious Tradition</i> (University of California Press: Berkeley) 1986 p. 149\r\n2. Dehejia, Vidya. <i>Yogini Cult and Temples: A Tantric Tradition</i> (The National Museum: New Delhi) 1986, p. 187\r\n3. The Matrikas first appear in the <i>Mahabharata</i> and have collectively been dated to about the first century A.D. Their manifestations in the literature of the epic - and post-epic periods seem to be characterized as malevolent, blood-drinking and demonic; but worship is also directed to them for protection. The Matrikas are notably a group of goddesses, the number of which becomes somewhat standardized at seven or eight in the postepic period. They are given in the <i>Visnudharmottara-purana</i> as: Yogisvari, Mahesvari, Vaisnavi, Kaumari, Brahmani, Chamunda and Varahi.\r\n4. I have visited this temple and seen these images. David Kinsley also makes mention of this fact in his work,<i>Tantric Visions of the Divine Feminine: The Ten Mahavidyas</i> (University of California Press: Berkeley) 1997, p. 16\r\n5. Kinsley, David. Ibid., p. 75\r\n6. Sheldrake, Rupert. <i>The Rebirth of Nature: The Greening of Science and God</i> (Park Street Press: Vermont) 1991 pp. 196 - 199\r\n7. Kinsley, David. <i>Hindu Goddesses</i>, ibid<i>. </i>p. 77\r\n8. Kothari, Rajni. Foreword in <i>Staying Alive: Women, Ecology and Development</i> by Vandana Shiva, (New Jersey: Zed Books) 1989, p. X. (Original italics.)\r\n9. Spretnak, Charlene. \"Radical Non-duality in Ecofeminist Philosophy\" essay <i>in Metis: A Feminist Journal of Transformative Wisdom</i>, Spring, 1996; Vol 1, No. 1., p. 11\r\n10. Brown, C. MacKenzie. <i>The Triumph of the Goddess: The Canonical Models and Theological Visions of the Devi-Bhagavata Purana</i> (SUNY Press: New York) 1990, p. 216\r\n11. Reported by Tim Ward in <i>Common Boundary</i>, March/April, 1997, p. 34\r\n12.<i> Chandogya Upanishad, </i>translated by Eknath Easwaran (Nilgiri Press: Berkeley) 1987, p. 190\r\n13. <i>Chandogya Upanishad</i>, ibid<i>.</i>, p. 183\r\n14. Adapted from the traditional (oral) poem by Doreen Valiente, British witch. Traditional.','Chamunda-Devi','','inherit','open','open','','99967-revision-v1','','','2013-09-11 22:34:21','2013-09-12 05:34:21','',99967,'<h4>Eastern Teacher to The West</h4>\r\n<em>by Chandra Alexandre</em>\r\n\r\n<hr />\r\n\r\nThis article tells the story of my own exploration into the mysteries of the Goddess as manifested within the Hindu pantheon as Chamunda, the fierce, emaciated and terrifying',0,'revision','',0),(99997,2,'2013-09-11 22:35:09','2013-09-12 05:35:09','<h4>Eastern Teacher to The West</h4>\r\n<em>by Chandra Alexandre</em>\r\n\r\n<hr />\r\n\r\n<img class=\"alignright  wp-image-99968 imgborder=0\" alt=\"chamundafire\" src=\"http://sharanya.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/chamundafire.gif\" width=\"327\" height=\"364\" />\r\n\r\nThis article tells the story of my own exploration into the mysteries of the Goddess as manifested within the Hindu pantheon as Chamunda, the fierce, emaciated and terrifying Dark Mother. She is a goddess who is particularly revered among Shaktas (believers in the primacy of the Divine Feminine), and she has historically found favor within all strata of Indian society, from the village shudras (lowest caste) to the rulers of India. Temples to her exist throughout the country: from the forts of Rajasthan to the highlands of Himachal Pradesh, to the adavasi (tribal) lands of Orissa.\r\n\r\nIn Orissa, where I was blessed to spend five months exploring, she appears primarily in two forms: i) as one of the Matrikas (Mothers), and ii) as one of the sixty-four yoginis (witches) who are themselves daughters of the Asta Matrikas (Eight Mothers). From my exploration into Chamunda I have gained an understanding of the ways in which the Goddess teaches through one of her manifest forms, and this article is an attempt to share some of what I have discovered with you.\r\n\r\nBut here, I can only hope to present my learnings as shrouded with the veil of perception I carry as a western woman. However, I share my interpretation of the mysteries as revealed to me by Her so that Her name may be invoked and Her presence asked to help banish the ignorance and prejudice of our time. I do not pretend to fully understand Chamunda (within her original context or otherwise) or for that matter, the great mystery of the Goddess; but rather I claim to appreciate Her because of my resonance with the form and symbols offered to us from India.\r\n\r\n<strong>The Image of Chamunda</strong>\r\n\r\nFrom an 8th century stone statue originally found in Dharmasala (Cuttack, Orissa) and now located at the Orissa State Museum in Bhubaneswar, I learned to see for the first time through this image what the power of the Divine Feminine can be through a figure that could (and does) readily inspire fear in both Western and Eastern onlookers. Chamunda appears to penetrate the manifest world through this sculpture of grey-black chlorite stone. She is chiseled with her most readily recognizable features: sunken eyes, sagging breasts and skeletal body; but the obvious attention and carefully-detailed precision with which she was created belie a profound respect and/or love on the part of the sculptor that is perhaps not readily understandable from our current vantage point.\r\n\r\nComing across her image amidst myriad sculptures on the floor of the museum is like dropping into a cold pool after a 20-minute steam bath. Upon first seeing her, I was instantly astounded and shocked by her presence until the realization set in that encountering Her was making my insides tingle in ways suggestive of Her great power. She is an awesome figure, with third-eye and navel raised out of the stone, veins defined over the course of her entire body, no teeth, heavily hanging earlobes and snake-entwined arms - one of which holds in its long hand a severed human head, which she grasps with finger nails that come to a point. In her other partially-intact arm she holds a skull cup or kapala at the level of her heart. She is garlanded with skulls, wears ouroboric anklets, and is seated on a corpse with her right foot on the ground and her left leg bent at the knee, foot turned, its sole to the sky. Her hair is aflame and pulled upwards, wrapped and held in place by a snake-band tiara, the center of which bears a skull.\r\n\r\nAlthough my initial contact with the fierce form of the Goddess had come to me through a dream image as Kali, both she and Chamunda are alike in many respects, related by their transformative abilities and their stature as Crones. While Kali manifests the power of time and of death, Chamunda too holds infinity and eternity. Both can be intensely frightening images of divine, feminine power especially to those unaccustomed to dealing with the Dark Goddess. Both are often similarly depicted: in the cremation ground, often seated upon a corpse or engaging in Tantrick rituals involving sex, blood and death. In this, they explicitly manifest antinomian characteristics within mainstream Hindu tradition, and they become by this provkers of (r)evolution from the inside, and transformers of worlds from the outside as they reach westerners.\r\n\r\nChamunda\'s intensity through the vehicle of the statue in Bhubaneswar shook me deep inside and stunned me. And I was nevertheless drawn to her and mystified by what she had to offer. Somehow, I could not help but feel her incredible power through the skeletal form, while at the same time, I became immediately and especially aware of how at odds with this impression and indeed terrifying she would appear to most westerners. Rationally, I wondered how in the world this figure could be known as one of the matrikas when she seemed so very far from western, as well as the traditional Hindu conception of mother, either literal or archetypal. Mother in any sense is most generally normalized to mean nurturing and life-giving. Chamunda appears to be everything but this, and I had to work to see the interconnections. On another, non-rational level, however, I could immediately feel that there was a mystery of fecundity held within those bones. I was, of course, feeling in my own bones something very old and true about her.\r\n\r\n<!--nextpage-->\r\n\r\nWhile within both Eastern and Western contexts mothers are seen as caretakers and life givers, understanding the Devi as matrika (mother) is another story. Within the world of Indian Goddess theology at least from Vedic times (circa 1,500 BCE), it seems that the devi as a mother who nourishes the world is understood as someone who must herself be replenished in order to continue to sustain life. \"If she were only to give birth and to nourish her creatures she would soon grow weak, and creation would cease.\" [1]\r\n\r\nBecause her life-generating and sustaining aspect is so powerful, she carries an insatiable hunger that is equally great. This hunger is often represented in images by showing an emaciated figure. Thus understood, the fierce devi is integral to understanding the birth/death aspect of the cycle of life in India, which makes possible the whole of manifest existence. She is obviously the living Crone, a Dark Goddess who functions as a gateway between the realms of this world and the next. Recognition of this leads to liberation; and images containing within them the fullness of samsara, as Chamunda does, serve as gateways to simultaneous embracement of life and death, duality and oneness, a holistic future and personal enrichment through the suffering of life. They hold the key to embracing the walk of the heart, where sadness and joy, pain and elation ever co-mingle.\r\n\r\nUnderstanding the goddess as both life-giver and destroyer manifests in symbolic form as a circle, or chakra within the Indian context. This chakra is reflective of the cycles of life apparent, for example, in the waxing and waning of the moon and those other cycles tied to this one, such as menstruation and the ebb and flow of the tides. A circle is the form taken by the temples dedicated to the yoginis, or sixty-four derivations of the Asta Matrikas mentioned previously who include Chamunda among them. It is therefore perhaps no coincidence that the goddess as yogini would be configured for worship by the tantricks in circular temples, since their tradition is infused with reverence for the Goddess as containing the mystery of She who is both of the source of all life and the fount of death; the One who contains All. In addition, the yoginis are also linked to yaksis (nature spirits), and they, as well as those who worshipped them, were called witches and magicians. As yogini, Chamunda and her sixty-three sisters were said to have the power to fly, to become invisible, turn humans into animals, and other such things. In many ways, these traits and the correspondence of female deities with witchcraft again brings together East and West through demonization of the Feminine.\r\n\r\nBut much like the Indo-European demonization of the pre-Christian Death/Regeneratirx aspect of the Goddess into Witch, Chamunda too was demonized and subordinated by patriarchal traditions in India. She was linked to Yama, Lord of Death, becoming less than he in Vedic hymns. An interesting suggestion, however, of her ties to pre-patriarchal roots may be found by looking at her vahana (mount), the owl. Even today in the west, this bird may still be found carrying the messages of the Dark Goddess, of the Feminine Divine who holds the mysteries of life, death and rebirth. A friend found a link between east and west on pilgrimage to the Black Madonna Notre Dame de Bon Espoir (Our Lady of Good Hope) in Dijon France. She writes of her experience,\r\n<blockquote>The oldest of the Black Madonnas...Notre Dame de Bon Espoir was yet another Black Madonna who made a tremendous impact on me. Interestingly, there is an owl carved into the side of the church where She is housed.</blockquote>\r\nTherefore, understanding the origins of the witch in prehistory and her later modifications to more fierce/violent characterizations at the hands of patriarchal peoples will perhaps help to heal some of the ills caused by misrepresentations of the Feminine while eradicating some causes of Devi’s (and by extension women’s) subordination. It might be said that if we come to understand the full nature of Her, we would see that all Her forms are those of beauty within the divine creation.\r\n\r\nWhile the term witch is in the eastern context used with negative connotation, it is important to understand that the yoginis of the temples were not demons to the tantricks. Given the tantrick insistence on reverence for the immanence of the divine and the sacredness of nature, of maniest reality, yoginis are understood as affirmations of the multifarious aspects of the Goddess. While some of these aspects can be very violent or fierce, with the goddess often depicted with sword in hand, blood and human flesh dripping from her mouth, severed heads around her waist, and other gruesome adornment, understanding her and her relationship to patriarchy over time is interesting. Such depictions, on the one hand, are likely overlays onto an ancient Crone/Death-Regeneratrix deity whose original association with death was severed from her link to life because of a dualistic patriarchal worldview that failed to recognize, for example, the interconnectedness of life and death and instead demonized women and nature as expressions of that relationship.\r\n\r\nIn contrast to gruesome depictions of the goddess Chamunda and those associated with Her, patriarchal Hinduism has begun, within the last century, to sweeten the fierce goddesses. Perhaps this is a tell-tale sign that the power of the feminine is being responded to a new and different way. That is, first, She was representative of the power of Oneness and, simply put, patriarchal consciousness (as manifested in the social, political and other realities millennia ago that have created today’s normative Hindu consciousness) sought to (and managed to) break that monopoly by rendering Her as fierce so as to facilitate specific ends, which were to carve out dualistic territory (for some reason). After supression in very specific ways for those millennia, however, She has sought to bring balance to a dichotomous worldview. In response to Her presence now, instead of the fierceness previously required to serve the purposes of a patriarchal worldview, the institutions today that which to retain power have rendered her sweet and submissive, now, to serve their ends of maintaining the status quo. Were patriarchal powers to allow Her fierceness, their reign might quickly come to an end, and this, of course, is exactly the point of honoring and remembering Her as all that She is while concurrently utilizing the power that Her fierce characteristics contain.\r\n\r\nFurther, while the word witch today still reverberates strongly with anti-God-loving sentiment for some people, to call oneself a witch as I do is an act of resistance to patriarchal obfuscation of the truth, and reclamation of women’s power within any tradition (as well as outside them). In the west, it is an appellation that is taking on an entirely new meaning, particularly with the resurgence of the goddess in the discipline known as Women’s Spirituality, through Wicca (a reclamation of indigenous European earth-based traditions) and through other forms of earth-based religion, that hold within them both the pre-historical notion of goddess as life-giver/destroyer and the more patriarchal characterization of the goddess as violent warrior, from which many, nevertheless are able to find powerful tools for creating life-affirming change.\r\n\r\nAgain before what I now call my statue of Chamunda, this time recording notes and impressions while interposing photographic moments until the museum’s 4 o’clock closing time, I eventually come to be alone with her. I am alone in that statue-filled room mesmerized, or very likely in trance, feeling as though some incredibly magical force surrounds the two of us. From my spot on the floor, I watch her watching me and ask her to teach me Her secrets. That evening, I wrote in my journal:\r\n<blockquote>From where did the ancient Saktas get her image? What are her myths and associations? How and when does she manifest? Why? What are the psychological implications of her presence as a Goddess and what do they tell us about the people who created her? Why does she exist in this fierce form that was obviously so loved (feared?) by those who worshipped her? Can she help us in the west better understand the nature of the Divine Feminine; and if so, can we find ways through her to promote self-understanding? She is starved; does she link us psychically to the root cause of/cure for anorexia? Can she help western women in the throes of addictions, especially eating disorders, with their own reclamation process? How does understanding Chamunda help me to better understand myself?</blockquote>\r\nMy questions only began to touch the surface of her depth. As a western woman living today I can never know her true or intended purpose, although I can make an educated guess informed by my academic pursuits as well as my bodily knowings and intuitions.\r\n\r\n<!--nextpage-->\r\n\r\nEven so, Chamunda through my eyes is not Chamunda in any fully Indian sense, even though I have explored her on her own ground (literally, as well as through her myths, philosophies, symbols, and worship). Rather, for me, Chamunda is an exploration into the depths of personal, and perhaps more generally the question of women’s, spirituality. Particularly within the western context of women’s spiritual development, the importance of Chamunda as a teacher can be grasped when it is understood that she holds within herself the tension of embracing both Mother and Witch archetypes; two aspects of the Feminine that have long been used to subordinate rather than empower women. Chamunda illustrates that these aspects ever inter-related, constantly situated within a flux of interchangeability that she herself manifests.\r\n\r\n<b>Chamunda and Kali: Blood Sisters</b>\r\n\r\nMy initial contact with the <i>raudra</i> or fierce form of the Goddess, as mentioned above, had come to me years earlier through a dream image as Kali, a Hindu goddess representative of the power of time and of death. In many respects, Chamunda and Kali are alike. Indeed, both are initiators into the fullest spectrum of life, and both serve to awaken us to the value of impermanence and cyclical time. Some Shakta practitioners understand both goddesses to be manifest aspects of the same ontological truth; nevertheless, both can be intensely frightening images of feminine power to those unaccustomed to dealing with the Dark Mother.\r\n\r\nIconographically, Chamunda and Kali are often similarly depicted: in the cremation ground, seated upon a corpse and engaging in practices involving sex, blood and death. At the Chamunda-Devi temple [<a href=\"/mandala/chamunda-devi-eastern-teacher-to-the-west/4/#ref\">4</a>] outside of Dharmasala (Himachal Pradesh), Chamunda is plainly understood to be a form of Kali and the ten <i>mahavidyas</i> are depicted at her shrine. The Devi as Chamunda-Kali is also mentioned in the <i>Tantrasara</i>, <i>Shaktapramoda</i> and <i>Pranatosini</i>. [<a href=\"/mandala/chamunda-devi-eastern-teacher-to-the-west/4/#ref\">5</a>]\r\n\r\nChamunda-Kali provides a gateway to: i) understanding of the Goddess in the Western psyche for juxtaposition with the Eastern manifestations of Her; ii) how Western vs. Eastern conceptions of reality play a role in determining the images of the Divine Feminine that abound in each context; and iii) the potential power of reclaiming the Dark Mother in the West with the help of images from the East.\r\n\r\n<b>Western Appreciation for the Goddess</b>\r\n\r\nFrom this brief discussion in conjunction with other goddess tales, perhaps a vision of the goddess who relates to the emotional, physical, and psychic bodies of women and men, regardless of their country of origin, by virtue of the human condition, is becoming apparent. Woven here is the notion that where women in particular are being drawn to Devi’s symbolism for its promotion of, at the very least, what may appear to be a feminist ethic, those who are attracted to her in their spiritual longing (in any of her forms) necessarily cross lines of demarcation whether social, political, or geographical—and so too does Devi. Goddess worship and feminism too needs to be able to create a container for dialogue, with both arenas developing cross-cultural methodologies that can facilitate the creation of safe space in which to then make discussions happen that relate the spiritual realities with the economic, social, and political ones. From within that space, the hope would be to generate a metaphorical fire from which truth based on a process of coming to agreement can be born. Only then can we empower women and men to be all of who and what they are, no matter what the context in which they find themselves.\r\n\r\nGiving a historicity to Indian images of the divine may help those non-Hindus interested in appreciating her from within western contexts to make informed statements and educated assertions (based upon contextual understanding) about their own uses of/for her while providing a ground for possible adaptations of Devi within a new environment. For just as the goddess centuries ago crossed from India to neighboring lands, our technological advancements today have moved us all towards a global community, which has indeed also helped to shape the transportation of Devi across oceans and continents.\r\n\r\nFor western women, images of the goddess as whole, as containing paradox, and particularly as embracing sexuality and other aspects generally suppressed under patriarchy, are healing. In the western context where transcendent male gods (or more specifically, one male god of generally Jewish or Christian disposition) dominate and no female/feminine is accorded divine status (despite the high status imparted to Mary, as discussed in the last chapter), the need for a Divine Feminine who recognized, honored and is both immanent as well as transcendent is glaring. Perhaps this is one reason why the Indian conception of goddess captures the fervor of western feminists and those seeking alternate visions of the divine that are more inclusive. Devi seems approachable in the sense that she, as her myths and iconography at the very least portend, undergoes and is much of what women recognize to be their individual truths. In her, every woman finds a piece of herself; and every man, perhaps, can learn a little more about the heart of his essential nature.\r\n\r\nThe mainstream Western images of the Divine Feminine in a contemporary context where the Abrahamic faiths prevail have largely been limited to the Virgin Mary, and perhaps if one is generous, to Sophia, the Black Madonna and Lilith. These last three however, represent an undercurrent of the Christian and Judaic faiths, and they are not recognized by many practitioners; at least not with full awareness of their power and connection to pre-patriarchal religion.\r\n\r\nIn any case, it is apparent that the Divine Feminine within our context as represented in Her most ubiquitous aspect as the Virgin Mary has little but a \"soft\" or benevolent and nurturing side. She is holy and untouchable, even by her husband; she is vehicle for the avatar Christ, but not God herself; she is incapable of engaging the more uncomfortable aspects of life; she listens and conveys the message of her followers, but does not have the power to act directly for those who worship her.\r\n\r\nThis image of Mary is put in juxtaposition within Christianity to the one God, who is All. Her place is marginal in relationship to His magnificence, and reflects the Western/patriarchal schism typified by Descartes’ mind/body duality (God as transcendent mind, Mary as earth-bound body) or more simply, the valuing of men over women and heaven over earth. Further, it underscores that the religious traditions of patriarchal cultures have unfortunately tended to pathologize the relationship of dualistic principles. In life, dualities abound, but their representation in the West has long since posed them as warring opposites where the position of the Divine Feminine (and women) is relegated to minority status.\r\n\r\nThe patriarchal worldview, particularly as expressed in the powerful \"First World\" nations of the West, has manifested skewed valuations of dualities in other spheres of life as well. It has done so to the point of ignoring (or largely ignoring) the inherent worth and wisdom of the Feminine principle and has created an urgent need for crisis prevention in the environmental, developmental, psychological and social arenas. Further, if we accept that the project of patriarchy has been based on the scientific and philosophical deconstruction of life (through exploitation of resources and peoples by Western science and paradigms supported by such traditions) and on the establishment of dualistic categories formed from reductionistic tendencies (in order to propagate the favoritism of man and culture over women and nature, e.g.), then we understand how dichotomization destroys relatedness, promotes homogenization, and makes subjugation the norm for half the population the world over.\r\n\r\nUnfortunately in both the East and West, the archetypal Feminine principle, which in India is called <i>pakriti</i>, has often been associated only with women and with nature, to the detriment of both men, women and the planet. For to deny that the Feminine has value is to deny more than gender or population; it is to deny half of the entire spectrum of life. It relegates all that is receptive, open, life-generating and nurturing to the margins of society, and it is there that we can look to find the festering sores of all the various crises of our time.\r\n\r\nFortunately, particularly within the past ten years, writers, thinkers, theologians and others across the globe in fields as diverse as the sciences, religion and women’s studies have explored the dance of life beyond the confines of duality. There, many have found that the \"opposing\" forces of life are in a play of complementarities, where tension makes growth, change, and transformation possible. In understanding that life is more of an ever-shifting dynamic balance of energetics where opposing forces create an existence filled with variety, spontaneity, laughter and music in which the soul may rejoice, a new vein of consciousness has been born in our time.\r\n\r\nThe impact of the Goddess archetype upon women and men as She re-emerges into consciousness has profound ramifications upon all aspects of life. In the East, many have been called to re-examine their relationships to the manifest Divine Feminine in actual women. On the individual as well as the collective level, She reminds us that women too are powerful, worthy of respect in this world; She teaches that respect for our bodies helps us to respect the Earthbody; She tells us that all things ugly and beautiful are Her creation. She is a \"creative trinity;\" [<a href=\"/mandala/chamunda-devi-eastern-teacher-to-the-west/4/#ref\">6</a>] serving as a gateway to simultaneous embracement of <i>both</i> duality and oneness, a symbol of integrated duality and the unconditional love that binds them. With this, many in the West have been drawn to remembering the Goddess as a potent symbol of wholeness. Many have turned to Her myths, rituals and traditions of pre-patriarchal times in order to quench their personal longing for \"something else.\" I believe that Chamunda helps to bring a special dimension to understanding the fullest sense of what that wholeness means.\r\n\r\n<b>Eastern Goddesses, Patriarchal Cultures, and a Vision from the West</b>\r\n\r\nWhile the West has tended to infuse its traditions with a dualistic split, the Eastern traditions of India have tended to concern themselves with a monological \"One\" in the realm of spirit while an overlay of patriarchal duality has settled into the societal sphere. This has wrought a complexity of contradictions in Indian society. For example, the Ganges River, sacred sphere of the Goddess Ganga who manifests through and as its waters, is the most polluted and yet simultaneously the holiest river on Earth for devout Hindus. Similarly, while the Divine Feminine is recognized and worshipped through myriad images of Goddesses (Ganga, Kali and Chamunda among them), women still occupy a marginal position in traditional Indian society.\r\n\r\nAs David Kinsley has noted: \"In the Hindu tradition a woman is taught to understand herself primarily in relation to others…It is society that puts demands on her primarily through the agents of relatives and in-laws, and not she who places demands on society that she be allowed to develop a unique, independent destiny. A central demand placed on women, particularly vis-à-vis males, is that they subordinate their welfare to the welfare of others.\" [<a href=\"/mandala/chamunda-devi-eastern-teacher-to-the-west/4/#ref\">7</a>]\r\n\r\nWhile attempts have been made to reconcile patriarchal duality at the level of society with a philosophical and religious spiritual unity, the fact of the matter is that such discontinuity invalidates and undermines both. Little progress has been made in this regard within the Indian context. But it is from within this struggle that ways of thinking that seek to heal the split of culture from embodied/immanent spirituality have more recently emerged. Many writers, but most prominently the Indian physicist and ecofeminist, Vandana Shiva, have made a case for recognizing the Divine Feminine/Goddess in order to ameliorate tension and diffuse the boundaries of derision caused by the patriarchal paradigm.\r\n\r\n<!--nextpage-->\r\n\r\nIn her book, <i>Staying Alive: Women, Ecology and Development</i>, Shiva explores one way of looking at the Divine Feminine through lenses that appreciate both transcendent as well as immanent manifestations. She proposes fully embracing the notion of <i>Pakriti</i> as a \"spiritual\" discipline rather than simply as \"nature,\" so that a more balanced worldview can be achieved. This new worldview takes into account the marginalized position of women while de facto promoting environmental sustainability and the wellbeing of diverse, autonomous communities focused on the sacredness of relationships rather than on their destruction.\r\n\r\nAccording to Shiva, Pakriti means not just the traditional counterpart to Purusa (the Divine Masculine, or the Masculine Principle of manifest culture and society), but instead the<i>entirety</i> of nature with its ability to create, sustain and destroy in order to continue the cycle of life in all its aspects. Thus, Shiva’s position asserts \"both a <i>holistic</i> perspective and an<i>inclusive</i> agenda of concerns based on its considerable respect for diversity—both in turn being principles of nature.\" [<a href=\"http://sharanya.org/articles/chamunda/chamunda4.php4#ref\">8</a>]\r\n\r\nOn another level, such thinking shows that the construct of <i>maya</i> (illusion) as found in many Indian philosophical systems is not required to solve the corundum of how manifest reality (difference) can be reconciled with the unitive One. Instead, maya can be understood as the human resistance to holding the tension of paradox in life. In this way, perhaps the women of manifest nature can reclaim their right as beings who are living testament to the power of the Goddess and be honored as such. And the \"One\" can take on new meaning as a \"dynamic system of relations wherein any particular manifestation functions simultaneously as a distinct part and the unbroken whole. The parts are not derivative of the whole, or vice versa, [nor are the parts dissolved into one another to become the whole, or vice versa.] Each aspect constitutes the other.