SERVING THE BAY AREA SINCE 2002
“Yoga Mandala nurtures a yen for unfolding spiritual activities, environment, and friends.”
by Unmani S.
by Unmani S.
To receive a name from my teacher has been a gift beyond compare. Every time I hear my name called, it is a teaching; a virtue is being called out and I am asked to respond. My name is Sri Lalita.
Lalita literally means “she who plays”. This name is related to Tripura Sundari, one of the ten wisdom goddesses of Hindu thought. Lalita is also a term for the very center of the Sri Yantra. Sri is a word that invokes auspiciousness and cutting through.
When Dharmanidhi-ji gave the name Sri Lalita, he said it referred to all-encompassing, unmanifest shakti, the ultimate, auspicious creative potential. It also relates to Sodasi, a goddess who is ever and always the potent age of 16. As such, she hovers at the powerful moment of fully-formed ripening. The enthusiasm of youth remains, yet she is womanly power through and through. She is full, creative, powerful.
Every year at Navaratri, we celebrate this power on the last, the tenth night of the festival, called Vijayadashami. This is the day on which the goddess Sri Lalita defeated the terrible demon Mahishasura. In this case, Sri Lalita is recognized as possessing the cumulative energies of Kali, Lakshmi and Sarasvati. She is ultimate detachment (Kali), ultimate generosity (Lakshmi) and ultimate wisdom (Sarasvati) all in one. This combined feminine force, born of pure desire and manifested by true compassion, is that which defeats the demon.
May we all be graced to connect to this power to defeat whatever demons seem to lurk in our dark corners, no matter what our name may be!
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