Visitor from the outer Space

Another time Vishnu averted a disaster of cosmic proportions. The landmass of the planet Earth was disappearing beneath the sea. Suddenly a great being shaped like a boar appeared in the sky. With a roaring cry it crashed into the Earth, plunged beneath the ocean , and used its mighty tusks to heave the landmass back up above the water. The boar was so virile it impregnated Mother Earth , who had fallen desperately in love with her rescuer. A great mass emerged from her belly and roared off into the sky. The son of Mother Earth and her celestial savior was the planet Mars.

More than a few commentators have noted that the story of the boar avatar sounds uncannily like an asteroid hitting the Earth, perhaps after sea levels began to rise at the end of an Ice Age. 

Hindu Saviors

It's Vishnu's job to keep the world in running order and protect the innocent. His ten incarnations are the best-known avatars. Surprisingly, the human form is not his only uniform. He'll assume whatever shape is called for under the circumstances.

For example, when the demi-gods and demons wanted to churn the Milky Ocean to produce the nectar of immortality (see Chapter 12, " Meet the Hindu Gods"), they found a mountain they could use as a churning rod and a gigantic snake they could use to spin the rod. But there was no base strong enough to rest the mountain on. Vishnu obligingly assumed the form of a huge turtle, and the churning rod, Mount Meru, was balanced on his shell.

This myth may seem less odd when you learn that in Hindu astronomy the bare shell of the turtle refers to the south celestial pole, a comparatively vacant part of the sky where there are few bright stars. The churning motion represents Earth's precessional cycle, an astronomical phenomenon the Vedic sages often referred to. 

Avatars : Gods in Human Form

Many ancient cultures believed that God would visit Earth in Human form. ( Greeks and Romans thought Dionysus was a god-man.) Or that some men and women were so special that they elevated themselves to divine status. ( Hercules and perseus were two such men gods.) Christianity picked up the theme, though it claimed that Jesus was the only legitimate instance.

Hindus have long believed in divine incarnations called avatars. Avatars are immensely popular in India. In fact, much Hindu devotional practice is centered on these beloved figures. Let's look at God and Goddess's interventions in history, when Hindus say he she assumed a physical form to save the world. 

Visits from Mother

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. 

Ganga Ma : Mother Ganges

Hinduism is so incredibly old it remembers a time when the Ganges River didn't exist! The ancient hero Bhagiratha had to go up into the Himalayas and bring Ganga down from her home in the glaciers to the plains of north India.

When the Ganges first came cascading down from on high (some texts say her source is actually in heaven!) the force of her landing would have destroyed the Earth. So Shiva caught her in the locks of his hair and eased her gently to the ground. In many paintings of Shiva, you'll see streams of water pouring down his head . That's Mother Ganga.

In Vedic times, the Sarasvati River was the largest and most sacred river in India. She dried up about four thousand years ago. At that point much of the sanctity associated with the Sarasvati was transferred to the Ganges, which has been Hinduism's holiest river ever since.

Hindus go to the Ganges not just to wash their clothes but to wash away their sins. Baptism is an extremely ancient rite in Hinduism, one that you engage in as often as possible since there are always new sins to wash off!

Bharat Mata : Mother India

The Bharat Mata Temple in Benaras is one of the most unique temples in the world. Instead of a traditional statue of an Indian deity, it contains an enormous three-dimensional relief map of Greater India from Afghanistan in the west to Burma in the east, from the Tibetan plateau in the north to Sri Lanka in the south. The topographically correct map, made of colored marble tiles, gives a vivid sense of the vast expanse of Hindu culture and the dramatic contrast in altitude between the high Himalayas and the plains of the Deccan.

A colorful poster in the temple shows Bharat Mata, " Mother India", in the term of a mature goddesses presiding over a satellite image of the Indian subcontinent. The temple is new by Indian standards. It was inaugurated by Mahatma Gandhi.

Hindus, like native people's everywhere, have a profound connection with the land they live on. The planet itself is Bhu Devi, Mother Earth. Bharat Mata is more than the land itself, however. She is the very consciousness of the culture, the magic, sanctity, despair, and self-renewal of the ageless Hindu civilization. At this remarkable temple the people of India honor their own enduring spirit. 

Consciousness and Power

Some Hindus speak of Shiva and Shakti, God and his power. Lalita represents a state of consciousness in which there is no distinction between spirit and matter, consciousness and energy. Pure consciousness is pure energy and is continually spontaneously forming forth the "play" of life. Lalita is constantly forming new universes through which her infinite glory manifests. And she is constantly calling back the souls wandering in these worlds into the wonder of her supremely blissful being.