\" [<a href=\"http://sharanya.org/articles/chamunda/chamunda4.php4#ref\">9</a>]\r\n\r\nIt is with this idea in mind that the Goddesses of East and West need to be (re)evaluated. Unfortunately, however, as we saw earlier in this article, the Western Goddess(es) of mainstream contemporary manifestation and interpretation provide little by way of role model to help us accomplish the task of aware integration of spheres on both the intra- and inter- (as well as micro- and macrocosmic) levels that permeate the realms of mind, body and spirit. Therefore, if we are to move beyond our present embeddedness in the philosophical systems of our respective contexts, any divine teacher thus considered must be a manifestation of reality that lies beyond duality while embracing of it, and must be a penetrator/trix of all worlds, symbolic and otherwise.\r\n\r\nChamunda and her sister Kali, in my opinion, represent an understanding of the limitations of a dualistic worldview while simultaneously embracing duality as facilitator for self-awareness—-the manifest universe and the physical form being vehicles for the exploration of consciousness into itself. Further, they allow communication and representation among each and every sphere of life as well as among worlds, much like the Hermes Trismegistus of Greek mythology and later hermetic philosophy who not only facilitated communication between Gods; between Gods and men; but also between the worlds of Heaven and Hell. In this way, the Divine Feminine as manifest from within the Eastern psyche serves the required purpose; for as C. MacKenzie Brown notes: \"In the Devi-Bhagavata…the goddess is both male and female, and transcends the two, but without devaluing either the transcendent or <i>samsaric</i>[earthly or immanent]<i> </i>dimensions.\" [<a href=\"http://sharanya.org/articles/chamunda/chamunda4.php4#ref\">10</a>]\r\n\r\nFurther, it may be noted that from a perspective focused on the dynamics of inter-relationship rather than the intra-relationships of East and West, the Western relationship to \"God\" and the Eastern understanding of non-duality as a quality of \"God\" is typified by the following story:\r\n<blockquote>A Western reporter and an Indian devotee of the Goddess come across a statue of Kali. She has her four arms: the upper right raised in blessing, the lower right offering a boon (wish), the upper left holding a machete dripping with blood and the lower left gripping a severed human head by the hair. Seeing this split, the Westerner immediately asks: \"So how do you get the blessing and avoid the machete?\" The Eastern devotee angrily replies, \"That\'s not it at all...The blessing is only won when you accept both sides of her, including pain, sorrow, decay, death, and destruction. Run from her horrors, and you run from her blessings. To deny death, to act as if your little self is the center of things and must be protected from pain and preserved as long as possible—this is the real death. But embrace Kali as she is—kiss her bloody tongue and feel all four arms caress you at once—then you have life, you have freedom.\" [<a href=\"http://sharanya.org/articles/chamunda/chamunda4.php4#ref\">11</a>]</blockquote>\r\nIn this story, the boon for the Western mind would be to get beyond dualistic thinking; and the boon for the Eastern mind would be to allow this non-dualistic perspective to integrate into all spheres of life, not simply the spiritual one.\r\n\r\nBut working with images such as Chamunda and Kali, I believe, is one way to begin transforming traditional perspectives. Although a re-visioning of these goddesses in the East to include a mandate for social reform might be a worthwhile endeavor, I can only mention here the potential impact that working with them might have upon Western consciousness were, for example, a fully developed program inclusive of yoga, ritual, meditation and contemplation, etc. to be implemented by those wishing to break free of the limiting constructs of our time.\r\n\r\n<b>Revisiting the Goddess</b>\r\n\r\nTherefore, I hold that those wishing to reach beyond the schisms of Western thought (and beyond the hypocrisy of Eastern practice if one is from that context and so inclined) need to welcome a teacher capable of fully embodying both sides of duality; for one must be willing to embrace death if seeking to fully enjoy life (as the story above pointed out). The extremely intense presence of Chamunda when brought into contemplation by a seeking mind can indeed be a call to wake up to the vibrancy of life; to the reason behind the ephemeral nature of things; and indeed to the fullest sense oneself and one’s purpose in the world.\r\n\r\nFor as told in the Upanishads when Sanatkumara says to the young Narada: \"One who meditates upon and realizes the Self discovers that everything in the cosmos—energy and space, fire and water, name and form, birth and death, mind and will, word and deed, mantram and meditation—all come from the Self.\" [<a href=\"http://sharanya.org/articles/chamunda/chamunda4.php4#ref\">12</a>] The Self is therefore the embracing One and that which enables human beings to comprehend the infinite diversity of the world. The manifestations of the macrocosmic world can be easily understood in terms of the microcosmic Self and vice versa; or again in the words of Hermes Trismegistus, \"as above, so below.\"\r\n\r\nIn meditating upon the image of Chamunda and asking questions as I did about the reasons behind her powerful presence, one may be forced to ask too exactly what this Goddess desires us to see and to ultimately understand about our presence in the world: What is my role here? Why is there suffering? What is the purpose of life? Why has Patriarchy been a part of our human experience? As it says in the Chandogya Upanishad, \"You are that.\" [<a href=\"http://sharanya.org/articles/chamunda/chamunda4.php4#ref\">13</a>] And so for the individual contemplating the nature of non-dual reality while trying to reconcile manifest existence and personal experience, Chamunda can function as a portal to understanding.\r\n\r\nIt also seems appropriate that as we today search to give a meaning to our lives in these times of planetary crisis, turning to different ways of knowing and of experiencing reality may assist us in our struggles to ‘make sense of it all.’ This introduction of Chamunda as a teacher to the West is again not an attempt to co-opt or misrepresent a Hindu deity; it is simply a suggestion to be aware of more than those things with which we are readily familiar in our quest.\r\n\r\nDone with honor, respect, and with no claim at contextual understanding, opening to the patterns of collective thought that made the Goddess Chamunda a part of human reality may be a way to break the hard lines of Western dichotomy. It may help us reconnect to the ancient roots of many of the symbols, myths and traditions that have sprung from our collective human history, and it may help us connect to something deeper from within our own Western psyche. It may help us to eventually reclaim the power inherent in both Mother and Witch for the betterment of humanity.\r\n\r\nThus Chamunda-Devi may be a kind of key - not to unlocking the past, but to helping us ‘re-find’ the awareness most important for us today. Perhaps she can help us to dive into the primordial well of remembrance that exists within each of us in order to help surface feelings and intuitions that are particularly important for the creation of human as well as Gaian wholeness.\r\n\r\nAs the last line of the <i>Creed of the Star Goddess</i> tells us, \"I [the Goddess], have been with you from the beginning, and I am that which is attained at the end of desire.\"  [<a href=\"http://sharanya.org/articles/chamunda/chamunda4.php4#ref\">14</a>] We need only wish to remember in our hearts, with all of our heart, and She will reveal Her reality no matter where we live, what language we speak or what traditions we follow. As we move forward along our collective path in this evolutionary spiral we call life, may we seek always to know the truth of our past, so that we may all move together towards tomorrow. In this project, Chamunda is certainly qualified to be our guide.\r\n\r\nThe rest of my stay in India continued to be filled with Chamunda’s presence, and I began to affirm as I learned more about her that she was unknowable in any purely historical or religious sense but for my own cellular memories perhaps and more recent experiences of her. By Chamunda’s grace, however, I find that as I deepen into her mysteries and continue to invoke her in my life, I am drawn back in time so that I may discover not only her truth, but also the truth of how the track of recorded history both reveals and obscures truth. As much contemporary feminist scholarship reveals, much of recorded history obscures. By Chamunda’s grace, however, the path towards greater self-awareness was presented to me, and I continue to ask the above-mentioned questions, slowly gaining insight into her potential role as a teacher of the West.\r\n\r\nThe path towards greater self-awareness therefore has very large implications, and I continue to ask the above-mentioned questions to gain insight into Chamunda in all manifestations so that she may ultimately teach her secrets to all those willing to learn. I for one, am realizing that the mysteries of the Goddess reveal themselves to me though my personal experience, and as I open to trusting that my spirituality in this vein contains the greatest wisdom of all, the circle is closed and I am before Her once again.\r\n\r\n&nbsp;\r\n\r\n&nbsp;\r\n\r\n<a name=\"ref\"></a>\r\n\r\n<hr />\r\n\r\n&nbsp;\r\n\r\n1. Kinsley, David. <i>Hindu Goddesses: Visions of the Divine Feminine in the Hindu Religious Tradition</i> (University of California Press: Berkeley) 1986 p. 149\r\n2. Dehejia, Vidya. <i>Yogini Cult and Temples: A Tantric Tradition</i> (The National Museum: New Delhi) 1986, p. 187\r\n3. The Matrikas first appear in the <i>Mahabharata</i> and have collectively been dated to about the first century A.D. Their manifestations in the literature of the epic - and post-epic periods seem to be characterized as malevolent, blood-drinking and demonic; but worship is also directed to them for protection. The Matrikas are notably a group of goddesses, the number of which becomes somewhat standardized at seven or eight in the postepic period. They are given in the <i>Visnudharmottara-purana</i> as: Yogisvari, Mahesvari, Vaisnavi, Kaumari, Brahmani, Chamunda and Varahi.\r\n4. I have visited this temple and seen these images. David Kinsley also makes mention of this fact in his work,<i>Tantric Visions of the Divine Feminine: The Ten Mahavidyas</i> (University of California Press: Berkeley) 1997, p. 16\r\n5. Kinsley, David. Ibid., p. 75\r\n6. Sheldrake, Rupert. <i>The Rebirth of Nature: The Greening of Science and God</i> (Park Street Press: Vermont) 1991 pp. 196 - 199\r\n7. Kinsley, David. <i>Hindu Goddesses</i>, ibid<i>. </i>p. 77\r\n8. Kothari, Rajni. Foreword in <i>Staying Alive: Women, Ecology and Development</i> by Vandana Shiva, (New Jersey: Zed Books) 1989, p. X. (Original italics.)\r\n9. Spretnak, Charlene. \"Radical Non-duality in Ecofeminist Philosophy\" essay <i>in Metis: A Feminist Journal of Transformative Wisdom</i>, Spring, 1996; Vol 1, No. 1., p. 11\r\n10. Brown, C. MacKenzie. <i>The Triumph of the Goddess: The Canonical Models and Theological Visions of the Devi-Bhagavata Purana</i> (SUNY Press: New York) 1990, p. 216\r\n11. Reported by Tim Ward in <i>Common Boundary</i>, March/April, 1997, p. 34\r\n12.<i> Chandogya Upanishad, </i>translated by Eknath Easwaran (Nilgiri Press: Berkeley) 1987, p. 190\r\n13. <i>Chandogya Upanishad</i>, ibid<i>.</i>, p. 183\r\n14. Adapted from the traditional (oral) poem by Doreen Valiente, British witch. Traditional.','Chamunda-Devi','','inherit','open','open','','99967-revision-v1','','','2013-09-11 22:35:09','2013-09-12 05:35:09','',99967,'<h4>Eastern Teacher to The West</h4>\r\n<em>by Chandra Alexandre</em>\r\n\r\n<hr />\r\n\r\n<img class=\"alignright  wp-image-99968 imgborder=0\" alt=\"chamundafire\" src=\"http://sharanya.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/chamundafire.gif\" width=\"327\" height=\"364\" />\r\n\r\nTh',0,'revision','',0),(99998,2,'2013-09-11 22:40:13','2013-09-12 05:40:13','<i><center>You are almost through an intense period of waiting. The learnings of the recent past are adequately fermented and are now ready to issue forth a great elixir; you are almost ready to bring into creation a great amrita, that sacred substance of moon juice ambrosia so treasured by Goddess. Remember to breathe. Look inside. Are you impatient for an outcome? If so, relax and ask yourself if you will be able to responsibly handle whatever happens...or are your expectations so great that they may shatter brand new potentials?</i></center>\r\n\r\n<img src=\"http://www.sharanya.org/images/KaliAltarChitrika.jpg\" align=center> \r\n\r\nPilgrimage--a sacred journey--has the capacity, should we choose to engage it, to take us to the heart of our beingness. Every year, I set out for India, land of the ancients, homeland of the Divine Mother and the one to whom I have dedicated myself, Kali Maa. On these trips, I do my best to open to the possibilities and to the realities; for India is a place of shattering, and I am no stranger to the perils (both seen and unseen) of each voyage. \r\n\r\nI go knowing that what happens there is ultimately good--the challenges of this world only serve to amplify the potentials open in the realms of intuition--and I remind myself over and over again that faith is but courage tied to yearning. So I deal with all with which my senses must contend, and I open wide my eyes to the harshness of the legacy of colonialism. All the while, I stare at Her, she who has been kept alive in the hearts and minds of the people for millennia. Certainly, there were valiant attempts to shut Her out; but to no avail. Active is Her worship, alive and well, potent and ubiquitous on the subcontinent. \r\n\r\nMy visits these past eleven years have focused on the most holy of Tantrick shrines, the sacred seats of the goddess where shakti, the universal feminine force, dances before your eyes in the diyas (ghee lamp-lights) offered in devotion as much as in the spark of Her eyes in the temple. At Kamakhya, Kalighat, Tarapith and the other <i>shakta pithas</i> (the 51 sacred seats of goddess), She is revealed in the grace of both beauty and harshness, catalyzing transformation. \r\n\r\nThis year, my practice having settled into a new place, I asked myself why I go. \"Maa,\" I whined, \"if you are everywhere, why do I traipse half-way around the world to be with you?\" The answer I found lay in the footsteps of the men and women carrying more than their own body weight up the hilly alleyways of Kolkata for a meager meal and insurance of another day of living:  \r\n\r\n\"My power,\" She said, \"lies in the simple acts of faith that move us into life rather than away from it. You who reside in the West forget too easily what it means to be alive, what a responsibility it is. Here, where my roots are strong and deep, you are reminded of the fight; of how important is the struggle; of what it means to climb out of the hole of despair because you must. You are reminded, but only if you pay attention, of how truly reflective my world is of yours and how much you live in denial of this truth. Here, you wake up just a bit more whether you are ready or not...and that is my gift to you. \"\r\n\r\nHave you been on pilgrimage? What have you learned or experienced that has made a difference, been a catalyst for change, or propelled you to new adventures? \r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n ','Pilgrimage: Walking in the Footsteps of Goddess','','inherit','open','open','','99044-revision-v1','','','2013-09-11 22:40:13','2013-09-12 05:40:13','',99044,'<i><center>You are almost through an intense period of waiting. The learnings of the recent past are adequately fermented and are now ready to issue forth a great elixir; you are almost ready to bring into creation a great amrita, that sacred substance of',0,'revision','',0),(99999,2,'2013-09-11 22:43:50','2013-09-12 05:43:50','SHARANYA is a unique 501(c)(3) religious organization and <em>Devi Mandir</em> (goddess temple) evolving Śākta Tantra from ancient roots to serve those who seek to know Goddess beyond the boundaries of geography and religious dogma. With an authentic lineage in Shakta Tantra (embodied goddess-centered spirituality) birthed in northeastern India and contextualized for today, ours is an honoring of traditional spiritual technologies employed in service to personal transformation and social justice. Our tradition is called <a title=\"The Tradition\" href=\"http://sharanya.org/about-us/the-tradition-2/\">Sha\'can</a>.<br><br>\r\n\r\n[toggle type=\"gray\" title=\"Our Covenant\" active=\"\"]\r\n\r\n<ol><b>I. Sa\'ham (She I am). </b> <i>I am the Goddess manifest; I recognize Her in all of Creation.</i></ol>\r\n\r\n<ol><b>II. I remember all that is, was and ever will be.</b> <i>Live the present moment, honor the ancestors, respect the future generations;  time is not linear, but travels in a sacred spiral that spans all of existence.</i></ol>\r\n\r\n<ol><b>III. I provoke, invoke and live the Divine Will.</b> <i>Commit to transforming yourself, your community and the planet by doing the work of spirituality; make your practice that of the awakened mystic in our time.</i></ol>\r\n\r\n<center>\r\n<b>Evam Astu!</b><br>\r\n\r\n<i>So mote it be!</i><br><br>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"color: #9c1601; font-family: wingdings; font-size: xx-large;\">\\</span></center>[/toggle]\r\n\r\n[toggle type=\"gray\" title=\"Our Mission\" active=\"\"]To promote healing, truth, and personal transformation through integration of embodied worship, spiritual discipline and devotion, creating an engaged spirituality in service to social justice.[/toggle]\r\n\r\n[toggle type=\"gray\" title=\"Our Vision\" active=\"\"]Our vision is of a harmonious global community where our inherent divinity—the essence of male and female—is welcomed, balanced, sustained, honored, and celebrated as quintessential to creation. Through open hearts, surrendered egos, willingness, and a deep commitment, we create a compassionate and strong, safe space to engage spirituality that brings Devi, Goddess, home to each one of us.[/toggle]\r\n\r\n<br>\r\nThe word SHARANYA is from Sanskrit, the ancient language of India, and means \"refuge\" or \"sanctuary.\" Founded on August 2, 1998 by a scholar and activist, this public charity (EIN: 94-3334334) received federal tax-exempt status in February 2002 in order to support a local and international community through a variety of programs and services.<br><br>\r\n\r\nOur community is open to all seeking to better understand the ways of Goddess—particularly in her antinomian, chthonic, relational, cyclical, and embodied forms. In our community:<br><br>\r\n\r\n<ul style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><ul><span style=\"color: #9c1601; font-family: wingdings; font-size: x-large;\">{</span> We seek to know Her throughout the spaces of Self and World.</ul></ul>\r\n\r\n<ul style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><ul><span style=\"color: #9c1601; font-family: wingdings; font-size: x-large;\">{</span>  We have dedicated ourselves to Her devotion.</ul></ul>\r\n\r\n<ul style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><ul><span style=\"color: #9c1601; font-family: wingdings; font-size: x-large;\">{</span>  We make a commitment to action and service for the betterment of all beings.</ul></ul>\r\n\r\n<ul style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><ul><span style=\"color: #9c1601; font-family: wingdings; font-size: x-large;\">{</span>  We embrace the work of conscious relationship between the Sacred Female and Sacred Male.</ul></ul>\r\n\r\n<ul style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><ul><span style=\"color: #9c1601; font-family: wingdings; font-size: x-large;\">{</span>  We strive to resacralize the Feminine and unpathologize the Masculine.</ul></ul>\r\n&nbsp;\r\n\r\n[testimonials category=\"general\" time=\"10\" effect=\"fade\" ]','About Us','','inherit','open','open','','20-revision-v1','','','2013-09-11 22:43:50','2013-09-12 05:43:50','',20,'SHARANYA is a unique 501(c)(3) religious organization and <em>Devi Mandir</em> (goddess temple) evolving Śākta Tantra from ancient roots to serve those who seek to know Goddess beyond the boundaries of geography and religious dogma. With an authentic line',0,'revision','',0),(100000,2,'2013-09-11 22:46:46','2013-09-12 05:46:46','Birthed in India over 15 years ago, SHARANYA exists to empower seeds of change on individual, collective, and planetary levels towards healing, respect, responsibility, and the fullest awareness of an interconnected, interrelated cosmic reality. Our origins are rooted in a commitment to social justice for the promotion of peace and the (r)evolution of consciousness across space-time realities.<br><br>\r\n\r\n&nbsp;\r\n\r\n[toggle type=\"gray\" title=\"Our Temple in India\" active=\"\"]\r\n\r\n<a href=\"http://sharanya.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/MBCMTemple.jpg\"><img class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-99537 imgborder\" alt=\"Maa Batakali Mandir (Puri)\" src=\"http://sharanya.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/MBCMTemple.jpg\" /></a>\r\n<h3 style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\">Constitution of Maa Batakali Sanskrutika Parisada</span></h3>\r\n<span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\">The Maa Batakali Cultural Mission\r\n</span><br>\r\n<span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\">Balisahi, Puri Town, Puri  752 001 Orissa</span><br>\r\n\r\nRegistration Number: 2802/211/91-92<br>\r\nFiled and Certified by the Audit Superintendent District Panchayat Office, Puri<br><br>\r\n\r\n<b>Mission Statement:</b>\r\n<ul>To create and nurture a community of life-affirming individuals devoted to Mother Worship and to developing an understanding of how such devotion can positively transform our global community.</ul>\r\n<b>Vision Statement:</b>\r\n<ul>The Maa Batakali Cultural Mission is dedicated to promoting the vision of the world as a global community in Her divine name.</ul>\r\n<b>Aims and Objectives:</b>\r\n<ul>\r\n	<li>To maintain this Mission as a nonprofit public-benefit organization, not organized for the private gain of any person.</li>\r\n	<li>To foster awareness of Goddess worship as a life-affirming path among the global community; and to eradicate erroneous and superstitious beliefs in this regard.</li>\r\n	<li>To organize, develop and execute recreational, cultural and spiritual activities for the community.</li>\r\n	<li>To undertake programs for the establishment of community housing, social forestry and environmental sanitation; et alia.</li>\r\n	<li>To organize, fund and promote Mission Centers for community gatherings, social welfare programs and adult education, including the establishment of a library with emphasis on educational activities for community youth; and to develop various pilot projects to meet the needs of community members.</li>\r\n	<li>To organize outreach programs for those not in or around Mission Centers.</li>\r\n	<li>To undertake projects expressly designed to promote the welfare of Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribe and other economically \"backward\" classes of people, and to promote the development of cooperative ideas and enterprise among them and the community at large.</li>\r\n	<li>To draw up schemes for the rehabilitation of antisocial persons; i.e., those with problems related to alcohol and drug abuse, and to assist their families as required.</li>\r\n	<li>To educate about and mobilize peacefully against sati, dowry, beggary, caste crime and similar social ills.</li>\r\n	<li>To publish a monthly newsletter, community bulletin and other educational materials for the promotion of the spiritual and cultural philosophy of the Mission.</li>\r\n	<li>To help provide relief, through community efforts, for those effected by natural calamities and other emergencies.</li>\r\n	<li>To promote cultural exchange of ideas and beliefs throughout India and the world.</li>\r\n	<li>To assist in providing legal aid to the needy and the poor.</li>\r\n	<li>To establish sister organizations, in the United States and elsewhere, in order to promote the vision of the Mission worldwide.</li>\r\n	<li>To develop fundraising schemes for the future growth and maintenance of the Mission and its associations.</li>\r\n</ul>\r\n[/toggle]\r\n\r\n[toggle type=\"gray\" title=\"Founder\'s Story: Part I\" active=\"\"]<a href=\"http://sharanya.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/ShyamPuriWeb.jpg\"><img class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-99541 imgborder\" alt=\"Shyam Sundar Dash at Maabatakali Mandir\" src=\"http://sharanya.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/ShyamPuriWeb.jpg\" /></a>It\'s summer in India, the time when the air is thick, sweat plentiful, and the monsoon\'s rains swell the skies and the streets. I have come here, to this land of spice, spirit and the sacred, to further my work in ecofeminism by looking at women\'s spiritual connections to social justice and activism on behalf of the environment. I am not here long, however, before Maa, the Divine Mother, shows me that there\'s more to my quest than I originally thought.<br><br>\r\n\r\nSpeaking to a guide at my hotel, I tell him, \"I need to find a temple to the Goddess.\"<br><br>\r\n\r\n\"Which one,\" he asks. \"Which goddess?\"<br><br>\r\n\r\n\"Well, Kali,\" I state hesitatingly, unsure of how my request will be received.  The man looks me up and down, trying to determine where I fit in the spectrum of visitors with which he has to deal and from which he makes his livelihood.<br><br>\r\n\r\n\"Wouldn\'t you rather visit Lord Jaganath?,\" he wonders. Lord of the Universe, Jaganath, is honored at this time in Puri (the eastern <i>dham</i>, one of the sacred compass points in India) in a huge festival to which hundreds of thousands flock each year. Together with his brother and sister, this is the only time the Lord leaves the mandir (temple). He\'s on a family outing to his summer home across the town and everyone comes out to get a glimpse of the royal family.<br><br>\r\n\r\nI\'m restless though, and on a mission. It is Kali I need to see and no one else. That She is responsible for my getting through a political uprising in Digha at the southern end of West Bengal unscathed has been made perfectly clear to me. I have come here to give thanks and find peace by the ocean waters. Sensing my urgency, the gentleman kindly calls to an auto-rickshaw driver with a shrug, not wanting to engage me further about goddesses. The driver arrives.<br><br>\r\n\r\n\"Kali mandir,\" I say to him as he pulls up alongside us. At this point, I have no idea how many homes Maa has here in Puri. After receiving no further instructions, the driver takes off towards the center of town. I later find out (after several unsuccessful attempts to again visit the place to which I am now heading) that there are at least four Kali temples. Reaching our destination, I buy a hibiscus mala, a garland of her sacred flower, and add that to my puja (worship) basket. Into it too go coconut, juicy betel nut and other sweets to delight Her. My offering is noteworthy at this temple for its size; but I need to thank the Goddess for getting me out of Digha alive by bringing something special.<br><br>\r\n\r\nThe pujari at Maa Batakali Mandir is a Brahmin priest with two sons. In his devotion and gratitude for the goddess having given him these sons, Shyam has built this temple. A small roadside mandir, passersby usually drop rupees on the temple steps on their daily rounds. It is nothing too fancy, but Maa here is absolutely resplendent.<br><br>\r\n\r\nIn his time, Shyam has doubled as a government worker, making regular trips back and forth from his office to tend to Maa and her devotees. Now retired, he tends to the temple and its congregation of worshipers every day for morning prayers and evening <i>aarati</i> (a beautiful celebration with lights and offerings). As Shyam sees me approach for the first time, he stares. He asks me directly why I am there, and although he is not angry, his disposition and directness can easily be mistaken for exactly that at first. Truly, he\'s just curious, but I am startled by his question.<br><br>\r\n\r\n\"Are you ISKON?\" he demands.<br><br>\r\n\r\nSuspense broken, I let out a nervous laugh. The International Society of Krishna Consciousness (a.k.a. Hare Krishnas) has never drawn me, however. Puri is full of Western devotees. Lord Jaganath, I learn, is, like Krishna whom those in ISKON worship, one of the ten incarnations of Lord Vishnu, the God of Preservation and one of the main Hindu deities.<br><br>\r\n\r\n\"No,\" I reply, \"I came to thank the Goddess.\"  After a few more words, Shyam accepts my offering basket, performing puja on my behalf. He asks my name in order to conduct the rites. When we\'re through, he asks why I\'m there. But my eyes are transfixed on Maa\'s image, and I can only point to my heart by way of explanation. \"She\'s here,\" I manage to say, and everything that has been kept inside until now in this challenging land of contrasts streams out through my eyes.<br><br>\r\n\r\nBetween June and August of 1998, I live in Puri. My friends up north forgive me for not coming back to study. My work on the spiritual motivations for grassroots environmental movements in India is put on hold. It was my pause when Shyam asked after the ritual, \"Will you come visit my house?\" that changed not only the course of my research, but also my life. Aware of India\'s potential for surprises, I held a moment of silence before responding and internally questioned his invitation and motivations.<br><br>\r\n\r\nFeeling inside, I sensed that this was an offering, and a door was opening to me that might never open again. In the pause, I could see Her face dimly, and I wondered in my rational mind about my work and Shyam\'s intentions. It took me three days to surrender to the feeling and my vision of Her beckoning. After careful thought and some time meditating with the ocean\'s wisdom, I said yes. I returned to meet my new teacher and his family.<br><br>\r\n\r\nThe more time I spend in Puri, the more I realize that Goddess is working in quite mysterious ways and that Shyam is no typical Brahmin priest.  As time passes, I learn the extent to which She is working through him, and I absorb many levels of Her teachings; some straightforward, others much more obtuse.<br><br>\r\n\r\nAfter much work, diksha, or initiation into Kali\'s mysteries is the next profound unfolding of my spiritual journey. The day comes on the August new moon, and I am thrilled when I realize it will be August 2nd, the festival of the harvest often called Lughnasad (or Lammas) in the earth-based Western calendar. It is as though Maa has answered my burning question: Can I do this? The synchronicity of timing does not escape me, and I feel She is telling me that I can have it both ways: I can be Her priestess as a Witch and a Hindu, walking as a Goddess worshiper wherever I may be in the world. To Her, I imagine, there is no distinction.