Many of us in the West have heard of the Virgin Mary's many appearances-at Fatima for example, or Lourdes, or more recently at Madjegorje. What we don't hear about is the Divine Mother's visits to other cultures like China or India. Showing up as the mother of Jesus wouldn't do much good in Chinese village, where many people haven't heard of Mary. So there she'll show up as Quin Yin, a goddess the people instantly recognize.
Some of my American friends and I stopped at a Kali temple in the village of Rajpur in Bengal.As soon as we entered the grounds, we felt electricity in the air. We sat down to meditate and each of us was transported into extraordinary states of meditation. We all distinctly felt the magic, the tangible presence of spirit, and asked what was going on.
The locals then explained that at this very site the Divine Mother, in the form of the goddess Durga, had been appearing to a Hindu villager named Baba Dulal. They took us to the spot, marked by a sacred tree, where he had repeatedly seen the Mother of the Universe. Her presence was still palpable. It was as if we should still smell her perfume!
To Hindus, the Goddess is not a metaphor or a political statement. She is the Supreme being itself who gives birth to us, nurtures, educates, and protect us. Who lifts us into her lap during meditation. And who blesses us with shakti, the illuminating power of consciousness, when it's time for us to leave the playground of this world and return home to an inner realm of light.
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