puzzled by Durga

[trablano]

Hello there,

I am a christopagan, that is I believe in Jesus but I also recognize, acknowledge and sometimes seek other gods. Recently I had a trouble with a bad spirit and read a book on Hinduism that mentioned Durga can help against bad spirits. So I prayed to Durga. She helped me and did something with my mind, I soon felt better. But then I heard her speak in my mind, "I expect a sacrifice". I was completely estranged by this, because I was used to Jesus demanding no sacrifices and even speaking against them. But I also heard in my mind, just sacrifice a cigarette and pledge new love to humans. I also heard I should sacrifice 3 bottles of oil. I am afraid of this sacrifice culture and only want to sacrifice love. Even the old crap came back from my evangelical past that indian gods are only demons who want to ensnare me. I prayed to Jehovah and got the illumination that it was not Durga who spoke to me there but an angel doing service for Durga, and she wouldn't have understood me right (I have schizophrenia and was suffering much lately). I also heard I shouldn't take serious the 3 bottles of oil demand.

What do you think? Can I forego on sacrificing food and oil and just sacrifice love for other people? I gave a friend some good coffee yesterday and had a good feeling then. But it's confusing. I am new to polytheism and don't understand hinduism so well. Odin demands no sacrifices either. In the past few days I prayed to ancient hindu god Lord Varuna and he was much gentler with me. I also saw images of that Durga angel with a big tail and monster like body. But she helped me against that demon.

What would you do now?

 

[DeviChaaya]

I think you need to talk to your psychiatrist. Ma does not expect anything from us, not even our love.

 

[Aupmanyav]

But then I heard her speak in my mind, "I expect a sacrifice". .. What do you think? .. I gave a friend some good coffee yesterday and had a good feeling then. In the past few days I prayed to ancient hindu god Lord Varuna and he was much gentler with me. I also saw images of that Durga angel with a big tail and monster like body.

Does a mother seek anything from the child when she helps him/her? Durga is mother, her only purpose is to remove your problems and make you happy. What can we offer to her? She has everything. She is the one who created the universe. Treating a friend to coffee is not a bad idea, I wholly approve of that. Varuna is none other than Ouranos. Durga here:

 

[trablano]

Wow. Thanks. That is a much better image of Durga. She looks so lovely and motherly on the image. Can you give me a good link on hinduism? The book that I read seems medieval compared to what you say here....

 

[Jainarayan]

Wow. Thanks. That is a much better image of Durga. She looks so lovely and motherly on the image. Can you give me a good link on hinduism? The book that I read seems medieval compared to what you say here....

My guess is that it was some malevolent, or at the least, mischievous entity. The gods expect nothing. We offer things because we love them.

A good site is Himalayan Academy; another is Hinduism

 

[SomeRandom]

The goddess never demands a sacrifice. They never demand anything. There are those who perform sacrificial rituals anyway. Mostly to Ma Kali, during specific festivals, but I've never heard of sacrificing oil or cigarettes before. I mean there are "veggie alternatives" to sacrifice rituals but they're literally veggies. I mean, I make no judgements. People can worship however they please, but I'm not a fan of that scene. Either way a sacrifice is always performed by a trained "clergy man." Not any old Joe on the street, so even in context, I would advise against it.

 

[Aupmanyav]

Wow. Thanks. That is a much better image of Durga. She looks so lovely and motherly on the image. Can you give me a good link on hinduism? The book that I read seems medieval compared to what you say here....

You see, when no other Gods could subdue the great demon Mahishasura (he had a boon that none of the three major Hindu Gods will be to kill him, Brahma, Vishnu or Shiva), then the Goddesses (Laxmi, Parvati and Brahmani, consorts of Vishnu, Shiva and Brahma respectively) pooled their energies to create Durga. All God gave their weapons and power to Durga. That is why she has so many weapons in her hands. Forms are no problem for deities, they can assume any. So the ferocious Kali also is one form of Durga, a form adopted for a special purpose. I will suggest Wikipedia to begin with for all information on Durga or Hinduism, it is unbiased and scholarly.

 

[trablano]

Thank you. I am glad I don't have to do sacrifices. I guess I was fooled by the demon himself who whispered that to me. I've prayed to Durga as a goddess and she gave me peace. I'm glad she has weapons. It's like she hurt that demon with it. Jesus didn't manage that. I hope Jesus is really a god because I worship him as my main deity. He's been kind to me but sometimes he felt a bit weak and I could only weep and suffer.

