Method of worship of the Divine Mother: Sivananda's advice

Hari Aum.

There are many great spiritual traditions dedicated to worshipping the Divine Mother. Here I am presenting the advice of my Guru Swami Sivananda regarding this subject.

Sivananda says about the Divine Mother:

"The Mother’s Grace is boundless. Her mercy is illimitable; Her knowledge infinite; Her power immeasurable; Her glory ineffable; and Her splendour indescribable. She gives you material prosperity as well as spiritual freedom."

Sivananda says that, in some ways, the devotee can feel close to God more easily when worshipping God as Mother, rather than as Father. He says this is because, even in ordinary human life, mothers are perceived as being more lenient and forgiving whereas fathers are supposedly stricter and more distant.

He was a follower of Advaita Vedanta philosophy (non-dualism) established by Adi Shankaracharya. This philosophy says that all is God.

My Guru's method of worship of the Divine Mother is based on this philosophy. This says that while God is One, there are many forms of God, all of which are equal. One can attain God by worshipping any form of one's liking. The Goddess is one such wonderful form of the Supreme Being, and by worshipping Her, one can attain the supreme goal of spiritual life.

My Guru's method of worship of the Divine Mother is simple (there are no fancy rituals or exotic practices here). The path he advises is basically centred around mantra japa.  Because he himself was a japa yogi (he attained realisation through japa of the dwadashakshari mantra of Krishna). He says that one should worship the Divine Mother through intense japa and attain Her grace which leads to liberation.

The mantras for Goddess worship advised by Sivananda (written in his book 'Japa yoga') are:

1. For Durga: Om Sri Durgayai Namah
2. For Lakshmi: Om Sri Maha- Lakshmyai Namah
3. For Sarasvati: Om Sri Sarasvatyai Namah
4. For Kali: Om Sri Kalikayai Namah.
5. For TripuraSundari: Om Sri Tripura-Sundaryai Namah
6. For BalaParameshwari: Om Sri Bala-Parameshwaryai Namah
7. For  Gayatri: Om bhur bhuvah swaha, Tat savitur varenyam, Bhargo devasya dhimahi, Dhi yoyo nah prachodayat.

He says one should sit for japa in a room, or corner of a room, specially designated for this purpose. One should create an altar and place a picture of the Divine Mother on it. One should sit facing East or North during the daytime (and face North only at night. This applies to all sadhana to all deities for spiritual progress). This enhances the power of the japa. One should sit on the ground on a mat or cloth made of cotton, wool or silk as this is said to preserve body electricity. (As silk production involves violence -killing the silk worms by boiling in water etc- I avoid using this and personally prefer a woolen mat with a folded cotton sheet spread over it).

Then he says that one should light a lamp and burn incense prior to starting the japa as an offering to the Goddess and to create a sacred atmosphere. As kumkum is dear to the Goddess (as tulasi is to Vishnu and bhasmam/sacred ash is dear to Shiva), this should be offered to Her if possible. He says one can worship Her external picture or perform mental worship by visualising Her within the ajna chakra (space between the eyebrows) or anahata chakra (centre of the chest, heart chakra).

Sivananda also says that a crystal or sphatika mala is traditionally used when doing japa of Goddess mantras (though one can also use a rudraksha or tulasi mantra if desired).

He advises that spiritual aspirants keen on attaining liberation through worship of the Divine Mother should take up japa of one of the above mantras and do this regularly.

He advises extended japa practices such as an anushthana of 125,000 recitations or a purascharana of more recitations (similar to worship of other deities). He advises that the japa be continued until adequate purification is attained and the devotee obtains Darshan/vision of the Divine Mother and Her grace.

He also advises that the Goddess should be worshipped with recitation of the Devi Mahatmyam, Lalita Sahasranama and so on as per the devotee's ability. As a minimum, daily japa of one of Her mantras should be done. During Navaratri, he advises recitation of the Navarna mantra as much as possible.

In terms of the attitude with which to approach the Divine Mother, Sivananda says:

"Approach Her with an open heart. Lay bare your heart to Her with frankness and humility. Be as simple as a child. Kill ruthlessly the enemies of egoism, cunningness, selfishness and crookedness. Make a total, unreserved, and ungrudging self-surrender to Her. Sing Her praise. Repeat Her Name. Worship Her with faith and unflinching devotion."

"Perform special worship on the Navaratri days. Navaratri is the most suitable occasion for doing intense spiritual practices. These nine days are very sacred to the Divine Mother. Plunge yourself in Her worship. Practice intense repetition of the Divine Name, having a regular “quota” of repetitions per day, and the number of hours spent on it."

https://www.divyajivan.org/navaratri/durga%20puja.htm

He also says:

"Offer to Goddess Durga the animal nature, the Pashu, of your inner evil traits of passion, anger and greed.  Do not kill animals of the external world in the name of Balidana to the Goddess.  She wants your animal-man within. No Himsa (violence) should be committed on the excuse that it is for the Devi. You have no right or justification to hurt any living creature for whatever reason."

"Ahimsa (non-violence) should be free from all exemptions whether pertaining to class, place, time or circumstance.  Ahimsa is universal vow to be practiced absolutely.  No worship, no prayer, no act whatsoever in life can justify injury.  Even self-protection cannot justify murder.  You have to stick to the rule of universal love to the best of your ability, to the utmost extent possible.  The offering of the self, the surrender of the ego to the Divinity is the supreme sacrifice.  Nothing is superior to it.  Nothing can be equal to it.  This is the most exalted form of Divine worship."

https://www.divyajivan.org/articles/siva/devi_worship.htm 

My Guru, though himself a practitioner of Vedantic sadhana, also had great respect for another tradition of worshipping the Goddess- the way of Tantra. Both ways are said to be equally effective. I am sharing his article on 'Tantra yoga' below- this dispels a number of myths and misunderstandings surrounding the practice of Tantra that are prevalent today. Please note that he emphasises the absolute need for a Guru before embarking on this path.

He says: "The Tantra is, in some of its aspects, a secret doctrine. It is a Gupta Vidya. You cannot learn it from the study of books. You will have to get the knowledge and practice from the practical Tantrikas, the Tantric Acharyas and Gurus who hold the key to it."

"Yoga should be learnt from a Guru (spiritual preceptor). And this is true all the more in the case of Tantra Yoga. It is the Guru who will recognise the class to which the aspirant belongs and prescribe suitable Sadhana."

"The Tantric student must be endowed with purity, faith, devotion, dedication to Guru, dispassion, humility, courage, cosmic love, truthfulness, non-covetousness, and contentment. Absence of these qualities in the practitioner means a gross abuse of Saktism."

"Tantra Yoga is the saving wisdom. It is the marvellous boat which takes man safely to the other shore of fearlessness, immortality, freedom, and perfection, when practised with understanding under personal guidance of well-established Tantric Guru."

http://www.dlshq.org/teachings/tantrayoga.htm

Om Sri Durgayai Namah.

Hari Aum Tat Sat