<br><br>\r\n\r\nThe initiation is radical by most Hindu standards. Shyam is a Brahmin priest, and I am not only a westerner but also a woman; and women in India are not initiated by Brahmins. Following the Vedas in his public work, Shyam also practices Tantra, and this is the in-road to Maa that is clearly appropriate. Tantricks care not of my birth, only my longing. But perhaps there would be less to explain and fewer staring eyes as we sit working together at the temple were he to be more public about the various faces of his devotion. As Shyam manages to satisfy people\'s natural curiosity with his answers to their queries and suspicious looks, I pretend not to notice the robust number of visitors to the temple in the evenings after the gates have closed and we have begun our private work and evening prayers together.<a href=\"http://sharanya.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/ShyamSundarDashChandraAlexandrePuriMBCM1-e1377156643651.jpg\"><img class=\"size-full wp-image-99707 imgborder alignright\" alt=\"Chandra Alexandre and Shyam Sundar Dash at Puri Mandir\" src=\"http://sharanya.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/ShyamSundarDashChandraAlexandrePuriMBCM1-e1377156643651.jpg\" width=\"228\" height=\"246\" /></a>\r\n\r\nMy practice deepens after initiation, and on Her sacred day of Kali Puja some months later in October, I sit at the feet of the goddess in the temple, a spot that locals cannot come near. It is nearing midnight and the heat of the day lifting off the earth combined with the hot lamps that light Her image for passersby makes the sweat drip down my arms, makes my sari blouse feel even tighter than it already is, and makes me wish I couldn\'t see the bugs and ants crawling on my feet and ankles. I honor Her by pouring <i>ghee</i> (clarified butter) for the <i>homa</i> (fire offering) ceremony, and I remember that I am Shyam\'s first <i>chela</i> (student), a position of honor in the lineage tradition from which he comes.<br><br>\r\n\r\nI tend to my responsibilities dutifully as the Candi Path verses resonate off the temple walls and expand into the night air. In moments of quiet, I think about the day Shyam said he\'d been waiting for me, how he said his own guru had told him that one day, he would be bringing someone other than his sons to the path. I remember how Shyam said he had found the signs in my face the very first day we had met at the temple...signs telling him that I was the student to which his guru had referred. We finish our time together and he tells me the most important thing: \"Go! Go back to your home land, America, and spread Mother Worship!\"<br><br>\r\n\r\nUpon my return to the States, SHARANYA is born and my dedication to Kali Maa takes root with the formation of community on western shores. The wisdom of the ocean is remembered.<br><br>\r\n\r\n<em>August 2, 1998</em>\r\n\r\n<hr />\r\n\r\n<strong>Chandra Alexandre</strong> is the founding director of SHARANYA. She received <i>namakarana samskara</i> and her first <em>diksha </em>from Shyam Sundar Dash (Founder &amp; President and residing Priest of the Maa Batakali Temple in Puri) in 1998. With this, the SHARANYA kaula are part of the Bharadvaja gotra by which we honor our clan wave of spiritual ancestors.\r\n\r\n[/toggle]\r\n\r\n[toggle type=\"gray\" title=\"Founder\'s Story: Part II\" active=\"\"]<a href=\"http://sharanya.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/KamakhyaMandirWeb.jpg\"><img class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-99540 imgborder\" alt=\"Kamakhya Mandir\" src=\"http://sharanya.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/KamakhyaMandirWeb.jpg\" /></a>\"Babaji wants to see you.\"<br><br>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\"> I’m walking barefoot down the muddy side of Nilachal Hill at Kamakhya in northeastern India after witnessing one of the most beautiful Sanskrit recitations I have ever heard. The white kurtas of the Brahmin men gathered in a circle around a sacred fire stand in marked contrast though to the throngs of red-clad women waiting in long lines to see their Mother. Both, I imagine, receive Her blessings. I am in northeastern India, in Assam, participating in an annual Tantrick pilgrimage to the seat of the goddess’ power, the place where her <i>yoni</i>, or sexual organ, resides on Earth.  It’s a powerful place, a place of contrasts where all come together, whether Vaishnava, Shaivite or Shakta, to honor Maa. It\'s a place, one might say, where all unites in Her name.  </span><br><br>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\"> Babji, I learn, is a 400-year old Aghori. A believer in the preeminence of the divine as Shiva, pure consciousness, he is a practitioner of the non-dualistic or \"left-hand\" Tantric rites. In short, this means that he adheres to a rather literal interpretation of what other Tantrics might do symbolically in ritual and devotion on the path to enlightenment. He meditates, for example, not only on <i>yantras</i> (sacred diagrams), but on yantras in cremation grounds on top of corpses; he drinks wine and liquor; he smokes hash and takes in other natural mind-altering substances. He believes that the pathway to the divine is through the body, through this world, through all of creation. His accepts it all, the pure and impure, the wicked and sane, as sacred. He is a radical non-dualist—one who believes in the One as well as in the reality of the phenomenal world. His path is fast and furious, sweet and sublime, potentially off-putting at the same time that it attracts wonder, excitement, and awe.  He loves Maa. </span><br><br>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\"> The three black-clad initiates standing outside his cave-like shelter on the hillside welcome me in. I meet Babji. He’s old but looks young, his face the only give-away that he’s been around the block a few times. His body, otherwise, is baby-like. He looks pregnant, a little round belly on a very thin frame. I sit cross-legged in front of him. To his left, the fire pit. To his right, a <i>kapala</i>, or human skull cup from which wine and other mind-altering substances are drunk, sits upturned. He calls me \"Beti,\" or daughter. Two followers of his are there; his initiates have left us alone. The woman wipes the snot dripping from Babaji\'s nose with a handkerchief and then moves to mop sweat from his forehead. No one, it appears, is immune to this sweltering summer heat. The Indian devotee next to her, perhaps her husband, has had far too much <i>bhang</i> (Cannabis) or something; his eyes have trouble steadying on me. </span><br><br>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\">My Sanskrit is better than my Hindi at this point. Fortunately, I can make out meaning from of the ritual language Babaji is using. The man helps a little, but his English is as poor as my Hindi. We quiet. Suddenly, Babaji grabs me. He pulls me to him with unsuspected strength. Face against face, I feel the bristles of his long beard against my cheek, and I feel coolness where the snot has been touching. I am startled, but now I’m held. I am held firmly, with apparent intention. The touch is not violent or inappropriate. The strength is deep and calming. I stay quiet and listen inside to my belly and instincts. Presence prevails, and I allow myself to trust the moment. Just then, Babaji begins. His mouth now pressed to my ear, he sounds an ancient mantra. My heart trembles, my eyes close, and I go inward. I surrender to these sounds, soaking in the ancient reverberations, feeling in them the voices of the lineage, the guttural utterances of vibrations across time and space. All enter my ear. All penetrate my soul.  </span><br><br>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\"> Moments pass and I eventually sit back upright in silence. One moment, then two. From deep inside, the sobbing begins. There’s no rational thought, no rhyme or reason, just the moment and my feeling of tremendous love and connection to all that is…I recognize a touch of <i>sat chit ananada</i>: being, consciousness, bliss. My forehead now on Babji\'s knee, he pats my head and strokes my hair. I sit back upright. Silence. One moment, then two. Babaji reaches to his left where a rusty knife about four inches long sits waiting. I follow his motion with my eyes. Instantly, I am terrified. I have visions of blood. Stop! One moment, then two. Stop! This time, it’s an admonition to remember. Allow yourself to be taken, it says. You’ve been here before; you know what\'s happening. It\'s safe. Breathe. </span><br><br>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\">Babaji lowers my head with his hand and takes a fist-full of hair from my crown. He pulls hard enough to undo strands from my braid. Close to the scalp he cuts with the knife. Old and well-used, it doesn’t cut very well.  He pulls harder to get through the thickness of my mane and it hurts for an instant. I deepen my surrender. He cuts. He finishes, and I sit back up. Dazed, with my awareness in another place, I still must know.  </span><br><br>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\"> \"What,\" I ask, “are you going to do with it?\"  </span><br><br>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\"> \"A sacrifice,” he says, \"will be offered in the fire tonight.\" He holds up my hair.  </span><br><br>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\"> \"It’s an equal exchange,\" he says. \"The price you pay for being welcomed into the family.”</span><br><br>\r\n\r\n<em>June 26, 2003</em>\r\n\r\n[/toggle]\r\n\r\n[toggle type=\"gray\" title=\"Founder\'s Biography\" active=\"\"]\r\n\r\n[testimonials category=\"origins\" time=\"10\" effect=\"fade\" ]\r\n\r\n&nbsp;','Origins','','inherit','open','open','','99123-revision-v1','','','2013-09-11 22:46:46','2013-09-12 05:46:46','',99123,'Birthed in India over 15 years ago, SHARANYA exists to empower seeds of change on individual, collective, and planetary levels towards healing, respect, responsibility, and the fullest awareness of an interconnected, interrelated cosmic reality. Our origi',0,'revision','',0),(100001,2,'2013-09-11 22:48:18','2013-09-12 05:48:18','Birthed in India over 15 years ago, SHARANYA exists to empower seeds of change on individual, collective, and planetary levels towards healing, respect, responsibility, and the fullest awareness of an interconnected, interrelated cosmic reality. Our origins are rooted in a commitment to social justice for the promotion of peace and the (r)evolution of consciousness across space-time realities.<br><br>\r\n\r\n&nbsp;\r\n\r\n[toggle type=\"gray\" title=\"Our Temple in India\" active=\"\"]\r\n\r\n<a href=\"http://sharanya.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/MBCMTemple.jpg\"><img class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-99537 imgborder\" alt=\"Maa Batakali Mandir (Puri)\" src=\"http://sharanya.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/MBCMTemple.jpg\" /></a>\r\n<h3 style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\">Constitution of Maa Batakali Sanskrutika Parisada</span></h3>\r\n<span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\">The Maa Batakali Cultural Mission\r\n</span><br>\r\n<span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\">Balisahi, Puri Town, Puri  752 001 Orissa</span><br>\r\n\r\nRegistration Number: 2802/211/91-92<br>\r\nFiled and Certified by the Audit Superintendent District Panchayat Office, Puri<br><br>\r\n\r\n<b>Mission Statement:</b>\r\n<ul>To create and nurture a community of life-affirming individuals devoted to Mother Worship and to developing an understanding of how such devotion can positively transform our global community.</ul>\r\n<b>Vision Statement:</b>\r\n<ul>The Maa Batakali Cultural Mission is dedicated to promoting the vision of the world as a global community in Her divine name.</ul>\r\n<b>Aims and Objectives:</b>\r\n<ul>\r\n	<li>To maintain this Mission as a nonprofit public-benefit organization, not organized for the private gain of any person.</li>\r\n	<li>To foster awareness of Goddess worship as a life-affirming path among the global community; and to eradicate erroneous and superstitious beliefs in this regard.</li>\r\n	<li>To organize, develop and execute recreational, cultural and spiritual activities for the community.</li>\r\n	<li>To undertake programs for the establishment of community housing, social forestry and environmental sanitation; et alia.</li>\r\n	<li>To organize, fund and promote Mission Centers for community gatherings, social welfare programs and adult education, including the establishment of a library with emphasis on educational activities for community youth; and to develop various pilot projects to meet the needs of community members.</li>\r\n	<li>To organize outreach programs for those not in or around Mission Centers.</li>\r\n	<li>To undertake projects expressly designed to promote the welfare of Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribe and other economically \"backward\" classes of people, and to promote the development of cooperative ideas and enterprise among them and the community at large.</li>\r\n	<li>To draw up schemes for the rehabilitation of antisocial persons; i.e., those with problems related to alcohol and drug abuse, and to assist their families as required.</li>\r\n	<li>To educate about and mobilize peacefully against sati, dowry, beggary, caste crime and similar social ills.</li>\r\n	<li>To publish a monthly newsletter, community bulletin and other educational materials for the promotion of the spiritual and cultural philosophy of the Mission.</li>\r\n	<li>To help provide relief, through community efforts, for those effected by natural calamities and other emergencies.</li>\r\n	<li>To promote cultural exchange of ideas and beliefs throughout India and the world.</li>\r\n	<li>To assist in providing legal aid to the needy and the poor.</li>\r\n	<li>To establish sister organizations, in the United States and elsewhere, in order to promote the vision of the Mission worldwide.</li>\r\n	<li>To develop fundraising schemes for the future growth and maintenance of the Mission and its associations.</li>\r\n</ul>\r\n[/toggle]\r\n\r\n[toggle type=\"gray\" title=\"Origin Story: Part I\" active=\"\"]<a href=\"http://sharanya.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/ShyamPuriWeb.jpg\"><img class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-99541 imgborder\" alt=\"Shyam Sundar Dash at Maabatakali Mandir\" src=\"http://sharanya.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/ShyamPuriWeb.jpg\" /></a>It\'s summer in India, the time when the air is thick, sweat plentiful, and the monsoon\'s rains swell the skies and the streets. I have come here, to this land of spice, spirit and the sacred, to further my work in ecofeminism by looking at women\'s spiritual connections to social justice and activism on behalf of the environment. I am not here long, however, before Maa, the Divine Mother, shows me that there\'s more to my quest than I originally thought.<br><br>\r\n\r\nSpeaking to a guide at my hotel, I tell him, \"I need to find a temple to the Goddess.\"<br><br>\r\n\r\n\"Which one,\" he asks. \"Which goddess?\"<br><br>\r\n\r\n\"Well, Kali,\" I state hesitatingly, unsure of how my request will be received.  The man looks me up and down, trying to determine where I fit in the spectrum of visitors with which he has to deal and from which he makes his livelihood.<br><br>\r\n\r\n\"Wouldn\'t you rather visit Lord Jaganath?,\" he wonders. Lord of the Universe, Jaganath, is honored at this time in Puri (the eastern <i>dham</i>, one of the sacred compass points in India) in a huge festival to which hundreds of thousands flock each year. Together with his brother and sister, this is the only time the Lord leaves the mandir (temple). He\'s on a family outing to his summer home across the town and everyone comes out to get a glimpse of the royal family.<br><br>\r\n\r\nI\'m restless though, and on a mission. It is Kali I need to see and no one else. That She is responsible for my getting through a political uprising in Digha at the southern end of West Bengal unscathed has been made perfectly clear to me. I have come here to give thanks and find peace by the ocean waters. Sensing my urgency, the gentleman kindly calls to an auto-rickshaw driver with a shrug, not wanting to engage me further about goddesses. The driver arrives.<br><br>\r\n\r\n\"Kali mandir,\" I say to him as he pulls up alongside us. At this point, I have no idea how many homes Maa has here in Puri. After receiving no further instructions, the driver takes off towards the center of town. I later find out (after several unsuccessful attempts to again visit the place to which I am now heading) that there are at least four Kali temples. Reaching our destination, I buy a hibiscus mala, a garland of her sacred flower, and add that to my puja (worship) basket. Into it too go coconut, juicy betel nut and other sweets to delight Her. My offering is noteworthy at this temple for its size; but I need to thank the Goddess for getting me out of Digha alive by bringing something special.<br><br>\r\n\r\nThe pujari at Maa Batakali Mandir is a Brahmin priest with two sons. In his devotion and gratitude for the goddess having given him these sons, Shyam has built this temple. A small roadside mandir, passersby usually drop rupees on the temple steps on their daily rounds. It is nothing too fancy, but Maa here is absolutely resplendent.<br><br>\r\n\r\nIn his time, Shyam has doubled as a government worker, making regular trips back and forth from his office to tend to Maa and her devotees. Now retired, he tends to the temple and its congregation of worshipers every day for morning prayers and evening <i>aarati</i> (a beautiful celebration with lights and offerings). As Shyam sees me approach for the first time, he stares. He asks me directly why I am there, and although he is not angry, his disposition and directness can easily be mistaken for exactly that at first. Truly, he\'s just curious, but I am startled by his question.<br><br>\r\n\r\n\"Are you ISKON?\" he demands.<br><br>\r\n\r\nSuspense broken, I let out a nervous laugh. The International Society of Krishna Consciousness (a.k.a. Hare Krishnas) has never drawn me, however. Puri is full of Western devotees. Lord Jaganath, I learn, is, like Krishna whom those in ISKON worship, one of the ten incarnations of Lord Vishnu, the God of Preservation and one of the main Hindu deities.<br><br>\r\n\r\n\"No,\" I reply, \"I came to thank the Goddess.\"  After a few more words, Shyam accepts my offering basket, performing puja on my behalf. He asks my name in order to conduct the rites. When we\'re through, he asks why I\'m there. But my eyes are transfixed on Maa\'s image, and I can only point to my heart by way of explanation. \"She\'s here,\" I manage to say, and everything that has been kept inside until now in this challenging land of contrasts streams out through my eyes.<br><br>\r\n\r\nBetween June and August of 1998, I live in Puri. My friends up north forgive me for not coming back to study. My work on the spiritual motivations for grassroots environmental movements in India is put on hold. It was my pause when Shyam asked after the ritual, \"Will you come visit my house?\" that changed not only the course of my research, but also my life. Aware of India\'s potential for surprises, I held a moment of silence before responding and internally questioned his invitation and motivations.<br><br>\r\n\r\nFeeling inside, I sensed that this was an offering, and a door was opening to me that might never open again. In the pause, I could see Her face dimly, and I wondered in my rational mind about my work and Shyam\'s intentions. It took me three days to surrender to the feeling and my vision of Her beckoning. After careful thought and some time meditating with the ocean\'s wisdom, I said yes. I returned to meet my new teacher and his family.<br><br>\r\n\r\nThe more time I spend in Puri, the more I realize that Goddess is working in quite mysterious ways and that Shyam is no typical Brahmin priest.  As time passes, I learn the extent to which She is working through him, and I absorb many levels of Her teachings; some straightforward, others much more obtuse.<br><br>\r\n\r\nAfter much work, diksha, or initiation into Kali\'s mysteries is the next profound unfolding of my spiritual journey. The day comes on the August new moon, and I am thrilled when I realize it will be August 2nd, the festival of the harvest often called Lughnasad (or Lammas) in the earth-based Western calendar. It is as though Maa has answered my burning question: Can I do this? The synchronicity of timing does not escape me, and I feel She is telling me that I can have it both ways: I can be Her priestess as a Witch and a Hindu, walking as a Goddess worshiper wherever I may be in the world. To Her, I imagine, there is no distinction.<br><br>\r\n\r\nThe initiation is radical by most Hindu standards. Shyam is a Brahmin priest, and I am not only a westerner but also a woman; and women in India are not initiated by Brahmins. Following the Vedas in his public work, Shyam also practices Tantra, and this is the in-road to Maa that is clearly appropriate. Tantricks care not of my birth, only my longing. But perhaps there would be less to explain and fewer staring eyes as we sit working together at the temple were he to be more public about the various faces of his devotion. As Shyam manages to satisfy people\'s natural curiosity with his answers to their queries and suspicious looks, I pretend not to notice the robust number of visitors to the temple in the evenings after the gates have closed and we have begun our private work and evening prayers together.<a href=\"http://sharanya.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/ShyamSundarDashChandraAlexandrePuriMBCM1-e1377156643651.jpg\"><img class=\"size-full wp-image-99707 imgborder alignright\" alt=\"Chandra Alexandre and Shyam Sundar Dash at Puri Mandir\" src=\"http://sharanya.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/ShyamSundarDashChandraAlexandrePuriMBCM1-e1377156643651.jpg\" width=\"228\" height=\"246\" /></a>\r\n\r\nMy practice deepens after initiation, and on Her sacred day of Kali Puja some months later in October, I sit at the feet of the goddess in the temple, a spot that locals cannot come near. It is nearing midnight and the heat of the day lifting off the earth combined with the hot lamps that light Her image for passersby makes the sweat drip down my arms, makes my sari blouse feel even tighter than it already is, and makes me wish I couldn\'t see the bugs and ants crawling on my feet and ankles. I honor Her by pouring <i>ghee</i> (clarified butter) for the <i>homa</i> (fire offering) ceremony, and I remember that I am Shyam\'s first <i>chela</i> (student), a position of honor in the lineage tradition from which he comes.<br><br>\r\n\r\nI tend to my responsibilities dutifully as the Candi Path verses resonate off the temple walls and expand into the night air. In moments of quiet, I think about the day Shyam said he\'d been waiting for me, how he said his own guru had told him that one day, he would be bringing someone other than his sons to the path. I remember how Shyam said he had found the signs in my face the very first day we had met at the temple...signs telling him that I was the student to which his guru had referred. We finish our time together and he tells me the most important thing: \"Go! Go back to your home land, America, and spread Mother Worship!\"<br><br>\r\n\r\nUpon my return to the States, SHARANYA is born and my dedication to Kali Maa takes root with the formation of community on western shores. The wisdom of the ocean is remembered.<br><br>\r\n\r\n<em>August 2, 1998</em>\r\n\r\n<hr />\r\n\r\n<strong>Chandra Alexandre</strong> is the founding director of SHARANYA. She received <i>namakarana samskara</i> and her first <em>diksha </em>from Shyam Sundar Dash (Founder &amp; President and residing Priest of the Maa Batakali Temple in Puri) in 1998. With this, the SHARANYA kaula are part of the Bharadvaja gotra by which we honor our clan wave of spiritual ancestors.\r\n\r\n[/toggle]\r\n\r\n[toggle type=\"gray\" title=\"Origin Story: Part II\" active=\"\"]<a href=\"http://sharanya.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/KamakhyaMandirWeb.jpg\"><img class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-99540 imgborder\" alt=\"Kamakhya Mandir\" src=\"http://sharanya.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/KamakhyaMandirWeb.jpg\" /></a>\"Babaji wants to see you.\"<br><br>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\"> I’m walking barefoot down the muddy side of Nilachal Hill at Kamakhya in northeastern India after witnessing one of the most beautiful Sanskrit recitations I have ever heard. The white kurtas of the Brahmin men gathered in a circle around a sacred fire stand in marked contrast though to the throngs of red-clad women waiting in long lines to see their Mother. Both, I imagine, receive Her blessings. I am in northeastern India, in Assam, participating in an annual Tantrick pilgrimage to the seat of the goddess’ power, the place where her <i>yoni</i>, or sexual organ, resides on Earth.  It’s a powerful place, a place of contrasts where all come together, whether Vaishnava, Shaivite or Shakta, to honor Maa. It\'s a place, one might say, where all unites in Her name.  </span><br><br>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\"> Babji, I learn, is a 400-year old Aghori. A believer in the preeminence of the divine as Shiva, pure consciousness, he is a practitioner of the non-dualistic or \"left-hand\" Tantric rites. In short, this means that he adheres to a rather literal interpretation of what other Tantrics might do symbolically in ritual and devotion on the path to enlightenment. He meditates, for example, not only on <i>yantras</i> (sacred diagrams), but on yantras in cremation grounds on top of corpses; he drinks wine and liquor; he smokes hash and takes in other natural mind-altering substances. He believes that the pathway to the divine is through the body, through this world, through all of creation. His accepts it all, the pure and impure, the wicked and sane, as sacred. He is a radical non-dualist—one who believes in the One as well as in the reality of the phenomenal world. His path is fast and furious, sweet and sublime, potentially off-putting at the same time that it attracts wonder, excitement, and awe.  He loves Maa. </span><br><br>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\"> The three black-clad initiates standing outside his cave-like shelter on the hillside welcome me in. I meet Babji. He’s old but looks young, his face the only give-away that he’s been around the block a few times. His body, otherwise, is baby-like. He looks pregnant, a little round belly on a very thin frame. I sit cross-legged in front of him. To his left, the fire pit. To his right, a <i>kapala</i>, or human skull cup from which wine and other mind-altering substances are drunk, sits upturned. He calls me \"Beti,\" or daughter. Two followers of his are there; his initiates have left us alone. The woman wipes the snot dripping from Babaji\'s nose with a handkerchief and then moves to mop sweat from his forehead. No one, it appears, is immune to this sweltering summer heat. The Indian devotee next to her, perhaps her husband, has had far too much <i>bhang</i> (Cannabis) or something; his eyes have trouble steadying on me. </span><br><br>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\">My Sanskrit is better than my Hindi at this point. Fortunately, I can make out meaning from of the ritual language Babaji is using. The man helps a little, but his English is as poor as my Hindi. We quiet. Suddenly, Babaji grabs me. He pulls me to him with unsuspected strength. Face against face, I feel the bristles of his long beard against my cheek, and I feel coolness where the snot has been touching. I am startled, but now I’m held. I am held firmly, with apparent intention. The touch is not violent or inappropriate. The strength is deep and calming. I stay quiet and listen inside to my belly and instincts. Presence prevails, and I allow myself to trust the moment. Just then, Babaji begins. His mouth now pressed to my ear, he sounds an ancient mantra. My heart trembles, my eyes close, and I go inward. I surrender to these sounds, soaking in the ancient reverberations, feeling in them the voices of the lineage, the guttural utterances of vibrations across time and space. All enter my ear. All penetrate my soul.  </span><br><br>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\"> Moments pass and I eventually sit back upright in silence. One moment, then two. From deep inside, the sobbing begins. There’s no rational thought, no rhyme or reason, just the moment and my feeling of tremendous love and connection to all that is…I recognize a touch of <i>sat chit ananada</i>: being, consciousness, bliss. My forehead now on Babji\'s knee, he pats my head and strokes my hair. I sit back upright. Silence. One moment, then two. Babaji reaches to his left where a rusty knife about four inches long sits waiting. I follow his motion with my eyes. Instantly, I am terrified. I have visions of blood. Stop! One moment, then two. Stop! This time, it’s an admonition to remember. Allow yourself to be taken, it says. You’ve been here before; you know what\'s happening. It\'s safe. Breathe. </span><br><br>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\">Babaji lowers my head with his hand and takes a fist-full of hair from my crown. He pulls hard enough to undo strands from my braid. Close to the scalp he cuts with the knife. Old and well-used, it doesn’t cut very well.  He pulls harder to get through the thickness of my mane and it hurts for an instant. I deepen my surrender. He cuts. He finishes, and I sit back up. Dazed, with my awareness in another place, I still must know.  </span><br><br>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\"> \"What,\" I ask, “are you going to do with it?\"  </span><br><br>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\"> \"A sacrifice,” he says, \"will be offered in the fire tonight.\" He holds up my hair.  </span><br><br>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\"> \"It’s an equal exchange,\" he says. \"The price you pay for being welcomed into the family.”</span><br><br>\r\n\r\n<em>June 26, 2003</em>\r\n\r\n[/toggle]\r\n\r\n[toggle type=\"gray\" title=\"Founder\'s Biography\" active=\"\"]\r\n\r\n[testimonials category=\"origins\" time=\"10\" effect=\"fade\" ]\r\n\r\n&nbsp;','Origins','','inherit','open','open','','99123-revision-v1','','','2013-09-11 22:48:18','2013-09-12 05:48:18','',99123,'Birthed in India over 15 years ago, SHARANYA exists to empower seeds of change on individual, collective, and planetary levels towards healing, respect, responsibility, and the fullest awareness of an interconnected, interrelated cosmic reality. Our origi',0,'revision','',0),(100002,2,'2013-09-11 23:20:21','2013-09-12 06:20:21','Birthed in India over 15 years ago, SHARANYA exists to empower seeds of change on individual, collective, and planetary levels towards healing, respect, responsibility, and the fullest awareness of an interconnected, interrelated cosmic reality. Our origins are rooted in a commitment to social justice for the promotion of peace and the (r)evolution of consciousness across space-time realities.<br><br>\r\n\r\n&nbsp;\r\n\r\n[toggle type=\"gray\" title=\"Our Temple in India\" active=\"\"]\r\n\r\n<a href=\"http://sharanya.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/MBCMTemple.jpg\"><img class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-99537 imgborder\" alt=\"Maa Batakali Mandir (Puri)\" src=\"http://sharanya.