https://awakeningspark.com/blog/the-divine-mother-has-become-everything
As we continue to celebrate the joyous festivities in honour of the Divine Mother, the Navratri, I wish to look in this article at the notion of the Divine Mother as Everything.
One of the greatest of Indian sages, Ramakrishna, had once remarked, “The Divine Mother has become everything.” (1)All that is manifest, all that exists, is the Divine Mother. Whatever can be perceived or experienced through the senses; whatever can be conceived in the mind, all of this is the Divine Mother.
She is the active expression of pure undifferentiated Consciousness. The Divine Father is pure potential and stillness. The Divine Mother is movement and diverse manifestation. It is She who expresses the infinity of the Creator, for She is the Creator.
She is the creative power in Brahma, the Creator. She is the power of preservation in Vishnu. She is the power of dissolution in Shiva.
She is vaster than the multiverse, yet subtler than the ether. All forms of matter and energy are Her expression.
Like Ramakrishna, and those who have experienced Samadhi, I too have been blessed with this vision of the Divine Mother as Everything. It is at once humbling as it is gratifying. When one sees the Mother in everything, one’s spirit soars in sublime ecstasy. It is an experience that beggars description.
In Hinduism there are many allusions to this notion of the Divine Mother in everything. In Hinduism the cow is considered a sacred animal. There are many reasons for this, and all of them valid. But, it is merely a stepping stone to seeing all animals as sacred.
Speaking of stones, in Hinduism the Shiva Lingam, and Vishnu Shalegram, are sacred stones. Yet again, these are but stepping stones to seeing all stones, rocks and minerals as sacred.
Likewise, the mango and fig trees are sacred. The durva grass is sacred. All of these are stepping stones to seeing all trees, plants, and grasses as sacred.
The Ganges, is a sacred river. So are all rivers, streams, ponds, and oceans.
All are expressions of the Divine Mother.
Of this, Sri Krishna tells us in Bhagavad Gita,
“The wise look with equanimity on all whether it be a Brahmana (priest or holy man) endowed with learning and humility, a cow, an elephant, a dog, and a pariah (outcaste) too.” (2)In this verse Sri Krishna is clearly referencing the Divine Nature in everything. The essential unity in diversity. All are expressions of the Divine Mother. She Herself has become Everything.
When the Creator took form as Sri Rama and was in the forest looking for a place to stay, he inquired the same of the great sage Valmiki. The sage replied with humility and devotion,
“You ask me: ‘Where should I take up my residence?’ But I ask You with diffidence, tell me first the place where You are not then alone can I show You a suitable place.” (3)All that is manifest is the Divine Mother. So too, the avatar of Sri Rama is also an expression of the Divine Mother in form. The Father is not manifest- only the Mother is. The Consciousness of Sri Rama is the Father, the expression and manifestation of that Consciousness is the Mother.
So who is the Divine Mother? She is Everything. It is She who has become Everything.
Jai Maa!
Footnotes
(1) Swami Nikhilananda, trans., The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna. New York: Ramakrishna-Vivekananda Center, 1973, 346.
(2) The Bhagavad Gita or The Song Divine (2017). Gita Press, Gorakhpur. India
(3) Sri Ramcaraitamanasa (1998). Gita Press, Gorakhpur. India