TV Channel

There are two forces in this universe: Āśurīśakti and Devīśakti. Śakti means power; Śakti means might. Āśurīśakti means negative forces—all kinds of negative forces. One could say the devil; Western people are accustomed to saying Satan—satanic forces, devilish forces, negative, destructive forces, and so on. Devī Śakti is divine power, the positive force. Now, both forces, Devī Śakti and Āśurī Śakti: Devīśakti is positive power and Āśurīśakti is negative power. But the origin of both is one: God Himself. It is interesting to consider why the negative forces also have their origin in God, and the positive ones likewise have their origin in God. This is just as we have often spoken about Uttāna and Patana: development in life, realization of the goal, or destruction in life. Consciousness descends into lower feelings, into lower lokas. When a person is born, two paths lie before them. One path leads to success, development, realization. The second path is destruction; annihilation leads to dissolution. The person is the Self, the Pure One, who has pure consciousness, who leads a pure life. But now it depends on society: who one spends most of their time with determines how that person will continue to live in this life. One goes into ku-saṅga, bad company; then there is no progress to the higher stages, but rather decline, destruction of life. We have been given human life, and unfortunately, human life is wasted. When one goes to good company, with good friends, then there is growth and development on the higher plane. For example, if someone comes to a person who takes drugs, then that person will also be led to the point of starting to take drugs. This is society. Or someone comes to a purposeful person, someone who studies, who wants to do something in life—a society where one learns how to serve, work, practice yoga, and do positive things. That person also becomes a Yogi. So, it is the company, the companion, the partner, the company one keeps, that determines the qualities one adopts. And according to its qualities, this consciousness continues to operate. Pure water, when we pour it into a dirty pot or vessel, becomes dirty; in a pure vessel, it remains pure. And so, this divine power in the universe is the origin of the cosmic Self, who continues to wander in this universe. One moves into the positive planes, while the other goes to different extremes, into negative planes. And thus, one develops a quality. The entire universe is filled with astral beings; it is so densely full. For example, we have a beautiful illustration in this modern world of how we develop our technique day by day. Look at this room where we are sitting: there are millions upon millions of radiations, or radio waves. You can receive all the stations from all over the world here. And now we have mobile phones, television, and much, much more. So all around the Earth, there is so much energy, or these radio waves—incredible, very dense. When one meditates and wants to enter the astral world, it is so dense. If one is afraid, an accident will happen. They lie around like cables, like a network, so densely packed. But technique is good, and everyone goes through. Nothing creates itself; no accident—very rare. And so, the entire universe is filled with many astral beings, not only human but also animal. All of them have their origin in God. Negative forces exist in this universe, and positive forces also exist. We do not know when a negative force or evil power will suddenly attack us or come onto our path. And we do not know when the positive power will come. And so, an accident can happen. This is called Tri-Tapas: Yoga, Ādhi-Devika, Ādhi-Bhautika, and Ādhyātmika. Tri-Tapas means three types of difficulties. Tapa means heat, fire, but here it is meant in a negative sense. Every kind of problem is a heat for us, a fire. And these Tri-Tapas can only be liberated through meditation, through prayer, and through mantra. And so it is written in the mantra, sung in the bhajan: "tinoi tāpa pāpa mitāve, tinoi tāpa pāpa, avichala sukha pāve paramānandana, avichala sukha." And then the Paniraṅgana Sabhā Dhokā Bhañjana Prabhu wrote the Paniraṅgana Sabhā Dhokā: "Esi Mantrase Hovemanamanyana Esi Mantrase Hovemanamanyana Śrī Dīpa Nirañjana Sabhā Dokā Bhañjana Prabhu Dīpa Nirañjana Sabhā Dokā. Tinoi tāpa, pāpa mit jāve, avichala sukha pāve brahmānandam. Tinoi tāpa," these three Tapas: Ādhibhautika, Ādhidaivika, and Ādhyātmika. "Tinoi tāpa, pāpa mit jāve." These three Tapas exist as long as sins exist within us. When we are free from sins, then the three Tapas are also free from us. So, the new stage will be purified from all the impurities of these three stages. When we are in astral planes, we come together with either benevolent forces or negative forces. When we live in this physical, material world, both positive and negative forces come our way. And so, it is very important that consciousness has the help of the masters. There you see how important it is for a Satguru to have his seat in the astral planes and within these planes. That is exactly when we need the Master—not here, perhaps not in this world, and that is okay; from time to time we see each other and say hello. Where our intellect no longer has power, where our physical strength ends, there all our abilities come to an