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/MBCMTemple.jpg\" /></a>\r\n<h3 style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\">Constitution of Maa Batakali Sanskrutika Parisada</span></h3>\r\n<span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\">The Maa Batakali Cultural Mission\r\n</span><br>\r\n<span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\">Balisahi, Puri Town, Puri  752 001 Orissa</span><br>\r\n\r\nRegistration Number: 2802/211/91-92<br>\r\nFiled and Certified by the Audit Superintendent District Panchayat Office, Puri<br><br>\r\n\r\n<b>Mission Statement:</b>\r\n<ul>To create and nurture a community of life-affirming individuals devoted to Mother Worship and to developing an understanding of how such devotion can positively transform our global community.</ul>\r\n<b>Vision Statement:</b>\r\n<ul>The Maa Batakali Cultural Mission is dedicated to promoting the vision of the world as a global community in Her divine name.</ul>\r\n<b>Aims and Objectives:</b>\r\n<ul>\r\n	<li>To maintain this Mission as a nonprofit public-benefit organization, not organized for the private gain of any person.</li>\r\n	<li>To foster awareness of Goddess worship as a life-affirming path among the global community; and to eradicate erroneous and superstitious beliefs in this regard.</li>\r\n	<li>To organize, develop and execute recreational, cultural and spiritual activities for the community.</li>\r\n	<li>To undertake programs for the establishment of community housing, social forestry and environmental sanitation; et alia.</li>\r\n	<li>To organize, fund and promote Mission Centers for community gatherings, social welfare programs and adult education, including the establishment of a library with emphasis on educational activities for community youth; and to develop various pilot projects to meet the needs of community members.</li>\r\n	<li>To organize outreach programs for those not in or around Mission Centers.</li>\r\n	<li>To undertake projects expressly designed to promote the welfare of Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribe and other economically \"backward\" classes of people, and to promote the development of cooperative ideas and enterprise among them and the community at large.</li>\r\n	<li>To draw up schemes for the rehabilitation of antisocial persons; i.e., those with problems related to alcohol and drug abuse, and to assist their families as required.</li>\r\n	<li>To educate about and mobilize peacefully against sati, dowry, beggary, caste crime and similar social ills.</li>\r\n	<li>To publish a monthly newsletter, community bulletin and other educational materials for the promotion of the spiritual and cultural philosophy of the Mission.</li>\r\n	<li>To help provide relief, through community efforts, for those effected by natural calamities and other emergencies.</li>\r\n	<li>To promote cultural exchange of ideas and beliefs throughout India and the world.</li>\r\n	<li>To assist in providing legal aid to the needy and the poor.</li>\r\n	<li>To establish sister organizations, in the United States and elsewhere, in order to promote the vision of the Mission worldwide.</li>\r\n	<li>To develop fundraising schemes for the future growth and maintenance of the Mission and its associations.</li>\r\n</ul>\r\n[/toggle]\r\n\r\n[toggle type=\"gray\" title=\"Origin Story: Part I\" active=\"\"]<a href=\"http://sharanya.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/ShyamPuriWeb.jpg\"><img class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-99541 imgborder\" alt=\"Shyam Sundar Dash at Maabatakali Mandir\" src=\"http://sharanya.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/ShyamPuriWeb.jpg\" /></a>It\'s summer in India, the time when the air is thick, sweat plentiful, and the monsoon\'s rains swell the skies and the streets. I have come here, to this land of spice, spirit and the sacred, to further my work in ecofeminism by looking at women\'s spiritual connections to social justice and activism on behalf of the environment. I am not here long, however, before Maa, the Divine Mother, shows me that there\'s more to my quest than I originally thought.<br><br>\r\n\r\nSpeaking to a guide at my hotel, I tell him, \"I need to find a temple to the Goddess.\"<br><br>\r\n\r\n\"Which one,\" he asks. \"Which goddess?\"<br><br>\r\n\r\n\"Well, Kali,\" I state hesitatingly, unsure of how my request will be received.  The man looks me up and down, trying to determine where I fit in the spectrum of visitors with which he has to deal and from which he makes his livelihood.<br><br>\r\n\r\n\"Wouldn\'t you rather visit Lord Jaganath?,\" he wonders. Lord of the Universe, Jaganath, is honored at this time in Puri (the eastern <i>dham</i>, one of the sacred compass points in India) in a huge festival to which hundreds of thousands flock each year. Together with his brother and sister, this is the only time the Lord leaves the mandir (temple). He\'s on a family outing to his summer home across the town and everyone comes out to get a glimpse of the royal family.<br><br>\r\n\r\nI\'m restless though, and on a mission. It is Kali I need to see and no one else. That She is responsible for my getting through a political uprising in Digha at the southern end of West Bengal unscathed has been made perfectly clear to me. I have come here to give thanks and find peace by the ocean waters. Sensing my urgency, the gentleman kindly calls to an auto-rickshaw driver with a shrug, not wanting to engage me further about goddesses. The driver arrives.<br><br>\r\n\r\n\"Kali mandir,\" I say to him as he pulls up alongside us. At this point, I have no idea how many homes Maa has here in Puri. After receiving no further instructions, the driver takes off towards the center of town. I later find out (after several unsuccessful attempts to again visit the place to which I am now heading) that there are at least four Kali temples. Reaching our destination, I buy a hibiscus mala, a garland of her sacred flower, and add that to my puja (worship) basket. Into it too go coconut, juicy betel nut and other sweets to delight Her. My offering is noteworthy at this temple for its size; but I need to thank the Goddess for getting me out of Digha alive by bringing something special.<br><br>\r\n\r\nThe pujari at Maa Batakali Mandir is a Brahmin priest with two sons. In his devotion and gratitude for the goddess having given him these sons, Shyam has built this temple. A small roadside mandir, passersby usually drop rupees on the temple steps on their daily rounds. It is nothing too fancy, but Maa here is absolutely resplendent.<br><br>\r\n\r\nIn his time, Shyam has doubled as a government worker, making regular trips back and forth from his office to tend to Maa and her devotees. Now retired, he tends to the temple and its congregation of worshipers every day for morning prayers and evening <i>aarati</i> (a beautiful celebration with lights and offerings). As Shyam sees me approach for the first time, he stares. He asks me directly why I am there, and although he is not angry, his disposition and directness can easily be mistaken for exactly that at first. Truly, he\'s just curious, but I am startled by his question.<br><br>\r\n\r\n\"Are you ISKON?\" he demands.<br><br>\r\n\r\nSuspense broken, I let out a nervous laugh. The International Society of Krishna Consciousness (a.k.a. Hare Krishnas) has never drawn me, however. Puri is full of Western devotees. Lord Jaganath, I learn, is, like Krishna whom those in ISKON worship, one of the ten incarnations of Lord Vishnu, the God of Preservation and one of the main Hindu deities.<br><br>\r\n\r\n\"No,\" I reply, \"I came to thank the Goddess.\"  After a few more words, Shyam accepts my offering basket, performing puja on my behalf. He asks my name in order to conduct the rites. When we\'re through, he asks why I\'m there. But my eyes are transfixed on Maa\'s image, and I can only point to my heart by way of explanation. \"She\'s here,\" I manage to say, and everything that has been kept inside until now in this challenging land of contrasts streams out through my eyes.<br><br>\r\n\r\nBetween June and August of 1998, I live in Puri. My friends up north forgive me for not coming back to study. My work on the spiritual motivations for grassroots environmental movements in India is put on hold. It was my pause when Shyam asked after the ritual, \"Will you come visit my house?\" that changed not only the course of my research, but also my life. Aware of India\'s potential for surprises, I held a moment of silence before responding and internally questioned his invitation and motivations.<br><br>\r\n\r\nFeeling inside, I sensed that this was an offering, and a door was opening to me that might never open again. In the pause, I could see Her face dimly, and I wondered in my rational mind about my work and Shyam\'s intentions. It took me three days to surrender to the feeling and my vision of Her beckoning. After careful thought and some time meditating with the ocean\'s wisdom, I said yes. I returned to meet my new teacher and his family.<br><br>\r\n\r\nThe more time I spend in Puri, the more I realize that Goddess is working in quite mysterious ways and that Shyam is no typical Brahmin priest.  As time passes, I learn the extent to which She is working through him, and I absorb many levels of Her teachings; some straightforward, others much more obtuse.<br><br>\r\n\r\nAfter much work, diksha, or initiation into Kali\'s mysteries is the next profound unfolding of my spiritual journey. The day comes on the August new moon, and I am thrilled when I realize it will be August 2nd, the festival of the harvest often called Lughnasad (or Lammas) in the earth-based Western calendar. It is as though Maa has answered my burning question: Can I do this? The synchronicity of timing does not escape me, and I feel She is telling me that I can have it both ways: I can be Her priestess as a Witch and a Hindu, walking as a Goddess worshiper wherever I may be in the world. To Her, I imagine, there is no distinction.<br><br>\r\n\r\nThe initiation is radical by most Hindu standards. Shyam is a Brahmin priest, and I am not only a westerner but also a woman; and women in India are not initiated by Brahmins. Following the Vedas in his public work, Shyam also practices Tantra, and this is the in-road to Maa that is clearly appropriate. Tantricks care not of my birth, only my longing. But perhaps there would be less to explain and fewer staring eyes as we sit working together at the temple were he to be more public about the various faces of his devotion. As Shyam manages to satisfy people\'s natural curiosity with his answers to their queries and suspicious looks, I pretend not to notice the robust number of visitors to the temple in the evenings after the gates have closed and we have begun our private work and evening prayers together.<a href=\"http://sharanya.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/ShyamSundarDashChandraAlexandrePuriMBCM1-e1377156643651.jpg\"><img class=\"size-full wp-image-99707 imgborder alignright\" alt=\"Chandra Alexandre and Shyam Sundar Dash at Puri Mandir\" src=\"http://sharanya.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/ShyamSundarDashChandraAlexandrePuriMBCM1-e1377156643651.jpg\" width=\"228\" height=\"246\" /></a>\r\n\r\nMy practice deepens after initiation, and on Her sacred day of Kali Puja some months later in October, I sit at the feet of the goddess in the temple, a spot that locals cannot come near. It is nearing midnight and the heat of the day lifting off the earth combined with the hot lamps that light Her image for passersby makes the sweat drip down my arms, makes my sari blouse feel even tighter than it already is, and makes me wish I couldn\'t see the bugs and ants crawling on my feet and ankles. I honor Her by pouring <i>ghee</i> (clarified butter) for the <i>homa</i> (fire offering) ceremony, and I remember that I am Shyam\'s first <i>chela</i> (student), a position of honor in the lineage tradition from which he comes.<br><br>\r\n\r\nI tend to my responsibilities dutifully as the Candi Path verses resonate off the temple walls and expand into the night air. In moments of quiet, I think about the day Shyam said he\'d been waiting for me, how he said his own guru had told him that one day, he would be bringing someone other than his sons to the path. I remember how Shyam said he had found the signs in my face the very first day we had met at the temple...signs telling him that I was the student to which his guru had referred. We finish our time together and he tells me the most important thing: \"Go! Go back to your home land, America, and spread Mother Worship!\"<br><br>\r\n\r\nUpon my return to the States, SHARANYA is born and my dedication to Kali Maa takes root with the formation of community on western shores. The wisdom of the ocean is remembered.<br><br>\r\n\r\n<em>August 2, 1998</em>\r\n\r\n<hr />\r\n\r\n<strong>Chandra Alexandre</strong> is the founding director of SHARANYA. She received <i>namakarana samskara</i> and her first <em>diksha </em>from Shyam Sundar Dash (Founder &amp; President and residing Priest of the Maa Batakali Temple in Puri) in 1998. With this, the SHARANYA kaula are part of the Bharadvaja gotra by which we honor our clan wave of spiritual ancestors.\r\n\r\n[/toggle]\r\n\r\n[toggle type=\"gray\" title=\"Origin Story: Part II\" active=\"\"]<a href=\"http://sharanya.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/KamakhyaMandirWeb.jpg\"><img class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-99540 imgborder\" alt=\"Kamakhya Mandir\" src=\"http://sharanya.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/KamakhyaMandirWeb.jpg\" /></a>\"Babaji wants to see you.\"<br><br>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\"> I’m walking barefoot down the muddy side of Nilachal Hill at Kamakhya in northeastern India after witnessing one of the most beautiful Sanskrit recitations I have ever heard. The white kurtas of the Brahmin men gathered in a circle around a sacred fire stand in marked contrast though to the throngs of red-clad women waiting in long lines to see their Mother. Both, I imagine, receive Her blessings. I am in northeastern India, in Assam, participating in an annual Tantrick pilgrimage to the seat of the goddess’ power, the place where her <i>yoni</i>, or sexual organ, resides on Earth.  It’s a powerful place, a place of contrasts where all come together, whether Vaishnava, Shaivite or Shakta, to honor Maa. It\'s a place, one might say, where all unites in Her name.  </span><br><br>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\"> Babji, I learn, is a 400-year old Aghori. A believer in the preeminence of the divine as Shiva, pure consciousness, he is a practitioner of the non-dualistic or \"left-hand\" Tantric rites. In short, this means that he adheres to a rather literal interpretation of what other Tantrics might do symbolically in ritual and devotion on the path to enlightenment. He meditates, for example, not only on <i>yantras</i> (sacred diagrams), but on yantras in cremation grounds on top of corpses; he drinks wine and liquor; he smokes hash and takes in other natural mind-altering substances. He believes that the pathway to the divine is through the body, through this world, through all of creation. His accepts it all, the pure and impure, the wicked and sane, as sacred. He is a radical non-dualist—one who believes in the One as well as in the reality of the phenomenal world. His path is fast and furious, sweet and sublime, potentially off-putting at the same time that it attracts wonder, excitement, and awe.  He loves Maa. </span><br><br>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\"> The three black-clad initiates standing outside his cave-like shelter on the hillside welcome me in. I meet Babji. He’s old but looks young, his face the only give-away that he’s been around the block a few times. His body, otherwise, is baby-like. He looks pregnant, a little round belly on a very thin frame. I sit cross-legged in front of him. To his left, the fire pit. To his right, a <i>kapala</i>, or human skull cup from which wine and other mind-altering substances are drunk, sits upturned. He calls me \"Beti,\" or daughter. Two followers of his are there; his initiates have left us alone. The woman wipes the snot dripping from Babaji\'s nose with a handkerchief and then moves to mop sweat from his forehead. No one, it appears, is immune to this sweltering summer heat. The Indian devotee next to her, perhaps her husband, has had far too much <i>bhang</i> (Cannabis) or something; his eyes have trouble steadying on me. </span><br><br>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\">My Sanskrit is better than my Hindi at this point. Fortunately, I can make out meaning from of the ritual language Babaji is using. The man helps a little, but his English is as poor as my Hindi. We quiet. Suddenly, Babaji grabs me. He pulls me to him with unsuspected strength. Face against face, I feel the bristles of his long beard against my cheek, and I feel coolness where the snot has been touching. I am startled, but now I’m held. I am held firmly, with apparent intention. The touch is not violent or inappropriate. The strength is deep and calming. I stay quiet and listen inside to my belly and instincts. Presence prevails, and I allow myself to trust the moment. Just then, Babaji begins. His mouth now pressed to my ear, he sounds an ancient mantra. My heart trembles, my eyes close, and I go inward. I surrender to these sounds, soaking in the ancient reverberations, feeling in them the voices of the lineage, the guttural utterances of vibrations across time and space. All enter my ear. All penetrate my soul.  </span><br><br>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\"> Moments pass and I eventually sit back upright in silence. One moment, then two. From deep inside, the sobbing begins. There’s no rational thought, no rhyme or reason, just the moment and my feeling of tremendous love and connection to all that is…I recognize a touch of <i>sat chit ananada</i>: being, consciousness, bliss. My forehead now on Babji\'s knee, he pats my head and strokes my hair. I sit back upright. Silence. One moment, then two. Babaji reaches to his left where a rusty knife about four inches long sits waiting. I follow his motion with my eyes. Instantly, I am terrified. I have visions of blood. Stop! One moment, then two. Stop! This time, it’s an admonition to remember. Allow yourself to be taken, it says. You’ve been here before; you know what\'s happening. It\'s safe. Breathe. </span><br><br>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\">Babaji lowers my head with his hand and takes a fist-full of hair from my crown. He pulls hard enough to undo strands from my braid. Close to the scalp he cuts with the knife. Old and well-used, it doesn’t cut very well.  He pulls harder to get through the thickness of my mane and it hurts for an instant. I deepen my surrender. He cuts. He finishes, and I sit back up. Dazed, with my awareness in another place, I still must know.  </span><br><br>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\"> \"What,\" I ask, “are you going to do with it?\"  </span><br><br>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\"> \"A sacrifice,” he says, \"will be offered in the fire tonight.\" He holds up my hair.  </span><br><br>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\"> \"It’s an equal exchange,\" he says. \"The price you pay for being welcomed into the family.”</span><br><br>\r\n\r\n<em>June 26, 2003</em>\r\n\r\n[/toggle]\r\n\r\n[toggle type=\"gray\" title=\"Founder\'s Biography\" active=\"Chandra Alexandre is a Tantric Bhairavi, an initiator in the tradition of Kali, serving SHARANYA as clergy. She is a householder and a regular pilgrim to the birthplace of Tantra in northeastern India, where she studies and practices with her teachers. Chandra was first initiated into the mysteries of the dark goddess in 1998 in Puri, Orissa on the dakshinacara path, and then, five years later, she accepted the non-dualistic path of vamacara Tantra at Kamakhya outside of Guwahati in Assam. Her maternal grandmother was her first guide into the ways of spirit in the world.\r\n\r\nOn her initial return from India, Chandra founded SHARANYA to serve those committed to embodied and engaged spirituality for social justice and transformation. This was the birth of Sha’can, an authentic lineage tradition of Shakta Tantra contextualized and made relevant for people and lands distant from the source. Chandra and community complement San Francisco Bay Area worship, events and services with an online mystery school, Kali Vidya, to serve an international community of spiritual seekers and lovers of Maa.\r\n\r\nChandra is known for her passionate engagement of theory and practice. She holds a PhD in Asian & Comparative Studies from the California Institute of Integral Studies, a Doctor of Ministry degree from Wisdom University (formerly the University of Creation Spirituality), and an MBA in sustainable management from Presidio Graduate School. In addition to SHARANYA, she engages her commitment through several community-based nonprofit organizations committed to educational equity, poverty alleviation and the empowerment of women and girls.\r\n\r\nOriginally from New York, Chandra has, since 1995, called San Francisco home. She is also conjurer of “The Aghori Bakery: Everyday Spiritual Conversations” (forthcoming).\"]\r\n\r\n[testimonials category=\"origins\" time=\"10\" effect=\"fade\" ]\r\n\r\n&nbsp;','Origins','','inherit','open','open','','99123-revision-v1','','','2013-09-11 23:20:21','2013-09-12 06:20:21','',99123,'Birthed in India over 15 years ago, SHARANYA exists to empower seeds of change on individual, collective, and planetary levels towards healing, respect, responsibility, and the fullest awareness of an interconnected, interrelated cosmic reality. Our origi',0,'revision','',0),(100003,2,'2013-09-11 23:22:26','2013-09-12 06:22:26','Birthed in India over 15 years ago, SHARANYA exists to empower seeds of change on individual, collective, and planetary levels towards healing, respect, responsibility, and the fullest awareness of an interconnected, interrelated cosmic reality. Our origins are rooted in a commitment to social justice for the promotion of peace and the (r)evolution of consciousness across space-time realities.<br><br>\r\n\r\n&nbsp;\r\n\r\n[toggle type=\"gray\" title=\"Our Temple in India\" active=\"\"]\r\n\r\n<a href=\"http://sharanya.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/MBCMTemple.jpg\"><img class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-99537 imgborder\" alt=\"Maa Batakali Mandir (Puri)\" src=\"http://sharanya.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/MBCMTemple.jpg\" /></a>\r\n<h3 style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\">Constitution of Maa Batakali Sanskrutika Parisada</span></h3>\r\n<span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\">The Maa Batakali Cultural Mission\r\n</span><br>\r\n<span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\">Balisahi, Puri Town, Puri  752 001 Orissa</span><br>\r\n\r\nRegistration Number: 2802/211/91-92<br>\r\nFiled and Certified by the Audit Superintendent District Panchayat Office, Puri<br><br>\r\n\r\n<b>Mission Statement:</b>\r\n<ul>To create and nurture a community of life-affirming individuals devoted to Mother Worship and to developing an understanding of how such devotion can positively transform our global community.</ul>\r\n<b>Vision Statement:</b>\r\n<ul>The Maa Batakali Cultural Mission is dedicated to promoting the vision of the world as a global community in Her divine name.</ul>\r\n<b>Aims and Objectives:</b>\r\n<ul>\r\n	<li>To maintain this Mission as a nonprofit public-benefit organization, not organized for the private gain of any person.</li>\r\n	<li>To foster awareness of Goddess worship as a life-affirming path among the global community; and to eradicate erroneous and superstitious beliefs in this regard.</li>\r\n	<li>To organize, develop and execute recreational, cultural and spiritual activities for the community.</li>\r\n	<li>To undertake programs for the establishment of community housing, social forestry and environmental sanitation; et alia.</li>\r\n	<li>To organize, fund and promote Mission Centers for community gatherings, social welfare programs and adult education, including the establishment of a library with emphasis on educational activities for community youth; and to develop various pilot projects to meet the needs of community members.</li>\r\n	<li>To organize outreach programs for those not in or around Mission Centers.</li>\r\n	<li>To undertake projects expressly designed to promote the welfare of Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribe and other economically \"backward\" classes of people, and to promote the development of cooperative ideas and enterprise among them and the community at large.</li>\r\n	<li>To draw up schemes for the rehabilitation of antisocial persons; i.e., those with problems related to alcohol and drug abuse, and to assist their families as required.</li>\r\n	<li>To educate about and mobilize peacefully against sati, dowry, beggary, caste crime and similar social ills.</li>\r\n	<li>To publish a monthly newsletter, community bulletin and other educational materials for the promotion of the spiritual and cultural philosophy of the Mission.</li>\r\n	<li>To help provide relief, through community efforts, for those effected by natural calamities and other emergencies.</li>\r\n	<li>To promote cultural exchange of ideas and beliefs throughout India and the world.</li>\r\n	<li>To assist in providing legal aid to the needy and the poor.</li>\r\n	<li>To establish sister organizations, in the United States and elsewhere, in order to promote the vision of the Mission worldwide.</li>\r\n	<li>To develop fundraising schemes for the future growth and maintenance of the Mission and its associations.</li>\r\n</ul>\r\n[/toggle]\r\n\r\n[toggle type=\"gray\" title=\"Origin Story: Part I\" active=\"\"]<a href=\"http://sharanya.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/ShyamPuriWeb.jpg\"><img class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-99541 imgborder\" alt=\"Shyam Sundar Dash at Maabatakali Mandir\" src=\"http://sharanya.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/ShyamPuriWeb.jpg\" /></a>It\'s summer in India, the time when the air is thick, sweat plentiful, and the monsoon\'s rains swell the skies and the streets. I have come here, to this land of spice, spirit and the sacred, to further my work in ecofeminism by looking at women\'s spiritual connections to social justice and activism on behalf of the environment. I am not here long, however, before Maa, the Divine Mother, shows me that there\'s more to my quest than I originally thought.<br><br>\r\n\r\nSpeaking to a guide at my hotel, I tell him, \"I need to find a temple to the Goddess.\"<br><br>\r\n\r\n\"Which one,\" he asks. \"Which goddess?\"<br><br>\r\n\r\n\"Well, Kali,\" I state hesitatingly, unsure of how my request will be received.  The man looks me up and down, trying to determine where I fit in the spectrum of visitors with which he has to deal and from which he makes his livelihood.<br><br>\r\n\r\n\"Wouldn\'t you rather visit Lord Jaganath?,\" he wonders. Lord of the Universe, Jaganath, is honored at this time in Puri (the eastern <i>dham</i>, one of the sacred compass points in India) in a huge festival to which hundreds of thousands flock each year. Together with his brother and sister, this is the only time the Lord leaves the mandir (temple). He\'s on a family outing to his summer home across the town and everyone comes out to get a glimpse of the royal family.<br><br>\r\n\r\nI\'m restless though, and on a mission. It is Kali I need to see and no one else. That She is responsible for my getting through a political uprising in Digha at the southern end of West Bengal unscathed has been made perfectly clear to me. I have come here to give thanks and find peace by the ocean waters. Sensing my urgency, the gentleman kindly calls to an auto-rickshaw driver with a shrug, not wanting to engage me further about goddesses. The driver arrives.<br><br>\r\n\r\n\"Kali mandir,\" I say to him as he pulls up alongside us. At this point, I have no idea how many homes Maa has here in Puri. After receiving no further instructions, the driver takes off towards the center of town. I later find out (after several unsuccessful attempts to again visit the place to which I am now heading) that there are at least four Kali temples. Reaching our destination, I buy a hibiscus mala, a garland of her sacred flower, and add that to my puja (worship) basket. Into it too go coconut, juicy betel nut and other sweets to delight Her. My offering is noteworthy at this temple for its size; but I need to thank the Goddess for getting me out of Digha alive by bringing something special.<br><br>\r\n\r\nThe pujari at Maa Batakali Mandir is a Brahmin priest with two sons. In his devotion and gratitude for the goddess having given him these sons, Shyam has built this temple. A small roadside mandir, passersby usually drop rupees on the temple steps on their daily rounds. It is nothing too fancy, but Maa here is absolutely resplendent.<br><br>\r\n\r\nIn his time, Shyam has doubled as a government worker, making regular trips back and forth from his office to tend to Maa and her devotees. Now retired, he tends to the temple and its congregation of worshipers every day for morning prayers and evening <i>aarati</i> (a beautiful celebration with lights and offerings). As Shyam sees me approach for the first time, he stares. He asks me directly why I am there, and although he is not angry, his disposition and directness can easily be mistaken for exactly that at first. Truly, he\'s just curious, but I am startled by his question.<br><br>\r\n\r\n\"Are you ISKON?\" he demands.<br><br>\r\n\r\nSuspense broken, I let out a nervous laugh. The International Society of Krishna Consciousness (a.k.a. Hare Krishnas) has never drawn me, however. Puri is full of Western devotees. Lord Jaganath, I learn, is, like Krishna whom those in ISKON worship, one of the ten incarnations of Lord Vishnu, the God of Preservation and one of the main Hindu deities.<br><br>\r\n\r\n\"No,\" I reply, \"I came to thank the Goddess.\"  After a few more words, Shyam accepts my offering basket, performing puja on my behalf. He asks my name in order to conduct the rites. When we\'re through, he asks why I\'m there. But my eyes are transfixed on Maa\'s image, and I can only point to my heart by way of explanation. \"She\'s here,\" I manage to say, and everything that has been kept inside until now in this challenging land of contrasts streams out through my eyes.<br><br>\r\n\r\nBetween June and August of 1998, I live in Puri. My friends up north forgive me for not coming back to study. My work on the spiritual motivations for grassroots environmental movements in India is put on hold. It was my pause when Shyam asked after the ritual, \"Will you come visit my house?\" that changed not only the course of my research, but also my life. Aware of India\'s potential for surprises, I held a moment of silence before responding and internally questioned his invitation and motivations.<br><br>\r\n\r\nFeeling inside, I sensed that this was an offering, and a door was opening to me that might never open again. In the pause, I could see Her face dimly, and I wondered in my rational mind about my work and Shyam\'s intentions. It took me three days to surrender to the feeling and my vision of Her beckoning. After careful thought and some time meditating with the ocean\'s wisdom, I said yes. I returned to meet my new teacher and his family.<br><br>\r\n\r\nThe more time I spend in Puri, the more I realize that Goddess is working in quite mysterious ways and that Shyam is no typical Brahmin priest.  As time passes, I learn the extent to which She is working through him, and I absorb many levels of Her teachings; some straightforward, others much more obtuse.