 

[Aupmanyav]

Let me tell you about forms of Durgā. The major forms are nine, though there are many others too.
Nine forms of Durgā: Shailaputri, Brahmachārini, Chandraghantā, Kushmāndā, Skandamātā, Kātyāyani, Kālarātri, Mahāgauri, Siddhidātri.
(Kālarātri is the most ferocious among these. Her name means 'Night (even for) time'. Her mount is supposed to be an donkey).
Navadurga - Wikipedia

 

[SomeRandom]

Thank you. I am glad I don't have to do sacrifices. I guess I was fooled by the demon himself who whispered that to me. I've prayed to Durga as a goddess and she gave me peace. I'm glad she has weapons. It's like she hurt that demon with it. Jesus didn't manage that. I hope Jesus is really a god because I worship him as my main deity. He's been kind to me but sometimes he felt a bit weak and I could only weep and suffer.

Well, perhaps that demon had an some sort of agreement with God and that's why Jesus could not drive it away and so instead called in a favour from Ma Durga. Even Gods need a little help now and then. I'd like to think they're all friends (or at least friendly rivals.)

 

[Shantanu]

Hello there,

I am a christopagan, that is I believe in Jesus but I also recognize, acknowledge and sometimes seek other gods. Recently I had a trouble with a bad spirit and read a book on Hinduism that mentioned Durga can help against bad spirits. So I prayed to Durga. She helped me and did something with my mind, I soon felt better. But then I heard her speak in my mind, "I expect a sacrifice". I was completely estranged by this, because I was used to Jesus demanding no sacrifices and even speaking against them. But I also heard in my mind, just sacrifice a cigarette and pledge new love to humans. I also heard I should sacrifice 3 bottles of oil. I am afraid of this sacrifice culture and only want to sacrifice love. Even the old crap came back from my evangelical past that indian gods are only demons who want to ensnare me. I prayed to Jehovah and got the illumination that it was not Durga who spoke to me there but an angel doing service for Durga, and she wouldn't have understood me right (I have schizophrenia and was suffering much lately). I also heard I shouldn't take serious the 3 bottles of oil demand.

What do you think? Can I forego on sacrificing food and oil and just sacrifice love for other people? I gave a friend some good coffee yesterday and had a good feeling then. But it's confusing. I am new to polytheism and don't understand hinduism so well. Odin demands no sacrifices either. In the past few days I prayed to ancient hindu god Lord Varuna and he was much gentler with me. I also saw images of that Durga angel with a big tail and monster like body. But she helped me against that demon.

What would you do now?

Durga is an incarnation of Sri Krishna as the Supreme God. He did this in order that ladies would have access to God. But men can also worship God as Durga. According to Chaldean Heberew numerology, bot Sri Krishna and Durga when spelt like this acquire the spritual number of 7. So you need to be very careful that you study God carefully and devotedly.

What we do is surrender to Durga or Sri Krishna. We also carry out their wishes because they are Guides to helping us live a better way. We sacrifice our free will in order to be at one with Sri Krishna or Durga. They are our Protectors who would solve all our problems.

You say you have schizophrenia. That is not a problem. They once suspected that I had schizophrenia but this was relegated to to the diagnosis of persistent delusional disorder. These are western medical terms for spiritual people who are tuned into seeking guidance from spiritual powers. So I have great deal of sympathy for you knowing what it is like to be a mental patient. The best way to cope with ones mental problems is to surrender to Sri Krishna or Durga. Let them Guide you. They will take away all your delusions and make you live contendly. Because these two Gods deal with truth consciousness. If you are conscious of truth and wish to live to reality you need to seek the guidance of these Higher Powers.

Specifically on whether these two Highest Powers in the Spritual world expect sacrifice, they do not. We sacrifice our free will because we are enamoured by the Gods. They only want us to live normally without harming another person or animal or plant. We sacrifice our free will and live ethically (which also entails sacrifice of material things) because we revere God and like what He does. All our thoughts are given in faith that Sri Krishna or Durga will see us through our hard times and give us a life of dignity.

You cannot be a Jesus Christ worshipper and at the same time surrender to Durga or Sri Krishna. This is truly schizophrenic. You need to choose between Hinduism or Abrahamic religions that follow holy books. If you become a Hindu and join us in our Form you will get support of Hindus to help you live peacefully in realisation of the might and the goodness of God. If you go to church and take the eucharist you are not free of baggage. You cannot do both I am afraid: have truth and be a worshipper of Jesus Christ.

 

[Shantanu]

Uh, since when does hinduism forget about tolerance and acceptance of foreign gods? I like to make obeisance to every god, because they are all good, and I will not trade outdated christian intolerance for outdated hindu intolerance. To that end, I also worship Odin and Zeus. They all come from the same source, the one God in the center, the Brahma, as hindus call it, or Jehovah, as Jews and christians call it. That is the deep secret in creation, the world soul or the world spirit, and in every human and every god there is much spirit and we all act in love towards each other. Love is the duty.

