“Lalita: Yoga and Esoteric Meaning

As has been mentioned numerous times, Lalita's subtle form (her mantra) is essential to this particular Hindu goddess. Because the Srividya tradition places so much emphasis on the liturgical listing of names, Lalita's 1,000 names and their symbolism give much insight into the esotericism of this goddess. Here, we will only examine the two names by which the goddess is most commonly known.

"Lalita" means, literally, one who plays. She is Mahasakti whose body consists of pure sattva, and she is the most supreme example of Parabrahman.

"Tripura" literally means "Three Cities." Following this definition, Lalita is often identidfied with the image of the Trimurti: Brahma, Visnu, and Siva. While she is all of these gods in one (creator, maintainer, destroyer), Lalita also transcends them as she is beyond conceptualization. Here, we are witness to the three-fold nature of the goddess, which can be found on both gross and subtle levels. On a gross level, Lalita is everything that is three-fold in this universe, including (to name a few) the three worlds, three energies, and three sattvas. Thus, her presence pervades the entire manifest world of names and forms.

On a more subtle level, Lalita is the nature of Siva, Sakti, and atman. Since she is the nature of all three, there is no difference amongst them. Thus, Siva is Sakti and Sakti is Siva; the two are one and the same in a constant union: Pure Consciousness does not exist without the Creative Energy. Furthermore, each individual atman is no different than either Siva or Sakti. The atman is, itself, the union of the two and is, itself, Absolute Divinity.

Relating the above to cognition, Lalita is, at once, the knower, the process of knowing, and the object of knowledge. The Sri Vidya tradition claims that these three categories do not differ from one another but are all one and the same. Thus, once the "knower" begins the "process of knowing," that "knower" actually becomes the "object of knowledge." When one realizes the non-duality of this triad and realizes that s/he IS the knowledge for which s/he is searching, s/he gains a glimpse of the Absolute. In this realization, one travels from the manifest world back into the Bindu Point and into the Absolute Consciousness. By knowing (and becoming aware of) the process by which the Absolute manifests itself out from the Bindu Point, one is able to take that process and reverse it so that one may travel back into the Supreme Drop of Consciousness.

If we translate this into "Lalita language," once a believer gains the knowledge of Lalita through worship and ritual, s/he actually becomes the goddess herself. Since the mantra (Lalita's subtle form) IS Lalita, the process of reciting the mantra is the actual evocation of the goddess from the depths of one's own being. Thus, by worshipping Lalita and reciting her mantra, one actually becomes the goddess herself. One gains a glimpse (however large or small) of oneself as the Absolute, as the Supreme Consciousness herself.

All of the above eludes to the goal of yoga; that is, the cessation of the movement of the mind and concentration on a single point in order to, eventually, reach the state of moksa (liberation). The final goal is realizing the Absolute; knowing oneself to be God, experiencing in full the presence of Lalita. This entails a journey from the manifest world into the Bindu point. While the concepts expounded upon above make sense intellectually (at least somewhat), in order for their meaning to be complete, one must experience them. This experience necessitates the discipline of Yoga to find the one-pointedness of concentration which will open the door to the realization of the Absolute. Just as one must look past Lalita's physical form in order to gain access to her subtle, all-pervading subtle form (her mantra), one must also peel away the gross, material layers of reality in order to discover the subtle layers of consciousness which pervade the universe. Yoga is the discipline which allows its practicer such an opportunity.”
                                                                           

“Those who follow the Tao early will have an abundance of virtue.
When there is an abundance of virtue, there is nothing that can not be done.
Where there is limitless ability, then the kingdom is within your grasp.
When you know the Mother of the kingdom, then you will be long enduring.
This is spoken of as the deep root and the firm trunk, 
The Way to a long life and great spiritual vision.”
                                                                           

“From the time of the Upanishads India rejects the world as it is and devaluates life as it reveals itself to the eyes of the sage -- ephemeral, painful, illusory. Such a conception leads neither to nihilism nor to pessimism. This world is rejected, this life depreciated, because it is known that something else exists, beyond becoming, beyond temporality, beyond suffering. In religious terms, it could almost be said that India rejects the profane cosmos and profane life, because it thirsts for a sacred world and a sacred mode of being.”       
                                                                           