<br><br>\r\n\r\nAfter much work, diksha, or initiation into Kali\'s mysteries is the next profound unfolding of my spiritual journey. The day comes on the August new moon, and I am thrilled when I realize it will be August 2nd, the festival of the harvest often called Lughnasad (or Lammas) in the earth-based Western calendar. It is as though Maa has answered my burning question: Can I do this? The synchronicity of timing does not escape me, and I feel She is telling me that I can have it both ways: I can be Her priestess as a Witch and a Hindu, walking as a Goddess worshiper wherever I may be in the world. To Her, I imagine, there is no distinction.<br><br>\r\n\r\nThe initiation is radical by most Hindu standards. Shyam is a Brahmin priest, and I am not only a westerner but also a woman; and women in India are not initiated by Brahmins. Following the Vedas in his public work, Shyam also practices Tantra, and this is the in-road to Maa that is clearly appropriate. Tantricks care not of my birth, only my longing. But perhaps there would be less to explain and fewer staring eyes as we sit working together at the temple were he to be more public about the various faces of his devotion. As Shyam manages to satisfy people\'s natural curiosity with his answers to their queries and suspicious looks, I pretend not to notice the robust number of visitors to the temple in the evenings after the gates have closed and we have begun our private work and evening prayers together.<a href=\"http://sharanya.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/ShyamSundarDashChandraAlexandrePuriMBCM1-e1377156643651.jpg\"><img class=\"size-full wp-image-99707 imgborder alignright\" alt=\"Chandra Alexandre and Shyam Sundar Dash at Puri Mandir\" src=\"http://sharanya.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/ShyamSundarDashChandraAlexandrePuriMBCM1-e1377156643651.jpg\" width=\"228\" height=\"246\" /></a>\r\n\r\nMy practice deepens after initiation, and on Her sacred day of Kali Puja some months later in October, I sit at the feet of the goddess in the temple, a spot that locals cannot come near. It is nearing midnight and the heat of the day lifting off the earth combined with the hot lamps that light Her image for passersby makes the sweat drip down my arms, makes my sari blouse feel even tighter than it already is, and makes me wish I couldn\'t see the bugs and ants crawling on my feet and ankles. I honor Her by pouring <i>ghee</i> (clarified butter) for the <i>homa</i> (fire offering) ceremony, and I remember that I am Shyam\'s first <i>chela</i> (student), a position of honor in the lineage tradition from which he comes.<br><br>\r\n\r\nI tend to my responsibilities dutifully as the Candi Path verses resonate off the temple walls and expand into the night air. In moments of quiet, I think about the day Shyam said he\'d been waiting for me, how he said his own guru had told him that one day, he would be bringing someone other than his sons to the path. I remember how Shyam said he had found the signs in my face the very first day we had met at the temple...signs telling him that I was the student to which his guru had referred. We finish our time together and he tells me the most important thing: \"Go! Go back to your home land, America, and spread Mother Worship!\"<br><br>\r\n\r\nUpon my return to the States, SHARANYA is born and my dedication to Kali Maa takes root with the formation of community on western shores. The wisdom of the ocean is remembered.<br><br>\r\n\r\n<em>August 2, 1998</em>\r\n\r\n<hr />\r\n\r\n<strong>Chandra Alexandre</strong> is the founding director of SHARANYA. She received <i>namakarana samskara</i> and her first <em>diksha </em>from Shyam Sundar Dash (Founder &amp; President and residing Priest of the Maa Batakali Temple in Puri) in 1998. With this, the SHARANYA kaula are part of the Bharadvaja gotra by which we honor our clan wave of spiritual ancestors.\r\n\r\n[/toggle]\r\n\r\n[toggle type=\"gray\" title=\"Origin Story: Part II\" active=\"\"]<a href=\"http://sharanya.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/KamakhyaMandirWeb.jpg\"><img class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-99540 imgborder\" alt=\"Kamakhya Mandir\" src=\"http://sharanya.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/KamakhyaMandirWeb.jpg\" /></a>\"Babaji wants to see you.\"<br><br>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\"> I’m walking barefoot down the muddy side of Nilachal Hill at Kamakhya in northeastern India after witnessing one of the most beautiful Sanskrit recitations I have ever heard. The white kurtas of the Brahmin men gathered in a circle around a sacred fire stand in marked contrast though to the throngs of red-clad women waiting in long lines to see their Mother. Both, I imagine, receive Her blessings. I am in northeastern India, in Assam, participating in an annual Tantrick pilgrimage to the seat of the goddess’ power, the place where her <i>yoni</i>, or sexual organ, resides on Earth.  It’s a powerful place, a place of contrasts where all come together, whether Vaishnava, Shaivite or Shakta, to honor Maa. It\'s a place, one might say, where all unites in Her name.  </span><br><br>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\"> Babji, I learn, is a 400-year old Aghori. A believer in the preeminence of the divine as Shiva, pure consciousness, he is a practitioner of the non-dualistic or \"left-hand\" Tantric rites. In short, this means that he adheres to a rather literal interpretation of what other Tantrics might do symbolically in ritual and devotion on the path to enlightenment. He meditates, for example, not only on <i>yantras</i> (sacred diagrams), but on yantras in cremation grounds on top of corpses; he drinks wine and liquor; he smokes hash and takes in other natural mind-altering substances. He believes that the pathway to the divine is through the body, through this world, through all of creation. His accepts it all, the pure and impure, the wicked and sane, as sacred. He is a radical non-dualist—one who believes in the One as well as in the reality of the phenomenal world. His path is fast and furious, sweet and sublime, potentially off-putting at the same time that it attracts wonder, excitement, and awe.  He loves Maa. </span><br><br>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\"> The three black-clad initiates standing outside his cave-like shelter on the hillside welcome me in. I meet Babji. He’s old but looks young, his face the only give-away that he’s been around the block a few times. His body, otherwise, is baby-like. He looks pregnant, a little round belly on a very thin frame. I sit cross-legged in front of him. To his left, the fire pit. To his right, a <i>kapala</i>, or human skull cup from which wine and other mind-altering substances are drunk, sits upturned. He calls me \"Beti,\" or daughter. Two followers of his are there; his initiates have left us alone. The woman wipes the snot dripping from Babaji\'s nose with a handkerchief and then moves to mop sweat from his forehead. No one, it appears, is immune to this sweltering summer heat. The Indian devotee next to her, perhaps her husband, has had far too much <i>bhang</i> (Cannabis) or something; his eyes have trouble steadying on me. </span><br><br>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\">My Sanskrit is better than my Hindi at this point. Fortunately, I can make out meaning from of the ritual language Babaji is using. The man helps a little, but his English is as poor as my Hindi. We quiet. Suddenly, Babaji grabs me. He pulls me to him with unsuspected strength. Face against face, I feel the bristles of his long beard against my cheek, and I feel coolness where the snot has been touching. I am startled, but now I’m held. I am held firmly, with apparent intention. The touch is not violent or inappropriate. The strength is deep and calming. I stay quiet and listen inside to my belly and instincts. Presence prevails, and I allow myself to trust the moment. Just then, Babaji begins. His mouth now pressed to my ear, he sounds an ancient mantra. My heart trembles, my eyes close, and I go inward. I surrender to these sounds, soaking in the ancient reverberations, feeling in them the voices of the lineage, the guttural utterances of vibrations across time and space. All enter my ear. All penetrate my soul.  </span><br><br>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\"> Moments pass and I eventually sit back upright in silence. One moment, then two. From deep inside, the sobbing begins. There’s no rational thought, no rhyme or reason, just the moment and my feeling of tremendous love and connection to all that is…I recognize a touch of <i>sat chit ananada</i>: being, consciousness, bliss. My forehead now on Babji\'s knee, he pats my head and strokes my hair. I sit back upright. Silence. One moment, then two. Babaji reaches to his left where a rusty knife about four inches long sits waiting. I follow his motion with my eyes. Instantly, I am terrified. I have visions of blood. Stop! One moment, then two. Stop! This time, it’s an admonition to remember. Allow yourself to be taken, it says. You’ve been here before; you know what\'s happening. It\'s safe. Breathe. </span><br><br>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\">Babaji lowers my head with his hand and takes a fist-full of hair from my crown. He pulls hard enough to undo strands from my braid. Close to the scalp he cuts with the knife. Old and well-used, it doesn’t cut very well.  He pulls harder to get through the thickness of my mane and it hurts for an instant. I deepen my surrender. He cuts. He finishes, and I sit back up. Dazed, with my awareness in another place, I still must know.  </span><br><br>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\"> \"What,\" I ask, “are you going to do with it?\"  </span><br><br>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\"> \"A sacrifice,” he says, \"will be offered in the fire tonight.\" He holds up my hair.  </span><br><br>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\"> \"It’s an equal exchange,\" he says. \"The price you pay for being welcomed into the family.”</span><br><br>\r\n\r\n<em>June 26, 2003</em>\r\n\r\n[/toggle]\r\n\r\n[toggle type=\"gray\" title=\"Founder\'s Biography\" active=\"Chandra Alexandre is a Tantric Bhairavi, an initiator in the tradition of Kali, serving SHARANYA as clergy. She is a householder and a regular pilgrim to the birthplace of Tantra in northeastern India, where she studies and practices with her teachers. Chandra was first initiated into the mysteries of the dark goddess in 1998 in Puri, Orissa on the dakshinacara path, and then, five years later, she accepted the non-dualistic path of vamacara Tantra at Kamakhya outside of Guwahati in Assam. Her maternal grandmother was her first guide into the ways of spirit in the world.\r\n\r\nOn her initial return from India, Chandra founded SHARANYA to serve those committed to embodied and engaged spirituality for social justice and transformation. This was the birth of Sha’can, an authentic lineage tradition of Shakta Tantra contextualized and made relevant for people and lands distant from the source. Chandra and community complement San Francisco Bay Area worship, events and services with an online mystery school, Kali Vidya, to serve an international community of spiritual seekers and lovers of Maa.\r\n\r\nChandra is known for her passionate engagement of theory and practice. She holds a PhD in Asian & Comparative Studies from the California Institute of Integral Studies, a Doctor of Ministry degree from Wisdom University (formerly the University of Creation Spirituality), and an MBA in sustainable management from Presidio Graduate School. In addition to SHARANYA, she engages her commitment through several community-based nonprofit organizations committed to educational equity, poverty alleviation and the empowerment of women and girls.\r\n\r\nOriginally from New York, Chandra has, since 1995, called San Francisco home. She is also conjurer of <i>The Aghori Bakery: Everyday Spiritual Conversations</i> (forthcoming).\"]\r\n\r\n[testimonials category=\"origins\" time=\"10\" effect=\"fade\" ]\r\n\r\n&nbsp;','Origins','','inherit','open','open','','99123-revision-v1','','','2013-09-11 23:22:26','2013-09-12 06:22:26','',99123,'Birthed in India over 15 years ago, SHARANYA exists to empower seeds of change on individual, collective, and planetary levels towards healing, respect, responsibility, and the fullest awareness of an interconnected, interrelated cosmic reality. Our origi',0,'revision','',0),(100004,2,'2013-09-11 23:26:40','2013-09-12 06:26:40','Birthed in India over 15 years ago, SHARANYA exists to empower seeds of change on individual, collective, and planetary levels towards healing, respect, responsibility, and the fullest awareness of an interconnected, interrelated cosmic reality. Our origins are rooted in a commitment to social justice for the promotion of peace and the (r)evolution of consciousness across space-time realities.<br><br>\r\n\r\n&nbsp;\r\n\r\n[toggle type=\"gray\" title=\"Our Temple in India\" active=\"\"]\r\n\r\n<a href=\"http://sharanya.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/MBCMTemple.jpg\"><img class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-99537 imgborder\" alt=\"Maa Batakali Mandir (Puri)\" src=\"http://sharanya.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/MBCMTemple.jpg\" /></a>\r\n<h3 style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\">Constitution of Maa Batakali Sanskrutika Parisada</span></h3>\r\n<span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\">The Maa Batakali Cultural Mission\r\n</span><br>\r\n<span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\">Balisahi, Puri Town, Puri  752 001 Orissa</span><br>\r\n\r\nRegistration Number: 2802/211/91-92<br>\r\nFiled and Certified by the Audit Superintendent District Panchayat Office, Puri<br><br>\r\n\r\n<b>Mission Statement:</b>\r\n<ul>To create and nurture a community of life-affirming individuals devoted to Mother Worship and to developing an understanding of how such devotion can positively transform our global community.</ul>\r\n<b>Vision Statement:</b>\r\n<ul>The Maa Batakali Cultural Mission is dedicated to promoting the vision of the world as a global community in Her divine name.</ul>\r\n<b>Aims and Objectives:</b>\r\n<ul>\r\n	<li>To maintain this Mission as a nonprofit public-benefit organization, not organized for the private gain of any person.</li>\r\n	<li>To foster awareness of Goddess worship as a life-affirming path among the global community; and to eradicate erroneous and superstitious beliefs in this regard.</li>\r\n	<li>To organize, develop and execute recreational, cultural and spiritual activities for the community.</li>\r\n	<li>To undertake programs for the establishment of community housing, social forestry and environmental sanitation; et alia.</li>\r\n	<li>To organize, fund and promote Mission Centers for community gatherings, social welfare programs and adult education, including the establishment of a library with emphasis on educational activities for community youth; and to develop various pilot projects to meet the needs of community members.</li>\r\n	<li>To organize outreach programs for those not in or around Mission Centers.</li>\r\n	<li>To undertake projects expressly designed to promote the welfare of Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribe and other economically \"backward\" classes of people, and to promote the development of cooperative ideas and enterprise among them and the community at large.</li>\r\n	<li>To draw up schemes for the rehabilitation of antisocial persons; i.e., those with problems related to alcohol and drug abuse, and to assist their families as required.</li>\r\n	<li>To educate about and mobilize peacefully against sati, dowry, beggary, caste crime and similar social ills.</li>\r\n	<li>To publish a monthly newsletter, community bulletin and other educational materials for the promotion of the spiritual and cultural philosophy of the Mission.</li>\r\n	<li>To help provide relief, through community efforts, for those effected by natural calamities and other emergencies.</li>\r\n	<li>To promote cultural exchange of ideas and beliefs throughout India and the world.</li>\r\n	<li>To assist in providing legal aid to the needy and the poor.</li>\r\n	<li>To establish sister organizations, in the United States and elsewhere, in order to promote the vision of the Mission worldwide.</li>\r\n	<li>To develop fundraising schemes for the future growth and maintenance of the Mission and its associations.</li>\r\n</ul>\r\n[/toggle]\r\n\r\n[toggle type=\"gray\" title=\"Origin Story: Part I\" active=\"\"]<a href=\"http://sharanya.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/ShyamPuriWeb.jpg\"><img class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-99541 imgborder\" alt=\"Shyam Sundar Dash at Maabatakali Mandir\" src=\"http://sharanya.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/ShyamPuriWeb.jpg\" /></a>It\'s summer in India, the time when the air is thick, sweat plentiful, and the monsoon\'s rains swell the skies and the streets. I have come here, to this land of spice, spirit and the sacred, to further my work in ecofeminism by looking at women\'s spiritual connections to social justice and activism on behalf of the environment. I am not here long, however, before Maa, the Divine Mother, shows me that there\'s more to my quest than I originally thought.<br><br>\r\n\r\nSpeaking to a guide at my hotel, I tell him, \"I need to find a temple to the Goddess.\"<br><br>\r\n\r\n\"Which one,\" he asks. \"Which goddess?\"<br><br>\r\n\r\n\"Well, Kali,\" I state hesitatingly, unsure of how my request will be received.  The man looks me up and down, trying to determine where I fit in the spectrum of visitors with which he has to deal and from which he makes his livelihood.<br><br>\r\n\r\n\"Wouldn\'t you rather visit Lord Jaganath?,\" he wonders. Lord of the Universe, Jaganath, is honored at this time in Puri (the eastern <i>dham</i>, one of the sacred compass points in India) in a huge festival to which hundreds of thousands flock each year. Together with his brother and sister, this is the only time the Lord leaves the mandir (temple). He\'s on a family outing to his summer home across the town and everyone comes out to get a glimpse of the royal family.<br><br>\r\n\r\nI\'m restless though, and on a mission. It is Kali I need to see and no one else. That She is responsible for my getting through a political uprising in Digha at the southern end of West Bengal unscathed has been made perfectly clear to me. I have come here to give thanks and find peace by the ocean waters. Sensing my urgency, the gentleman kindly calls to an auto-rickshaw driver with a shrug, not wanting to engage me further about goddesses. The driver arrives.<br><br>\r\n\r\n\"Kali mandir,\" I say to him as he pulls up alongside us. At this point, I have no idea how many homes Maa has here in Puri. After receiving no further instructions, the driver takes off towards the center of town. I later find out (after several unsuccessful attempts to again visit the place to which I am now heading) that there are at least four Kali temples. Reaching our destination, I buy a hibiscus mala, a garland of her sacred flower, and add that to my puja (worship) basket. Into it too go coconut, juicy betel nut and other sweets to delight Her. My offering is noteworthy at this temple for its size; but I need to thank the Goddess for getting me out of Digha alive by bringing something special.<br><br>\r\n\r\nThe pujari at Maa Batakali Mandir is a Brahmin priest with two sons. In his devotion and gratitude for the goddess having given him these sons, Shyam has built this temple. A small roadside mandir, passersby usually drop rupees on the temple steps on their daily rounds. It is nothing too fancy, but Maa here is absolutely resplendent.<br><br>\r\n\r\nIn his time, Shyam has doubled as a government worker, making regular trips back and forth from his office to tend to Maa and her devotees. Now retired, he tends to the temple and its congregation of worshipers every day for morning prayers and evening <i>aarati</i> (a beautiful celebration with lights and offerings). As Shyam sees me approach for the first time, he stares. He asks me directly why I am there, and although he is not angry, his disposition and directness can easily be mistaken for exactly that at first. Truly, he\'s just curious, but I am startled by his question.<br><br>\r\n\r\n\"Are you ISKON?\" he demands.<br><br>\r\n\r\nSuspense broken, I let out a nervous laugh. The International Society of Krishna Consciousness (a.k.a. Hare Krishnas) has never drawn me, however. Puri is full of Western devotees. Lord Jaganath, I learn, is, like Krishna whom those in ISKON worship, one of the ten incarnations of Lord Vishnu, the God of Preservation and one of the main Hindu deities.<br><br>\r\n\r\n\"No,\" I reply, \"I came to thank the Goddess.\"  After a few more words, Shyam accepts my offering basket, performing puja on my behalf. He asks my name in order to conduct the rites. When we\'re through, he asks why I\'m there. But my eyes are transfixed on Maa\'s image, and I can only point to my heart by way of explanation. \"She\'s here,\" I manage to say, and everything that has been kept inside until now in this challenging land of contrasts streams out through my eyes.<br><br>\r\n\r\nBetween June and August of 1998, I live in Puri. My friends up north forgive me for not coming back to study. My work on the spiritual motivations for grassroots environmental movements in India is put on hold. It was my pause when Shyam asked after the ritual, \"Will you come visit my house?\" that changed not only the course of my research, but also my life. Aware of India\'s potential for surprises, I held a moment of silence before responding and internally questioned his invitation and motivations.<br><br>\r\n\r\nFeeling inside, I sensed that this was an offering, and a door was opening to me that might never open again. In the pause, I could see Her face dimly, and I wondered in my rational mind about my work and Shyam\'s intentions. It took me three days to surrender to the feeling and my vision of Her beckoning. After careful thought and some time meditating with the ocean\'s wisdom, I said yes. I returned to meet my new teacher and his family.<br><br>\r\n\r\nThe more time I spend in Puri, the more I realize that Goddess is working in quite mysterious ways and that Shyam is no typical Brahmin priest.  As time passes, I learn the extent to which She is working through him, and I absorb many levels of Her teachings; some straightforward, others much more obtuse.<br><br>\r\n\r\nAfter much work, diksha, or initiation into Kali\'s mysteries is the next profound unfolding of my spiritual journey. The day comes on the August new moon, and I am thrilled when I realize it will be August 2nd, the festival of the harvest often called Lughnasad (or Lammas) in the earth-based Western calendar. It is as though Maa has answered my burning question: Can I do this? The synchronicity of timing does not escape me, and I feel She is telling me that I can have it both ways: I can be Her priestess as a Witch and a Hindu, walking as a Goddess worshiper wherever I may be in the world. To Her, I imagine, there is no distinction.<br><br>\r\n\r\nThe initiation is radical by most Hindu standards. Shyam is a Brahmin priest, and I am not only a westerner but also a woman; and women in India are not initiated by Brahmins. Following the Vedas in his public work, Shyam also practices Tantra, and this is the in-road to Maa that is clearly appropriate. Tantricks care not of my birth, only my longing. But perhaps there would be less to explain and fewer staring eyes as we sit working together at the temple were he to be more public about the various faces of his devotion. As Shyam manages to satisfy people\'s natural curiosity with his answers to their queries and suspicious looks, I pretend not to notice the robust number of visitors to the temple in the evenings after the gates have closed and we have begun our private work and evening prayers together.<a href=\"http://sharanya.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/ShyamSundarDashChandraAlexandrePuriMBCM1-e1377156643651.jpg\"><img class=\"size-full wp-image-99707 imgborder alignright\" alt=\"Chandra Alexandre and Shyam Sundar Dash at Puri Mandir\" src=\"http://sharanya.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/ShyamSundarDashChandraAlexandrePuriMBCM1-e1377156643651.jpg\" width=\"228\" height=\"246\" /></a>\r\n\r\nMy practice deepens after initiation, and on Her sacred day of Kali Puja some months later in October, I sit at the feet of the goddess in the temple, a spot that locals cannot come near. It is nearing midnight and the heat of the day lifting off the earth combined with the hot lamps that light Her image for passersby makes the sweat drip down my arms, makes my sari blouse feel even tighter than it already is, and makes me wish I couldn\'t see the bugs and ants crawling on my feet and ankles. I honor Her by pouring <i>ghee</i> (clarified butter) for the <i>homa</i> (fire offering) ceremony, and I remember that I am Shyam\'s first <i>chela</i> (student), a position of honor in the lineage tradition from which he comes.<br><br>\r\n\r\nI tend to my responsibilities dutifully as the Candi Path verses resonate off the temple walls and expand into the night air. In moments of quiet, I think about the day Shyam said he\'d been waiting for me, how he said his own guru had told him that one day, he would be bringing someone other than his sons to the path. I remember how Shyam said he had found the signs in my face the very first day we had met at the temple...signs telling him that I was the student to which his guru had referred. We finish our time together and he tells me the most important thing: \"Go! Go back to your home land, America, and spread Mother Worship!\"<br><br>\r\n\r\nUpon my return to the States, SHARANYA is born and my dedication to Kali Maa takes root with the formation of community on western shores. The wisdom of the ocean is remembered.<br><br>\r\n\r\n<em>August 2, 1998</em>\r\n\r\n<hr />\r\n\r\n<strong>Chandra Alexandre</strong> is the founding director of SHARANYA. She received <i>namakarana samskara</i> and her first <em>diksha </em>from Shyam Sundar Dash (Founder &amp; President and residing Priest of the Maa Batakali Temple in Puri) in 1998. With this, the SHARANYA kaula are part of the Bharadvaja gotra by which we honor our clan wave of spiritual ancestors.\r\n\r\n[/toggle]\r\n\r\n[toggle type=\"gray\" title=\"Origin Story: Part II\" active=\"\"]<a href=\"http://sharanya.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/KamakhyaMandirWeb.jpg\"><img class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-99540 imgborder\" alt=\"Kamakhya Mandir\" src=\"http://sharanya.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/KamakhyaMandirWeb.jpg\" /></a>\"Babaji wants to see you.\"<br><br>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\"> I’m walking barefoot down the muddy side of Nilachal Hill at Kamakhya in northeastern India after witnessing one of the most beautiful Sanskrit recitations I have ever heard. The white kurtas of the Brahmin men gathered in a circle around a sacred fire stand in marked contrast though to the throngs of red-clad women waiting in long lines to see their Mother. Both, I imagine, receive Her blessings. I am in northeastern India, in Assam, participating in an annual Tantrick pilgrimage to the seat of the goddess’ power, the place where her <i>yoni</i>, or sexual organ, resides on Earth.  It’s a powerful place, a place of contrasts where all come together, whether Vaishnava, Shaivite or Shakta, to honor Maa. It\'s a place, one might say, where all unites in Her name.  </span><br><br>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\"> Babji, I learn, is a 400-year old Aghori. A believer in the preeminence of the divine as Shiva, pure consciousness, he is a practitioner of the non-dualistic or \"left-hand\" Tantric rites. In short, this means that he adheres to a rather literal interpretation of what other Tantrics might do symbolically in ritual and devotion on the path to enlightenment. He meditates, for example, not only on <i>yantras</i> (sacred diagrams), but on yantras in cremation grounds on top of corpses; he drinks wine and liquor; he smokes hash and takes in other natural mind-altering substances. He believes that the pathway to the divine is through the body, through this world, through all of creation. His accepts it all, the pure and impure, the wicked and sane, as sacred. He is a radical non-dualist—one who believes in the One as well as in the reality of the phenomenal world. His path is fast and furious, sweet and sublime, potentially off-putting at the same time that it attracts wonder, excitement, and awe.  He loves Maa. </span><br><br>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\"> The three black-clad initiates standing outside his cave-like shelter on the hillside welcome me in. I meet Babji. He’s old but looks young, his face the only give-away that he’s been around the block a few times. His body, otherwise, is baby-like. He looks pregnant, a little round belly on a very thin frame. I sit cross-legged in front of him. To his left, the fire pit. To his right, a <i>kapala</i>, or human skull cup from which wine and other mind-altering substances are drunk, sits upturned. He calls me \"Beti,\" or daughter. Two followers of his are there; his initiates have left us alone. The woman wipes the snot dripping from Babaji\'s nose with a handkerchief and then moves to mop sweat from his forehead. No one, it appears, is immune to this sweltering summer heat. The Indian devotee next to her, perhaps her husband, has had far too much <i>bhang</i> (Cannabis) or something; his eyes have trouble steadying on me. </span><br><br>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\">My Sanskrit is better than my Hindi at this point. Fortunately, I can make out meaning from of the ritual language Babaji is using. The man helps a little, but his English is as poor as my Hindi. We quiet. Suddenly, Babaji grabs me. He pulls me to him with unsuspected strength. Face against face, I feel the bristles of his long beard against my cheek, and I feel coolness where the snot has been touching. I am startled, but now I’m held. I am held firmly, with apparent intention. The touch is not violent or inappropriate. The strength is deep and calming. I stay quiet and listen inside to my belly and instincts. Presence prevails, and I allow myself to trust the moment. Just then, Babaji begins. His mouth now pressed to my ear, he sounds an ancient mantra. My heart trembles, my eyes close, and I go inward. I surrender to these sounds, soaking in the ancient reverberations, feeling in them the voices of the lineage, the guttural utterances of vibrations across time and space. All enter my ear. All penetrate my soul.  </span><br><br>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\"> Moments pass and I eventually sit back upright in silence. One moment, then two. From deep inside, the sobbing begins. There’s no rational thought, no rhyme or reason, just the moment and my feeling of tremendous love and connection to all that is…I recognize a touch of <i>sat chit ananada</i>: being, consciousness, bliss. My forehead now on Babji\'s knee, he pats my head and strokes my hair. I sit back upright. Silence. One moment, then two. Babaji reaches to his left where a rusty knife about four inches long sits waiting. I follow his motion with my eyes. Instantly, I am terrified. I have visions of blood. Stop! One moment, then two. Stop! This time, it’s an admonition to remember. Allow yourself to be taken, it says. You’ve been here before; you know what\'s happening. It\'s safe. Breathe. </span><br><br>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\">Babaji lowers my head with his hand and takes a fist-full of hair from my crown. He pulls hard enough to undo strands from my braid. Close to the scalp he cuts with the knife. Old and well-used, it doesn’t cut very well.  