We have begun our Sadhana of chanting, contemplating and meditating upon one or two of the names of the Divine Mother Shri Adiparashakti taken from the Lalitha Sahasranama, the 1008 sacred names given to us by Sage Agasthya. We saw that “Lalitha” is the very poetry of life. It is the fount of all inspiration. It is the energy that reunites us with our own divine source. Devi Adiparashakti, who is the Creator of the whole Brahmanda or Cosmos, has so many powers and manifests through so many forms, but She integrates all these together and reflects it to us as Lalitha. When we invoke Her by this name, She responds at once without waiting for us to call Her by any other name. However, being our ever compassionate Mother, She has given us all Her other names just to allow us to select the one which attracts and exerts the most powerful pull upon us and gives us the greatest bliss. So we should turn Her names over in our minds, savouring the last drop of sweetness like we do when we eat sugarcane. We should allow it to resonate in our minds. We should dwell upon all Her names in this way till we find the one that is most “magical” for us. As we do this, we have many divine experiences. Lalitha Sahasranama is not merely a chanting exercise. It is an internal meditative experience.
We should swing the Divine Mother gently in the mind just like we rock a baby in its cradle. When we do this, She manifests Herself within us.
Don’t waste a single minute. Even the Trimurthis, Brahma, Vishnu, Maheshwara and all the other Gods meditate upon Devi and seek Her Grace and Blessings. When we recharge and rejuvenate ourselves spiritually through sadhana, we get the mental strength, stability and stamina that we need in life. To attain mental purity and stability, today we will chant the mantra “OM CHIDAGNI KUNDA SAMBHUTAYEI NAMAHA” which means “I offer my salutations to the One who manifests from the sacred hearth of the Sacrificial Fire of my Chit or Consciousness.”
“Chit” is our consciousness. The more we churn our minds with this mantra, the more the Chit which surrounds the Soul is activated and energised. When we are established in the Chit, we experience the state of “Sat-Chit-Ananda” or the Perennial Supreme Bliss of the Soul. Chit contains our “Atma Agni” or the “Fire of the Soul” that burns all our impurities and imperfections and reduces them to ashes. As this powerful mantra activates the Chit, this “Jnana Agni” or Fire of Wisdom in the Soul is kindled and when this happens we begin to get many “preranas” or intuitive prompts from within. As we keep chanting this mantra, the right course of action in each sphere of life is revealed to us effortlessly. This removes all our conflicts, dilemmas and worries and makes every moment free, exuberant and joyful.
Without this faculty of intuition, our life as human beings is filled with uncertainty, fear, doubt and suspicion. “Maya” or delusion shrouds our life. Maya is also the state of duality and it manifests in us as lack of self-confidence. Lack of trust and faith in ourselves also fills us with suspicions about other people and traps us in conflict. When our Chit is activated by chanting this mantra, the “Chaitanya Shakti” of the Atma or the divine power of the Soul is brought out. This fills us with confidence and erases all our doubts and suspicions. The more we chant this mantra, the more it removes all our doubts and suspicions.
Unfortunately today, we have developed the ability to absorb negativity faster than Divinity. We churn out negative thoughts and emotions very easily, but find it much more difficult to generate divine thoughts and feelings spontaneously. For example, if a stray dog comes near us, immediately a fear arises in the mind - “What if it bites me? I better run.” If our Chaitanya Shakti is high, we never get such prompts of fear. We recognize the same Chaitanya Shakti in the dog and a feeling of benevolence flows out from us. The dog immediately senses these divine vibrations and does not try to harm us in any way.
Therefore, when we chant this mantra, the whole concept of our life changes. It drives out fear from the mind completely, because it intuitively reveals who is beneficial and who is malefic to us. This is no longer based on the assumptions and presumptions generated by a mind shrouded in Maya or delusion. This mantra makes Maya flee by kindling the fire of wisdom in us.
Sage Agasthya says - “There is no greater mantra than “Chidagni Kunda Sambhutayei Namaha”. It gives you great awareness and makes you aware of all your faults, mistakes and imperfections so that you will be naturally motivated to perform rigorous sadhana to remove them.” It is not Devi’s job to keep pointing out our mistakes. She wants us to be aware of this on our own. Through this mantra, She kindles the self-luminous power of awareness in us. In fact, this mantra is so powerful that many Mahatmas, sages, seers and enlightened beings chant it on all 365 days of the year.
We have the custom of creating various official documents to prove certain facts and convince others, but Devi creates all Her documentation right inside us. She removes all our suspicions and doubts and establishes faith by giving us divine experiences to erase all this. Devi will never convince you or try to make you believe in Her existence. When you perform sadhana, She simply gives you a divine experience.
When you experience Devi, no other proof is needed to convince you about Her Presence. All of you should experience Devi. You must use the pulley of your mind and the rope of your sadhana to draw the Chaitanya of Devi from the inner well called Chit.
When we chant this mantra today with complete faith and surrender, it becomes a sacrificial fire ritual that is performed in the “Homakunda” or sacred hearth of our own minds by offering the “havis” or oblations of Her divine name to the “Chidagni” or fire of Chit. Then Devi manifests from the homakunda of our minds. Devi Nimishamba is also called Homa Kunda Jate or “the One who Manifested from the Homakunda”. She is the One who absolves us of our Karma and liberates us from the cycle of repeated births. When we perform sadhana with the feeling - “Mother, you are always inside me”, the Divine Mother will manifest Herself in us. She will then use us to light the path of millions of Souls in this world. So if we chant this every day, all of us can become lights to illumine the paths of others.
Extract from ‘The book of direct truths, subtle truths and the mystical truths of Devi Mahatmyam’ by Shri Shri Nimishananda