“The Tao is nameless and unchanging.
Although it appears insignificant, nothing in the world can contain it.
If a ruler abides by its principles, then her people will willingly follow.
Heaven would then reign on earth, like sweet rain falling on paradise. People would have no need for laws, Because the law would be written on their hearts.”       
                                                                           

“What characterizes Yoga is not only its practical side, but also its initiatory structure. One does not learn Yoga by oneself; the guidance of a master (guru) is necessary. Strictly speaking, all the other "systems of philosophy" -- as, in fact, all traditional disciplines or crafts -- are, in India, taught by masters and are thus initiations; for millenniums they have been transmitted orally, "from mouth to ear" But Yoga is even more markedly initiatory in character. For, as in other religious initiations, the yogin begins by forsaking the profane world (family, society) and, guided by his guru, applies himself to passing successively beyond the behavior patterns and values proper to the human condition. When we shall have seen to what a degree the yogin attempts to dissociate himself from the profane condition, we shall understand that he dreams of "dying to this life”       
                                                                           

“Every soul is divine, though during the state of ignorance it remains oblivious of its spiritual nature. In every heart the divine light shines with undiminished luster. Hence all men are entitled to respect. The divinity of the soul is the unshakable basis of democracy, self-determination, freedom and other aspirations of modern minds.”
                                                                           

“Post-war periods generate religious doubts in many minds with the consequent search for a more acceptable explanation of life in some of these minds. But when two wars have been waged within a single generation, when they are the worst which the world has ever seen, and when they have spread on the most gigantic scale history has ever known, it is undoubtedly no error to predict that faith will sink seriously after the shock of the cataclysm. The despairing feeling that life is without a purpose will spread through all classes of people. The power of religion to control men ethically is likely to be much weakened, which will constitute a position of profound social danger. The breaking-down of these old sanctions amid unrest and upheaval demands their reinforcement or replacement by new ones. For most men cannot live in comfort with the thought that there is no fundamental meaning and no great purpose of life. They will soon seek out some faith or theory that will bestow direction to existence. Therefore the present convulsed and collapsed epoch will witness a search for such doctrines as no previous epoch has yet witnessed. And because these changes will always be most marked among the more educated classes, the forms which this quest is likely to take will be mainly mystical and occasionally philosophical rather than religious. Mysticism will probably receive a larger number of adherents than it has known for a long time for it offers an emotional inner peace urgently needed after the maniacal frenzies and horrors of war, but philosophy will also have to welcome within its portals a modest modicum of new enquirers who have changed their intellectual gear. . . .

History is in the throes of turning its sharpest corner, that the cultural growth of mankind has been notably accelerated, that a new and unique epoch in human knowledge is opening before the educated world, that the potential field of receptivity to the philosophy of truth is wider and deeper than ever before, that secrecy is becoming superfluous, and that for the first time a new world-wide propagation of higher views has been rendered possible. Moreover the international political and economic conditions today are such that as to force people everywhere to see events and things in relation to the whole, i.e., to begin to philosophize! Nothing like this opportune phenomenon, which requires the utmost emphasis, can be found in centuries other than the twentieth. This astonishing age of social transition, general dissolution, technological revolution and mental illumination is, in short, a continuous acceleration of the process of turning man from a primitive to a scientific animal. But even this is not enough. Man should live in a way that is proper to him, and not after the manner of the beast, the reptile and the parasite. Hence the time is ripe to disclose a doctrine which does not, like most religions, contradict the findings of science but actually draws support from them.”       
                                                                           

“"The two most powerful forces shaping our civilization today are science and religion. Through science, man strives to learn more of the mysteries of creation. Through religion, he seeks to know the Creator. Neither operates independently. It is as difficult for me to understand a scientist who does not acknowledge the presence of a superior rationality behind the existence of the universe as it is to comprehend a theologian who would deny the existence of science. . . .

Today, thousands of scientists all over the world are engaged in the greatest intellectual adventure ever undertaken by man: Attempting to understand the origin and functioning of a physical universe that is vast in space and time, complicated in detail, and awesome in its orderliness. . . .

You cannot build a wall between science and religion. As science explains more of the intriguing mysteries of life and the universe, its realms expand into those areas which previously were either unknown or accepted solely by faith. Every experience we have — physical or spiritual — must fit together into a pattern that is credible and meaningful. Man is the observer of the universe, the experimenter, the searcher for truth, but he is not a spectator alone. He is a participant in the continuing process of creation.”