He pulls harder to get through the thickness of my mane and it hurts for an instant. I deepen my surrender. He cuts. He finishes, and I sit back up. Dazed, with my awareness in another place, I still must know.  </span><br><br>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\"> \"What,\" I ask, “are you going to do with it?\"  </span><br><br>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\"> \"A sacrifice,” he says, \"will be offered in the fire tonight.\" He holds up my hair.  </span><br><br>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\"> \"It’s an equal exchange,\" he says. \"The price you pay for being welcomed into the family.”</span><br><br>\r\n\r\n<em>June 26, 2003</em>\r\n\r\n[/toggle]\r\n\r\n[toggle type=\"gray\" title=\"Founder\'s Biography\" active=\"\"]Chandra Alexandre is a Tantric Bhairavi, an initiator in the tradition of Kali, serving SHARANYA as clergy. She is a householder and a regular pilgrim to the birthplace of Tantra in northeastern India, where she studies and practices with her teachers. Chandra was first initiated into the mysteries of the dark goddess in 1998 in Puri, Orissa on the dakshinacara path, and then, five years later, she accepted the non-dualistic path of vamacara Tantra at Kamakhya outside of Guwahati in Assam. Her maternal grandmother was her first guide into the ways of spirit in the world.\r\n\r\nOn her initial return from India, Chandra founded SHARANYA to serve those committed to embodied and engaged spirituality for social justice and transformation. This was the birth of Sha’can, an authentic lineage tradition of Shakta Tantra contextualized and made relevant for people and lands distant from the source. Chandra and community complement San Francisco Bay Area worship, events and services with an online mystery school, Kali Vidya, to serve an international community of spiritual seekers and lovers of Maa.\r\n\r\nChandra is known for her passionate engagement of theory and practice. She holds a PhD in Asian & Comparative Studies from the California Institute of Integral Studies, a Doctor of Ministry degree from Wisdom University (formerly the University of Creation Spirituality), and an MBA in sustainable management from Presidio Graduate School. In addition to SHARANYA, she engages her commitment through several community-based nonprofit organizations committed to educational equity, poverty alleviation and the empowerment of women and girls.\r\n\r\nOriginally from New York, Chandra has, since 1995, called San Francisco home. She is also conjurer of <i>The Aghori Bakery: Everyday Spiritual Conversations</i> (forthcoming).[/toggle]\r\n\r\n[testimonials category=\"origins\" time=\"10\" effect=\"fade\" ]\r\n\r\n&nbsp;','Origins','','inherit','open','open','','99123-revision-v1','','','2013-09-11 23:26:40','2013-09-12 06:26:40','',99123,'Birthed in India over 15 years ago, SHARANYA exists to empower seeds of change on individual, collective, and planetary levels towards healing, respect, responsibility, and the fullest awareness of an interconnected, interrelated cosmic reality. Our origi',0,'revision','',0),(100005,2,'2013-09-11 23:27:27','2013-09-12 06:27:27','Birthed in India over 15 years ago, SHARANYA exists to empower seeds of change on individual, collective, and planetary levels towards healing, respect, responsibility, and the fullest awareness of an interconnected, interrelated cosmic reality. Our origins are rooted in a commitment to social justice for the promotion of peace and the (r)evolution of consciousness across space-time realities.<br><br>\r\n\r\n&nbsp;\r\n\r\n[toggle type=\"gray\" title=\"Our Temple in India\" active=\"\"]\r\n\r\n<a href=\"http://sharanya.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/MBCMTemple.jpg\"><img class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-99537 imgborder\" alt=\"Maa Batakali Mandir (Puri)\" src=\"http://sharanya.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/MBCMTemple.jpg\" /></a>\r\n<h3 style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\">Constitution of Maa Batakali Sanskrutika Parisada</span></h3>\r\n<span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\">The Maa Batakali Cultural Mission\r\n</span><br>\r\n<span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\">Balisahi, Puri Town, Puri  752 001 Orissa</span><br>\r\n\r\nRegistration Number: 2802/211/91-92<br>\r\nFiled and Certified by the Audit Superintendent District Panchayat Office, Puri<br><br>\r\n\r\n<b>Mission Statement:</b>\r\n<ul>To create and nurture a community of life-affirming individuals devoted to Mother Worship and to developing an understanding of how such devotion can positively transform our global community.</ul>\r\n<b>Vision Statement:</b>\r\n<ul>The Maa Batakali Cultural Mission is dedicated to promoting the vision of the world as a global community in Her divine name.</ul>\r\n<b>Aims and Objectives:</b>\r\n<ul>\r\n	<li>To maintain this Mission as a nonprofit public-benefit organization, not organized for the private gain of any person.</li>\r\n	<li>To foster awareness of Goddess worship as a life-affirming path among the global community; and to eradicate erroneous and superstitious beliefs in this regard.</li>\r\n	<li>To organize, develop and execute recreational, cultural and spiritual activities for the community.</li>\r\n	<li>To undertake programs for the establishment of community housing, social forestry and environmental sanitation; et alia.</li>\r\n	<li>To organize, fund and promote Mission Centers for community gatherings, social welfare programs and adult education, including the establishment of a library with emphasis on educational activities for community youth; and to develop various pilot projects to meet the needs of community members.</li>\r\n	<li>To organize outreach programs for those not in or around Mission Centers.</li>\r\n	<li>To undertake projects expressly designed to promote the welfare of Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribe and other economically \"backward\" classes of people, and to promote the development of cooperative ideas and enterprise among them and the community at large.</li>\r\n	<li>To draw up schemes for the rehabilitation of antisocial persons; i.e., those with problems related to alcohol and drug abuse, and to assist their families as required.</li>\r\n	<li>To educate about and mobilize peacefully against sati, dowry, beggary, caste crime and similar social ills.</li>\r\n	<li>To publish a monthly newsletter, community bulletin and other educational materials for the promotion of the spiritual and cultural philosophy of the Mission.</li>\r\n	<li>To help provide relief, through community efforts, for those effected by natural calamities and other emergencies.</li>\r\n	<li>To promote cultural exchange of ideas and beliefs throughout India and the world.</li>\r\n	<li>To assist in providing legal aid to the needy and the poor.</li>\r\n	<li>To establish sister organizations, in the United States and elsewhere, in order to promote the vision of the Mission worldwide.</li>\r\n	<li>To develop fundraising schemes for the future growth and maintenance of the Mission and its associations.</li>\r\n</ul>\r\n[/toggle]\r\n\r\n[toggle type=\"gray\" title=\"Origin Story: Part I\" active=\"\"]<a href=\"http://sharanya.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/ShyamPuriWeb.jpg\"><img class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-99541 imgborder\" alt=\"Shyam Sundar Dash at Maabatakali Mandir\" src=\"http://sharanya.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/ShyamPuriWeb.jpg\" /></a>It\'s summer in India, the time when the air is thick, sweat plentiful, and the monsoon\'s rains swell the skies and the streets. I have come here, to this land of spice, spirit and the sacred, to further my work in ecofeminism by looking at women\'s spiritual connections to social justice and activism on behalf of the environment. I am not here long, however, before Maa, the Divine Mother, shows me that there\'s more to my quest than I originally thought.<br><br>\r\n\r\nSpeaking to a guide at my hotel, I tell him, \"I need to find a temple to the Goddess.\"<br><br>\r\n\r\n\"Which one,\" he asks. \"Which goddess?\"<br><br>\r\n\r\n\"Well, Kali,\" I state hesitatingly, unsure of how my request will be received.  The man looks me up and down, trying to determine where I fit in the spectrum of visitors with which he has to deal and from which he makes his livelihood.<br><br>\r\n\r\n\"Wouldn\'t you rather visit Lord Jaganath?,\" he wonders. Lord of the Universe, Jaganath, is honored at this time in Puri (the eastern <i>dham</i>, one of the sacred compass points in India) in a huge festival to which hundreds of thousands flock each year. Together with his brother and sister, this is the only time the Lord leaves the mandir (temple). He\'s on a family outing to his summer home across the town and everyone comes out to get a glimpse of the royal family.<br><br>\r\n\r\nI\'m restless though, and on a mission. It is Kali I need to see and no one else. That She is responsible for my getting through a political uprising in Digha at the southern end of West Bengal unscathed has been made perfectly clear to me. I have come here to give thanks and find peace by the ocean waters. Sensing my urgency, the gentleman kindly calls to an auto-rickshaw driver with a shrug, not wanting to engage me further about goddesses. The driver arrives.<br><br>\r\n\r\n\"Kali mandir,\" I say to him as he pulls up alongside us. At this point, I have no idea how many homes Maa has here in Puri. After receiving no further instructions, the driver takes off towards the center of town. I later find out (after several unsuccessful attempts to again visit the place to which I am now heading) that there are at least four Kali temples. Reaching our destination, I buy a hibiscus mala, a garland of her sacred flower, and add that to my puja (worship) basket. Into it too go coconut, juicy betel nut and other sweets to delight Her. My offering is noteworthy at this temple for its size; but I need to thank the Goddess for getting me out of Digha alive by bringing something special.<br><br>\r\n\r\nThe pujari at Maa Batakali Mandir is a Brahmin priest with two sons. In his devotion and gratitude for the goddess having given him these sons, Shyam has built this temple. A small roadside mandir, passersby usually drop rupees on the temple steps on their daily rounds. It is nothing too fancy, but Maa here is absolutely resplendent.<br><br>\r\n\r\nIn his time, Shyam has doubled as a government worker, making regular trips back and forth from his office to tend to Maa and her devotees. Now retired, he tends to the temple and its congregation of worshipers every day for morning prayers and evening <i>aarati</i> (a beautiful celebration with lights and offerings). As Shyam sees me approach for the first time, he stares. He asks me directly why I am there, and although he is not angry, his disposition and directness can easily be mistaken for exactly that at first. Truly, he\'s just curious, but I am startled by his question.<br><br>\r\n\r\n\"Are you ISKON?\" he demands.<br><br>\r\n\r\nSuspense broken, I let out a nervous laugh. The International Society of Krishna Consciousness (a.k.a. Hare Krishnas) has never drawn me, however. Puri is full of Western devotees. Lord Jaganath, I learn, is, like Krishna whom those in ISKON worship, one of the ten incarnations of Lord Vishnu, the God of Preservation and one of the main Hindu deities.<br><br>\r\n\r\n\"No,\" I reply, \"I came to thank the Goddess.\"  After a few more words, Shyam accepts my offering basket, performing puja on my behalf. He asks my name in order to conduct the rites. When we\'re through, he asks why I\'m there. But my eyes are transfixed on Maa\'s image, and I can only point to my heart by way of explanation. \"She\'s here,\" I manage to say, and everything that has been kept inside until now in this challenging land of contrasts streams out through my eyes.<br><br>\r\n\r\nBetween June and August of 1998, I live in Puri. My friends up north forgive me for not coming back to study. My work on the spiritual motivations for grassroots environmental movements in India is put on hold. It was my pause when Shyam asked after the ritual, \"Will you come visit my house?\" that changed not only the course of my research, but also my life. Aware of India\'s potential for surprises, I held a moment of silence before responding and internally questioned his invitation and motivations.<br><br>\r\n\r\nFeeling inside, I sensed that this was an offering, and a door was opening to me that might never open again. In the pause, I could see Her face dimly, and I wondered in my rational mind about my work and Shyam\'s intentions. It took me three days to surrender to the feeling and my vision of Her beckoning. After careful thought and some time meditating with the ocean\'s wisdom, I said yes. I returned to meet my new teacher and his family.<br><br>\r\n\r\nThe more time I spend in Puri, the more I realize that Goddess is working in quite mysterious ways and that Shyam is no typical Brahmin priest.  As time passes, I learn the extent to which She is working through him, and I absorb many levels of Her teachings; some straightforward, others much more obtuse.<br><br>\r\n\r\nAfter much work, diksha, or initiation into Kali\'s mysteries is the next profound unfolding of my spiritual journey. The day comes on the August new moon, and I am thrilled when I realize it will be August 2nd, the festival of the harvest often called Lughnasad (or Lammas) in the earth-based Western calendar. It is as though Maa has answered my burning question: Can I do this? The synchronicity of timing does not escape me, and I feel She is telling me that I can have it both ways: I can be Her priestess as a Witch and a Hindu, walking as a Goddess worshiper wherever I may be in the world. To Her, I imagine, there is no distinction.<br><br>\r\n\r\nThe initiation is radical by most Hindu standards. Shyam is a Brahmin priest, and I am not only a westerner but also a woman; and women in India are not initiated by Brahmins. Following the Vedas in his public work, Shyam also practices Tantra, and this is the in-road to Maa that is clearly appropriate. Tantricks care not of my birth, only my longing. But perhaps there would be less to explain and fewer staring eyes as we sit working together at the temple were he to be more public about the various faces of his devotion. As Shyam manages to satisfy people\'s natural curiosity with his answers to their queries and suspicious looks, I pretend not to notice the robust number of visitors to the temple in the evenings after the gates have closed and we have begun our private work and evening prayers together.<a href=\"http://sharanya.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/ShyamSundarDashChandraAlexandrePuriMBCM1-e1377156643651.jpg\"><img class=\"size-full wp-image-99707 imgborder alignright\" alt=\"Chandra Alexandre and Shyam Sundar Dash at Puri Mandir\" src=\"http://sharanya.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/ShyamSundarDashChandraAlexandrePuriMBCM1-e1377156643651.jpg\" width=\"228\" height=\"246\" /></a>\r\n\r\nMy practice deepens after initiation, and on Her sacred day of Kali Puja some months later in October, I sit at the feet of the goddess in the temple, a spot that locals cannot come near. It is nearing midnight and the heat of the day lifting off the earth combined with the hot lamps that light Her image for passersby makes the sweat drip down my arms, makes my sari blouse feel even tighter than it already is, and makes me wish I couldn\'t see the bugs and ants crawling on my feet and ankles. I honor Her by pouring <i>ghee</i> (clarified butter) for the <i>homa</i> (fire offering) ceremony, and I remember that I am Shyam\'s first <i>chela</i> (student), a position of honor in the lineage tradition from which he comes.<br><br>\r\n\r\nI tend to my responsibilities dutifully as the Candi Path verses resonate off the temple walls and expand into the night air. In moments of quiet, I think about the day Shyam said he\'d been waiting for me, how he said his own guru had told him that one day, he would be bringing someone other than his sons to the path. I remember how Shyam said he had found the signs in my face the very first day we had met at the temple...signs telling him that I was the student to which his guru had referred. We finish our time together and he tells me the most important thing: \"Go! Go back to your home land, America, and spread Mother Worship!\"<br><br>\r\n\r\nUpon my return to the States, SHARANYA is born and my dedication to Kali Maa takes root with the formation of community on western shores. The wisdom of the ocean is remembered.<br><br>\r\n\r\n<em>August 2, 1998</em>\r\n\r\n<hr />\r\n\r\n<strong>Chandra Alexandre</strong> is the founding director of SHARANYA. She received <i>namakarana samskara</i> and her first <em>diksha </em>from Shyam Sundar Dash (Founder &amp; President and residing Priest of the Maa Batakali Temple in Puri) in 1998. With this, the SHARANYA kaula are part of the Bharadvaja gotra by which we honor our clan wave of spiritual ancestors.\r\n\r\n[/toggle]\r\n\r\n[toggle type=\"gray\" title=\"Origin Story: Part II\" active=\"\"]<a href=\"http://sharanya.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/KamakhyaMandirWeb.jpg\"><img class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-99540 imgborder\" alt=\"Kamakhya Mandir\" src=\"http://sharanya.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/KamakhyaMandirWeb.jpg\" /></a>\"Babaji wants to see you.\"<br><br>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\"> I’m walking barefoot down the muddy side of Nilachal Hill at Kamakhya in northeastern India after witnessing one of the most beautiful Sanskrit recitations I have ever heard. The white kurtas of the Brahmin men gathered in a circle around a sacred fire stand in marked contrast though to the throngs of red-clad women waiting in long lines to see their Mother. Both, I imagine, receive Her blessings. I am in northeastern India, in Assam, participating in an annual Tantrick pilgrimage to the seat of the goddess’ power, the place where her <i>yoni</i>, or sexual organ, resides on Earth.  It’s a powerful place, a place of contrasts where all come together, whether Vaishnava, Shaivite or Shakta, to honor Maa. It\'s a place, one might say, where all unites in Her name.  </span><br><br>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\"> Babji, I learn, is a 400-year old Aghori. A believer in the preeminence of the divine as Shiva, pure consciousness, he is a practitioner of the non-dualistic or \"left-hand\" Tantric rites. In short, this means that he adheres to a rather literal interpretation of what other Tantrics might do symbolically in ritual and devotion on the path to enlightenment. He meditates, for example, not only on <i>yantras</i> (sacred diagrams), but on yantras in cremation grounds on top of corpses; he drinks wine and liquor; he smokes hash and takes in other natural mind-altering substances. He believes that the pathway to the divine is through the body, through this world, through all of creation. His accepts it all, the pure and impure, the wicked and sane, as sacred. He is a radical non-dualist—one who believes in the One as well as in the reality of the phenomenal world. His path is fast and furious, sweet and sublime, potentially off-putting at the same time that it attracts wonder, excitement, and awe.  He loves Maa. </span><br><br>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\"> The three black-clad initiates standing outside his cave-like shelter on the hillside welcome me in. I meet Babji. He’s old but looks young, his face the only give-away that he’s been around the block a few times. His body, otherwise, is baby-like. He looks pregnant, a little round belly on a very thin frame. I sit cross-legged in front of him. To his left, the fire pit. To his right, a <i>kapala</i>, or human skull cup from which wine and other mind-altering substances are drunk, sits upturned. He calls me \"Beti,\" or daughter. Two followers of his are there; his initiates have left us alone. The woman wipes the snot dripping from Babaji\'s nose with a handkerchief and then moves to mop sweat from his forehead. No one, it appears, is immune to this sweltering summer heat. The Indian devotee next to her, perhaps her husband, has had far too much <i>bhang</i> (Cannabis) or something; his eyes have trouble steadying on me. </span><br><br>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\">My Sanskrit is better than my Hindi at this point. Fortunately, I can make out meaning from of the ritual language Babaji is using. The man helps a little, but his English is as poor as my Hindi. We quiet. Suddenly, Babaji grabs me. He pulls me to him with unsuspected strength. Face against face, I feel the bristles of his long beard against my cheek, and I feel coolness where the snot has been touching. I am startled, but now I’m held. I am held firmly, with apparent intention. The touch is not violent or inappropriate. The strength is deep and calming. I stay quiet and listen inside to my belly and instincts. Presence prevails, and I allow myself to trust the moment. Just then, Babaji begins. His mouth now pressed to my ear, he sounds an ancient mantra. My heart trembles, my eyes close, and I go inward. I surrender to these sounds, soaking in the ancient reverberations, feeling in them the voices of the lineage, the guttural utterances of vibrations across time and space. All enter my ear. All penetrate my soul.  </span><br><br>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\"> Moments pass and I eventually sit back upright in silence. One moment, then two. From deep inside, the sobbing begins. There’s no rational thought, no rhyme or reason, just the moment and my feeling of tremendous love and connection to all that is…I recognize a touch of <i>sat chit ananada</i>: being, consciousness, bliss. My forehead now on Babji\'s knee, he pats my head and strokes my hair. I sit back upright. Silence. One moment, then two. Babaji reaches to his left where a rusty knife about four inches long sits waiting. I follow his motion with my eyes. Instantly, I am terrified. I have visions of blood. Stop! One moment, then two. Stop! This time, it’s an admonition to remember. Allow yourself to be taken, it says. You’ve been here before; you know what\'s happening. It\'s safe. Breathe. </span><br><br>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\">Babaji lowers my head with his hand and takes a fist-full of hair from my crown. He pulls hard enough to undo strands from my braid. Close to the scalp he cuts with the knife. Old and well-used, it doesn’t cut very well.  He pulls harder to get through the thickness of my mane and it hurts for an instant. I deepen my surrender. He cuts. He finishes, and I sit back up. Dazed, with my awareness in another place, I still must know.  </span><br><br>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\"> \"What,\" I ask, “are you going to do with it?\"  </span><br><br>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\"> \"A sacrifice,” he says, \"will be offered in the fire tonight.\" He holds up my hair.  </span><br><br>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\"> \"It’s an equal exchange,\" he says. \"The price you pay for being welcomed into the family.”</span><br><br>\r\n\r\n<em>June 26, 2003</em>\r\n\r\n[/toggle]\r\n\r\n[toggle type=\"gray\" title=\"Founder\'s Biography\" active=\"\"]Chandra Alexandre is a Tantric Bhairavi, an initiator in the tradition of Kali, serving SHARANYA as clergy. She is a householder and a regular pilgrim to the birthplace of Tantra in northeastern India, where she studies and practices with her teachers. Chandra was first initiated into the mysteries of the dark goddess in 1998 in Puri, Orissa on the dakshinacara path, and then, five years later, she accepted the non-dualistic path of vamacara Tantra at Kamakhya outside of Guwahati in Assam. Her maternal grandmother was her first guide into the ways of spirit in the world.<br><br>\r\n\r\nOn her initial return from India, Chandra founded SHARANYA to serve those committed to embodied and engaged spirituality for social justice and transformation. This was the birth of Sha’can, an authentic lineage tradition of Shakta Tantra contextualized and made relevant for people and lands distant from the source. Chandra and community complement San Francisco Bay Area worship, events and services with an online mystery school, Kali Vidya, to serve an international community of spiritual seekers and lovers of Maa.<br><br>\r\n\r\nChandra is known for her passionate engagement of theory and practice. She holds a PhD in Asian & Comparative Studies from the California Institute of Integral Studies, a Doctor of Ministry degree from Wisdom University (formerly the University of Creation Spirituality), and an MBA in sustainable management from Presidio Graduate School. In addition to SHARANYA, she engages her commitment through several community-based nonprofit organizations committed to educational equity, poverty alleviation and the empowerment of women and girls.<br><br>\r\n\r\nOriginally from New York, Chandra has, since 1995, called San Francisco home. She is also conjurer of <i>The Aghori Bakery: Everyday Spiritual Conversations</i> (forthcoming).[/toggle]\r\n\r\n[testimonials category=\"origins\" time=\"10\" effect=\"fade\" ]\r\n\r\n&nbsp;','Origins','','inherit','open','open','','99123-revision-v1','','','2013-09-11 23:27:27','2013-09-12 06:27:27','',99123,'Birthed in India over 15 years ago, SHARANYA exists to empower seeds of change on individual, collective, and planetary levels towards healing, respect, responsibility, and the fullest awareness of an interconnected, interrelated cosmic reality. Our origi',0,'revision','',0),(100008,2,'2013-09-11 23:34:17','2013-09-12 06:34:17','','Chandra Alexandre','','inherit','open','open','','dsc_0731','','','2013-09-11 23:34:17','2013-09-12 06:34:17','',0,'',0,'attachment','image/jpeg',0),(100009,2,'2013-09-11 23:39:51','2013-09-12 06:39:51','Birthed in India over 15 years ago, SHARANYA exists to empower seeds of change on individual, collective, and planetary levels towards healing, respect, responsibility, and the fullest awareness of an interconnected, interrelated cosmic reality. Our origins are rooted in a commitment to social justice for the promotion of peace and the (r)evolution of consciousness across space-time realities.<br><br>\r\n\r\n&nbsp;\r\n\r\n[toggle type=\"gray\" title=\"Our Temple in India\" active=\"\"]\r\n\r\n<a href=\"http://sharanya.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/MBCMTemple.jpg\"><img class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-99537 imgborder\" alt=\"Maa Batakali Mandir (Puri)\" src=\"http://sharanya.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/MBCMTemple.jpg\" /></a>\r\n<h3 style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\">Constitution of Maa Batakali Sanskrutika Parisada</span></h3>\r\n<span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\">The Maa Batakali Cultural Mission\r\n</span><br>\r\n<span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\">Balisahi, Puri Town, Puri  752 001 Orissa</span><br>\r\n\r\nRegistration Number: 2802/211/91-92<br>\r\nFiled and Certified by the Audit Superintendent District Panchayat Office, Puri<br><br>\r\n\r\n<b>Mission Statement:</b>\r\n<ul>To create and nurture a community of life-affirming individuals devoted to Mother Worship and to developing an understanding of how such devotion can positively transform our global community.</ul>\r\n<b>Vision Statement:</b>\r\n<ul>The Maa Batakali Cultural Mission is dedicated to promoting the vision of the world as a global community in Her divine name.</ul>\r\n<b>Aims and Objectives:</b>\r\n<ul>\r\n	<li>To maintain this Mission as a nonprofit public-benefit organization, not organized for the private gain of any person.</li>\r\n	<li>To foster awareness of Goddess worship as a life-affirming path among the global community; and to eradicate erroneous and superstitious beliefs in this regard.</li>\r\n	<li>To organize, develop and execute recreational, cultural and spiritual activities for the community.</li>\r\n	<li>To undertake programs for the establishment of community housing, social forestry and environmental sanitation; et alia.</li>\r\n	<li>To organize, fund and promote Mission Centers for community gatherings, social welfare programs and adult education, including the establishment of a library with emphasis on educational activities for community youth; and to develop various pilot projects to meet the needs of community members.</li>\r\n	<li>To organize outreach programs for those not in or around Mission Centers.</li>\r\n	<li>To undertake projects expressly designed to promote the welfare of Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribe and other economically \"backward\" classes of people, and to promote the development of cooperative ideas and enterprise among them and the community at large.</li>\r\n	<li>To draw up schemes for the rehabilitation of antisocial persons; i.e., those with problems related to alcohol and drug abuse, and to assist their families as required.</li>\r\n	<li>To educate about and mobilize peacefully against sati, dowry, beggary, caste crime and similar social ills.</li>\r\n	<li>To publish a monthly newsletter, community bulletin and other educational materials for the promotion of the spiritual and cultural philosophy of the Mission.</li>\r\n	<li>To help provide relief, through community efforts, for those effected by natural calamities and other emergencies.</li>\r\n	<li>To promote cultural exchange of ideas and beliefs throughout India and the world.</li>\r\n	<li>To assist in providing legal aid to the needy and the poor.</li>\r\n	<li>To establish sister organizations, in the United States and elsewhere, in order to promote the vision of the Mission worldwide.</li>\r\n	<li>To develop fundraising schemes for the future growth and maintenance of the Mission and its associations.</li>\r\n</ul>\r\n[/toggle]\r\n\r\n[toggle type=\"gray\" title=\"Origin Story: Part I\" active=\"\"]<a href=\"http://sharanya.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/ShyamPuriWeb.jpg\"><img class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-99541 imgborder\" alt=\"Shyam Sundar Dash at Maabatakali Mandir\" src=\"http://sharanya.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/ShyamPuriWeb.jpg\" /></a>It\'s summer in India, the time when the air is thick, sweat plentiful, and the monsoon\'s rains swell the skies and the streets. I have come here, to this land of spice, spirit and the sacred, to further my work in ecofeminism by looking at women\'s spiritual connections to social justice and activism on behalf of the environment. I am not here long, however, before Maa, the Divine Mother, shows me that there\'s more to my quest than I originally thought.<br><br>\r\n\r\nSpeaking to a guide at my hotel, I tell him, \"I need to find a temple to the Goddess.\"<br><br>\r\n\r\n\"Which one,\" he asks. \"Which goddess?\"<br><br>\r\n\r\n\"Well, Kali,\" I state hesitatingly, unsure of how my request will be received.  The man looks me up and down, trying to determine where I fit in the spectrum of visitors with which he has to deal and from which he makes his livelihood.