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Today is the beginning of Vasant Navratri in the Hindu calendar and we are also in the Catholic month of fasting known as Lent which leads into the Holy Week that culminates on Easter Sunday with the Resurrection of Christ! As a result on UCP I'd like to launch a new daily series that will run from today the first day of Vasant Navratri until the start of the Holy Week-Palm Sunday i.e. this series will run from today, Tue 16 Mar until Sat 27 Mar 2010. It will as a result be covering the entire Vasant Navratri festival. And in some parts of India and often of recent times here in Trinidad as well, the festival tends to be marked by celebrating the Divine Mother in triplicate. The first three days as Durga then followed by another three for Lakshmi ending up with the final three being for honouring Saraswati. UCP likes this approach where it is said in the first three days we look at destroying our demons...then for the next three days we pray to accumulate the wealth that is needed to execute stuff on the material plane and in the last three days we look for the wisdom to carry it all out! All three necessary to execute well on planet earth in all our divine feminine splendid forms! :)
As discussed on Meady's Musings yesterday the series will cover the way the Divine Mother in Hinduism and to a lesser extent in Catholicism personifies Leadership. Leadership in all the forms or as how we here at UCP and Meady's Musings Production define it that is! So here we go kicking off the series with Goddess Durga herself and we will continue daily until Sat 27 Mar 2010...hope you all have as much fun as we plan to have on this series...now let's carry on!
DURGA as a LEADER: And the Cheese Stands Alone!
If we here at UCP had to sum up Durga's leadership qualities in one phrase it would be that..."And the cheese stands alone!" For in this form the Divine Mother needs no help and is all out on her own except I guess for her vehicle which is either a lion or a tiger at most times! But other than that in this leadership form she needs no helpers...no men...no followers...she just kicks demons around all on her own! Just look at the licking she put on ole Mahish asura (demon) while in this form. LOL!
Also in this battle with Mahish no holds were barred...they were fighting tooth and nail! Just out there in the middle...get to it... and when such a grand battle exists sometimes one cannot tell who is who...each takes on the other so intensely that they momentarily become one and there is momentarily no distinction...'good' fighting so intensely to overcome 'evil' that in a moment the 'good' almost looks like 'evil' as it becomes so obsessed with fighting the 'evil'. It reminds me a lot of Bram Stoker's Dracula tale where Van Helsing is so obsessed with killing Dracula at times you wonder if he had not taken on the very nature of the being himself...I guess the classic tale of...Who is the hunter?...Who is the hunted?
So what leadership qualities does Maa Durga display in her fight to the death with Mahish asura?
1. INITIATIVE:The raw ability to lead...walk out there in the middle of the battlefield of the unknown...take the initiative...be the first one to step forward when everyone is hesitating...step up to the plate even when you look around and you see you are the only one who came out in the middle of the battlefield (the cheese standing alone). And it's why many a time leaders tend to look around and realise there is no one else there...no one to whisper a word of advice...no one's shoulder to leader on...since no one else stepped out! And that can't be an easy place to be! With all the devas (angels) looking on Maa Durga stepped up!
2. COMMITMENT: Once already out there on the battlefield there is no turning back and you have to stick with it. Have the commitment to fight to the end! Its either I die or my opponent but I'm not leaving! As did Mother Durga as she fought until she slayed Mahish Asura
3. PASSION:So yep...she took the initiative and stepped up to the plate...and even after having realised the dauntingness of the task and the fact that 'you are in this alone baby' she decided to commit...stick with the task to the end! But guess what that was not all...she didn't just go through the motions till the end. No siry she proceeded to fight with passion! Maa Durga took on Mahish asura with such passion well it got to the point of obsession! And that combo of Initiative, Commitment and Passion folks is why we today on UCP salute you as a leader Mother Durga...you're the woman! :)
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