LAKSHMI, GANESH AND SARASWATI

Excerpt from

Sunday Service, February 4, 2007

by Aeptha

We have been called this Sunday to continue our work with the Hindu pantheon. We are working today with Lakshmi, with Ganesh, and with Saraswati. Those of you who were in our last service will remember that we were working with Shiva, and as I shared with you then, the Hindu pantheon is complex.  The way the Deity expresses depends on where you are standing in the “wormhole”. Where you are in the wormhole is your perspective at any point, and I'm using the term “wormhole” very purposely, because when we are working with this understanding of consciousness we should recognize that these are portals, and we can move into whatever level we choose to move, based upon the refinement of our consciousness concerning our trust, our faith, and our willingness to step out of our self-imposed box, our self-imposed sense of limitation.

Lakshmi is referenced in the Hindu pantheon, but she is also revered by the Buddhists as well as by the Jains. She is an expression of the Goddess in her multiple forms. There is the aspect of her that is known as the Adi Lakshmi, which is the unfathomable. It is that which was before there was anything, and is both inaccessible and unknowable.  There is also the Maha Lakshmi, the aspect of Lakshmi that is associated with Vishnu, and this is the aspect of Lakshmi that most of us are familiar with.

In the triune aspect of creation of Creator, Preserver, and Destroyer, Vishnu is the Preserver, because we know that in order to have the circle of life we must have all three aspects of the triune energy. And this triune energy is expressed in many traditions, including for many of us, the familiar Christian tradition. But Vishnu is incomplete without its polarity, its consort, in the form of Lakshmi.

And there’s a wonderful story about this, that life had been created and that Vishnu, being the preserver of life, is also the holder of the laws that keep life in harmony. But life wasn't cooperating because it was being extinguished prior to its proper time in the cycle, prior to its ability and its opportunity to evolve into its full form. And Vishnu recognized that life was not being sustained, because life had no purpose, no beauty, no wonderment; life did not have desire in its multitude of expressions; life did not have the hold that would sustain it.  Enter Lakshmi, for it is She who provides the desire that allows for life to be sustained.

Lakshmi is the carrier of wealth in its multitude of expressions, from financial wealth, to the wealth of health, to the abundance of well-being, to the wealth that expresses itself in all of nature, to the wealth of friendships, to the wealth of spirituality: all gifts that allow one to interface with life so that life can be preserved.  Lakshmi brings the desire not only to have life and sustain it, but to continue life, and then to pass it on.

Lakshmi is called on every day in the Hindu tradition by every family, because her presence in the home ensures the harmony, stability, and preservation of the family unit, and the means and the abundance to sustain and nurture that family, to bring forth all the things that the family and the community needs.  She is also expressed in every business, because it is the aspect of that energy that allows the business to grow and to work in relationship to the community.

Lakshmi is first noted in the Rig Veda, which is one of the oldest, most revered Hindu texts. Back around 1,000 to 500 B.C. is when her name first starts to appear in those texts. She is the Great Mother and it is recognized that without her there isn't community, there isn’t a sense of relationship with other human beings or with the land itself, and in the highest, deepest sense, there is also not a relationship with the Laws of Life, because she is the consort of Vishnu, who brings the laws.

Lakshmi brings the desire for and the understanding of wealth, and she also brings a formula that was taught by the earliest of sages: that in order to have wealth in its multitude of expressions in your life, you need to let it flow, and this is an aspect of Lakshmi that is associated with her name, “Chanchala”.  It is an aspect that is associated with the cycles of the moon, because it was recognized that in order for there to be wealth, there had to be flow and motion.

Another aspect in the understanding of the Hindu pantheon is that there is no such thing as evil, not in the way that it is rooted in the understanding of Judaism or in the traditions of Islam and Christianity. The demons or “asuras” that are spoken of in the Hindu pantheon are associated with underground wealth, and the reason they are a little tricky is that they don’t necessarily want to give up that wealth.  And so we are asked to understand the multitude of expressions of the pantheon and that there are aspects of deity that are pure, but there are aspects in which their expression is something that we as human beings can relate to and learn from. And so the demons or asuras are not evil, but they hold on, or hoard. And so part of the teachings of Lakshmi is that you do not hoard wealth, it has to flow, and you do not plunder. In other words you do not break the laws and the interconnectedness of life, and you direct wealth in right action and in right order. That was the ancient formula for acquiring wealth.

