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The name Kali derives from the Sanskrit root word Kal meaning
time.
Nothing escapes from time. Her Tibetan Buddhism counterpart is
named
Kala, a male figure. Of the Hindu goddesses, Goddess Kali Ma
is the
most misunderstood. The Encyclopedia Britannica is very
mistaken in
this quote, "Major Hindu goddess whose iconography, cult,
and
mythology commonly associate her with death, sexuality,
violence,
and, paradoxically in some of her later historical appearances,
motherly love."
It is partially accurate to say the Goddess Kali Ma is a
goddess of
death. However, She brings the death of the ego as the
delusional
self-centered view of reality. Nowhere in the sriptures is She
seen
killing anything but demons nor is She associated exclusively
with
the process of human dying like Yama the Hindu god of death.
Both
Goddess Kali Ma and Shiva are said to inhabit cremation
grounds and
devotees often go to these places to meditate. The purpose is
not to
glorify death but to overcome the I-am-the-body idea. The
cremation
grounds reinforce the idea that the body is a temporary. Kali
and
Shiva are said to dwell in these places because it is our
attachment
to the body that gives rise to the ego. Kali and Shiva give
liberation by dissolving the illusion of the ego. Thus we are
the
ever-existing I AM and not the impermanent body. This is
emphasized
by the scene in the cremation grounds.
Out of all the Devi forms, Kali is the most compassionate
because She
provides moksha or liberation to Her children. She is the
counterpart
of Shiva. They are the destroyers of unreality. When the ego
sees
Mother Kali it trembles with fear because the ego sees in Her
its own
eventual demise. An individual who is attached to his/her ego
will
not be able to receive the vision of Mother Kali and She will
appear
in a fear invoking or "wrathful" form. A mature soul
who engages in
spiritual practice to remove the illusion of the ego sees
Mother Kali
as very sweet, affectionate, and overflowing with
incomprehensible
love for Her children.
Ma Kali wears a garland made of 52 skulls and a skirt made of
dismembered arms because the ego comes out of identification
with the
body. In fact, we are beings of spirit and not flesh. So
liberation
can only prevail when our attachment to the body comes to an
end.
Therefore, the skirt and garland are trophies worn by Her to
represent the liberation of Her children from attachment to
the
finite body. In two of Her hands, She holds a sword and a freshly
severed head that is dripping blood. This represents a great
battle
in which she defeated the demon Raktabija. Her black (or
sometimes
dark blue) skin represents the womb of the unmanifest from
which all
of creation is born and into which all of creation will
eventually
return. Goddess Kali Ma is depicted as standing on a white
skinned
Shiva who is lying beneath Her. His white skin is in contrast
to Her
black or sometimes dark blue skin. He is showing a blissful
detached
look on His face. Shiva is pure formless awareness
sat-chit-ananda
(being-consciousness-bliss) while She represents
"form" eternally
sustained by the underpinning of pure awareness.
Through ignorance of the story behind Goddess Kali Ma it is
easy to
misinterpret Her symbolism. In the same way one could say that
Christianity is a religion of destruction, death, and
cannibalism in
which the followers drink the eat the flesh of Jesus and drink
his
blood. Of course, we know this is not the correct way to
understand
the communion sacrament.
Associating sexuality to Mother Kali is not founded in the
traditional understanding of Her. In the Hindu stories, there
is
nothing that associates Her with sexuality. It is just the
opposite.
Kali is one of the few Goddesses who is celibate and
practicing
renunciation!
The idea that She is the goddess of death, sex and violence is
simply
not true. When we study the life of the great saint
Ramakrishna or
the great poet saint Ramprasad (both famous Kali worshippers),
or
listen to traditional Hindu devotional songs to Goddess Kali
Ma,
there is no suggestion of this death-sex-violence idea. This
can also
be substantiated by going to any of the Hindu websites such as
www.hindunet.com and reading about Her. Anyone sincerely interested
in Mother Kali should read the book Kali: The Black Goddess of
Dakshineswar, by Elizabeth Harding. In addition, there is a
beautiful
traditional Kali temple in Laguna Beach, California which may
be
visited on-line at www.kalimandir.org. Goddess Kali Ma is the
goddess
of liberation or enlightenment.
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