India's Daughters ~ Living Goddesses

India’s Daughters ~ Living Goddesses

(a homage to Shaktirupini, who passed away today after battling for her life for 14 days, after a gruesome rape)

'The nature of all women is perfect wisdom' Machig Labdron - Enlightened Buddhist Master & Yogini 

We hang our head in shame for losing daughters to rape. Rape, a heinous demon who devours women, but keeps them alive, shackled in shame. Rape is a scheming, devious demon that converts the victim into a culprit. A raped woman brings the biggest shame possible to her family. She has become defiled & impure, who brings dishonour. Her family members hang their head in shame to have such a burden. A family that has a rapist son does not go through similar trauma. ‘Boys will be boys’, say the patriarchs. And their advise to women is to observe more restrictions in their dress and movements.

A woman who overcomes shame is invincible.

Women finally call the bluff. Sorry men, we refuse to be the keepers of your shame. Is it not the biggest paradox that women victimised by rape have been the ones who ‘loose’ the honour of  the family, the clan, the village.  By being raped, how is it we are the ones who bring shame on everyone. How come rape means our lives are over? Why does rape mean being  tainted for life, never outliving the stigma? Its just a heinous crime, and we women are going to talk about it. We are going to name our rapists. We no longer buy the shame theory and keep silent.

Making women the custodian of shame has been the single most powerful weapon to keep us subjugated. From the time we are born, we are taught to sit properly, talk properly, dress properly, behave properly so as not to attract ‘unwanted’ male attention. After all, boys will be boys, men will be men. If they grab, grope, molest, rape, it is because we invited it. Immorality is in our blood it seems. We must be kept veiled, covered, muted, scarved, invisible, so that society functions properly.

The End of Patriarchy

Our braveheart Shaktirupini turned the tables completely on this lopsided realtiy. We now throw off the blanket of shame. We are ok if you call us loose, characterless, sluts, shameless. These are your words, and they have lost power over us.  A woman who overcomes shame is invincible. You really cannot touch us or make us shrink anymore. We are impervious to barbs.

Why do you think the women identify so deeply with Shaktirupini? Why did they take her to their hearts so intensely? So many of my friends have cried so passionately for her. Perhaps it is because she was made of the fragments of all our souls. Perhaps she was a representation of our collective pain, anger and shame. That is why she had to die. She took it all with her. She santified us. She cleansed our burning shame, our faceless rage, our frozen pain. And she did it in a way that made the entire nation stand up and take notice.

Delhi erupted. The whole nation woke up. It was a spontaneous outburst of grief, shock and outrage. Young and old just took to protest and gathered in numbers so huge outside parliament that it was scary for the government. The power bastion was shaken to the core at the determination of the people. They did not have a leader, but they had a huge sacred sankalpa. To cleanse their country of rape. People who till now were mere vote banks became  enemies.  The government used its machinery to battle these unarmed people. This new army of the brave new world withstood water cannons and rubber bullets, lathi charge and violence by police, in the bitter Delhi cold. My heart went out to the citizens of our country who  still stood, drenched in the cold winter day, fuelled by a sacred fire. Obviously they were connected to a higher calling that provided immense strength.

Sadly, the Chief Minister of Delhi fought with the police commissioner for power, the Lt. Governor of Delhi shamelessly holidayed in the US till he was summoned, the Home Minister tried hard to look concerned, and the Prime Minister after 8 days of unexplained silence, asked the nation to remain calm.

The patriarchs were taken by surprise. The media played and replayed the reactions of the powers that be. Their fumbling, their reluctant and coerced rejoinders to the very hard questions the women were asking really pulled the veil off their callousness. They could not touch our hearts. Their efforts were forced by an outraged nation. They had no choice but to save face. Suddenly, they could not pull the right levers. Their righteousness, their holier than thou attitude and clever vocabulary with which they had pulled off endless attacks did not work. Because this was a crime where they could not shout, make venomous attacks on opposition. They were at a loss for the right words, because it did not exist in their vocabulary. These people do not know the language of respect, equality and dignity where women are concerned.  Their world did not take women seriously.

The Rules of the Game have changed forever

The rules of the game were changed overnight by Shaktirupini. She brought the entire nation down on its knees in shame. She came to shake us to the very core. In women she ripped open the doors of pain and rage we had shut tight as we did not know how to deal with it. The door was of powerlessness. In no time, women were ready to fight, to stand for their rights, to speak fearlessly, to ask for and take what is justly theirs. She really opened the doors wide for us and we said in a single voice ‘Enough’.

In men, she ripped out the hypocritical veil that hides a rapist, a voyuer, an oppressor, a molester, a mute witness and  a colluder. All the wisdom of the President, Prime Minister, and the entire entourage of ministers was inadequate to address this issue.  She single handedly exposed the  total lack of sensitivity of our leaders and police force. Our world had become deaf, mute, blind to the atrocities against women. Patriarchy stood exposed in all its ugliness. And with it the deeply pervasive nature of rape, the biggest symbol of patriarchy. This energy really has no place to hide now. It is being whipped every day. It is time for it to GO.

