Navaratri and climate change

Hari Aum.

Navaratri, the festival celebrating God as the Divine Mother, starts tomorrow. This is a wonderful time to worship Devi. My Guru Sivananda advises chanting the navarna mantra (Om Aim Hreem Kleem Chamundayai Vicche) as much as possible during this time to obtain the grace and blessings of our Universal Mother.

The headline today on Nature and climate change on the BBC news website is rather alarming to say the least:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-45775309

At the rate the human species is destroying the planet, the coral reefs with be wiped out, land will go under water due to melting of polar ice-caps and unbearable and unnatural weather phenomena will increase. We have already got our share of abnormal weather with unprecedentedly hot summers, forest fires and so on. 

Why am I mentioning climate change on a website related to spiritual practice? Because Nature is a manifestation of God. Nature is an aspect of the Divine Mother, of Divine Energy. 

When we act carelessly with no regard to Nature, we are disrespecting the Divine Power that created all this. We cannot call ourselves worshippers of the Divine Mother if we act carelessly and destroy Her manifestation in Nature, if we create disharmony and discord in Her creation. No. To be able to call ourselves Her real devotees, we have a duty to start thinking and taking practical steps to do our bit to stop destroying the planet, which is Her creation.

What can we do individually to reduce our carbon footprint and to stop destroying the planet?

Lots of things. Some things can be done from today, other things will require more time to plan and implement.

Some things we can do from today:

1. Eat less or no meat- scientists all over the world say that production of meat for consumption is terrible for the environment. Cows in particular produce a lot of methane which is bad for the environment. Stop eating meat if you can, or at least reduce meat consumption if possible. You will need to ensure adequate intake of protein from vegetarian sources such as lentils, pulses, nuts etc and also include some dairy intake to avoid vitamin B12 deficiency. Eating vegetables is very good to reduce risk of cancer and other diseases according to scientists. So it is good for us and the planet to be mostly if not totally vegetarian.

2. Stop wasting electricity- switch off lights etc when not in the room, line dry clothes (instead of tumble-drying) if possible etc.

3. Walk more and drive less- good for the environment and for our health

There are many more things that can  be done- the website below gives some more examples (there are lots of other good websites with more information):

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/7-instant-ways-to-reduce-your-carbon-footprint_us_59321992e4b00573ab57a383?guccounter=1

Let us make a pledge this Navaratri, in honour of the Divine Mother, that we, Her children will do everything possible to stop destroying the planet, that we will honour Her creation and treat it with the respect it deserves.

Also, we need to reduce plastic waste. There is a disgusting amount of plastic filling up the oceans and destroying the lives of creatures living there. Not to mention the landfills filling up with the stuff. We need to use reusable shopping bags, and avoid single-use plastics where possible.

For women, there are reusable menstrual pads available- these are made of some sort of highly absorbable microfibre or something. I was wary of trying these but finally bought some on Amazon (which had very good reviews from other customers) in order to reduce my plastic waste. I have to say that they work very well (absolutely no odour/leakage etc), are comfortable and can be machine-washed and come out sparkling clean. They are affordably priced and seem to be of very good quality (look like they will last any months, possibly years). I have stopped using the disposable plastic-lined sanitary pads completely since discovering these. I would encourage women spiritual seekers to explore this option (many different companies are making these) as one way to reduce plastic waste.

I have also made a promise to myself that every week or at least every month, I will try and identify one plastic item to replace with some environmentally-friendly product (e.g. replacing plastic toothbrush with toothbrush made of biodegradable material). I would encourage you to do the same. This is an important aspect of worshipping God who created Nature.

Om Aim Hreem Kleem Chamundayai Vicche.

Salutations and prostration again and again to the Divine Mother. May She give us the iccha shakti (will-power), jnana shakti (wisdom) and kriya shakti (power of action) to worship Her properly, including the courage to take steps to change our lifestyles to live in harmony with Her creation.

Hari Aum Tat Sat

Navarna mantra for protection

Hari Om.

2015 has dawned. It brings with it both hope and fear. There is increasing violence everywhere. Yet there is undoubtedly also a resurgence of spirituality and ethical values all over the world. However negative ignorant materialistic tendencies still far outweigh positive noble tendencies and sadhana for the welfare of the world is desperately needed.

The unfortunate events in France that took place four days ago have oddly strengthened my faith in mantras as a positive force for protection.

On January 9, two days ago, I returned home with my father and husband after a pretty mundane day. It was around 9 pm in India. My father and husband sat down to dinner and asked me to join them. I was not particularly hungry and decided to have some fruit a bit later. We had been following the tragic events in France on the news. The latest was that the terrorists had been found but were locked up in two locations with some unfortunate hostages.There was no sign of a breakthrough at this time and it was a tense situation.

It was Friday, the day of the Goddess. I had happened to have bought some red roses from a roadside seller earlier that day. Red flowers always remind me of Durga, and I had meant to offer some of the roses to Her in a puja either later that day or the next day.

For some reason, on returning home I was seized with a strong desire to do a short puja to Devi then and there for Her intervention in the Paris situation.I felt sorry for the misguided terrorists and their terrible ideology. I felt even sorrier for the hostages and for the French forces who had the challenging task of arresting/killing the terrorists without causing further death of the hostages.