<br><br>\r\n\r\n\"Wouldn\'t you rather visit Lord Jaganath?,\" he wonders. Lord of the Universe, Jaganath, is honored at this time in Puri (the eastern <i>dham</i>, one of the sacred compass points in India) in a huge festival to which hundreds of thousands flock each year. Together with his brother and sister, this is the only time the Lord leaves the mandir (temple). He\'s on a family outing to his summer home across the town and everyone comes out to get a glimpse of the royal family.<br><br>\r\n\r\nI\'m restless though, and on a mission. It is Kali I need to see and no one else. That She is responsible for my getting through a political uprising in Digha at the southern end of West Bengal unscathed has been made perfectly clear to me. I have come here to give thanks and find peace by the ocean waters. Sensing my urgency, the gentleman kindly calls to an auto-rickshaw driver with a shrug, not wanting to engage me further about goddesses. The driver arrives.<br><br>\r\n\r\n\"Kali mandir,\" I say to him as he pulls up alongside us. At this point, I have no idea how many homes Maa has here in Puri. After receiving no further instructions, the driver takes off towards the center of town. I later find out (after several unsuccessful attempts to again visit the place to which I am now heading) that there are at least four Kali temples. Reaching our destination, I buy a hibiscus mala, a garland of her sacred flower, and add that to my puja (worship) basket. Into it too go coconut, juicy betel nut and other sweets to delight Her. My offering is noteworthy at this temple for its size; but I need to thank the Goddess for getting me out of Digha alive by bringing something special.<br><br>\r\n\r\nThe pujari at Maa Batakali Mandir is a Brahmin priest with two sons. In his devotion and gratitude for the goddess having given him these sons, Shyam has built this temple. A small roadside mandir, passersby usually drop rupees on the temple steps on their daily rounds. It is nothing too fancy, but Maa here is absolutely resplendent.<br><br>\r\n\r\nIn his time, Shyam has doubled as a government worker, making regular trips back and forth from his office to tend to Maa and her devotees. Now retired, he tends to the temple and its congregation of worshipers every day for morning prayers and evening <i>aarati</i> (a beautiful celebration with lights and offerings). As Shyam sees me approach for the first time, he stares. He asks me directly why I am there, and although he is not angry, his disposition and directness can easily be mistaken for exactly that at first. Truly, he\'s just curious, but I am startled by his question.<br><br>\r\n\r\n\"Are you ISKON?\" he demands.<br><br>\r\n\r\nSuspense broken, I let out a nervous laugh. The International Society of Krishna Consciousness (a.k.a. Hare Krishnas) has never drawn me, however. Puri is full of Western devotees. Lord Jaganath, I learn, is, like Krishna whom those in ISKON worship, one of the ten incarnations of Lord Vishnu, the God of Preservation and one of the main Hindu deities.<br><br>\r\n\r\n\"No,\" I reply, \"I came to thank the Goddess.\"  After a few more words, Shyam accepts my offering basket, performing puja on my behalf. He asks my name in order to conduct the rites. When we\'re through, he asks why I\'m there. But my eyes are transfixed on Maa\'s image, and I can only point to my heart by way of explanation. \"She\'s here,\" I manage to say, and everything that has been kept inside until now in this challenging land of contrasts streams out through my eyes.<br><br>\r\n\r\nBetween June and August of 1998, I live in Puri. My friends up north forgive me for not coming back to study. My work on the spiritual motivations for grassroots environmental movements in India is put on hold. It was my pause when Shyam asked after the ritual, \"Will you come visit my house?\" that changed not only the course of my research, but also my life. Aware of India\'s potential for surprises, I held a moment of silence before responding and internally questioned his invitation and motivations.<br><br>\r\n\r\nFeeling inside, I sensed that this was an offering, and a door was opening to me that might never open again. In the pause, I could see Her face dimly, and I wondered in my rational mind about my work and Shyam\'s intentions. It took me three days to surrender to the feeling and my vision of Her beckoning. After careful thought and some time meditating with the ocean\'s wisdom, I said yes. I returned to meet my new teacher and his family.<br><br>\r\n\r\nThe more time I spend in Puri, the more I realize that Goddess is working in quite mysterious ways and that Shyam is no typical Brahmin priest.  As time passes, I learn the extent to which She is working through him, and I absorb many levels of Her teachings; some straightforward, others much more obtuse.<br><br>\r\n\r\nAfter much work, diksha, or initiation into Kali\'s mysteries is the next profound unfolding of my spiritual journey. The day comes on the August new moon, and I am thrilled when I realize it will be August 2nd, the festival of the harvest often called Lughnasad (or Lammas) in the earth-based Western calendar. It is as though Maa has answered my burning question: Can I do this? The synchronicity of timing does not escape me, and I feel She is telling me that I can have it both ways: I can be Her priestess as a Witch and a Hindu, walking as a Goddess worshiper wherever I may be in the world. To Her, I imagine, there is no distinction.<br><br>\r\n\r\nThe initiation is radical by most Hindu standards. Shyam is a Brahmin priest, and I am not only a westerner but also a woman; and women in India are not initiated by Brahmins. Following the Vedas in his public work, Shyam also practices Tantra, and this is the in-road to Maa that is clearly appropriate. Tantricks care not of my birth, only my longing. But perhaps there would be less to explain and fewer staring eyes as we sit working together at the temple were he to be more public about the various faces of his devotion. As Shyam manages to satisfy people\'s natural curiosity with his answers to their queries and suspicious looks, I pretend not to notice the robust number of visitors to the temple in the evenings after the gates have closed and we have begun our private work and evening prayers together.<a href=\"http://sharanya.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/ShyamSundarDashChandraAlexandrePuriMBCM1-e1377156643651.jpg\"><img class=\"size-full wp-image-99707 imgborder alignright\" alt=\"Chandra Alexandre and Shyam Sundar Dash at Puri Mandir\" src=\"http://sharanya.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/ShyamSundarDashChandraAlexandrePuriMBCM1-e1377156643651.jpg\" width=\"228\" height=\"246\" /></a>\r\n\r\nMy practice deepens after initiation, and on Her sacred day of Kali Puja some months later in October, I sit at the feet of the goddess in the temple, a spot that locals cannot come near. It is nearing midnight and the heat of the day lifting off the earth combined with the hot lamps that light Her image for passersby makes the sweat drip down my arms, makes my sari blouse feel even tighter than it already is, and makes me wish I couldn\'t see the bugs and ants crawling on my feet and ankles. I honor Her by pouring <i>ghee</i> (clarified butter) for the <i>homa</i> (fire offering) ceremony, and I remember that I am Shyam\'s first <i>chela</i> (student), a position of honor in the lineage tradition from which he comes.<br><br>\r\n\r\nI tend to my responsibilities dutifully as the Candi Path verses resonate off the temple walls and expand into the night air. In moments of quiet, I think about the day Shyam said he\'d been waiting for me, how he said his own guru had told him that one day, he would be bringing someone other than his sons to the path. I remember how Shyam said he had found the signs in my face the very first day we had met at the temple...signs telling him that I was the student to which his guru had referred. We finish our time together and he tells me the most important thing: \"Go! Go back to your home land, America, and spread Mother Worship!\"<br><br>\r\n\r\nUpon my return to the States, SHARANYA is born and my dedication to Kali Maa takes root with the formation of community on western shores. The wisdom of the ocean is remembered.<br><br>\r\n\r\n<em>August 2, 1998</em>\r\n\r\n<hr />\r\n\r\n<strong>Chandra Alexandre</strong> is the founding director of SHARANYA. She received <i>namakarana samskara</i> and her first <em>diksha </em>from Shyam Sundar Dash (Founder &amp; President and residing Priest of the Maa Batakali Temple in Puri) in 1998. With this, the SHARANYA kaula are part of the Bharadvaja gotra by which we honor our clan wave of spiritual ancestors.\r\n\r\n[/toggle]\r\n\r\n[toggle type=\"gray\" title=\"Origin Story: Part II\" active=\"\"]<a href=\"http://sharanya.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/KamakhyaMandirWeb.jpg\"><img class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-99540 imgborder\" alt=\"Kamakhya Mandir\" src=\"http://sharanya.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/KamakhyaMandirWeb.jpg\" /></a>\"Babaji wants to see you.\"<br><br>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\"> I’m walking barefoot down the muddy side of Nilachal Hill at Kamakhya in northeastern India after witnessing one of the most beautiful Sanskrit recitations I have ever heard. The white kurtas of the Brahmin men gathered in a circle around a sacred fire stand in marked contrast though to the throngs of red-clad women waiting in long lines to see their Mother. Both, I imagine, receive Her blessings. I am in northeastern India, in Assam, participating in an annual Tantrick pilgrimage to the seat of the goddess’ power, the place where her <i>yoni</i>, or sexual organ, resides on Earth.  It’s a powerful place, a place of contrasts where all come together, whether Vaishnava, Shaivite or Shakta, to honor Maa. It\'s a place, one might say, where all unites in Her name.  </span><br><br>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\"> Babji, I learn, is a 400-year old Aghori. A believer in the preeminence of the divine as Shiva, pure consciousness, he is a practitioner of the non-dualistic or \"left-hand\" Tantric rites. In short, this means that he adheres to a rather literal interpretation of what other Tantrics might do symbolically in ritual and devotion on the path to enlightenment. He meditates, for example, not only on <i>yantras</i> (sacred diagrams), but on yantras in cremation grounds on top of corpses; he drinks wine and liquor; he smokes hash and takes in other natural mind-altering substances. He believes that the pathway to the divine is through the body, through this world, through all of creation. His accepts it all, the pure and impure, the wicked and sane, as sacred. He is a radical non-dualist—one who believes in the One as well as in the reality of the phenomenal world. His path is fast and furious, sweet and sublime, potentially off-putting at the same time that it attracts wonder, excitement, and awe.  He loves Maa. </span><br><br>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\"> The three black-clad initiates standing outside his cave-like shelter on the hillside welcome me in. I meet Babji. He’s old but looks young, his face the only give-away that he’s been around the block a few times. His body, otherwise, is baby-like. He looks pregnant, a little round belly on a very thin frame. I sit cross-legged in front of him. To his left, the fire pit. To his right, a <i>kapala</i>, or human skull cup from which wine and other mind-altering substances are drunk, sits upturned. He calls me \"Beti,\" or daughter. Two followers of his are there; his initiates have left us alone. The woman wipes the snot dripping from Babaji\'s nose with a handkerchief and then moves to mop sweat from his forehead. No one, it appears, is immune to this sweltering summer heat. The Indian devotee next to her, perhaps her husband, has had far too much <i>bhang</i> (Cannabis) or something; his eyes have trouble steadying on me. </span><br><br>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\">My Sanskrit is better than my Hindi at this point. Fortunately, I can make out meaning from of the ritual language Babaji is using. The man helps a little, but his English is as poor as my Hindi. We quiet. Suddenly, Babaji grabs me. He pulls me to him with unsuspected strength. Face against face, I feel the bristles of his long beard against my cheek, and I feel coolness where the snot has been touching. I am startled, but now I’m held. I am held firmly, with apparent intention. The touch is not violent or inappropriate. The strength is deep and calming. I stay quiet and listen inside to my belly and instincts. Presence prevails, and I allow myself to trust the moment. Just then, Babaji begins. His mouth now pressed to my ear, he sounds an ancient mantra. My heart trembles, my eyes close, and I go inward. I surrender to these sounds, soaking in the ancient reverberations, feeling in them the voices of the lineage, the guttural utterances of vibrations across time and space. All enter my ear. All penetrate my soul.  </span><br><br>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\"> Moments pass and I eventually sit back upright in silence. One moment, then two. From deep inside, the sobbing begins. There’s no rational thought, no rhyme or reason, just the moment and my feeling of tremendous love and connection to all that is…I recognize a touch of <i>sat chit ananada</i>: being, consciousness, bliss. My forehead now on Babji\'s knee, he pats my head and strokes my hair. I sit back upright. Silence. One moment, then two. Babaji reaches to his left where a rusty knife about four inches long sits waiting. I follow his motion with my eyes. Instantly, I am terrified. I have visions of blood. Stop! One moment, then two. Stop! This time, it’s an admonition to remember. Allow yourself to be taken, it says. You’ve been here before; you know what\'s happening. It\'s safe. Breathe. </span><br><br>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\">Babaji lowers my head with his hand and takes a fist-full of hair from my crown. He pulls hard enough to undo strands from my braid. Close to the scalp he cuts with the knife. Old and well-used, it doesn’t cut very well.  He pulls harder to get through the thickness of my mane and it hurts for an instant. I deepen my surrender. He cuts. He finishes, and I sit back up. Dazed, with my awareness in another place, I still must know.  </span><br><br>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\"> \"What,\" I ask, “are you going to do with it?\"  </span><br><br>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\"> \"A sacrifice,” he says, \"will be offered in the fire tonight.\" He holds up my hair.  </span><br><br>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\"> \"It’s an equal exchange,\" he says. \"The price you pay for being welcomed into the family.”</span><br><br>\r\n\r\n<em>June 26, 2003</em>\r\n\r\n[/toggle]\r\n\r\n[toggle type=\"gray\" title=\"Founder\'s Biography\" active=\"\"]<img class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-99537 imgborder\" alt=\"Chandra Alexandre\" src=\"http://sharanya.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/DSC_0731-e1378967748493.jpg\" />\r\n\r\nChandra Alexandre is a Tantric Bhairavi, an initiator in the tradition of Kali, serving SHARANYA as clergy. She is a householder and a regular pilgrim to the birthplace of Tantra in northeastern India, where she studies and practices with her teachers. Chandra was first initiated into the mysteries of the dark goddess in 1998 in Puri, Orissa on the dakshinacara path, and then, five years later, she accepted the non-dualistic path of vamacara Tantra at Kamakhya outside of Guwahati in Assam. Her maternal grandmother was her first guide into the ways of spirit in the world.<br><br>\r\n\r\nOn her initial return from India, Chandra founded SHARANYA to serve those committed to embodied and engaged spirituality for social justice and transformation. This was the birth of Sha’can, an authentic lineage tradition of Shakta Tantra contextualized and made relevant for people and lands distant from the source. Chandra and community complement San Francisco Bay Area worship, events and services with an online mystery school, Kali Vidya, to serve an international community of spiritual seekers and lovers of Maa.<br><br>\r\n\r\nChandra is known for her passionate engagement of theory and practice. She holds a PhD in Asian & Comparative Studies from the California Institute of Integral Studies, a Doctor of Ministry degree from Wisdom University (formerly the University of Creation Spirituality), and an MBA in sustainable management from Presidio Graduate School. In addition to SHARANYA, she engages her commitment through several community-based nonprofit organizations committed to educational equity, poverty alleviation and the empowerment of women and girls.<br><br>\r\n\r\nOriginally from New York, Chandra has, since 1995, called San Francisco home. She is also conjurer of <i>The Aghori Bakery: Everyday Spiritual Conversations</i> (forthcoming).[/toggle]\r\n\r\n[testimonials category=\"origins\" time=\"10\" effect=\"fade\" ]\r\n\r\n&nbsp;','Origins','','inherit','open','open','','99123-revision-v1','','','2013-09-11 23:39:51','2013-09-12 06:39:51','',99123,'Birthed in India over 15 years ago, SHARANYA exists to empower seeds of change on individual, collective, and planetary levels towards healing, respect, responsibility, and the fullest awareness of an interconnected, interrelated cosmic reality. Our origi',0,'revision','',0),(100010,2,'2013-09-11 23:41:05','2013-09-12 06:41:05','Birthed in India over 15 years ago, SHARANYA exists to empower seeds of change on individual, collective, and planetary levels towards healing, respect, responsibility, and the fullest awareness of an interconnected, interrelated cosmic reality. Our origins are rooted in a commitment to social justice for the promotion of peace and the (r)evolution of consciousness across space-time realities.<br><br>\r\n\r\n&nbsp;\r\n\r\n[toggle type=\"gray\" title=\"Our Temple in India\" active=\"\"]\r\n\r\n<a href=\"http://sharanya.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/MBCMTemple.jpg\"><img class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-99537 imgborder\" alt=\"Maa Batakali Mandir (Puri)\" src=\"http://sharanya.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/MBCMTemple.jpg\" /></a>\r\n<h3 style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\">Constitution of Maa Batakali Sanskrutika Parisada</span></h3>\r\n<span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\">The Maa Batakali Cultural Mission\r\n</span><br>\r\n<span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\">Balisahi, Puri Town, Puri  752 001 Orissa</span><br>\r\n\r\nRegistration Number: 2802/211/91-92<br>\r\nFiled and Certified by the Audit Superintendent District Panchayat Office, Puri<br><br>\r\n\r\n<b>Mission Statement:</b>\r\n<ul>To create and nurture a community of life-affirming individuals devoted to Mother Worship and to developing an understanding of how such devotion can positively transform our global community.</ul>\r\n<b>Vision Statement:</b>\r\n<ul>The Maa Batakali Cultural Mission is dedicated to promoting the vision of the world as a global community in Her divine name.</ul>\r\n<b>Aims and Objectives:</b>\r\n<ul>\r\n	<li>To maintain this Mission as a nonprofit public-benefit organization, not organized for the private gain of any person.</li>\r\n	<li>To foster awareness of Goddess worship as a life-affirming path among the global community; and to eradicate erroneous and superstitious beliefs in this regard.</li>\r\n	<li>To organize, develop and execute recreational, cultural and spiritual activities for the community.</li>\r\n	<li>To undertake programs for the establishment of community housing, social forestry and environmental sanitation; et alia.</li>\r\n	<li>To organize, fund and promote Mission Centers for community gatherings, social welfare programs and adult education, including the establishment of a library with emphasis on educational activities for community youth; and to develop various pilot projects to meet the needs of community members.</li>\r\n	<li>To organize outreach programs for those not in or around Mission Centers.</li>\r\n	<li>To undertake projects expressly designed to promote the welfare of Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribe and other economically \"backward\" classes of people, and to promote the development of cooperative ideas and enterprise among them and the community at large.</li>\r\n	<li>To draw up schemes for the rehabilitation of antisocial persons; i.e., those with problems related to alcohol and drug abuse, and to assist their families as required.</li>\r\n	<li>To educate about and mobilize peacefully against sati, dowry, beggary, caste crime and similar social ills.</li>\r\n	<li>To publish a monthly newsletter, community bulletin and other educational materials for the promotion of the spiritual and cultural philosophy of the Mission.</li>\r\n	<li>To help provide relief, through community efforts, for those effected by natural calamities and other emergencies.</li>\r\n	<li>To promote cultural exchange of ideas and beliefs throughout India and the world.</li>\r\n	<li>To assist in providing legal aid to the needy and the poor.</li>\r\n	<li>To establish sister organizations, in the United States and elsewhere, in order to promote the vision of the Mission worldwide.</li>\r\n	<li>To develop fundraising schemes for the future growth and maintenance of the Mission and its associations.</li>\r\n</ul>\r\n[/toggle]\r\n\r\n[toggle type=\"gray\" title=\"Origin Story: Part I\" active=\"\"]<a href=\"http://sharanya.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/ShyamPuriWeb.jpg\"><img class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-99541 imgborder\" alt=\"Shyam Sundar Dash at Maabatakali Mandir\" src=\"http://sharanya.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/ShyamPuriWeb.jpg\" /></a>It\'s summer in India, the time when the air is thick, sweat plentiful, and the monsoon\'s rains swell the skies and the streets. I have come here, to this land of spice, spirit and the sacred, to further my work in ecofeminism by looking at women\'s spiritual connections to social justice and activism on behalf of the environment. I am not here long, however, before Maa, the Divine Mother, shows me that there\'s more to my quest than I originally thought.<br><br>\r\n\r\nSpeaking to a guide at my hotel, I tell him, \"I need to find a temple to the Goddess.\"<br><br>\r\n\r\n\"Which one,\" he asks. \"Which goddess?\"<br><br>\r\n\r\n\"Well, Kali,\" I state hesitatingly, unsure of how my request will be received.  The man looks me up and down, trying to determine where I fit in the spectrum of visitors with which he has to deal and from which he makes his livelihood.<br><br>\r\n\r\n\"Wouldn\'t you rather visit Lord Jaganath?,\" he wonders. Lord of the Universe, Jaganath, is honored at this time in Puri (the eastern <i>dham</i>, one of the sacred compass points in India) in a huge festival to which hundreds of thousands flock each year. Together with his brother and sister, this is the only time the Lord leaves the mandir (temple). He\'s on a family outing to his summer home across the town and everyone comes out to get a glimpse of the royal family.<br><br>\r\n\r\nI\'m restless though, and on a mission. It is Kali I need to see and no one else. That She is responsible for my getting through a political uprising in Digha at the southern end of West Bengal unscathed has been made perfectly clear to me. I have come here to give thanks and find peace by the ocean waters. Sensing my urgency, the gentleman kindly calls to an auto-rickshaw driver with a shrug, not wanting to engage me further about goddesses. The driver arrives.<br><br>\r\n\r\n\"Kali mandir,\" I say to him as he pulls up alongside us. At this point, I have no idea how many homes Maa has here in Puri. After receiving no further instructions, the driver takes off towards the center of town. I later find out (after several unsuccessful attempts to again visit the place to which I am now heading) that there are at least four Kali temples. Reaching our destination, I buy a hibiscus mala, a garland of her sacred flower, and add that to my puja (worship) basket. Into it too go coconut, juicy betel nut and other sweets to delight Her. My offering is noteworthy at this temple for its size; but I need to thank the Goddess for getting me out of Digha alive by bringing something special.<br><br>\r\n\r\nThe pujari at Maa Batakali Mandir is a Brahmin priest with two sons. In his devotion and gratitude for the goddess having given him these sons, Shyam has built this temple. A small roadside mandir, passersby usually drop rupees on the temple steps on their daily rounds. It is nothing too fancy, but Maa here is absolutely resplendent.<br><br>\r\n\r\nIn his time, Shyam has doubled as a government worker, making regular trips back and forth from his office to tend to Maa and her devotees. Now retired, he tends to the temple and its congregation of worshipers every day for morning prayers and evening <i>aarati</i> (a beautiful celebration with lights and offerings). As Shyam sees me approach for the first time, he stares. He asks me directly why I am there, and although he is not angry, his disposition and directness can easily be mistaken for exactly that at first. Truly, he\'s just curious, but I am startled by his question.<br><br>\r\n\r\n\"Are you ISKON?\" he demands.<br><br>\r\n\r\nSuspense broken, I let out a nervous laugh. The International Society of Krishna Consciousness (a.k.a. Hare Krishnas) has never drawn me, however. Puri is full of Western devotees. Lord Jaganath, I learn, is, like Krishna whom those in ISKON worship, one of the ten incarnations of Lord Vishnu, the God of Preservation and one of the main Hindu deities.<br><br>\r\n\r\n\"No,\" I reply, \"I came to thank the Goddess.\"  After a few more words, Shyam accepts my offering basket, performing puja on my behalf. He asks my name in order to conduct the rites. When we\'re through, he asks why I\'m there. But my eyes are transfixed on Maa\'s image, and I can only point to my heart by way of explanation. \"She\'s here,\" I manage to say, and everything that has been kept inside until now in this challenging land of contrasts streams out through my eyes.<br><br>\r\n\r\nBetween June and August of 1998, I live in Puri. My friends up north forgive me for not coming back to study. My work on the spiritual motivations for grassroots environmental movements in India is put on hold. It was my pause when Shyam asked after the ritual, \"Will you come visit my house?\" that changed not only the course of my research, but also my life. Aware of India\'s potential for surprises, I held a moment of silence before responding and internally questioned his invitation and motivations.<br><br>\r\n\r\nFeeling inside, I sensed that this was an offering, and a door was opening to me that might never open again. In the pause, I could see Her face dimly, and I wondered in my rational mind about my work and Shyam\'s intentions. It took me three days to surrender to the feeling and my vision of Her beckoning. After careful thought and some time meditating with the ocean\'s wisdom, I said yes. I returned to meet my new teacher and his family.<br><br>\r\n\r\nThe more time I spend in Puri, the more I realize that Goddess is working in quite mysterious ways and that Shyam is no typical Brahmin priest.  As time passes, I learn the extent to which She is working through him, and I absorb many levels of Her teachings; some straightforward, others much more obtuse.<br><br>\r\n\r\nAfter much work, diksha, or initiation into Kali\'s mysteries is the next profound unfolding of my spiritual journey. The day comes on the August new moon, and I am thrilled when I realize it will be August 2nd, the festival of the harvest often called Lughnasad (or Lammas) in the earth-based Western calendar. It is as though Maa has answered my burning question: Can I do this? The synchronicity of timing does not escape me, and I feel She is telling me that I can have it both ways: I can be Her priestess as a Witch and a Hindu, walking as a Goddess worshiper wherever I may be in the world. To Her, I imagine, there is no distinction.<br><br>\r\n\r\nThe initiation is radical by most Hindu standards. Shyam is a Brahmin priest, and I am not only a westerner but also a woman; and women in India are not initiated by Brahmins. Following the Vedas in his public work, Shyam also practices Tantra, and this is the in-road to Maa that is clearly appropriate. Tantricks care not of my birth, only my longing. But perhaps there would be less to explain and fewer staring eyes as we sit working together at the temple were he to be more public about the various faces of his devotion. As Shyam manages to satisfy people\'s natural curiosity with his answers to their queries and suspicious looks, I pretend not to notice the robust number of visitors to the temple in the evenings after the gates have closed and we have begun our private work and evening prayers together.<a href=\"http://sharanya.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/ShyamSundarDashChandraAlexandrePuriMBCM1-e1377156643651.jpg\"><img class=\"size-full wp-image-99707 imgborder alignright\" alt=\"Chandra Alexandre and Shyam Sundar Dash at Puri Mandir\" src=\"http://sharanya.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/ShyamSundarDashChandraAlexandrePuriMBCM1-e1377156643651.jpg\" width=\"228\" height=\"246\" /></a>\r\n\r\nMy practice deepens after initiation, and on Her sacred day of Kali Puja some months later in October, I sit at the feet of the goddess in the temple, a spot that locals cannot come near. It is nearing midnight and the heat of the day lifting off the earth combined with the hot lamps that light Her image for passersby makes the sweat drip down my arms, makes my sari blouse feel even tighter than it already is, and makes me wish I couldn\'t see the bugs and ants crawling on my feet and ankles. I honor Her by pouring <i>ghee</i> (clarified butter) for the <i>homa</i> (fire offering) ceremony, and I remember that I am Shyam\'s first <i>chela</i> (student), a position of honor in the lineage tradition from which he comes.<br><br>\r\n\r\nI tend to my responsibilities dutifully as the Candi Path verses resonate off the temple walls and expand into the night air. In moments of quiet, I think about the day Shyam said he\'d been waiting for me, how he said his own guru had told him that one day, he would be bringing someone other than his sons to the path. I remember how Shyam said he had found the signs in my face the very first day we had met at the temple...signs telling him that I was the student to which his guru had referred. We finish our time together and he tells me the most important thing: \"Go! Go back to your home land, America, and spread Mother Worship!\"<br><br>\r\n\r\nUpon my return to the States, SHARANYA is born and my dedication to Kali Maa takes root with the formation of community on western shores. The wisdom of the ocean is remembered.<br><br>\r\n\r\n<em>August 2, 1998</em>\r\n\r\n<hr />\r\n\r\n<strong>Chandra Alexandre</strong> is the founding director of SHARANYA. She received <i>namakarana samskara</i> and her first <em>diksha </em>from Shyam Sundar Dash (Founder &amp; President and residing Priest of the Maa Batakali Temple in Puri) in 1998. With this, the SHARANYA kaula are part of the Bharadvaja gotra by which we honor our clan wave of spiritual ancestors.\r\n\r\n[/toggle]\r\n\r\n[toggle type=\"gray\" title=\"Origin Story: Part II\" active=\"\"]<a href=\"http://sharanya.