She is creating, preserving, and destroying in play, as it were.
This Power is called kAli. kAli is verily Brahman,
and Brahman is verily kAli. It is one and the same Reality."
"Oh, She plays in different ways. It is She alone who is known
as MahA-kAli, Nitya-kAli, ShmashAna-kAli, RakshA-kAli,
and ShyAmA-kAli. ShyAmA-kAli has a somewhat tender aspect
and is worshipped in the Hindu households.
She is the Dispenser of boons and the Dispeller of fear.
People worship RakshA-kAli, the Protectress,
in times of epidemic, famine, earthquake, drought and flood.
ShmashAna-kAli is the embodiment of the power of destruction."
"The Divine Mother wants to continue playing with Her
created beings. In a game of hide-and-seek the running
about soon stops if in the beginning all the players
touch the 'granny'. If all touch her, than how can the game
go on? That displeases Her.
Her pleasure is in continuing the game."
"It is as if the Divine Mother said to the human mind
in confidence, with a sign from Her eye,
'Go and enjoy the world'. How can one blame the mind?
The mind can disentangle itself from worldliness if,
through Her grace, She makes it turn toward Herself.
Only then does it become devoted to the Lotus Feet
of the Divine Mother."
"The jnAnis, who adhere to the non-dualistic philosophy of
VedAnta, say that the acts of creation, preservation and
destruction, the universe itself and all its living beings,
are the manifestation of Shakti, the Divine Power.
If you reason it out, you will realize that all these
are as illusory as a dream. Brahman alone is the Reality,
and all else is unreal. Even this very Shakti is unsubstantial,
like a dream."
"Not a leaf moves except by the will of God.
Where is man's free will?
All are under the will of God. Therefore I say:
'O Mother, I am the machine and Thou art the Operator;
I am the chariot and Thou art the Driver.
I move as Thou movest me; I do as Thou makest me do'."
"Is it possible to understand
God's action and His motive?
He creates, He preserves, and He destroys.
Can we ever understand why He destroys?
I say to the Divine Mother: 'O Mother,
I do not need to understand.
Please give me love for Thy Lotus Feet'.
The aim of human life is to attain bhakti.
As for other things, the Mother knows best."
"Is kAli, my Divine Mother, of a black complexion?
She appears black because She is viewed from a distance;
but when intimately known She is no longer so.
The sky appears blue at a distance, but look at it
close by and you will find that it has no colour.
The water of the ocean looks blue at a distance,
but when you go near and take it in your hand,
you find that it is colourless."
"Though you reason all your life, unless you are established
in SamAdhi, you cannot go beyond the jurisdiction of Shakti.
Even when you say, 'I am meditating', or 'I am contemplating',
still you are moving in the realm of Shakti, within It's power."
"One must propitiate the Divine Mother, the Primal Energy,
in order to obtain God's grace. God Himself is MahAmAyA,
who deludes the world with Her illusion and conjures
up the magic of creation, preservation and destruction."
"The Divine Mother is always playful and sportive.
This universe is Her play. She is self-willed and must always
have Her own way. She is full of bliss. She gives freedom
to one out of a hundred thousand."
"The worship of Shakti is extremely difficult. It is no joke.
I passed two years as the handmaid of the Divine Mother.
But my natural attitude has always been that of a child
toward its mother. I regard the breasts of any woman
as those of my own mother."
"He who is attributeless also has attributes.
He who is Brahman is also Shakti. When thought of as inactive,
He is called Brahman, and when thought of as Creator, Preserver,
and Destroyer, He is called the Primordial Energy, kAli."
"Brahman and Shakti are identical, like fire and its power to burn.
When we talk of fire we automatically mean also its power to burn.
Again, the fire's power to burn implies the fire itself.
If you accept the one you must accept the other."
"In my present state of mind [Oct.24, 1882] I can eat a little
fish soup if it has been offered to the Divine Mother beforehand.
I can't eat any meat, even if it is offered to the Divine Mother;
but I taste it with the end of my finger lest She should be angry."
"Once a man realizes God through intense dispassion,
he is no longer attached to woman.
Even if he must lead the life of a householder,
he is free from fear of and attachment to woman.
Suppose there are two magnets, one big
and the other small.
Which one will attract the iron?
The big one,of course.
God is the big magnet. Compared to Him,
woman is a small one.
He who has realized God does not look upon
a woman with the eye of lust;
so he is not afraid of her.
He perceives clearly that women are but so many aspects
of the Divine Mother.
He worships them all as the Mother Herself."
In response to a question from Mahima about
'something holding us back' from spiritual progress
"Why? Cut the reins. Cut them with the sword
of God's name. 'The shackles of kAla,
time, are cut by kAli's name.'"
"God is engaged in three kinds of activity:
creation, preservation and destruction.
Death is inevitable. All will be destroyed at the time of dissolution.
Nothing will remain. At that time the Divine Mother
will gather up the seeds for the future creation,
even as the elderly mistress of the house
keeps in her hotchpotch-pot little bags of cucumber seeds,
'sea-foam', blue pills, and other miscellaneous things.
The Divine Mother will take her seeds out again
at the time of the new creation."
"You know I am a fool. I know nothing.
Then who is it that says all these things?
I say to the Divine Mother:
'O Mother, I am the machine and Thou art the Operator.
I am the house and Thou art the indweller.
I am the chariot and Thou art the Charioteer.
I do as Thou makest me do. I speak as Thou makest me speak;
I move as Thou makest me move. It is not I !
It is all Thou ! It is all Thou !'
Hers is the glory; we are only Her instruments."
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