Recently, I have noticed a new openness to the loving feminine energy of God. I’m not talking here about the feminist movement. I’m referring to something much deeper than that – the spiritual energy of the Divine Mother.
What is the Divine Feminine Energy? I define it as the all-encompassing love of a Divine Mother who never turns away from her children. If we choose to yield to the love of the Divine Mother, gone are the old teachings that we are bad, born with defects, sins, etc., and that we must repent in order for God to love us. We can imagine the loving care of a mother who will never turn away from her child, even when that child does things that may be inappropriate or unacceptable.
The Divine Mother is always there with open arms. All she wants us to do is love ourselves, because when love is present we are connected to the Divine energy. The love of self that I speak of is not a selfish or egoistic love. I am talking about LOVE: a spiritual energy; a force that goes beyond theboundaries of relativity and materialism.
A wonderful way to practice the Divine Feminine energy in our lives today is to (re)connect to our hearts. We must work to let go of past hurts and resentments. These feelings only block the light of the Feminine Energy from entering our hearts. When we look at others, we must try to remember who they really are, regardless of their dress, color, body art or disposition. They are our brothers and
sisters. They are children of God, just as we are. Smile at them. I have a name for the practice of smiling at those I encounter in public. I call it “face yoga.”
Another way to connect to our hearts is being in the silence. Being in the silence is about practicing silent meditation even when in the midst of the intense activity of everyday life. It is the Mystical Feminine principle of “relaxing and releasing” tension, in contrast to the masculine principle of “striving to attain.” The silence brings us to the conscious awareness of who we truly are – unique individual aspects of Divinity itself. It is the evolutionary expansion of our identity introducing us to the Inner State of Grace, which is the home and source of all Love, Peace, Joy and Wisdom.
Who is Our Divine Mother?
As with God, there are many names, but there is only one Divine Feminine Energy. To the pagans it is Mother Earth; to the Christians it is Mother Mary. In Judaism it is Asherah; to the Buddhist it is Kwan Yin and/or the Green Tara. In Hinduism, the Divine Feminine has many names, including Durga, Lakshmi, Saraswati, Parvati, Radha and Sita. The Egyptians had Isis; the Greeks had Persephone; and the list goes on.
There are the more recent female saints and avatars who have blessed us, such as Mother Frances Cabrini (1850-1917), credited with many miracles while she was on the earth and, even after her passing, miracles were attributed to her. Therese Neumann (1898-1962), a Catholic mystic, stigmatist and miracle woman from Germany, transformed her remarkable sufferings into means of helping and healing others.
Anandamayi Ma (1892-1982), known as the “Blissful Mother” and guru to gurus, was an illustrious mystic and sage who was hailed as a Divine Incarnation. Her mother had a number of auspicious dreams of gods and goddesses before Ma’s birth; a sign usually indicating the presence of an imminent mahatma (Great Soul). It is said that nobody could fail to understand her, for she addressed herself to all as if they were at the same level as children of God.
Mother Teresa (1910-1997), born in Albania and raised as a Roman Catholic, loved hearing stories of missionaries early in life. At the age of 18, she left home to join the Sisters of Loreto, but eventually left her convent to wander and help the poor and sick on her own, with God’s help alone. In 1950, she was given permission to start the Missionaries of Charity. Its mission was to care for, “…all those people who feel unwanted, unloved, uncared for throughout society, people that have become a burden to the society and are shunned by everyone.” She won many humanitarian awards, but most importantly she was able to give dignity to the helpless, poor, sick and dying.
Anasuya Devi (1923-1985), God-realized from birth, later married, raised a family and founded a large spiritual community in South India. Celebrated as “Mother of all,” her remarkable teachings uphold the Supreme Power of God and the “original innocence” of all beings.
Syama Mataji (b.1916), fully realized God in a short, but wonderful time by simply chanting/focusing her entire being on the Divine Names of God (Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna, Krishna, Hare, Hare, Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama, Rama, Hare, Hare). Awesome miracles and exquisite songs of devotion have emanated from her ever since then.
Amma Mata Amritanandamayi (b.1953) is esteemed as another stupendous Incarnation of the Divine Mother. Today, she is India’s leading female light, with a mission growing by leaps and bounds. Known as the “Hugging Mother,” she selflessly travels the world to console, hug, heal and inspire millions of children with the power of Divine Love.