No Hindus do not accept foreign Gods like Jesus or Allah or Jehovah. Love towards all without discrimination between good, indifferent and evil not the Hindu way of living to truth. If you want love to guide you remain a Christian. This is the Hinduism DIR where injection of such foreign ideas is anathema. So I do not know what you gain from posting here.

 

[trablano]

Hinduism, to my knowledge, is not a monotheism like in evangelical christianity. It is instead a polytheistic faith where every god has his place. Consider Rama, Shiva, Krishna, Durga, Vishnu, Hanuman, Ganeesha and all the others. I also know that most hindus also accept Jesus as a demigod or messianic figure. Ananda accepts Jesus as the bringer of the Christ consciousness. I learned a lot from the others who posted here. You don't have to be strict with me, I accept your point of view too, just not as my own.

 

[Vinayaka]

I also know that most hindus also accept Jesus as a demigod or messianic figure.

This is blatantly false. Only the most liberal of Hindus do that, maybe 10 % or less.

 

[Shantanu]

Hinduism, to my knowledge, is not a monotheism like in evangelical christianity. It is instead a polytheistic faith where every god has his place. Consider Rama, Shiva, Krishna, Durga, Vishnu, Hanuman, Ganeesha and all the others. I also know that most hindus also accept Jesus as a demigod or messianic figure. Ananda accepts Jesus as the bringer of the Christ consciousness. I learned a lot from the others who posted here. You don't have to be strict with me, I accept your point of view too, just not as my own.

The concept of Hinduism as a way of life requires one to immerse oneself in spiritual knowledge which is vast. Christianity, Islam and Judaism are limited ideas and practices which cannot fathom the immensity of Hinduism. Just by plucking a person like Jesus Christ (or Zeus for that matter) and trying to put him into Hindusim is fraught with difficulties. This is because Jesus or Allah or Jehovah are not defined in the Hindu way of being sattvic, rajasic or tamasic gods or somewhere within this triad. So we eliminate them from consideration. Only Hindu gods with Hindu names are allowed within the guna consciousness triad that governs Hindusim. So it is not a question of monotheism or polytheism. It is a question of whether the Abrahamic gods can be defined in a Hindu way. They clearly cannot if we go by the fundamentals of Hinduism, namely the gunas. Unless you now say that Jesus was sattvic or rajasic or tamasic. For that you would need to study what Jesus represents. Love (and hate) is a human emotion which is discounted as a guna attribute of a god. You have to go by ethical considerations.

 

[Terese]

Hinduism, to my knowledge, is not a monotheism like in evangelical christianity. It is instead a polytheistic faith where every god has his place. Consider Rama, Shiva, Krishna, Durga, Vishnu, Hanuman, Ganeesha and all the others. I also know that most hindus also accept Jesus as a demigod or messianic figure. Ananda accepts Jesus as the bringer of the Christ consciousness. I learned a lot from the others who posted here. You don't have to be strict with me, I accept your point of view too, just not as my own.

I don't mean to sound condescending to you, but it seems like you don't know much about Hinduism.

 

[trablano]

Well there are many branches of hinduism and I'm not going by your definitions. I am a simple believer in the gods (elohim), and I consider them all benevolent and omniscient. I believe in love and respectful decency in treating humans, because we share a common fate on this world. I like the vedic writings and have sung mantras to Lord Varuna and Lord Agni. The gayatri mantras are a real treat. Please don't suck me into your intolerant view of the gods. Jesus and Krishna understand each other well and help each other. Allah is similar to Yahweh and the Brahma as well. Please spread love and understanding, and not hate. Also buddhism and taoism are true too. Just when we consider the holy books infallible is when we get in trouble. Just pray to the deities and you will be fine.

 

[Shantanu]

Well there are many branches of hinduism and I'm not going by your definitions. I am a simple believer in the gods (elohim), and I consider them all benevolent and omniscient. I believe in love and respectful decency in treating humans, because we share a common fate on this world. I like the vedic writings and have sung mantras to Lord Varuna and Lord Agni. The gayatri mantras are a real treat. Please don't suck me into your intolerant view of the gods. Jesus and Krishna understand each other well and help each other. Allah is similar to Yahweh and the Brahma as well. Please spread love and understanding, and not hate. Also buddhism and taoism are true too. Just when we consider the holy books infallible is when we get in trouble. Just pray to the deities and you will be fine.

You have obviously come to the Hinduism DIR to preach Christianity. Hinduism is a complete understanding. It does not require your 'love and understanding' mantra. In Hinduism truth and dharma are sacrosanct ideas.

 

[Shantanu]

Gandhi loved Jesus too. That is a fact.

Gandhi was a politician living among the wretched colonisers and had to say what he needed to survive and bring India to its desitiny of freedom from the evil Empire.

 

[trablano]

I did not come to preach Jesus. I just believed that polytheists would have nothing against one more deity. There isn't only Krishna in hinduism either.