Signing out

 

Well, I have to read all those books I mentioned in a previous tweet, sorry, post! 

Lost in the immensity

 

A little report from the trenches. I haven´t found my ishta-devata yet. So I´ve been reading about Martinism (all three versions) and now I´m preparing to devour a book about the Ismailites. I´m also trying to re-read Valentin Tomberg´s "Lazarus, Come Forth". Wish me luck, guys. And no, I haven´t asked Ganapati yet, I prefer to eat my sweets myself, thank you! 

Just ask Ganapati

 

So I did “my own research” on the somewhat peculiar question “how do I find my ishta-devata”, i.e. my very own personal deity I´m supposed to worship constantly (as in saying its mantra 108 times a day). Here are some of the suggestions I came across, both the good, the bad and the somewhat ugly!

Meditate on your highest spiritual ideal. Is it renunciation or ecstatic love? Do you see God as a friend, a child, a lover or a mother?

Study the mythology associated with various deities, learn the meaning of their symbols, look at their pictures.

Find your ishta-mantra. Are some mantras especially appealing to you?

The guru gives you an ishta-devata. Often in the form of a tangible vision.

Make an arbitrary choice! See if it works.

Choose a “kula-deva”, a deity already worshipped within your family.

Ask Ganapati (Ganesha) and offer him sweets. Maybe he´ll tell you!

Ask some other deity.

Check your horoscope according to Vedic astrology.

The last option can be done within minutes on the web with the help of an ishta-devata calculator. I used two such calculators, and got two entirely different answers?! Complete fake, in other words. Maybe I´ll just ask Ganapati…

Nish the Fish

 

I recently discovered this channel on YouTube. Still exploring it. Nish the Fish seems to be associated with the Ramakrishna Mission, but also practices Kashmiri Shaivism. 

In this clip, he discusses “who can worship Kali”. Or other controversial Hindu deities: Bhairava, Shiva in his Nataraja form, or Gopala (a mischievous and/or erotic form of Krishna as a child). 

The short story is that you can worship any deity you chose in an informal bhakti manner, but formal Tantric puja requires initiation by a qualified guru. I suppose there is some spiritual truth in this: compare priests presiding over mass in Christianity, which requires actually being ordained (a kind of “initiation” in sacramental Churches), while anyone can pray the rosary, sing devotional hymns, and so on.

Still haven´t found the video in which he explains what god/goddess to worship in the first place!