end. Then only Guru Kṛpā can take effect. And to feel and realize the Guru Kṛpā, one must read the Guru Gītā, listen to the Guru Gītā. And so, Daivik-Śakti and Āsurī-Śakti develop. The part of the power, the energy that accumulates in negative qualities, day by day, becomes Āsurī-Śakti. And the positive forces are accepted as Daivik-Śakti. In India, we have very special days twice a year—not just one day, but nine days. Nine days, which are approximately in April, and nine days now in this season, October or November, because it follows the lunar calendar. These nine days are called Navarātri. Navarātri means nine nights. These nine nights are dedicated to the Divine Mother, Śakti. Every woman can be happy now. The women receive nine days. The male god only gets one day. Right? This is a great stage of emancipation, a chamber of progress. Nine days and nine nights are dedicated to the Divine Mother, the Śakti, who comes from and acts through the cosmic planes, hagunau, like an incarnation, a divine incarnation. Now people will say, why is there always only a male God and male incarnation? No, it is not only that. There are also female incarnations. It has its meaning. Why does God incarnate in a female form? Or why does He incarnate in a male form? Or why does He incarnate as half human and half animal? It always has its meaning and purpose. For example, Narasiṁha-Avatāra. Narasiṁha-Avatāra is Nara, the human, and Siṁha, the lion. God incarnated as Narasiṁha, Nara and Siṁha, in this world. Why? Does she know everything? No. Because of Prahlāda and Hiraṇyakaśipu. We have heard these stories countless times. And so it is. This Śakti—Durgā, Kālī, and so on—has nine different names. Last year, for half a year, we had beautiful lectures on divine Śakti, specifically the Śrīmad Devī Bhāgavatam. There we have always read and heard what it is, what it means for us, and how powerful it is. Śrīmad Devī Bhāgavatam is one of the greatest Bhāgavatams. There are so many līlās of Hers, so many stories about Her. Every day She took on a different form to kill a demon. Ultimately, every time She killed him, he came back to life. It was not the same person; She was not meant to fight with him. For the ninth time, they learned that the blood of the demon must not fall to the ground, otherwise he would rise again, as they say. Since Kālī then takes one, has taken a śaile and so on—you see the images of Kālī. I am not a product of Kālīs, because for me, Kālī and Durgā and everything else reside within Mahāprabhujī and Devapurīs and so forth. But we have great reverence for the divine power. If we say only "divine Mother," that is not enough. A divine mother normally refers to the mother of an incarnation. But the Divine Mother is the divine Śakti, the power, the universal Mother, I would say. A universal mother is also the mother of our life—the Cosmic Mother. Today is the ninth day. It is celebrated; She is highly praised. You will be surprised—almost 75 to 80 percent of devotees believe in the divine or this Cosmic Mother. She is that important. Every household has a divine mother as a patron deity from the families, this Cosmic Mother, one of them. Every ācārya of sanātana dharma bears a symbol of this goddess. Everywhere, everywhere, everywhere She is present. She is purity. She is an owner. She is a mother. She is power. She is knowledge. She is peace. She is contentment. She is prosperity. She is our intellect or buddhi. And so in this mantra, for example, it says: Namaste, Namaste,... Namo Namaḥ. Power is your intellect. Power is your thoughts—the power of thought. Power is your trust. Power is your contentment. All that is Your power within You is the divine, Cosmic Mother. Without Her, we cannot even move our eyelids. There would be no more moments then. It is Her power that moves. Consciousness and power. Consciousness and Nature. Prakṛti, Puruṣa and Prakṛti, Śiva and Śakti. Consciousness can only act, only work, when there is power. And when the power is no longer there, one says, "I feel so miserable, completely powerless. I have no more strength to live." Such hidden powers within humans—is that a proper title? Youthful energies? Exactly. Hidden forces within people, but one says the sleeping forces within people. And we must awaken them. So on this day, we sing our reverence, or we worship the Cosmic Mother in the form of power, in the form of harmony, in the form of contentment, in the form of peace, in the form of our knowledge—in every way, may She possess us. Through what? Through clear, right thoughts. Through right actions. Through the right words. We would not be able to speak at all if She were not present. So, it is everywhere. So, you have surely read in the Līlāmṛta of Mahāprabhujī also a beautiful story of Mahāmāyā. Mahāmāyā Śakti. Mahāmāyā is Māyā, and Mahā means the greatest—the greatest Māyā, the entire universe. There is also a small Māyā here, but this Māyā pervades the entire universe. So Daivik Śakti. Daivik Śakti is power, strength. And there, Her form, in the feminine form, is worshipped. That is how it is. So today we sing a bhajan, a beautiful bhajan of the Holy Guru, sung in praise of our Divine Mother, Chandan Devī, Mahāprabhujī’s Mother. Okay? Siddha Nārāyaṇa Bhagavān Kī Jaya. Chandan Devī Mātā Jī Kī Jaya. Victory to Śānti Jī. Victory to Śānti Jī.