Author: Savitri L Bess
Publisher: New Age Books
Year: 2003
Language: English
Pages: 407
ISBN/UPC (if available): 8178221365
Description
This work introduces us to a divinity more whole than any we have encountered - her arms open to men and women of any persuasion or practice. She is at once masculine and feminine, creator and transformer, joy and anguish, the all-loving Mother and the true, realized human self.
The Path of the Mother introduces us to a divinity more whole than any we have yet encountered-her arms open to men and women of any persuasion or practice. She is at once masculine and feminine, creator and transformer, joy and anguish, the all-loving Mother and the true, realized human Self. Drawing on her most vibrant expression, this inspiring book traces her myriad faces-compassionate, fierce, enchanting, challenging, passionate-in male and female deities of many religions.
It is a six-stage journey to union with the Great Mother, framed by Savitri Bess’s own years of devotion to one of her most famous incarnations- the Hindu mystic Ammachi. Interweaving Hindu myths with her own quest and those of others, Bess reveals this journey as an exodus from aloneness to the wondrous integration of love, worship, and service into life’s daily tasks.
Practical exercises, meditations, yoga, and prayers will help both novice and veteran seekers to rediscover their innocence, balance their inner masculine and feminine energies, resolve their buried wounds, desires, and talents, and open their hears to the nurturing guidance of the Mother-god within us all.
Contents
Acknowledgments
Introduction
PART I: GETTING TO KNOW THE MOTHER
Ammachi
Hinduism and the Mother
Kundalini Shakti
Jillellamudi Mother
PART II: LOVE AND RAPTURE
The Lure of Divine Love
The Lover and the Beloved
PART III: THE MOTHER’S DISCIPLINE
Penetrating Deep into the Mind
Who is the Guru?
Tapas
Kali
PART IV: THE SHADOW FROM A SPIRITUAL PERSPECTIVE
Forgotten Secrets
Demons Within and Without
The Religious Shadow
The Family Shadow
The Personal Shadow
PART V: SURRENDER
Releasing Gradually
The Song of God: The Bhagvad Gita
Love Can Blossom Even Out of the Darkest Shadow
PART VI: CONTENTMENT AND YEARNING
Saying Yes to Everything
The Bittersweet of Yearning
Epilogue
Appendices
Appendix I
Appendix II
Appendix III