Archives: July 2007
Thu Jul 12, 2007
From Prehisory to Future Goddess: Kali and Beyond
A disparate chronology of development on the Indian sub-continent is said to have led to the emergence of traditions such as Śākta Tantra, which were largely an amalgamation of beliefs from unassimilated tribal people, outcastes, lower castes, and women, with more formalized patriarchal forms of worship. Thus, the Śākta tradition itself is a product of both Āryan and other (tribal or Dravidian) influences, because it brought together multiple sources over time in a cultural landscape that did not lose the 'prehistory' of the goddess-worshipping peoples even as newer civilizations developed.
In Her, the Goddess, both the brahmanic (usually called Āryan) and autochthonous or indigenous (usually called Dravadian) viewpoints were integrated. As David Kinsley notes regarding Kālī's appearance in the Hindu pantheon:
"It is well known that the brahmanic tradition for various reasons accepted into its fold (either willingly or unwillingly) many indigenous deities and customs. In just this way the Aryan tradition was able to accommodate very diverse peoples among the indigenous population."
And as he continues noting Her development beyond Her origins :
"But at some point Kālī ceases to be an indigenous, tribal goddess, associated with the periphery of society, and begins to gain an amazing prominence in the pantheon. At this point, I think, one has to recognize the fact that Kālī has become a Hindu goddess, expressing the Hindu vision of things in her own way. The point is that Kālī's origins do not and cannot adequately explain her subsequent history. She eventually transcends her origins."
More generally, however, the assimilation process is further reflected mythically. As Vina Mazumdar and Kumud Sharma note:
"The process of assimilation made room for cultural myths and their ideological implications to continue side by side, often expressing contradictory ideological superstructures. The influence of earlier matriarchal traditions continued virtually unbroken through various cultural symbols that identified female deities with important aspects of social life such as knowledge, wealth, energy, change, or humanity's quest for survival against destructive forces emanating from the underworld. At the same time, alternative male principles emanating from patriarchal traditions emerged and were assimilated through the process of divine marriages and adoption of familial relations between different deities. As a result, Indian mythology encompasses a bisexual concept of reality (Ardhanarishwar)."
The Sacred Androgyne image of the Divine has ramifications outside of pathological dualisms for the lives of men and women. Serena Nanda, for example, has opened the doors to the world of hijras in India, and her scholarship would be a good basis for further exploration of how deities such as Ardhanarishwar may be related to the bisexual, transgendered, or differently gendered manifestations of humanity with all that might imply.
How then does it feel to be honoring Hindu deities in the West? Are we simply part of the expected course of history? And how, if so, do we create a mythology that indeed affirms healing potentials from outside the normative western constructions of gender regarding the immanent as well as the transcendent aspects of divinity?
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Sun Jul 01, 2007
Karma
In India, dualistic thinking certainly has been used to justify many inequalities and abuses. Such a worldview, however, runs against the force of the entire Indian philosophical tradition, which stresses non-duality. The laws of karma, for example, are found within a non-dual framework. Although often pointed to as a justification for the caste system (among other oppressive systems), karma supports a harmonious relationship between cause and effect where actions provide the impetus for reactions. Hindu interpretations of karma are derived from the Chāndogya Upaniṣad (ca. 600BCE), in which it is said that one's karma or destiny within the cycle of life, death and rebirth eventually leading to mokṣa (enlightenment), is determined by conduct.
Karma can be understood as a position in which individual responsibility is taken for action and reaction through the cycle of life, death and rebirth. As Swami Abhedananda of the Ramakrishna Vedanta Math in Calcutta has said, karma is:
"...the universal law of cause and effect, of action and reaction [meaning] that every cause must be followed by an effect of a similar nature, that every action must produce similar reaction, and conversely every reaction or effect is the result of an action or cause of a similar character. Thus there is always a balance and harmony between cause and effect, between action and reaction."
A disavowal of responsibility in human and world relationships means an unharmonious balance between cause and effect. Thus, for example, while humanity may not have an identifiable reason for patriarchal systems, taking responsibility for the effects of those systems, as well as for their transformation, is definitely a matter of individual karma.
How do you understand your relationship and/or your individual karma relative to systems and things you wish to change in the world? In your own life...for your own happiness?
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