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I feel elated! Navaratri has begun!
The sun has entered into Aries which marks the beginning of a new solarcycle, since Aries is the 1st of the zodiac signs. In the vedic calendar THIS is the beginning of the new year.
In this 1st month of the year, when the days are becoming longer than the nights and spring is in full bloom, with the beginning of the new lunarcycle (8th April), the Goddess is being celebrated during 9 nights and 10 days.
Sometimes people wonder how I can adopt another spiritual/cultural tradition so seemlessly.
Well, the "Goddess" is none else than Mother Nature. She is the great SHAKTI, the force of life that keeps generating and re-generating this breathtaking universe, including our body. She is the intelligence in our very own cells and the force that makes our hearts beat.
She has always been my Beloved, from the moment I first set eyes on Her in the form of Nature, long before I came in touch with the vedic traditions.
I have always perceived this mysterious force, beauty and intelligence as a conscious being that I wanted to be in communion with.
When I first read about DEVĪ in tantric scriptures it was totally clear to me WHO She was, I already knew Her. Only now I got to know Her names and the many ways in which She can be honoured.
What I love about the vedic traditions and sciences is how congruent they are.
If you look at it esotherically, from a tantric-ritualistic or devotional viewpoint She is the glorious Goddess, the Queen of the Universe... Rajarajeshwari.
If you look at it from an Ayurvedic viewpoint She is the intelligence and order of Nature, the change of seasons, the movement of the planets, the interplay of sun and moon, the 3 energetic qualities VATA, PITTA, KAPHA...
For me there is no question of believing or not believing. It is a question of how CONSCIOUS, how AWARE we are of that which is everpresent and all-pervading.
And how ALIGNED we are with it.
The seasonal ayurvedic regiments "RTUCHARYA" as well as the spiritual celebrations give us so many beautiful oportunities to align ourselves with the GREATER WHOLE.
All of these practices support us to go beyond the narrow limitations of our little ego-personality, expand our awareness and experience our unity with ALL.
With Mā - Mother Nature,
Devī - the Goddess....
The year (and even the day) is full of such periods of TRANSITION,
"in-between-times" when one quality of nature changes into another.
THOSE are precious oportunities to also create a powerful SHIFT within....be it for the improvement of our health or for our spiritual upliftment.
Shakti IS the force of AWAKENING.
She is the Mother and we are Her children. With the greatest Love She calls us towards Herself and with infinite Intelligence She orchestrates our process of unfolding our full potential and realizing WHO we are.
It is up to us to reach out for the Divine. We do have a free will and if we choose to just happily (or unhappily) keep playing in the playground of the world oblivious of our true heritage and identity, we will keep stumbling around like one without guidance until sooner or later we realize that we are lost.
We all go through this process of forgetting and remembering...
Sadhana (spiritual practice and discipline) is the conscious choice and effort to
R-E-M-E-M-B-E-R
So during these 9 days and nights of the Goddess NAVARATRI we joyfully
"re - member" (renewing our membership of the Divine :-)) )
For myself I am choosing a very simple but powerful practice this time. Because the Rtucharya Retreat in Austria is nearing. There is a lot to prepare and I will soon travel. So it needs to be simple:
* chanting my mantra as much as possible,
without interruption ideally, because it is the most efficient way to make the remembrance of and inner unity with the Divine in every moment of life constant
* eating pure, light fasting food
* keeping Dinacharya, the daily ayurvedic routine of eating and sleeping in the rhythm of the sun
* spending quiet time in nature, being receptive to Her whispers,
giving the body exposure to the predominant qualities of the season
MAY WE REMEMBER OUR TRUE NATURE
JAI MĀ!
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Flowers are always received with joy! https://www.buymeacoffee.com/saraswati