God’s creation runs on shakti. For performing any task, force is required and that force is shakti. Just like fuel propels a vehicle, similarly shakti is the fuel that propels various aspects of creation.
The primordial force or shakti gets manifested in creation in different forms, each having a specific purpose. Lord Ram invoked the shakti of Durga before going to war with Ravana; Guru Gobind Singh also performed a yagya to invoke the shakti of the goddess before creating “khalsa” for protection of the weak and the downtrodden.
The 9 nights and 10 days of Navratras hold within them the energy of 10 forms of Shakti — Shailaputri, Brahmcharini, Chandraghanta, Kushmanda, Skandmata, Katyayani, Kaalratri, Mahagauri, Siddhidatri and Aparajitha.
Each of these represents a state of balance in a particular aspect of our existence. These shaktis are not outside but within us.
They correspond to a specific location in the body, and respond to a specific frequency of sound.
What is required is their activation in the body by generating those frequencies. Modern scientists have been conducting experiments on this phenomenon under a branch of science called Cymatics.
In a particular experiment, they placed sand in a metal dish and introduced it to sounds of varying frequencies.
They found that sand changed patterns with the changing frequency of sound, the patterns becoming more defined at higher frequencies.
At a particular frequency, sand took the formation of Sri Yantra.
Our shastras explain that the form of the dev lies in the mantra.
The essence of the mantra lies in its beej (there being three parts to a mantra — shakti, beej and keel), the beej lies in the dhwani (sound) and the seeds of dhwani can be only found at the feet of the Guru.
Guru channelises the shakti into a mantra, and when a sadhak practices that mantra under the Guru’s guidance.
The sounds so generated manifest the body of a dev or devi in the sadhak, introducing a higher state of balance from where he/she can manifest things in the physical.
Before one is initiated into any of the shakti mantras, it is important to attain a basic level of balance through the physical and etheric purifications prescribed in Sanatan Kriya.
When the basic balance is achieved, certain higher centres open up and the body is tuned to accept these shaktis.
Navratras are highly potent nights — the position of constellations during these days is such that certain doorways to subtle dimensions open and it is easiest for the sadhak to access the shakti of various devis through mantra sadhna and Sanatan Kriya under the guidance of a guru. The experiences that follow are phenomenal.
Yogi Ashwini is the guiding light of Dhyan Foundation