Lakshmi is often associated with the Goddess of the Threshold, and so is Ganesh. In the esoteric understanding the threshold is the place between the worlds; it is the movement that allows you to have one foot in the material world and one foot in the spiritual world and to literally hold the balance in both. Lakshmi is the expression of the material aspect, and Saraswati is the aspect that holds the knowledge of transcendent wealth. So when you work with Lakshmi you will often simultaneously work with Saraswati, which in truth is really another aspect of the understanding of the consciousness that Lakshmi holds, for Saraswati holds the knowledge of wealth in the transcendent nature; it is the knowledge of the wealth of spirituality; it is the knowledge of the wealth that allows us to step off the wheel of death and rebirth.

Often when we are working in ceremony with Saraswati and Lakshmi we also call to Ganesh. Lakshmi is one of the most revered and invoked goddesses, and Ganesh is another, for Ganesh is the Remover of the Obstacles. Ganesh carries in its four arms the four elements, which are the four planes of existence prior to entering into the higher planes, Nirvana, and amongst other tools that are carried is the axe.  I love the description of the axe, because it is that which cuts away and repels that which does not serve, but it is also described as that which prods you along to righteousness. Ganesh brings that power, that involvement of Will. In another hand is a whip which is used as a tool to bring forth desire, and that desire is then whipped up into aspiration. Desire can lead into something that just keeps you running in a perpetual circle getting nowhere, like a spinning top, and the whip becomes the focused fuel that allows you to aspire and to move through any obstacle that is hindering you. Another hand holds a mudra that is a blessing, for there is no one that Ganesh turns away, and there is no one that Ganesh does not offer blessings to, when called upon.  In their tradition Ganesh is very similar to the Christ, the Savior God, in the Christian tradition. And oftentimes in the other hand is shown the lotus, which is the highest aspiration. It is the ability to achieve spiritual consciousness and to embody that consciousness as an enlightened being.

As I have said before, when we speak of these energies we put them in a form that we, as human beings, can connect with and relate to, because we need that. But I encourage you always to remember as we move through this that we are, in the truest, deepest sense, moving into consciousness, powers and potencies. These Beings are called upon by millions and millions of people every single day, with great faith, with great devotion, and with great intent. And we have an opportunity, or are being invited, to enter into that stream and to participate in that wormhole, as it were, and to become imbued with the beauty, the power and the glory that is carried: the preservation of life, the clearing of all the obstacles that keeps us from fully embodying life as enlightened beings, and alignment with the highest and most potent laws of wisdom. 

In the Hindu pantheon there’s not a problem with having money.  There is not the Puritan overlay that some of us grew up with concerning that. It’s okay to have stuff; they don’t have a problem with that.  Now if you hoard the stuff, if you turn the stuff in the wrong direction, or if you plunder to get the stuff, in other words break the laws, then you have a problem because karma is going to come bite you in the butt, because that’s how it works. So when we move into our Pathworking, it is okay to ask for abundance in your life amongst other things that you connect with, including the facet of wealth. It really is okay because what Lakshmi would say to you is that wealth is God. Wealth is life. And she would say, “I bring and have before you many things. I have the abundance of life. I have the wisdom of life. I have the root that takes you back to the beginnings of all creation, for you are my children, and I hold back from you no things.”  And with Saraswati, “I guide you to use the things that are within and without, in wisdom.” And with Ganesh, “I cut through those obstacles that you have within yourself and around you, be it that of ‘I am unworthy’, be it that of ‘I am incapable’, be it that of some limiting sense that holds you in bondage.”

While Saraswati is now primarily associated with Vishnu, in the earliest aspects Saraswati and Lakshmi were also associated with many of the water Deities, because where there is water there is life.  In this water (referring to a container of water) we have the Five Noble Gases. We’ve taught on these before, but what I would remind you of is that these gases are the building blocks of matter. They are carried in the solar winds and they are literally found everywhere, above and below.

Pathworking

In our Pathworking today we will use imagery as a vehicle to move through the threshold into other realms. Sound touches upon an aspect of vibration within our being that calls us to a different level of consciousness, and so I would like us to begin with a mantra to Sri Lakshmi.

