Every parcel of existence on planet Earth, is a figment of vibration, energy and dynamism. In that figment of energy, Shakti, the divine feminine force is in a perpetual state of movement – ecstatically dancing to manifest this brilliant existence that is bequest to all of life.
We live, eat and exist at Her will – manifesting Herself as our spontaneous love affair with the choices and the journeys we make lifetime after lifetime. We create, destroy and recreate at Her whim that pulsates the very symbiotic reaction which propels the consequences of our actions.
Shakti is the primordial cosmic energy that epitomizes the dynamic forces that are believed to move through the entire universe in Hinduism. Shakti symbolizes the active feminine energy of Shiva and is recognized as Mahadevi or AdiShakti. Present in both men and women, in Taoism, Shakti is known as chi.
Shakti literally means ‘power,’ or ‘energy,’ and energy, comes in many different forms – heat (thermal), light (radiant), motion (kinetic), electrical, chemical and gravitational to name a few. It is one of the most basic concepts, even by the understandings of Physics but is one of the hardest to define. Energy cannot be created nor destroyed – it is simply a phenomenal force that lends its power for a mother to nurture her children; the plants to provide shade, beauty, food and shelter; the animals to roam free and mankind to prevail in the ever-evolving dimensions of time.
Shakti denotes to the energy of creation at equally macro-cosmic and micro-cosmic scales. Shakti empowers you to pursue development and transformation and to find resolve and realization in everyday life; She is the basis for a conscious life and is the fuel that influences your spiritual growth and the awakening of your consciousness – this is known as the Kundalini.
Shakti is intrinsically the Goddess in motion. As the Goddess, She beckons onto us as the abundant Mother in our time of lacking and the harbinger of change in our time of need. Unconditional in nature, She is duty bound to ensuring that the sun rises and sets to provide us the span and possibility of time, yet, She is timeless – the creator and the very creation of everything that we depend on. Without Shakti, nothing in this universe would happen; She stimulates Shiva, the passive energy in the form of consciousness, to create. The ‘i,’ in Shiva represents Shakti, without which ‘Shva,’ means ‘corpse,’- She puts Shiva into motion.
Ardhanarishvara, (pronounced, ar-dha- na-resh-wara), the Hindu personification of half male and half female, is an iconic representation of this idea, illustrating that the creation, maintenance and destruction of the Universe is dependent on the balance of both forces.
Shakti may be personified as the gentle and benevolent Uma, consort of Shiva, or Kali, the terrifying force destroying evil, or Durga, the warrior who conquers forces that threaten the stability of the Universe.
The Hindu tradition also considers women the vessels of Shakti. This identification with Shakti recognizes women as the vessels of both creative and destructive power – innate in all of us.
No matter the definition of Shakti available in the world today, Shakti is a subject very close to my heart and no matter how many times I had written this piece, it didn’t sum up the true essence of what I wanted to say! Maybe, it’s time to confess – Shakti to me is Maa (Mother), – the Goddess who has brought immense change and abundance into my life. She is the very reason why I embarked on the path of the Goddess, with the aim of spreading Her wisdom ever since my first encounter with Her at age 13.
37 years of being under Her guidance has brought me to many junctures in life and might I add, there were no free tickets or freebies that She threw in my direction for a life of ease. It felt as if I was on ‘tumble-dry mode,’ in a washing machine – spinning, spiralling and evolving moment after moment. Yet, for everything that I have encountered and endured, She always lifted me, spun me around and almost as if on ‘RESET,’ button, got me started all over again. You can say, that I had one heck of ride in this lifetime.
Nonetheless, I live in Her name and am ever so grateful that She is part of my life and the lives of friends and family members, who have experienced Her in a myriad of ways.
In honour of my love for Her, She resides in the ‘mandhir,’ (temple), in the lawn of my home, where much spiritual work takes place and is also the birthplace of the book, “Awakening the Divine Feminine: A Journal to Unleashing Your Sacred Feminine Power.” It has been a huge honour for me to write this book, which was completed in a year and a half, fully dictated by Her and is now available for all. The book is unique in so many ways with the intention of awakening the suppressed feminine power, which our world is in desperate need of.
Awakening The Divine Feminine Book by Sujata Nandy
It beckons to facets in our daily lives that we struggle to give meaning to and to providing the answers we require to fulfilling our Soul’s mission of living abundantly, in love and in light…
– Sujata Nandy