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/KamakhyaMandirWeb.jpg\"><img class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-99540 imgborder\" alt=\"Kamakhya Mandir\" src=\"http://sharanya.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/KamakhyaMandirWeb.jpg\" /></a>\"Babaji wants to see you.\"<br><br>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\"> I’m walking barefoot down the muddy side of Nilachal Hill at Kamakhya in northeastern India after witnessing one of the most beautiful Sanskrit recitations I have ever heard. The white kurtas of the Brahmin men gathered in a circle around a sacred fire stand in marked contrast though to the throngs of red-clad women waiting in long lines to see their Mother. Both, I imagine, receive Her blessings. I am in northeastern India, in Assam, participating in an annual Tantrick pilgrimage to the seat of the goddess’ power, the place where her <i>yoni</i>, or sexual organ, resides on Earth.  It’s a powerful place, a place of contrasts where all come together, whether Vaishnava, Shaivite or Shakta, to honor Maa. It\'s a place, one might say, where all unites in Her name.  </span><br><br>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\"> Babji, I learn, is a 400-year old Aghori. A believer in the preeminence of the divine as Shiva, pure consciousness, he is a practitioner of the non-dualistic or \"left-hand\" Tantric rites. In short, this means that he adheres to a rather literal interpretation of what other Tantrics might do symbolically in ritual and devotion on the path to enlightenment. He meditates, for example, not only on <i>yantras</i> (sacred diagrams), but on yantras in cremation grounds on top of corpses; he drinks wine and liquor; he smokes hash and takes in other natural mind-altering substances. He believes that the pathway to the divine is through the body, through this world, through all of creation. His accepts it all, the pure and impure, the wicked and sane, as sacred. He is a radical non-dualist—one who believes in the One as well as in the reality of the phenomenal world. His path is fast and furious, sweet and sublime, potentially off-putting at the same time that it attracts wonder, excitement, and awe.  He loves Maa. </span><br><br>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\"> The three black-clad initiates standing outside his cave-like shelter on the hillside welcome me in. I meet Babji. He’s old but looks young, his face the only give-away that he’s been around the block a few times. His body, otherwise, is baby-like. He looks pregnant, a little round belly on a very thin frame. I sit cross-legged in front of him. To his left, the fire pit. To his right, a <i>kapala</i>, or human skull cup from which wine and other mind-altering substances are drunk, sits upturned. He calls me \"Beti,\" or daughter. Two followers of his are there; his initiates have left us alone. The woman wipes the snot dripping from Babaji\'s nose with a handkerchief and then moves to mop sweat from his forehead. No one, it appears, is immune to this sweltering summer heat. The Indian devotee next to her, perhaps her husband, has had far too much <i>bhang</i> (Cannabis) or something; his eyes have trouble steadying on me. </span><br><br>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\">My Sanskrit is better than my Hindi at this point. Fortunately, I can make out meaning from of the ritual language Babaji is using. The man helps a little, but his English is as poor as my Hindi. We quiet. Suddenly, Babaji grabs me. He pulls me to him with unsuspected strength. Face against face, I feel the bristles of his long beard against my cheek, and I feel coolness where the snot has been touching. I am startled, but now I’m held. I am held firmly, with apparent intention. The touch is not violent or inappropriate. The strength is deep and calming. I stay quiet and listen inside to my belly and instincts. Presence prevails, and I allow myself to trust the moment. Just then, Babaji begins. His mouth now pressed to my ear, he sounds an ancient mantra. My heart trembles, my eyes close, and I go inward. I surrender to these sounds, soaking in the ancient reverberations, feeling in them the voices of the lineage, the guttural utterances of vibrations across time and space. All enter my ear. All penetrate my soul.  </span><br><br>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\"> Moments pass and I eventually sit back upright in silence. One moment, then two. From deep inside, the sobbing begins. There’s no rational thought, no rhyme or reason, just the moment and my feeling of tremendous love and connection to all that is…I recognize a touch of <i>sat chit ananada</i>: being, consciousness, bliss. My forehead now on Babji\'s knee, he pats my head and strokes my hair. I sit back upright. Silence. One moment, then two. Babaji reaches to his left where a rusty knife about four inches long sits waiting. I follow his motion with my eyes. Instantly, I am terrified. I have visions of blood. Stop! One moment, then two. Stop! This time, it’s an admonition to remember. Allow yourself to be taken, it says. You’ve been here before; you know what\'s happening. It\'s safe. Breathe. </span><br><br>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\">Babaji lowers my head with his hand and takes a fist-full of hair from my crown. He pulls hard enough to undo strands from my braid. Close to the scalp he cuts with the knife. Old and well-used, it doesn’t cut very well.  He pulls harder to get through the thickness of my mane and it hurts for an instant. I deepen my surrender. He cuts. He finishes, and I sit back up. Dazed, with my awareness in another place, I still must know.  </span><br><br>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\"> \"What,\" I ask, “are you going to do with it?\"  </span><br><br>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\"> \"A sacrifice,” he says, \"will be offered in the fire tonight.\" He holds up my hair.  </span><br><br>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\"> \"It’s an equal exchange,\" he says. \"The price you pay for being welcomed into the family.”</span><br><br>\r\n\r\n<em>June 26, 2003</em>\r\n\r\n[/toggle]\r\n\r\n[toggle type=\"gray\" title=\"Founder\'s Biography\" active=\"\"]<img class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-99537 imgborder\" alt=\"Chandra Alexandre\" src=\"http://sharanya.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/DSC_0731-e1378968031852.jpg\" />\r\n\r\nChandra Alexandre is a Tantric Bhairavi, an initiator in the tradition of Kali, serving SHARANYA as clergy. She is a householder and a regular pilgrim to the birthplace of Tantra in northeastern India, where she studies and practices with her teachers. Chandra was first initiated into the mysteries of the dark goddess in 1998 in Puri, Orissa on the dakshinacara path, and then, five years later, she accepted the non-dualistic path of vamacara Tantra at Kamakhya outside of Guwahati in Assam. Her maternal grandmother was her first guide into the ways of spirit in the world.<br><br>\r\n\r\nOn her initial return from India, Chandra founded SHARANYA to serve those committed to embodied and engaged spirituality for social justice and transformation. This was the birth of Sha’can, an authentic lineage tradition of Shakta Tantra contextualized and made relevant for people and lands distant from the source. Chandra and community complement San Francisco Bay Area worship, events and services with an online mystery school, Kali Vidya, to serve an international community of spiritual seekers and lovers of Maa.<br><br>\r\n\r\nChandra is known for her passionate engagement of theory and practice. She holds a PhD in Asian & Comparative Studies from the California Institute of Integral Studies, a Doctor of Ministry degree from Wisdom University (formerly the University of Creation Spirituality), and an MBA in sustainable management from Presidio Graduate School. In addition to SHARANYA, she engages her commitment through several community-based nonprofit organizations committed to educational equity, poverty alleviation and the empowerment of women and girls.<br><br>\r\n\r\nOriginally from New York, Chandra has, since 1995, called San Francisco home. She is also conjurer of <i>The Aghori Bakery: Everyday Spiritual Conversations</i> (forthcoming).[/toggle]\r\n\r\n[testimonials category=\"origins\" time=\"10\" effect=\"fade\" ]\r\n\r\n&nbsp;','Origins','','inherit','open','open','','99123-revision-v1','','','2013-09-11 23:41:05','2013-09-12 06:41:05','',99123,'Birthed in India over 15 years ago, SHARANYA exists to empower seeds of change on individual, collective, and planetary levels towards healing, respect, responsibility, and the fullest awareness of an interconnected, interrelated cosmic reality. Our origi',0,'revision','',0),(100011,2,'2013-09-11 23:42:02','2013-09-12 06:42:02','Birthed in India over 15 years ago, SHARANYA exists to empower seeds of change on individual, collective, and planetary levels towards healing, respect, responsibility, and the fullest awareness of an interconnected, interrelated cosmic reality. Our origins are rooted in a commitment to social justice for the promotion of peace and the (r)evolution of consciousness across space-time realities.<br><br>\r\n\r\n&nbsp;\r\n\r\n[toggle type=\"gray\" title=\"Our Temple in India\" active=\"\"]\r\n\r\n<a href=\"http://sharanya.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/MBCMTemple.jpg\"><img class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-99537 imgborder\" alt=\"Maa Batakali Mandir (Puri)\" src=\"http://sharanya.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/MBCMTemple.jpg\" /></a>\r\n<h3 style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\">Constitution of Maa Batakali Sanskrutika Parisada</span></h3>\r\n<span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\">The Maa Batakali Cultural Mission\r\n</span><br>\r\n<span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\">Balisahi, Puri Town, Puri  752 001 Orissa</span><br>\r\n\r\nRegistration Number: 2802/211/91-92<br>\r\nFiled and Certified by the Audit Superintendent District Panchayat Office, Puri<br><br>\r\n\r\n<b>Mission Statement:</b>\r\n<ul>To create and nurture a community of life-affirming individuals devoted to Mother Worship and to developing an understanding of how such devotion can positively transform our global community.</ul>\r\n<b>Vision Statement:</b>\r\n<ul>The Maa Batakali Cultural Mission is dedicated to promoting the vision of the world as a global community in Her divine name.</ul>\r\n<b>Aims and Objectives:</b>\r\n<ul>\r\n	<li>To maintain this Mission as a nonprofit public-benefit organization, not organized for the private gain of any person.</li>\r\n	<li>To foster awareness of Goddess worship as a life-affirming path among the global community; and to eradicate erroneous and superstitious beliefs in this regard.</li>\r\n	<li>To organize, develop and execute recreational, cultural and spiritual activities for the community.</li>\r\n	<li>To undertake programs for the establishment of community housing, social forestry and environmental sanitation; et alia.</li>\r\n	<li>To organize, fund and promote Mission Centers for community gatherings, social welfare programs and adult education, including the establishment of a library with emphasis on educational activities for community youth; and to develop various pilot projects to meet the needs of community members.</li>\r\n	<li>To organize outreach programs for those not in or around Mission Centers.</li>\r\n	<li>To undertake projects expressly designed to promote the welfare of Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribe and other economically \"backward\" classes of people, and to promote the development of cooperative ideas and enterprise among them and the community at large.</li>\r\n	<li>To draw up schemes for the rehabilitation of antisocial persons; i.e., those with problems related to alcohol and drug abuse, and to assist their families as required.</li>\r\n	<li>To educate about and mobilize peacefully against sati, dowry, beggary, caste crime and similar social ills.</li>\r\n	<li>To publish a monthly newsletter, community bulletin and other educational materials for the promotion of the spiritual and cultural philosophy of the Mission.</li>\r\n	<li>To help provide relief, through community efforts, for those effected by natural calamities and other emergencies.</li>\r\n	<li>To promote cultural exchange of ideas and beliefs throughout India and the world.</li>\r\n	<li>To assist in providing legal aid to the needy and the poor.</li>\r\n	<li>To establish sister organizations, in the United States and elsewhere, in order to promote the vision of the Mission worldwide.</li>\r\n	<li>To develop fundraising schemes for the future growth and maintenance of the Mission and its associations.</li>\r\n</ul>\r\n[/toggle]\r\n\r\n[toggle type=\"gray\" title=\"Origin Story: Part I\" active=\"\"]<a href=\"http://sharanya.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/ShyamPuriWeb.jpg\"><img class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-99541 imgborder\" alt=\"Shyam Sundar Dash at Maabatakali Mandir\" src=\"http://sharanya.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/ShyamPuriWeb.jpg\" /></a>It\'s summer in India, the time when the air is thick, sweat plentiful, and the monsoon\'s rains swell the skies and the streets. I have come here, to this land of spice, spirit and the sacred, to further my work in ecofeminism by looking at women\'s spiritual connections to social justice and activism on behalf of the environment. I am not here long, however, before Maa, the Divine Mother, shows me that there\'s more to my quest than I originally thought.<br><br>\r\n\r\nSpeaking to a guide at my hotel, I tell him, \"I need to find a temple to the Goddess.\"<br><br>\r\n\r\n\"Which one,\" he asks. \"Which goddess?\"<br><br>\r\n\r\n\"Well, Kali,\" I state hesitatingly, unsure of how my request will be received.  The man looks me up and down, trying to determine where I fit in the spectrum of visitors with which he has to deal and from which he makes his livelihood.<br><br>\r\n\r\n\"Wouldn\'t you rather visit Lord Jaganath?,\" he wonders. Lord of the Universe, Jaganath, is honored at this time in Puri (the eastern <i>dham</i>, one of the sacred compass points in India) in a huge festival to which hundreds of thousands flock each year. Together with his brother and sister, this is the only time the Lord leaves the mandir (temple). He\'s on a family outing to his summer home across the town and everyone comes out to get a glimpse of the royal family.<br><br>\r\n\r\nI\'m restless though, and on a mission. It is Kali I need to see and no one else. That She is responsible for my getting through a political uprising in Digha at the southern end of West Bengal unscathed has been made perfectly clear to me. I have come here to give thanks and find peace by the ocean waters. Sensing my urgency, the gentleman kindly calls to an auto-rickshaw driver with a shrug, not wanting to engage me further about goddesses. The driver arrives.<br><br>\r\n\r\n\"Kali mandir,\" I say to him as he pulls up alongside us. At this point, I have no idea how many homes Maa has here in Puri. After receiving no further instructions, the driver takes off towards the center of town. I later find out (after several unsuccessful attempts to again visit the place to which I am now heading) that there are at least four Kali temples. Reaching our destination, I buy a hibiscus mala, a garland of her sacred flower, and add that to my puja (worship) basket. Into it too go coconut, juicy betel nut and other sweets to delight Her. My offering is noteworthy at this temple for its size; but I need to thank the Goddess for getting me out of Digha alive by bringing something special.<br><br>\r\n\r\nThe pujari at Maa Batakali Mandir is a Brahmin priest with two sons. In his devotion and gratitude for the goddess having given him these sons, Shyam has built this temple. A small roadside mandir, passersby usually drop rupees on the temple steps on their daily rounds. It is nothing too fancy, but Maa here is absolutely resplendent.<br><br>\r\n\r\nIn his time, Shyam has doubled as a government worker, making regular trips back and forth from his office to tend to Maa and her devotees. Now retired, he tends to the temple and its congregation of worshipers every day for morning prayers and evening <i>aarati</i> (a beautiful celebration with lights and offerings). As Shyam sees me approach for the first time, he stares. He asks me directly why I am there, and although he is not angry, his disposition and directness can easily be mistaken for exactly that at first. Truly, he\'s just curious, but I am startled by his question.<br><br>\r\n\r\n\"Are you ISKON?\" he demands.<br><br>\r\n\r\nSuspense broken, I let out a nervous laugh. The International Society of Krishna Consciousness (a.k.a. Hare Krishnas) has never drawn me, however. Puri is full of Western devotees. Lord Jaganath, I learn, is, like Krishna whom those in ISKON worship, one of the ten incarnations of Lord Vishnu, the God of Preservation and one of the main Hindu deities.<br><br>\r\n\r\n\"No,\" I reply, \"I came to thank the Goddess.\"  After a few more words, Shyam accepts my offering basket, performing puja on my behalf. He asks my name in order to conduct the rites. When we\'re through, he asks why I\'m there. But my eyes are transfixed on Maa\'s image, and I can only point to my heart by way of explanation. \"She\'s here,\" I manage to say, and everything that has been kept inside until now in this challenging land of contrasts streams out through my eyes.<br><br>\r\n\r\nBetween June and August of 1998, I live in Puri. My friends up north forgive me for not coming back to study. My work on the spiritual motivations for grassroots environmental movements in India is put on hold. It was my pause when Shyam asked after the ritual, \"Will you come visit my house?\" that changed not only the course of my research, but also my life. Aware of India\'s potential for surprises, I held a moment of silence before responding and internally questioned his invitation and motivations.<br><br>\r\n\r\nFeeling inside, I sensed that this was an offering, and a door was opening to me that might never open again. In the pause, I could see Her face dimly, and I wondered in my rational mind about my work and Shyam\'s intentions. It took me three days to surrender to the feeling and my vision of Her beckoning. After careful thought and some time meditating with the ocean\'s wisdom, I said yes. I returned to meet my new teacher and his family.<br><br>\r\n\r\nThe more time I spend in Puri, the more I realize that Goddess is working in quite mysterious ways and that Shyam is no typical Brahmin priest.  As time passes, I learn the extent to which She is working through him, and I absorb many levels of Her teachings; some straightforward, others much more obtuse.<br><br>\r\n\r\nAfter much work, diksha, or initiation into Kali\'s mysteries is the next profound unfolding of my spiritual journey. The day comes on the August new moon, and I am thrilled when I realize it will be August 2nd, the festival of the harvest often called Lughnasad (or Lammas) in the earth-based Western calendar. It is as though Maa has answered my burning question: Can I do this? The synchronicity of timing does not escape me, and I feel She is telling me that I can have it both ways: I can be Her priestess as a Witch and a Hindu, walking as a Goddess worshiper wherever I may be in the world. To Her, I imagine, there is no distinction.<br><br>\r\n\r\nThe initiation is radical by most Hindu standards. Shyam is a Brahmin priest, and I am not only a westerner but also a woman; and women in India are not initiated by Brahmins. Following the Vedas in his public work, Shyam also practices Tantra, and this is the in-road to Maa that is clearly appropriate. Tantricks care not of my birth, only my longing. But perhaps there would be less to explain and fewer staring eyes as we sit working together at the temple were he to be more public about the various faces of his devotion. As Shyam manages to satisfy people\'s natural curiosity with his answers to their queries and suspicious looks, I pretend not to notice the robust number of visitors to the temple in the evenings after the gates have closed and we have begun our private work and evening prayers together.<a href=\"http://sharanya.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/ShyamSundarDashChandraAlexandrePuriMBCM1-e1377156643651.jpg\"><img class=\"size-full wp-image-99707 imgborder alignright\" alt=\"Chandra Alexandre and Shyam Sundar Dash at Puri Mandir\" src=\"http://sharanya.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/ShyamSundarDashChandraAlexandrePuriMBCM1-e1377156643651.jpg\" width=\"228\" height=\"246\" /></a>\r\n\r\nMy practice deepens after initiation, and on Her sacred day of Kali Puja some months later in October, I sit at the feet of the goddess in the temple, a spot that locals cannot come near. It is nearing midnight and the heat of the day lifting off the earth combined with the hot lamps that light Her image for passersby makes the sweat drip down my arms, makes my sari blouse feel even tighter than it already is, and makes me wish I couldn\'t see the bugs and ants crawling on my feet and ankles. I honor Her by pouring <i>ghee</i> (clarified butter) for the <i>homa</i> (fire offering) ceremony, and I remember that I am Shyam\'s first <i>chela</i> (student), a position of honor in the lineage tradition from which he comes.<br><br>\r\n\r\nI tend to my responsibilities dutifully as the Candi Path verses resonate off the temple walls and expand into the night air. In moments of quiet, I think about the day Shyam said he\'d been waiting for me, how he said his own guru had told him that one day, he would be bringing someone other than his sons to the path. I remember how Shyam said he had found the signs in my face the very first day we had met at the temple...signs telling him that I was the student to which his guru had referred. We finish our time together and he tells me the most important thing: \"Go! Go back to your home land, America, and spread Mother Worship!\"<br><br>\r\n\r\nUpon my return to the States, SHARANYA is born and my dedication to Kali Maa takes root with the formation of community on western shores. The wisdom of the ocean is remembered.<br><br>\r\n\r\n<em>August 2, 1998</em>\r\n\r\n<hr />\r\n\r\n<strong>Chandra Alexandre</strong> is the founding director of SHARANYA. She received <i>namakarana samskara</i> and her first <em>diksha </em>from Shyam Sundar Dash (Founder &amp; President and residing Priest of the Maa Batakali Temple in Puri) in 1998. With this, the SHARANYA kaula are part of the Bharadvaja gotra by which we honor our clan wave of spiritual ancestors.\r\n\r\n[/toggle]\r\n\r\n[toggle type=\"gray\" title=\"Origin Story: Part II\" active=\"\"]<a href=\"http://sharanya.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/KamakhyaMandirWeb.jpg\"><img class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-99540 imgborder\" alt=\"Kamakhya Mandir\" src=\"http://sharanya.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/KamakhyaMandirWeb.jpg\" /></a>\"Babaji wants to see you.\"<br><br>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\"> I’m walking barefoot down the muddy side of Nilachal Hill at Kamakhya in northeastern India after witnessing one of the most beautiful Sanskrit recitations I have ever heard. The white kurtas of the Brahmin men gathered in a circle around a sacred fire stand in marked contrast though to the throngs of red-clad women waiting in long lines to see their Mother. Both, I imagine, receive Her blessings. I am in northeastern India, in Assam, participating in an annual Tantrick pilgrimage to the seat of the goddess’ power, the place where her <i>yoni</i>, or sexual organ, resides on Earth.  It’s a powerful place, a place of contrasts where all come together, whether Vaishnava, Shaivite or Shakta, to honor Maa. It\'s a place, one might say, where all unites in Her name.  </span><br><br>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\"> Babji, I learn, is a 400-year old Aghori. A believer in the preeminence of the divine as Shiva, pure consciousness, he is a practitioner of the non-dualistic or \"left-hand\" Tantric rites. In short, this means that he adheres to a rather literal interpretation of what other Tantrics might do symbolically in ritual and devotion on the path to enlightenment. He meditates, for example, not only on <i>yantras</i> (sacred diagrams), but on yantras in cremation grounds on top of corpses; he drinks wine and liquor; he smokes hash and takes in other natural mind-altering substances. He believes that the pathway to the divine is through the body, through this world, through all of creation. His accepts it all, the pure and impure, the wicked and sane, as sacred. He is a radical non-dualist—one who believes in the One as well as in the reality of the phenomenal world. His path is fast and furious, sweet and sublime, potentially off-putting at the same time that it attracts wonder, excitement, and awe.  He loves Maa. </span><br><br>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\"> The three black-clad initiates standing outside his cave-like shelter on the hillside welcome me in. I meet Babji. He’s old but looks young, his face the only give-away that he’s been around the block a few times. His body, otherwise, is baby-like. He looks pregnant, a little round belly on a very thin frame. I sit cross-legged in front of him. To his left, the fire pit. To his right, a <i>kapala</i>, or human skull cup from which wine and other mind-altering substances are drunk, sits upturned. He calls me \"Beti,\" or daughter. Two followers of his are there; his initiates have left us alone. The woman wipes the snot dripping from Babaji\'s nose with a handkerchief and then moves to mop sweat from his forehead. No one, it appears, is immune to this sweltering summer heat. The Indian devotee next to her, perhaps her husband, has had far too much <i>bhang</i> (Cannabis) or something; his eyes have trouble steadying on me. </span><br><br>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\">My Sanskrit is better than my Hindi at this point. Fortunately, I can make out meaning from of the ritual language Babaji is using. The man helps a little, but his English is as poor as my Hindi. We quiet. Suddenly, Babaji grabs me. He pulls me to him with unsuspected strength. Face against face, I feel the bristles of his long beard against my cheek, and I feel coolness where the snot has been touching. I am startled, but now I’m held. I am held firmly, with apparent intention. The touch is not violent or inappropriate. The strength is deep and calming. I stay quiet and listen inside to my belly and instincts. Presence prevails, and I allow myself to trust the moment. Just then, Babaji begins. His mouth now pressed to my ear, he sounds an ancient mantra. My heart trembles, my eyes close, and I go inward. I surrender to these sounds, soaking in the ancient reverberations, feeling in them the voices of the lineage, the guttural utterances of vibrations across time and space. All enter my ear. All penetrate my soul.  </span><br><br>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\"> Moments pass and I eventually sit back upright in silence. One moment, then two. From deep inside, the sobbing begins. There’s no rational thought, no rhyme or reason, just the moment and my feeling of tremendous love and connection to all that is…I recognize a touch of <i>sat chit ananada</i>: being, consciousness, bliss. My forehead now on Babji\'s knee, he pats my head and strokes my hair. I sit back upright. Silence. One moment, then two. Babaji reaches to his left where a rusty knife about four inches long sits waiting. I follow his motion with my eyes. Instantly, I am terrified. I have visions of blood. Stop! One moment, then two. Stop! This time, it’s an admonition to remember. Allow yourself to be taken, it says. You’ve been here before; you know what\'s happening. It\'s safe. Breathe. </span><br><br>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\">Babaji lowers my head with his hand and takes a fist-full of hair from my crown. He pulls hard enough to undo strands from my braid. Close to the scalp he cuts with the knife. Old and well-used, it doesn’t cut very well.  He pulls harder to get through the thickness of my mane and it hurts for an instant. I deepen my surrender. He cuts. He finishes, and I sit back up. Dazed, with my awareness in another place, I still must know.  </span><br><br>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\"> \"What,\" I ask, “are you going to do with it?\"  </span><br><br>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\"> \"A sacrifice,” he says, \"will be offered in the fire tonight.\" He holds up my hair.  </span><br><br>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\"> \"It’s an equal exchange,\" he says. \"The price you pay for being welcomed into the family.”</span><br><br>\r\n\r\n<em>June 26, 2003</em>\r\n\r\n[/toggle]\r\n\r\n[toggle type=\"gray\" title=\"Founder\'s Biography\" active=\"\"]<img class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-99537 imgborder\" alt=\"Chandra Alexandre\" src=\"http://sharanya.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/DSC_0731-e1378968031852.jpg\" /> Chandra Alexandre is a Tantric Bhairavi, an initiator in the tradition of Kali, serving SHARANYA as clergy. She is a householder and a regular pilgrim to the birthplace of Tantra in northeastern India, where she studies and practices with her teachers. Chandra was first initiated into the mysteries of the dark goddess in 1998 in Puri, Orissa on the dakshinacara path, and then, five years later, she accepted the non-dualistic path of vamacara Tantra at Kamakhya outside of Guwahati in Assam. Her maternal grandmother was her first guide into the ways of spirit in the world.<br><br>\r\n\r\nOn her initial return from India, Chandra founded SHARANYA to serve those committed to embodied and engaged spirituality for social justice and transformation. This was the birth of Sha’can, an authentic lineage tradition of Shakta Tantra contextualized and made relevant for people and lands distant from the source. Chandra and community complement San Francisco Bay Area worship, events and services with an online mystery school, Kali Vidya, to serve an international community of spiritual seekers and lovers of Maa.<br><br>\r\n\r\nChandra is known for her passionate engagement of theory and practice. She holds a PhD in Asian & Comparative Studies from the California Institute of Integral Studies, a Doctor of Ministry degree from Wisdom University (formerly the University of Creation Spirituality), and an MBA in sustainable management from Presidio Graduate School. In addition to SHARANYA, she engages her commitment through several community-based nonprofit organizations committed to educational equity, poverty alleviation and the empowerment of women and girls.<br><br>\r\n\r\nOriginally from New York, Chandra has, since 1995, called San Francisco home. She is also conjurer of <i>The Aghori Bakery: Everyday Spiritual Conversations</i> (forthcoming).[/toggle]\r\n\r\n[testimonials category=\"origins\" time=\"10\" effect=\"fade\" ]\r\n\r\n&nbsp;','Origins','','inherit','open','open','','99123-revision-v1','','','2013-09-11 23:42:02','2013-09-12 06:42:02','',99123,'Birthed in India over 15 years ago, SHARANYA exists to empower seeds of change on individual, collective, and planetary levels towards healing, respect, responsibility, and the fullest awareness of an interconnected, interrelated cosmic reality. Our origi',0,'revision','',0),