Hello again Divine Brothers and
Sisters - This month I guess I go on a
rant. I just finally reached a point where I could not stand what I have read
in many Hindu scriptures about women. As you read below, you will see what I
mean.
In all of us the Great Mother
lives in Compassion and Love. She is our mother, lover, friend, confident, and
support. She empowers all of what we do. She blesses and teaches and always
stands ready to help our sincere efforts toward the good, the true and the noble. I pray that She bestow every blessing upon you all. Many of you have been
laboring for a long time in your spiritual pursuits, for your family, for your
community and your own evolution. May She smile radiantly upon your efforts and
heap blessings of every imaginable kind upon you. May you receive great
blessings that never even occurred to you. May this be "your time." May all
your efforts bear the choicest fruit. May the great mantra, Om Parama
Prema Rupaya Namaha, become a reality in your spiritual and material
experience. And may Divine Love inform all of your activities and states of
mind. Happy Mothers Day! Pranams, Namadeva Acharya
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Blasphemous
Alteration of Scripture
Some of you may know that prior to a couple of years ago I
was troubled by what I found in the Devi Bhagavatam. The scripture praises the
Great Feminine in wondrous phrases and images, healing great quality after
great quality upon Her. Then, there is a paragraph
that disparages women in the most horrendous language. I could not fathom why a
scripture would be recorded in such a way. Why would the sages of old place
such divergent sentiments and ideas in the same few pages. Then one day I was
given the information that these were spurious verses INTENTIONALLY INSERTED
into the scripture. This was first revealed to me in the book The True
History And Religion Of India, by Swami Prakashananda Saraswati. It seems
that the East India Trading Company was worried that the Hindu religion might
appear superior to Christianity. To head off this potential view, the company
hired British scholars who knew Sanskrit to insert spurious verses into various
scriptures. The book referenced above contains copies of these letters.
The result was that before the great growth of the Indian
Higher education system in the 20th Century, these verses were
assumed to be authentic and thus included in the masters and doctoral programs
of major universities. Even today, these counterfeit verses are still in the
scriptures and taught as authentic. It is ingrained in the fabric of their
higher education, and there is not much anyone can do about it. Those who have
the reputation to raise the issue of scriptural integrity don't believe it or
are unaware of the origin of these spurious verses. Just like the scientific
community, the scholastic community is very resistant to change, sometimes even
in the face of strong evidence. Seems to be almost human nature as we become
invested in a certain set of what are believed to be facts, we resist any
attempt to change our views. Too many egos are invested in the prevailing
"facts" to even consider the possibility that something is wrong.
This distortion of the Great Feminine has disturbed me
agonizingly ever since. Then a few days ago, I was re-reading the Tripura Rahasya,
referred to as being recorded and thus written (taught by) Sadguru Dattatreya
as a teaching to the Avatar Parasurama. As I was re-reading the first section,
I was struck by the same old trashing of the women. The evils of women, as it
were. Then Dattatreya refers to the Great Feminine as Absolute Intelligence,
and the praises of Her begin. Disgusted by the references to women in the
earlier part of the text, I observed that nowhere do you see notations about
the evils of men- with their tendencies toward conflict, war, ego-based
competitive superiority, lust motivated activity and other obvious tendencies
usually found in men. Any gender based stereotypes aimed at men simply do not
appear in the scriptures . . translated and often written, of course, by men.
I went into meditation and asked Sadguru Dattatreya if he
had, in fact, used such language describing women, or if it was another case of
false verses inserted into the document. I got an answer. The answer was that
the artificial verses were inserted a long, long time ago. To me this means
thousands of years ago. Priests and rulers wanted to control women, to force
them through scriptural authority to submit to stereotypes and spurious
conclusions about women, while the Great Feminine Herself was considered
wonderful.
So the intentional distortion of the role of women has
continued for centuries. It is character assassination of the worst kind and
has become nearly impossible to defeat. By this short newsletter, I am trying
to do a small part of correcting this ancient and insidious falsity about the
nature of women.
So when you encounter verses in a scripture that decry or
put down women, know for certain that the verse or verses have been added,
usually by men, to keep women in a spiritually inferior position - falsely.
There are exceptions, thankfully. Sri Aurobindo referred to
Her as "She to whom all of nature dumbly calls," and he had the greatest respect
for women. His wife became The Mother in his organization. In the Lakshmi
Tantra, Lakshmi speaks in the first person and says, "When you look out at
the universe, it is really Me looking through your eyes at Myself. So why not
identify with Me and become . . . everything." Satguru Rama Mata is recognized, at least in this country,
as an incarnation of divine love. As she should be everywhere. Even she had problems as a widow in India, where widows are scorned. It's a long story, but suffice it to say, it is not wise to disrespect Rukmini.
So let us all remember that She is the energy that creates us all, and honor her through the women in this world.
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Mantras of the Month
Lalita: Om
Eim Klim Sau Sau Klim Eim
Lakshmi: Sahasrara
Im Bringing the energy through the crown chakra to earth
Lakshmi as a Power of Shiva: Om
Shrim Klim Namah Shivaya
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To that end, he has written and recorded a number of works, and he travels to North America and the UK to teach workshops. Bi-annually, we lead a Pilgrimage Tour of India's Holy Places, visiting with the Shankaracharayas at Kanchi Math, Guru Mata at Vishwa Shanti Ashram, and doing fire ceremonies in the Himalayas, among the highlights of the trip.
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