JaneSmith105
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A note here about Mother Goddess worship. Apart from this Purusha/Prakriti theology that we had just discussed, there are two other theologies related to Mother Goddess worship—Shakti and Maya.
The God that is visible to us is normally in male form—either as Vishnu or Siva. However, these gods are able to function properly only because of a certain energy that is present in them. This energy is nothing but that of the Mother Goddess. The Supreme Mother Goddess is invisibly manifest in them as their energy, or theologically called Shakti, enabling them to function properly. Laxmi is Vishnu’s Shakti, Parvati is Siva’s Shakti—without the help of Shakti, the gods cannot function. So Mother Goddess worship is often called Shaktism; and Mother Goddess worshippers are often called Shaktites. Mother Goddess is addressed as Shakti, Adi Shakti (first Shakti), or Para Shakti (great Shakti) by Mother Goddess worshippers.
Maya means illusion; it is an important concept in Vedic religion. As per this theology, all of us are under a certain illusion; world cannot exist without this illusion. All of us eat the same dish, but each person perceives a different taste; how is this possible? The reason this is possible is because all of us are bound by God’s Maya, which makes us think that whatever we perceive to be the truth irrespective of the actual reality. Just imagine a world where each and every person perceives every single phenomenon in exactly the same way—all of us would behave in exactly the same manner. Can such a world function? It is the Maya of God that binds us in a certain illusion and makes the world function. Mother Goddess worshippers, sometimes, visualize Mother Goddess as the personification of Maya. For example, Laxmi is visualized as a personification of Vishnu’s Maya. Mother Goddess is addressed as Mahamaya (great Maya) in this theology.
Coming back to the pantheon, the feminine energy of Brahma is Saraswati. Together, Vishnu/Laxmi, Brahma/Saraswati, Siva/Parvati, these form the pantheon of Hinduism. Even though the pantheon seems to be having a large number of figures, the two primary figures are Vishnu and Siva. Staunch Vaishnavites worship Vishnu alone while staunch Saivites worship Siva alone. This exclusive worship is, however, done by only a part of the population. Most Hindus give equal importance to Vishnu and Siva—they consider Vishnu and Siva to be just two different manifestations of the Supreme Purusha; differentiation between them is not done.
Hindus therefore view heaven in terms of four denominations. Vishnu’s abode is Vaikunt, Brahma’s abode is Brahmalok, Siva’s abode is Kailas, and the abode of Devas is Swarg. The term heaven, in general parlance, is used to refer to Swarg, the abode of Devas. Going to heaven is not considered the same as salvation. Since Brahma is not worshiped much, Brahmalok is not of much consequence. So, going to Vaikunt or Kailas is considered as salvation. Hindus believe in a cycle of continuous birth and death. A human or animal soul takes a body in this life, lives in this body, and on death, leaves this body and takes on another body through another birth; and this process keeps repeating forever. If a person does meritorious deeds in his lifetime, he goes to heaven or the abode of Devas, enjoys heavenly comforts there for a while, and, when his/her merit is exhausted, takes another birth and comes back to earth. If he sins, he goes to hell, pays for his sins there, takes another birth and comes back to earth. If the person has to come out of this cycle of birth/death, he has to seek salvation by realizing the supreme Purusha in either Vishnu or Siva. Continuous attachment to the name, deed, and word of God throughout one’s lifetime, apart from meritorious deeds, is prescribed for attaining salvation.
Via : Prithvi
The God that is visible to us is normally in male form—either as Vishnu or Siva. However, these gods are able to function properly only because of a certain energy that is present in them. This energy is nothing but that of the Mother Goddess. The Supreme Mother Goddess is invisibly manifest in them as their energy, or theologically called Shakti, enabling them to function properly. Laxmi is Vishnu’s Shakti, Parvati is Siva’s Shakti—without the help of Shakti, the gods cannot function. So Mother Goddess worship is often called Shaktism; and Mother Goddess worshippers are often called Shaktites. Mother Goddess is addressed as Shakti, Adi Shakti (first Shakti), or Para Shakti (great Shakti) by Mother Goddess worshippers.
Maya means illusion; it is an important concept in Vedic religion. As per this theology, all of us are under a certain illusion; world cannot exist without this illusion. All of us eat the same dish, but each person perceives a different taste; how is this possible? The reason this is possible is because all of us are bound by God’s Maya, which makes us think that whatever we perceive to be the truth irrespective of the actual reality. Just imagine a world where each and every person perceives every single phenomenon in exactly the same way—all of us would behave in exactly the same manner. Can such a world function? It is the Maya of God that binds us in a certain illusion and makes the world function. Mother Goddess worshippers, sometimes, visualize Mother Goddess as the personification of Maya. For example, Laxmi is visualized as a personification of Vishnu’s Maya. Mother Goddess is addressed as Mahamaya (great Maya) in this theology.
Coming back to the pantheon, the feminine energy of Brahma is Saraswati. Together, Vishnu/Laxmi, Brahma/Saraswati, Siva/Parvati, these form the pantheon of Hinduism. Even though the pantheon seems to be having a large number of figures, the two primary figures are Vishnu and Siva. Staunch Vaishnavites worship Vishnu alone while staunch Saivites worship Siva alone. This exclusive worship is, however, done by only a part of the population. Most Hindus give equal importance to Vishnu and Siva—they consider Vishnu and Siva to be just two different manifestations of the Supreme Purusha; differentiation between them is not done.
Hindus therefore view heaven in terms of four denominations. Vishnu’s abode is Vaikunt, Brahma’s abode is Brahmalok, Siva’s abode is Kailas, and the abode of Devas is Swarg. The term heaven, in general parlance, is used to refer to Swarg, the abode of Devas. Going to heaven is not considered the same as salvation. Since Brahma is not worshiped much, Brahmalok is not of much consequence. So, going to Vaikunt or Kailas is considered as salvation. Hindus believe in a cycle of continuous birth and death. A human or animal soul takes a body in this life, lives in this body, and on death, leaves this body and takes on another body through another birth; and this process keeps repeating forever. If a person does meritorious deeds in his lifetime, he goes to heaven or the abode of Devas, enjoys heavenly comforts there for a while, and, when his/her merit is exhausted, takes another birth and comes back to earth. If he sins, he goes to hell, pays for his sins there, takes another birth and comes back to earth. If the person has to come out of this cycle of birth/death, he has to seek salvation by realizing the supreme Purusha in either Vishnu or Siva. Continuous attachment to the name, deed, and word of God throughout one’s lifetime, apart from meritorious deeds, is prescribed for attaining salvation.
Via : Prithvi
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