Women are rising the world over as powerful, divine beings. It is her time now. She is no longer ready to live the victim. She asks the men to clear the rapist within. We are Shakti. We are the compassionate mother, and if need be, we wear the skulls of demons that we kill in our neck. But we are truly tired of the war with men. We call for the laying of arms and the beginning of a holy partnership.

Is it a coincidence that the planet shifted out of patriarchy into a new cycle of the Divine Feminine on 21st December 2012? Every woman is claiming her Shakti form.  She is invoking her 10 arms and her sacred weapons now. She is fully capable of taking care of herself, AND her planet. The goddess in these times is not now found in temples, but in homes, offices and travelling in public transport. Get used to the living goddess. She is ready to teach the world a better way to live.  And the conscious men are walking with her in this journey, are fully embracing their Shiva form. Together, we will make a new world. 

The I Ching or Book of Changes

The I Ching or Book of Changes

A Practitioner’s views

(Article publised in October 2011 issue of Life Positive)

‘The I Ching teaches a different way of acquiring and using power, one that leads to true greatness and enduring influence’.

I Ching, Hexagram 34

Possessing the I Ching book is having the Sage as a companion. This amazing book says that in comparison to the Sage (or god, universe, creator, higher power or what you will), we are babes in the woods. As a child, we were not ashamed to seek guidance from our parents and teachers, who were our gods.  By seeking out the counsel of the I Ching, we gain the perspective of the Creator.

The I Ching speaks the simplest of truths, and thus the wisest. It explains that no community can survive without a dependable source of pure water. Similarly, humans cannot survive without a reliable source of spiritual nourishment. Each of us needs two wells: an external source of guidance, such as the I Ching, and an internal source of guidance, which is our own good character.  The I Ching has survived countless civilisations through thousands of years for a simple reason: it is an inexhaustible source of spiritual nourishment.  It gives us the building blocks to a successful life.

The I-Ching is based on simple energetic principles, and the dynamics between Yin and Yang. When fully understood, these dynamics reveal everything about our experiences in time, how they change, and what they mean.

However, the I Ching requires a few things of us first:

·       That we suspend our mistrust of the Unknown and allow the Sage to lead us. If you think the I Ching is just a book, it will be just that.

·       That we quiet the clamour of our ego for comprehensive answers to our questions for life. The I Ching teaches us not how to get from A to Z but how to get from A to B, B to C, and then from C to D. The Sage travels step by step, dealing only with what is immediately at hand. By doing the same we fall in step with the Creative power of the Universe.

·       That we unstructure our attitude. When we are unstructured and open, we allow the Sage to guide us safely and joyfully through life.

While the I Ching serves as the external well of nourishment, it is invaluable aid in developing and cleansing the internal well of our good character. When approached with a sincere heart, it will reveal the fundamental issues of one’s life, and instil the values necessary to successfully negotiate those issues.

 The I Ching has been my guide, mentor, friend for the last sixteen years. I bought the I Ching book from a bookstore in Hyderabad in July 1995 little knowing what it was. The jacket simply said it was the book of Changes and a Guide to Life’s Turning Points. Something compelled me to buy the book. I honestly thought it was a self help book.

When I came back to Kolkata and opened it, it was quite something else. It was an oracle! And even then, I did not know how much this book would be a blessing. There are no accidents in life. The book chose me as much as I chose it. And from there began a new journey into a better, balanced life. With my countless consulting, sometimes more than one in a day, I have gradually internalised its energy. I consult it for a specific issue or a general advice. Sometimes, when it is not possible to consult the book when I need its urgent advice, I instinctively know what it would say. However, consulting the book has no substitute.

To me, the I Ching is the voice of god speaking to me directly, pure love and no agenda or interference with free will. By consulting the I Ching, I cut through all the grossness of duality, sever the grip of the mind and enter straight into a clear space to receive true guidance. I seem to reach an illumined space of beautiful white light. The oracle is extremely scientific, just as it is most practical, and also the highest spiritual. It is a living, loving teacher who is available for consulting 24/7.

Just a week ago, I consulted the I Ching for guidance if a specific date would be appropriate to launch a new project. I wanted to plan accordingly. The Sage gave a gentle rap on the knuckles, when I drew the ‘youthful folly’ hexagram (mountain over water) that advised me to quiet the demands of the ego to plan and strategise, concentrate only on the moment, and do what it asks of me. Only in such an open attitude, will the Sage be able to guide me safely and joyfully. I was quickly back to an attitude of humility and surrender!

I revere it as a holy scripture that guides me into truth and integrity in the shortest possible time. Students and adherents of I Ching reach their destination much faster by following the advice of the book. There is not an extra word or energy here. It contains impeccable and highest wisdom in condensed form. Living in close partnership of the I Ching keeps one continuously into the path and in balance. A true abiding with it leads to progressively more beautiful hexagrams and openings for the spirit to flourish. The I Ching is a dispassionate teacher – it demonstrates both rewards and punishments for the consequences of our actions. It can never be manipulated by ego games.

