MOTHER SARASWATI & THE INNER PERSON

On February 29th Hindus will be celebrating Vasant Panchami or Saraswati Jayanti in the West. It is the Appearance Day of Mother Saraswati who is goddess of the arts, music, the sciences, education, wisdom, the heart, the mind, the intuition, creativity and all other inner aspects of humanity. Mother Saraswati would tell us if She appeared to us right now that: "I am about the Inner Person, not the Outer Person."

A great illustration of this idea is this interesting story which a Catholic priest told me in Cincinnati when I worked at a non-profit which provided housing for mentally-ill adults. There was a woman on the board of directors of this organization who was a Jewish social worker. In her youth she married a very handsome young man who looked like a movie star. Several years into the marriage she met a man who would change her life. He was a Jewish rabbi who became her friend. This friendship developed over a number of years. He was not even half as handsome as her husband and he was much older than her. Over time she fell in love with the rabbi. Finally she divorced her handsome husband to marry the Jewish rabbi. He was way more interesting to talk to and his inner qualities were what she admired the most. On the outside he was not a movie star, but on the inside he was brilliant. Did the marriage work out? Yes, it did. It shows you the inner person is more powerful than the outer person.

What aspects of the inner person are important? Mother Saraswati has many hands to illustrate all her great qualities. Women often have many tasks they must accomplish all at the same time: career, house work, child care and many other responsibilities. If she has a great spouse, this person would , of course, help her with these tasks.

Mother has four hands which represent these great qualities: mind (maanas), intellect (buddhi), consciousness (chitta) and ego (ahamkaar). The veena is an instrument she holds with two hands which represents mind and intellect. The scriptures she holds with another hand, which represents consciousness, and the fourth hand holds the lotus, which represents the ego. The ego is liberated when the ego comes to understand the Supreme Self. With true knowledge we can discriminate between good and evil in all situations.

What does the word mandir mean? It means place for the mind. It is a space to connect with the mind on a higher plane of consciousness. It is a place to connect with the Supreme Self who has a divine quality of connecting with all beings in many realms. The energy of the mandir is different than many other spaces in the material world. It is a place of peace and quiet where you can leave all other cares behind and learn how to over come your difficulties in life.

Buddhi is intellect, which is the ability of the mind which focuses on using reason, knowledge and thinking to solve a problem or over a difficult challenge. A person with intellect is a clever or knowledgeable person. This person has intelligence and wisdom. She can discriminate between several choices and decide on the right course of action in this particular situation. She gets at the root causes of problems, not just a having a superficial understanding of the situation.

Chitta, or consciousness, is another important aspect of Saraswati. A conscious person is an awake person who understands her surroundings and identity. She is aware, intentional and knowing where she is on the path of life. Some people use the world the Divine Consciousness in describing a being who is an avatar or an incarnation of divinity. Krishna was an avatar and is an example of the an incarnation of Divine Consciousness in the world. In modern times some people say Amma, the Hugging Saint of India, is a female incarnation of Divine Consciousness. She is pure love to all who connect with Her.

Ego, or ahamkaar, is also part of a person's personality in this world. The ego refers to the self, or the part of the mind which has self-awareness. Ego also is the person's self-esteem. The ego can also fool the individual, so that the person has a false picture of what their actions are causing to humans, animals, plants and all creation surrounding them. It is good to have self-confidence, so you can accomplish tasks in the world. On the other hand you have to know yourself and what your abilities can do when you are involved with tasks in the world. Some people think they can do what they want to do, no matter what is happening around them and what their true abilities really are in any situation. Life is complex and many factors influence the outcome of any actions we take in the world. The goal is to do what is right in the situation and not be attached to the fruits of our actions.

Having an understanding that you are spiritual being is understanding that we are all manifestations of the Supreme Self. The Supreme Self has many names: God, Goddess, the Universe, the Creative Forces, the Great Mystery and so many other names and aspects which are infinite in quality and connection.

Mother Saraswati reminds us that you are the inner person, not the outer person. Society can emphasize the outer person to an extreme. The real Self is eternal and spiritual in nature. We do not, as women or men, have to buy societal emphasis on the outer person. We can choose to see the inner person as the most important asset in life. Women grow up with such an emphasis on looking beautiful on the outside. If we would begin to put more of an emphasis on our inner qualities we would be better off spiritually and emotionally. Men grow up with an emphasis of valuing what a woman looks like on the outside. Attractiveness is very focused on the outer person, not so much on the inner person. I have to remind people every day when I get comments which focus on what I look like that I am about the inner person, not the outer person. It surprises them that I would challenge this accepted stereotype. I do appreciate the men in my life who are attracted to my inner qualities. That is the way of Mother Sarswati: the Inner Person triumphs over the Outer Person.

Happy Vasant Panchami! Happy Sarawati Jayanti!

Jai Shri Sarswati! Jai Shri Ma! Jai Shri Inner Person!

Radhpriestess