~~OM~~

We are very happy to share this blog with devotees. Shree Maa suggested daily chanting of 3 malas of the Devi Prapannarti Hare mantra from the Chandi Path. May Mother fill our hearts with peace as we fulfill Her wish.

Prayer to Divine Mother

Protect the Divine Mother in your heart.
May you see her as I see Her and nobody else.
You take away all of my desires
and my anger and my passion.
I am seeing with great deep intensity,
and I am keeping that sweet nectar within.
Again and again I pray to the Divine Mother.
Maa, don't give me bad desires,
and don't give me inauspicious thoughts.
Send them all far away from me.
Give me the eyes of wisdom as protectors
so that I am always protected
and always be careful not to accede
to bad desires and bad thoughts

From Ramakrishna: the Nectar of Eternal Bliss

Mantra Count

With the blessings of our Gurus, we continued to make japa of the Devi Prapannarti Hare Mantra and have offered 1,269,960 mantras by December 31, 2010. Thank You!

~~OM~~

We are very happy to share this blog with devotees. Shree Maa suggested daily chanting of 3 malas of the Devi Prapannarti Hare mantra from the Chandi Path. May Mother fill our hearts with peace as we fulfill Her wish.

Oh Beautiful Mother !

Oh Beautiful Mother!
You always give refuge
To your children in need,
Oh Glorious Mother!
You provide a shelter,
Universal Haven
To the Children of Faith.
Oh Radiant Mother!
Your Grace is Limitless,
Oh Great Divine Goddess.
To the Hungry and Lost,
To the Homeless and Poor,
To the Unloved and Sad,
All they must really do
Is surrender to You!
Your love -- like the ocean,
Is peaceful, deep and calm.
Your eyes -- like the night sky
Shining with Sacred Light.
We find your Loving Shade
Blissful Serenity.
Universal Mother --
Liberate us for Grace.
Let us Recognize You
With Our Hearts, Minds and Souls.
And Cherish you Always

By Jhumpa Mallick

Mantra Count

With the blessings of our Gurus, we continued to make japa of the Devi Prapannarti Hare Mantra and have offered 1,228,704 mantras by December 15, 2010. Thank You!

~~OM~~

We are very happy to share this blog with devotees. Shree Maa suggested daily chanting of 3 malas of the Devi Prapannarti Hare mantra from the Chandi Path. May Mother fill our hearts with peace as we fulfill Her wish.

The Three Divine Mothers

Kal means darkness, and Kali takes away the darkness of all beings. She herself is dark because She takes away the darkness to Herself. She is dark to the outside, but radiates light within. Kal means time and "i" means the cause: Kali, the Cause of Time or She Who is Beyond Time. By virtue of the darkness of Her time, She is the night of Wisdom. She gives rest and respite to all beings. Of the nature of Tama Guna, She is the quality of darkness, the quality of rest.

Maha Lakshmi is the Great Goddess Who Defines All. She is the Being of this existence, even prior to manifestation. Of the nature of Sattva Guna, She is Being, existence as it is, the energy of activity, Kriya Shakti, Energy in motion, Pure Light.

Maha Saraswati is of the nature of Raja Guna, the energy of desire. While Maha Lakshmi is Being, Maha Saraswati is Becoming, Maha Kali is the state of rest. The three gunas of nature, nature's three qualities, are light, wisdom, and peace; activity, passion, motion; desire, knowledge, action.

- From Swamiji's Introduction to the Cosmic Puja

Mantra Count

With the blessings of our Gurus, we continued to make japa of the Devi Prapannarti Hare Mantra and have offered 1,107,391 mantras by November 30, 2010. Thank You!

~~OM~~

We are very happy to share this blog with devotees. Shree Maa suggested daily chanting of 3 malas of the Devi Prapannarti Hare mantra from the Chandi Path. May Mother fill our hearts with peace as we fulfill Her wish.

Gauri Mata on Divine Mother

On one such occasion Gauri Mata said to the devotees, "In Durga Saptashati the Divine Mother is described as 'the most beneficent among the beneficent,' 'the fulfiller of wishes.' The Divine Mother fulfills all the wishes of Her devotees. Everything is in Her hands. Like a stubborn child, we hold on to Her sari and pester Her continuously.

Sri Ramakrishna used to say, 'If you cannot do anything else, then be a child who pesters Mother. Have you not seen how a child clings to his mother's sari and insists on candy? The mother goes from one room to another room and the child follows her, still holding on to her sari, grumbling and demanding all the time. She cannot free herself from his grasp. Finally, she relents. It is her own child and she cannot watch him cry for long, so she opens her cupboard, picks him up on her lap, pats him, and calms him.'"

Mantra Count

With the blessings of our Gurus, we continued to make japa of the Devi Prapannarti Hare Mantra and have offered 1,038,948 mantras by October 31, 2010. Thank You!

~~OM~~

We are very happy to share this blog with devotees. Shree Maa suggested daily chanting of 3 malas of the Devi Prapannarti Hare mantra from the Chandi Path. May Mother fill our hearts with peace as we fulfill Her wish.

Ashtanga Yoga: The steps to the ultimate peace

1. Take control of your life. Define your goals. Organize your life.
2. Create a discipline. Budget your time, budget your resources, budget your energy, budget your mind.
3. Put your body into harmony. Every movement of the body is a reflection of the movement of the mind. Make your body sit still.
4. Put your breath into harmony.
5. Bring your senses inside.
6. Contemplate.
7. Meditate.
8. Realize the ultimate peace.

- From Shree Maa: The Life of a Saint, p 102

Mantra Count

With the blessings of our Gurus, we continued to make japa of the Devi Prapannarti Hare Mantra and have offered 980,148 mantras by October 15, 2010. Thank You!