The most beautiful aspect of the book is its interactive nature. It partners and journeys with me at all times. It always meets me halfway, silently, with respect and honour. It picks me up when I fall and get hurt, gently shows me how to heal and get back. It insists I take responsibility for all my actions, internally and externally. I always got into trouble when my ego asked me to disregard the advice of the Sage, thereby causing disturbance and even disruption in my spiritual progress. At such times, the advice of the Sage is stern and asks for disconnection with my inferior self.

I very well remember a time, almost 15 years ago, when a friend of mine told me of a fabulous past life regression programme he had attended. I desperately wanted to attend too, but the next one was in Hawai. In my ego’s impulsive pushing, I wanted to go to Hawai, though I did not have the money even for a train ride to Delhi. I consulted the I Ching with my desperate agenda that it should give me the go ahead. The Sage asked me to refrain from any action, as inferior influences were in the forefront. I refused to listen, continued to make crazy plans, and tried to influence the I Ching to support. In the next consulting, its advice was a more dire warning and I attracted the ‘Darkening of the Light’ (earth over fire)hexagram. The advice was to immediately correct my attitude, as action from desperation will extinguish my own inner light, and block the aid of the Creative. It took all my moral muscle to give up and abide by the Sage advice. By meticulous adherence to the Sage’s advice, I soon came out of the darkness & disbalance.

At work, many times my headstrong nature would want me to push and fight, argue and control. I remember the day I was all ready to go and fight with a senior management boss, armed with my arguments. I thought a quick look at the I Ching would help me in my mission. Oh no! I attracted the hexagram ‘Obstruction’ (water over mountain) that said that as much as I want to blame another, in all likelihood the true obstruction was in my own thinking. The sage asked me to retreat into self-examination and self-correction. Of course I gave up the ‘I’m right’ campaign, and saved myself from a serious mistake. That very boss called me the next day and gave me a plum project right after my heart.

The advice is always practical and workable. I have found that reaching a good place of balance and harmony with the Sage takes hard work, commitment and time, and can be lost in a moment of ego’s enticement for self aggrandisement. The advice of the I Ching is simple – the more aligned you are with higher principles, the more influence you wield. We hold all kinds of motivations at all times, some lower ego impelled, some higher and spiritual. The Sage simply encourages us to make the higher choice at all times.

The I-Ching is based on simple energetic principles, and the dynamics between Yin and Yang. When fully understood, these dynamics reveal everything about our experiences in time, how they change, and what they mean.

When you toss the coins, you form a matrix that translates into a hexagram. You are asked to toss the coins six times, which gives the formation of the six sheaths from the grossest to the subtlest as every aspect of one’s energy is checked. I see Goddess Tara as the overseeing energy of the I Ching.

So the I Ching is an oracle, a book of signs. It may take a lifetime to learn to recognise the signs and the combinations. Very few people have got an insight into the combinations. For me, it is enough to have three coins, a pencil and a paper to work with it. The I Ching works with eight elements of nature, which form a trigram depending on how you toss the coins. A trigram is a formation of three lines, either straight or broken.  Two trigrams combine to form a hexagram. So every time you toss the coins, you would get either an even or odd number. An even number gives a broken line, and an odd number gives an unbroken line. The pattern of these lines decides your hexagram. One now goes to the book and reads the hexagram number that one has  drawn.

The trigrams you draw show the working of your mind at the particular time.

Drawing the trigram water means there is emotional turmoil.

Drawing the trigram wind denotes there is power which needs to be channelled or it will be frittered away,

Drawing the trigram fire denotes a passion that needs to be contained and regulated,

Drawing the trigram mountain donates solace and solitude that needs to be anchored,

Drawing the trigram thunder denotes action that needs to be delinked from ego,

Drawing the trigram lake denotes placidity that needs to be delinked from lethargy,

Drawing the trigram earth denotes surrender that needs to be delinked from resignation,

Drawing the trigram heaven denotes divinity that needs to be anchored in humility.

How does the combination of the trigrams work, in order for the hexagram to give the amazingly accurate advice in the moment?

It’s a deep science. The two trigrams are placed one on top of the other. What comes in the bottom is where you are now, and what comes in the top is your tendency or predisposition.  So at any particular moment you are locked in a particular matrix. The matrix opens out into a reading of where you are and what is the correction required. The I Ching does not prescribe a perfect way of being. It has no specific recommendation. It simply brings you back to balance. A practitioner would notice that each hexagram contains the deep grounding message of the I Ching. You can touch the deep Taoist philosophy in every hexagram. It is implied rather than stated. So if one tries to draw absolute ideas from the I Ching, one would brilliantly miss the point. It is like the forever changing dance of Shiva.

There are 64 combinations of the 8 elements, hence 64 hexagrams. There are in all 64 ways of being in the 3^rd Dimension. Everybody in 3D is locked into these 64 ways of being. So the I Ching is a complete advice for us at all times.

I bless the day I found the Sage through the I Ching. The times I have blundered are the ones when I did not walk with the Sage. The Sage teaches in an almost imperceptible way. That is how light it is. I did not even notice that I was deep in lesson from spirit for quite some time. I bow to its wisdom.