Spiritual Cowgirl

Photo from New York Times

My friend Velcrow Ripper, filmmaker and spiritual activist, just notified me that today the millitary Junta of Burma, which ironically calls itself “State Peace and Development Council” stormed a monastery and bludgeoned to death 200 monks. A non-violent uprising of the Burmese people against their government is currently being led by the Buddhist monks and has been going on for about two weeks. This is what the movement chants as they use peaceful non-violence resistance:

The Karaniya Metta Sutta
the Buddha’s discourse on Loving Kindness

May all be well and secure,
May all beings be happy

Whatever living creatures there be,
Without exception, weak or strong,
Long, huge or middle-sized,
Or short, minute or bulky,

Whether visible or invisible,
And those living far or near,
The born and those seeking birth,
May all beings be happy

Let none deceive another
Or despise any being in any state;
Let none wish others harm
In resentment or in hate.

Just as with her own life
A mother shields her child,
her only child, from hurt
Let all-embracing thoughts
For all beings be yours.

Cultivate a limitless heart of goodwill
For all throughout the cosmos,
In all its height, depth and breadth —
Love that is untroubled
And beyond hatred or enmity.

As you stand, walk, sit or lie,
So long as you are awake,
Pursue this awareness with your might:
It is deemed the Divine Abiding- here and now.

Many many blessings and love to the Burmese people…

The more you flow you into existence
The more existence will flow into you
It is always in the same proportion.

Whatsoever you sow, you reap,
And whatsoever you give, you get.

So, if you want to get more energy,
Give more energy.

If you want to get more love,
Give more love.

If you want existence to shower on you
Great torrents of Bliss,
Then make people Blissful
Wherever you go.

-Osho

I’m a big fan of The Devi Mahatmya (The Grandeur of the Goddess) – a 700 verse Hindu scripture about the Great Goddess. It’s no His Dark Materials, but it gets the divine mojo flowing in an antediluvian sort of way.

Why do I adore this primordial Go Go Goddess myth so much? Well, for a few reasons. The first reason reaches back to my college days. The night after I started reading the translation, I had one of the most intense dreams of my life. And for nights afterwards I was high-fiving divine feminine archetypes like every body’s bizness – I’m talking butterflies, bees, blood, fire, tongues, swords, lionesses, snakes, and on and on She oh so epiphanically winked. Needless to say, it was a heightened time for me (and my poor roommates), and therefore I have always credited The Devi Mahatmya for slipping my subconscious its first red pill.

A few more reasons I turn red for this text: it’s a religious, yes, a religious scripture about the Goddess saving the world and the poetic verse positively swoons with divine heat, humor, and wisdom. Here’s a brief synopsis:

Once upon a time, demons were busy destroying the world. The male gods were not strong enough to stop the demons, and it looked like planet earth was about to take a not-so-pretty nose dive, until the gods suddenly “remembered” there was a Great Goddess. The male gods prayed to her and begged her to save the planet. So, the Great Goddess gathered her many weapons in her many arms, and, well, saved the world. Like 3 times. While the male gods watched helplessly from the sidelines. Ahem. After the goddess kicked some major demon ass, the gods sung her praises for an ever.

One of my favorite scenes from the text is when the most evil demon of all, Raktavija, was refusing to die. Every time the goddess Durga stabbed him with her sword, his blood hit the earth and turned into a thousand more demons. How annoying. Durga apparently became so pissed that out of her skull popped the raging goddess Kali who solved the messy problem by guzzling down the blood of the nasty demons every time Durga stabbed them. Talk about grrrl power!

OK, but here’s a Tantric Hindu myth I just read about in Daniel Odier’s book Desire, that’s even better. Seriously better. So, instead of demons ending the world, a gargantuan linga (phallus) is destroying the planet – wreaking havoc on mountains and streams and villages and humans and animals. The male gods are fighting the massive penis but to no avail – it’s still hammering away – totally screwing up life. The gods again suddenly “remember” (sigh) the Great Goddess and pray to her to help save the planet. She obliges not by fighting the penis with weapons, but by rising to the sky and slipping the giant phallus inside her. The phallus experiences so much pleasure that it stops destroying the world and all is saved.

Now if that’s not a red metaphor for saving the planet right now, I dunno what is!!!

What myths tempt your world red? Don’t have any specific ones? How bout creating your own?

Just a friendly reminder: If you find yourself drawn to any of the world’s religious traditions, I highly recommend delving into the true roots of its sacred texts and prayers. Take a class, question the hell out of a religion scholar or 5 (go ahead email them), dive into that archaic building referred to as a “library”, or even Google divinity (but when using online sources always use discernment). You will most likely find the original meaning of most “sacred” and “holy” religious texts a wee bit or even quite a bit different than what you might have been taught.

For example: “Our Father, who art in heaven” was actually translated from ancient Aramaic, to Greek, to Latin, to Old English to English, until ta da, we get a Daddy-God prayer! But here’s the catch, when translated directly from basic Aramaic straight to English, sans the male hierarchical paws, the prayer becomes, simply and beautifully, “O Thou, (or O Birther) from whom the breath of life comes,” and then continues on in a very non-judgmental, cosmically centered, energetically aware form that’s so free of gender associations and strict dogma, it could be from almost any open-minded spiritual tradition you’ve ever come across.

Fact is, much of what we know today as traditional prayer, or scripture, or sutra, has been translated from ancient texts by a handful of men who chose specific words to convey certain meanings either by accident or on purpose according to their own spiritual beliefs, personal/political/cultural agendas and norms, and of course, power issues, which have always played a huge role in religious works. Religious history is more subjective than we realize, and, like political history, is mostly written by the “winners” — that is, those groups and the leaders who’ve survived, who’ve held power the longest.

Remember, religion is a man-made (translated) invention. Spirit is not.

Also remember there are always large differences between what is found in the religious texts and the lived (everyday people) experience. Yep, there are differences between what the Buddha really said, what his monks said he said, what others have translated these monks to have said Buddha said, and then how the young Buddhist woman down the street from the Buddhist monasteries is practicing her religion.

So the message is this: Always dig deeper. Never presume one version of a text or prayer or belief is all there is. Spirit is winking like mad between the lines. All lines. So relax your linear focus a bit and undulate those mental hips.

You, who make angels stutter and mystics moan - congratulations for being here so well.

It’s not an easy gig, this thing called life. In fact, it’s quite the ass-kicking experience. But oh, how you’re living brilliantly anyway. Even when you think you’ve failed, the Universe stands in awe of you. Even when you forget who you are, blades of grass long to rub up against you. Even when you hide your gifts, the air aches to breathe you.

In.

Thank you for existing so perfectly.