I wondered which mantra or mantras to recite to invoke the Divine Mother in this situation, and strongly felt that the Navarna mantra was appropriate. It invoked three forms of the Goddesss- Durga, Lakshmi and Sarasvati. And it is also the mantra of the fierce evil-destroyer form of the Goddess, namely Chamunda. I had been reading the Devi Mahatyam for the first time recently and was impressed to discover that Lakshmi and Sarasvati were not only sweet Goddesses of auspiciousness and wealth, but also had a powerful side to Them that destroyed evil (like Durga). All of course are different forms of the the One Parameshvari.

So I went and sat cross-legged on my bed, and created a makeshift altar in front of me- a picture and small  metal murti of Devi from the Kamakshi temple in Kanchipuram (that I obtained during my visit last month) placed on a cloth, and the red rose petals

After the usual short invocatory prayers to Ganesh, Guru, Devi and Shiva and Vishnu- I began saying the Navarna mantra clearly and slowly and offered a rose petal with each repetition. After all the rose petals were offered (there were about 50), I took up my japa mala and recited the mantra 108 times, pronouncing each part of the mantra very slowly with concentration.

While doing japa, I mentally imagined myself offering flowers at the Feet of the Devi who was watching me with a pleasant smile- this was in the heart space, centre of the chest, anahata chakra- my usual meditation point and place of manasik puja. I imagined Her seated on a throne with Vishnu and Sivananda seated to Her right (They were approvingly observing the puja!).

I prayed for world peace, for a positive outcome of the hostage situation, for Her intervention, that things should turn out as per Her wish whatever it may be. After completion of the mala, I also imagined doing abhishekam of a Shiva linga with water and bael leaves. I also prayed to Lord Shiva for peace and protection of the world. Finally I repeated the Gayatri mantra three times as an offering to the Goddess, requesting intelligence and proper thinking for all beings. May good thoughts come to us from every side as the ancient Vedic prayer goes.

I then got up and went to have dinner. It was now around 9.45 pm in India. The puja had taken about 35 minutes. I switched on the television news channel while having dinner.

I was surprised and delighted to hear that the French forces had launched a successful program to free the hostages. It had been a very delicate operation that had to be timed well to avoid further death of hostages. The misguided terrorists had also been killed. While I felt sorry for the terrorists due to their twisted misguided ideology, I somehow felt that this was the will of the Divine.

This episode strengthened the feeling in me that God listens to our prayers. Thousands of people would have  been praying for the situation to resolve safely and I was simply one among many.

I found it interesting that I suddenly had a strong impulse to do a Devi puja using the powerful Navarna mantra (not usual for me to repeat this mantra except during Navaratri) - and that I started this puja moments just before the operation by the French forces to free the hostages. It was interesting that I was trying to send positive thoughts and prayers to help resolve the situation exactly during some very critical moments. I felt grateful to the Devi for involving me in Her Lila in this way. (Obviously the positive outcome was not because of my puja, but I somehow felt like one of Her instruments in this scenario and am grateful for this.)

The main message for me from this was that, as our sages say, 1) God plays out some strange Lilas- She is the criminal, the police and the people who pray! She is both beautiful and terrible, and Her Lila or Play reflects this. 2) God listens to our prayers. Mantras are very powerful tools for peace. We must repeat these more for world peace.

The second part is the reason I am writing this post. This event affirmed for me the fact that mantras are powerful tools for world peace. We must repeat them for world peace. For reduction of anger and destructive emotions in ourselves and in others. For an increase in divine thoughts of kindness and goodness in ourselves and others. We must pray, that the Divine Will permitting, peace and prosperity may return as much as possible to the Earth, and that negativity and harm may be reduced as much as possible.

When the Name of God is recited, no evil force can stand, no evil thoughts can exist. This is the definite declaration of our sages, and even beginners like me have had some experience of this. The Divine winds of good noble thoughts blow through our minds when the Name or mantra of God is taken.

So let us pledge some time everyday (be it 5 minutes or 5 hours) throughout 2015 for the sake of world peace, for the sake of our own spiritual progress. Let us attune ourselves to the Divine Will, pray to be instruments of the Divine, and pray that the Divine will may be done on Earth.

Om Aim Hrim Klim Chamundaye Vicche. Fervent thanks to She who is the embodiment of goodness, purity and all auspiciousness.

May She always bless and protect us all and guide us on the path of goodness.

Hari Om Tat Sat. Sarvam Sri Durgarpanamastu.

P.S. In the Sivananda tradition, it is advised that mantras containing bija aksharas (seed syllables, such as Aim, Hrim etc), such as the Navarna, should not be chanted in very large numbers (hundreds of thousands) without the guidance of a Guru. These mantras are powerful and can awaken kundalini faster than non-bija mantras. This can be a problem in one who is not mentally and physically prepared for such a rise. The guidance of a Guru and living a clean life (diet, surroundings etc) is especially important when chanting bija mantras. I chant this mantra occasionally in certain cirumstances as above and during Navaratri (as advised by Sivananda) but not in large numbers daily. I would advise anyone who plans to take up serious regular japa of the navarna mantra (or other mantra with bijaksharas) in large numbers to obtain the guidance of a proper Guru to ensure safe sadhana.