(The chant, Om Lakshmi Om, is repeated for several minutes by the group)

Lakshmi, inherent in existence, the inciter, the potential that takes shape, that manifests itself, and occupies itself with activity, and finally dissolves itself. Lakshmi pervades all creations with vitality, will and consciousness, like the ghee that keeps a lamp burning; Lakshmi lubricates the senses of living beings with the sap of consciousness.

We come to Lakshmi, Great Mother, she who brings beauty and harmony, well-being, abundance and wisdom; She who knows our hearts, our fears and our hopes, our needs and our wants. She whose love is so great. There is nothing that She holds back from us.

Even as you open your heart to Lakshmi you will find those places, those obstacles, that seek to hold you back, that seek to limit you; old patterns of fear. Call to Ganesh now, that Ganesh would clear those obstacles, so that Lakshmi may fully express in you and through you. Let her wealth come into your heart. Hail to thee Ganesh, Lord of Hosts. Hail to Thee. For we know that there are places where we are not allowing the Divine to be made known to us. Bring Thy axe, cut through that which binds us, and prod us forward. And let thy whip take this, our deep desire, into its aspiration. Bring Thy blessings upon us, oh Ganesh so that Lakshmi may have its rightful place as the foundation.

We are being called, invited, to go into a place that you know well, for it is a place where you experience some expression of lack.  It may be emotional, physical, financial, material, spiritual, but there is a place, a barren, dry place that expresses itself as lack. We are being invited by Lakshmi, with Ganesh and Saraswati, to enter into that place, for if we enter in with willingness, then so too that triune energy may join us there. In this place there is shame, there is dryness, there is rigidity, there is the hoarding of that which no longer serves.

In the waters in the center of this sanctuary have been placed the Five Noble Gases. They are the foundation, the building point, of all creation. Lakshmi, Ganesh, and Saraswati call to us in this dry barren place of your fear, of your rigidity, your disbelief, of your uncertainty, to create and allow the wealth of love, of abundance, of beauty of life, to enter into that dryness. Right now let go of any perception of anyone else, because right now you are with She who is bountiful, She who is ever loving, She who has always been and will always be. Right now you are with that which willingly cuts through that which on your own you do not yet have the strength to do. Right now you are with She who holds the wisdom, the discernment, and the power. Go before these three with open heart. Enter into the waters of creation, and open like the lotus floating on the waters of life, to the light of the sun. And the waters of creation flow through you and out from you. The wealth flows, the peace, the harmony, the beauty, the wisdom.

And now not only is the wealth flowing through us, the abundance, the love, the well-being, filling us with the waters of life, we now become those waters, not separated.  We are the waters. We are both the drop in the water and the water itself. And we ask Lakshmi, Ganesh, Saraswati, that we, the waters of life, move wherever there is dryness, need and lack. Let us be united, let us speak in harmony, let our minds apprehend alike, common be our prayer, common be the end of our assembly, common be our resolution, common be our deliberations, alike be our feelings, united by our hearts, common be our intention, perfect be our unity, that Divine Love, perfected Will, complete Wisdom, Abundance, that all life in its myriad of forms be preserved.

We are being asked to stay but a few moments longer in this place of consciousness, for I am hearing that there are seeds throughout the earth that are the prayers of Will to Good. They are seeds of the prayers of hope. They are seeds of the prayers of peace. They are seeds of the prayers of right action. They are seeds of the prayers of abundance. And in this time many of those seeds have not had the opportunity to root because they were in a dry place, caused by the obstacles, limitations, suffering and the misunderstandings of humanity. We, the living waters, we know we are wealthy, and in accordance with the ancient formula we do not hoard that wealth and it has come to and through us in right action, and we let it flow. And we ask now that it would flow to those seeds, to nourish those seeds in those dry places, that in the preparation of the upcoming Spring that they would take deep root, and those seeds of life, those seeds of love, those seeds of the higher knowledge and wisdom, those seeds of the highest laws and right action would take root, and that they will grow up mighty, and that they would bear fruit, and that the fragrance of their flowers would fill the earth. And we would all remember and know we are divine.  We would embrace diversity without fear, and we would know no lack.  The waters flow, the light is here, and the obstacles are cleared. And it is so. So be it.

I invite us all to go forth from here with lightness of heart and joy, in celebration. I invite you to walk the grounds and to feel the wind on your faces, and appreciate the beauty of the trees. Share time with each other, love with big hearts and even bigger Spirits.