Spiritual Vision Art
by Uma Kumar
Gallery 7: Dasha Maha Vidyas
by Uma Kumar
Gallery 7: Dasha Maha Vidyas
OM GANESHAYA NAMAH
OM GURUBYOH NAMAH
DASHA MAHAA VIDYAS
THE TEN GREAT COSMIC POWERS OF KNOWLEDGE.
The attainment of self realisation is the only goal for true spiritual seekers. Unless the true nature of Atman and its divinity is clearly understood, we as individuals continue to flounder in the vast ocean of samsara. As long as each Jiva or individual soul thinks, under the influence of Maya or ignorance that he is the doer and enjoyer thus identifying himself with his body, he can never attain liberation. What lies beyond this material universe is a mystery to most of us. We do not understand why we are born, when we are going to die or whether any part of our mental conciousness survives us after death. The physical form and name with which we are endowed at birth continues right up until the end of our lives. After this disappears as it inevitably must, what happens? The Vedas give many answers. Rebirth is certain for everyone and is irrevocably linked with previous actions and accumulated karma. However, those who have been fortunate to gain the wisdom of the infinite have no rebirth. They merge into the unchanging, attributeless, ever present conciousness. In other words, they become the same as Sadaa Shiva! The energy force that activates the entire universe is Shakthi, the female counterpart of Shiva. In reality, there is no difference between God and his Shakthi just as there is no difference between the Sun and its heat energy. Without the energy of Shakthi, there is no manifestation principle. It is only through the grace of Shakthi and by continuous self introspection that an individual soul can free himself from all attachments that tie him down to the material world and attain spiritual insight.
The Dasha Mahaa Vidyas or the Ten Great Cosmic powers of Knowledge are the ten fundamental aspects of the Supreme Cosmic Mother. Each have a specific function and each leads to a special realisation of the One Reality. The group of Ten Vidyas reflect the dynamic unity of existence in which all aspects of life- the darkest, purest, beautiful, ugly, forceful, and inert combine to form a unified whole. Worship of the Vidyas is to understand the true nature of each Deity as the indweller of the Self. The Ten Mahaa Vidyas reflect ten different ways of knowing ourselves and the universe through identification with the ten fundamental energies of the Cosmos. They represent a vast range of concepts pertaining to life. Each of them focus on a specific topic ; some are pleasant, some are frightening , but all of them are instructive and inspire seekers to delve deeper in their quest for knowledge beyond the realm of the physical limitations of the world they live in.
The Yantras of the Dasha Mahaa Vidyas represent these powerful cosmic forces in the form line drawings. Just as mantras trap the energy of astral deities in the form of sound, yantras contain these energy fields within diagrammatic shapes . The physical image of each deity is also presented here and it should be regarded merely as a symbolic representation of the concepts each of these powers depict. READ MORE ABOUT EACH OF THE TEN DASHA MAHAA VIDYAS.
OM GURUBYOH NAMAH
DASHA MAHAA VIDYAS
THE TEN GREAT COSMIC POWERS OF KNOWLEDGE.
The attainment of self realisation is the only goal for true spiritual seekers. Unless the true nature of Atman and its divinity is clearly understood, we as individuals continue to flounder in the vast ocean of samsara. As long as each Jiva or individual soul thinks, under the influence of Maya or ignorance that he is the doer and enjoyer thus identifying himself with his body, he can never attain liberation. What lies beyond this material universe is a mystery to most of us. We do not understand why we are born, when we are going to die or whether any part of our mental conciousness survives us after death. The physical form and name with which we are endowed at birth continues right up until the end of our lives. After this disappears as it inevitably must, what happens? The Vedas give many answers. Rebirth is certain for everyone and is irrevocably linked with previous actions and accumulated karma. However, those who have been fortunate to gain the wisdom of the infinite have no rebirth. They merge into the unchanging, attributeless, ever present conciousness. In other words, they become the same as Sadaa Shiva! The energy force that activates the entire universe is Shakthi, the female counterpart of Shiva. In reality, there is no difference between God and his Shakthi just as there is no difference between the Sun and its heat energy. Without the energy of Shakthi, there is no manifestation principle. It is only through the grace of Shakthi and by continuous self introspection that an individual soul can free himself from all attachments that tie him down to the material world and attain spiritual insight.
The Dasha Mahaa Vidyas or the Ten Great Cosmic powers of Knowledge are the ten fundamental aspects of the Supreme Cosmic Mother. Each have a specific function and each leads to a special realisation of the One Reality. The group of Ten Vidyas reflect the dynamic unity of existence in which all aspects of life- the darkest, purest, beautiful, ugly, forceful, and inert combine to form a unified whole. Worship of the Vidyas is to understand the true nature of each Deity as the indweller of the Self. The Ten Mahaa Vidyas reflect ten different ways of knowing ourselves and the universe through identification with the ten fundamental energies of the Cosmos. They represent a vast range of concepts pertaining to life. Each of them focus on a specific topic ; some are pleasant, some are frightening , but all of them are instructive and inspire seekers to delve deeper in their quest for knowledge beyond the realm of the physical limitations of the world they live in.
The Yantras of the Dasha Mahaa Vidyas represent these powerful cosmic forces in the form line drawings. Just as mantras trap the energy of astral deities in the form of sound, yantras contain these energy fields within diagrammatic shapes . The physical image of each deity is also presented here and it should be regarded merely as a symbolic representation of the concepts each of these powers depict. READ MORE ABOUT EACH OF THE TEN DASHA MAHAA VIDYAS.
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