The Divine Mother Leadership Series: Day 3-Durga: The Pillar of Strength

If you've been following day 1 and 2 of the series you would have heard about Durga's leadership qualities as follows:

-Initiative
-Commitment
-Passion
-The ability to be big and small and then big again...

However with all that demon bashing and expansion and contraction and expansion...to get big then small then even big again well you have to have to be strong! I mean your ductility and malleability have to be high! And the leadership lesson is simply here...A LEADER HAS TO BE STRONG!

For sure Durga is a pillar of strength I'll tell you that! In fact in her chalisa(40 verse poem usually dedicated to Hindu Gods and Goddesses)she is called:

"In you is merged the strength of this world,
And you provide it with food and wealth."

And so on today the last of the three days dedicated to Durga in the Vasant Nav Ratri festivals let's enjoy her chalisa! Let's salute you Oh Great Mother Goddess and LEADER!

The Divine Mother Leadership Series: Day 2-Durga:The Big and the Small!

Image re-published from Exotic India Art where the murti (sculpture) in the image can be purchased.

As I previously spoke about on the Festival of Shiv, Hinduism is an excellent religion when it comes to capturing things on the microscopic and the macroscopic simultaneously and its ability to do that is not only illustrated by the adventures and activities of its Gods but also its Godesses! So just like on one hand Shiv can do the dance of destruction but then on the other take a seat next to his consort Parvati with baby on lap...well so too can his consort!

In fact in the same Shiv story I discussed during the festival of Shiv, Parvati's ability to be big and then small is seen when she got mad...really mad...really mommy mad in all nine forms mad with the devas (angels)! Let's recall it here as she took on the form of Nav Durga:



However other than that katha there is the time when Parvati who is also a form of Durga took on her other form of Kali and went on a rampage of demon bashing! She got so into it just like when on Day 1 of our series she was beating up Mahish Asura... well Kali couldn't stop! So Shiv decided to step in and well she was kicking his blue form too! But as she was about to as they say in Mortal Kombat...FINISH HIM! She went "Oh my Lord! It is you!" as she realised it was her husband Shiva (when in the Parvati form) and she could only stick her tongue out in shame that she had gotten that carried away! And she stopped stomping and suddenly the big became small again! :)(See Image at top of article)

So What's the Leadership Lesson Here?

Well like the fascinating peepal tree in my front yard...the ability to know when to be big and when to be small and when to be big again if need be! I mean to be a true leader you have to know when to step up to the plate like discussed on Day 1 of the series...but here on Day 2 we learn you have to also know when it's time to step down. You also need to know how to stoop to conquer. And a leader must never feel she is too small to do something but neither must she feel too big to do something...if nothing is above you yet nothing is below you well then my dear...you are a leader I'd say! :)

PS:The story of Kali stepping on Shiv has many versions and intepretations and you can read more about them here.

The Divine Mother Leadership Series:Day 1-Durga:Is She the Cheese Standing Alone?

I do not hold the copyright for this photo but it seems to be all over the internet and I made the assumption that it was copyright free. Please contact me if you consider this misuse.

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! :)