~~OM~~

We are very happy to share this blog with devotees. Shree Maa suggested daily chanting of 3 malas of the Devi Prapannarti Hare mantra from the Chandi Path. May Mother fill our hearts with peace as we fulfill Her wish.

In Praise of Divine Mother

Victory, Victory to the Great Supreme
Divinity beyond manifestation.
You have come to us from so far.
You are the Supreme of the Supreme and again greater.
You are the truth of life.
You are the manifestation of love and truth.
You are the root of all welfare.
You serve us with so many kinds of nectar.
You contain such deep emotions.
Everywhere your radiance is cooling to those who perceive.
The great poets and the foremost poets speak of you as the cooling moon, as the rise of the sun, and the setting of the sun.
You are the stars.
You are the reflection in the water.
You are wearing a blue form.
The six seasons.

- From Ramakrishna: The Nectar of Eternal Bliss, p 341-342

Mantra Count

With the blessings of our Gurus, we continued to make japa of the Devi Prapannarti Hare Mantra and have offered 954,552 mantras by September 30, 2010. Thank You!

~~OM~~

We are very happy to share this blog with devotees. Shree Maa suggested daily chanting of 3 malas of the Devi Prapannarti Hare mantra from the Chandi Path. May Mother fill our hearts with peace as we fulfill Her wish.

Durga Removes Confusions and Difficulties

The mantra is the essence of your being. It is the eternal you. You, your divinity, your Guru and God are all one in the mantra. As you repeat the mantra remember your true self. Repeat the mantra frequently, and dive deep into meditation.

The nature of the mind is attachment. As you repeat the mantra, allow the egotism of thought, all of those attachments of egotism and possession, of "I" and "mine", to dissolve in the bliss of divine union.

She is our Divine Mother. Her essence is Sat-Chit-Ananda, Truth-Consciousness-Bliss. Just as the space within you is the same as the space outside you, allow Her Infinite Grace to fill your world completely.

Open up to that Grace and allow Her to dwell in your hearts. Recite Her mantra and flow into meditation. Live with that divinity both in the day and in the night, and remember that I love you.

- Shree Maa from Beginner Durga Puja

Mantra Count

With the blessings of our Gurus, we continued to make japa of the Devi Prapannarti Hare Mantra and have offered 827,436 mantras by August 31, 2010. Thank You!

~~OM~~

We are very happy to share this blog with devotees. Shree Maa suggested daily chanting of 3 malas of the Devi Prapannarti Hare mantra from the Chandi Path. May Mother fill our hearts with peace as we fulfill Her wish.

Swamiji writes on Ajapa Japa

Consciously we are making an effort to remain aware of japa by counting how many times we say the mantra, by moving our beads to keep the count, and by making a religious practice of cultivating the habit of listening to the mantra. After some time the mantra will remain with us. It is called ajapa japa when the mantra is making japa of us, instead of our making japa of the mantra, as when you listen to a tape of a mantra and the mantra is just there, even though we may be aware of other things.

The mantra is there like a stage or screen of consciousness, upon which all this material world is reflected. The mantra is the sound upon which all of the other sounds are heard.

- From Kashyapa Sutras, Shree Maa: The Guru and the Goddess

Mantra Count

With the blessings of our Gurus, we continued to make japa of the Devi Prapannarti Hare Mantra and have offered 790,068 mantras by August 15, 2010. Thank You!

~~OM~~

We are very happy to share this blog with devotees. Shree Maa suggested daily chanting of 3 malas of the Devi Prapannarti Hare mantra from the Chandi Path. May Mother fill our hearts with peace as we fulfill Her wish.

How does one describe the sounds of the Divine Mother

The written word cannot describe the tone of sound. Some things can only be learned from watching and listening to a qualified guru. We need to hear and to see, and only then can we inculcate into our own lives the tones of the Divine Mother. How can we describe Her being? After generations of reflection, the Vedic Rsis could only say, "Neti Neti, na iti, na iti; She is not this and She is not that." How does one describe the sounds of the eternal Divine Mother?

Call upon the Divine Mother, sing Her names, narrate the tales of Her saints, and become inspired to greater achievement. She is our Beautiful, Playful Beloved Mother. She grants the fruit of all karma. Worship Her with all your heart.

- From Swamiji's Introduction to the Lalita Trishati in Shree Maa: The Guru and the Goddess

Mantra Count

With the blessings of our Gurus, we continued to make japa of the Devi Prapannarti Hare Mantra and have offered 744,924 mantras by July 31, 2010. Thank You!

~~OM~~

We are very happy to share this blog with devotees. Shree Maa suggested daily chanting of 3 malas of the Devi Prapannarti Hare mantra from the Chandi Path. May Mother fill our hearts with peace as we fulfill Her wish.

Shree Maa's Prayer to Divine Mother

"Oh dearest Divine Mother, we offer our prayer unto you. We are your children; please accept our plea. Divine Mother you are the bestower of excellence. You are the well-wisher of the Universe, the intrinsic nature of the wisdom of existence. You are the form of the creator. Please always illuminate the Universe for us. May we become eternally pure and may the spirit of purity reside within us. Please be a protector to all. Please cause all behavior to be true. Illuminate this universe with truth. Please destroy all sin and protect us from all evil. Please emanate light in the form of Gods and Goddesses. Please illuminate all souls with wisdom. This is my prayer.

- Shree Maa

- From Shree Maa: The Guru and the Goddess

To watch Swamiji's video class of Devi Atharvashirsham, please click here: Devi Atharvashirsham Class


Mantra Count

With the blessings of our Gurus, we continued to make japa of the Devi Prapannarti Hare Mantra and have offered 674,076 mantras by July 15, 2010. Thank You!