The Mother of the World

Wisdom Teachings
Spiritual Nature
Book: Sri Suktam – The Nature and
Characteristics of the World Mother

The relationship between nature and man is like the one between a mother and her child. The mother has given us the body; she shepherds and loves the child. Mother Nature provides protection and food for us. Through our environment, she presents us with many gifts which nourish and delight us. We have to see the beauty of those gifts and understand that they derive from the Mother. As long as we do not understand the gifts, we might even think that nature is cruel. However, within nature there is no cruelty; she is generous and full of love for her children. Even pain only shows nature at work: she aims to protect us, and because she is wise, gives us pain as a sign that we need to take care of a problem and are protected.

When we honour the Mother and ask for her blessings, she protects us from dangerous situations. When we wish for something, she will not fulfil those wishes that will bring problems for us. She ensures that we only receive the right things and do not go astray and suffer. Nature draws those to herself who understand and respect her laws; thus, taking us into her arms. The symbol of the embrace by nature is as old as creation itself. It is visually depicted as the Holy Mary with the Christ child next to her heart. When the spirit awakens in man, the Mother takes the newborn son of God on her arm and to her heart. In the worldly person, the son has not been born yet because only the material consciousness is active.

The entire creation is the network or veil of the Mother of the World. The veil surrounds her like the aura of a rainbow with the colours of the seven planes. She is the spiritual mother of any form and the bearer of the father. She is the radiant expression of the absolute One; he is the background out of which she appears. In relation to the absolute God, the primal substance is female, because on all planes the basis is male and the projection that appears out of it is female. In Eastern scriptures, the primal substance is called Shakti, the Mother of Power. The entire creation is the game of Shiva and Shakti, or of father and mother. Shakti is twofold: she is matter as well as fire, which revives matter. In Theosophy, matter- and fire-aspect are considered separate, and the fire-part is believed to be the son. Whatever name is given to it, it is the energy of the Mother which keeps the different things together with her magnetic force. In a family, the love of the mother holds the family together as a unit. She is the backbone of the family and the perfect bridge between the father and the son. As a soul, we are the son. Being in the soul-consciousness allows us to deal with mother and father correctly.

It is said that the love of the Mother transmits the view of the father. Through her eyes, the father, or spirit, can see and becomes visible to us. Who, in reality, sees through our eyes when we look at people with love?

The father can only be experienced through the Mother; he is not known to us at first. That is why we are called “Children of the Widow” and “Sons of the Virgin” in spirituality. The virginal birth of God’s son is very much misunderstood. Every son of God is a product of virginity. The path of discipleship consists of the striving for inner and outer purity. That way, we join in with the Mother’s energies to be able to become sons of the virgin. The Mother can lift us to the state of purity and beingness through her grace. Mary was a mother of such a grace. The ancient idea of the “immaculate conception”, as it is expressed in the old wisdom, has nothing to do with the pregnancy through which Jesus was born. Mary always stood in the background and prepared her son so he could receive grace and perform acts of Good Will that would inspire the entire globe. Jesus was a child of the virgin because he was pure since birth. Thus, he is called the son of the virgin in esoteric teachings. It happens often that we do wrong to a master through our interpretation only because we do not really understand the ancient concepts of wisdom.

The presence of women can lift men to the more subtle planes of consciousness. However, there are also tales that depict women as evil and sinful and as distractive of the path. All this depends on how we understand the female energies in creation and how is our attitude toward them. We encounter the female nature through our mother, sister, wife, and daughter. The man must fulfil his duties to those four dimensions of the woman. If he fails to do so, he makes a mistake for which he will pay heavily. We must not hurt anything of female nature. As long as women are despised, exploited, and abused, we negate the female principle which is a special symbol of the Mother. As a result, the Mother rejects us in turn. We get into trouble and will not be able to proceed on our path. We fall into illusion and get entangled in it.

Illusion, too, is a power of the Mother that is called Maya. Money and social status, relationships and desires, can pull us down and push us into impenetrable darkness. Even masters can fall into illusions. It is very difficult to penetrate the veils of the Mother, of matter. Thus it is also called Durga, the “Impenetrable Mother”. She stands on the threshold between truth and illusion. Once we gain the goodwill of the Mother, she will help us to become free of the veils - “Isis unveiled.” The Mother is closer to us than the father; we have an intimate relationship with her. Therefore, it is easier to follow the path of worshipping the truth as the Mother. The path directly to the father is a painful way while the path to enlightenment through the Mother is beautiful and presents joy through each part of it. Jesus, too, was a worshipper of the Mother and followed this path.

A great female master exists in the Himalayas who symbolizes the female energy. She is the lodestar for the entire Hierarchy and is called Sailaputri. Oftentimes, when the Hierarchy is in need of a solution for a crisis, Sailaputri will take care of it. She is described in the scriptures and also in Master E.K.’s book “Man Sacrifice.” It is said that she is constantly joined by a lion. H.P. Blavatsky calls her “the precious jewel, the star of the sea.”

The dimensions of the Mother of the World are immeasurably great; she does not exclude anything or anyone. When we honour the Mother, we should visualize her as a very beautiful woman. Thus, the etheric streams in us become organized by magnetism. We can imagine the Mother how she sits in a lotus flower and holds lotus blossoms in her hands. The lotus symbolizes the unfolding principle, and the Mother rules over creation. She unfolds the planes, and each plane is a lotus that unfolds through evolution. The poetic thinking of the seers groups many lotuses in various colours around the Mother.

Her palms may also be open. The right hand is pointed upward, which signifies protection, and the left hand points downward, in giving demeanour. Both hands are hands that give fulfilment.

To contemplate upon such a form of the Mother, a noble appearance of glaring beauty, allows us to unfold her energies within us and, by doing so, experience her presence. The face of the Lord Maitreya resembles the described as well; it is a very beautiful face with eyes full of life. It is male as much as it is female. Such forms have the very special effect of beauty and allow a faster manifestation of our spiritual goals.

When we radiate pure vibrations, the Mother gives us her presence in form of a scent. Until we achieve this natural fragrance, we – as spiritual disciples - are suggested to use the scent of pure sandalwood. It builds a protective layer around us on the subtle plane, which keeps lower forces away and allows higher beings to come to us.

A person with a pure etheric body is someone who radiates light. If we want to invoke the light of the world, the Mother of the world, we should do this through the ajna centre - either as the golden or diamond white light. The light will flow through all centres into every part of the body to purify it. Through the visualization of light, we experience the Mother in form of light and, thus, attain formlessness through form.

Sources used: K. P. Kumar: Hercules. The Man and the Symbol / seminar notes / The World Teacher Trust - Dhanishta, Visakhapatnam, India.