By William T. Hathaway

We live in a time of multi-level ghastliness. People are dropping dead from COVID and dropping dead from the vaccine that’s supposed to prevent it. The weather is rampaging, the earth spewing fire. Mental illness has become normal.

All these horrors seem to be connected: one hydra-headed demon generated by the fear, negativity, and stress humans are radiating into our environment. What we need are demon slayers, and that’s one of the specialties of Shiva and his partner Durga. When we activate them, they can dissolve this demon so humanity can think clearly and act positively. They can free us from destruction and help us transition towards divinity. This enlightening takes place within us individually at the microscopic level and within the collective consciousness at the macroscopic level.

The deities are real. They are great cosmic forces and a part of us. Enlivening them improves our lives immensely.

To activate the demon-slaying aspect of Shiva and Durga, light a candle and chant this sutra into the looming dark consciousness that surrounds us:

Aum namo Bhagwate Rudrāya
(I bow to Shiva in the aspect of Rudra, the remover of suffering and ignorance)
Nirakara momkara mulam turiyam
(to him who is formless, the root of Om, dwelling in the transcendent)
Gira Gyana gotita misham Girisham
(beyond speech and knowledge of the senses, Lord of the mountains)
Karalam Mahakala kalam krpalam
(the terrible, the Lord of time, the giver of grace)
Gunagara samsara param nato-ham
(the home of all qualities, beyond dualities)

Aum Dumg Durgayē namaha
(I bow to the liberating aspects of Durga)
Kriya Tarini
(action that enlightens and saves us from calamities)
Kali Rakshakāri
(destroyer of demons)
Raj Rajeshwāri
(ruler of emperors)
Chandikam prana-mām-yaham
(I bow to the destroyer of ignorance and evil)
Tham, Tham; Thah, Thah; Chandika
(mantras for Goddess Chandika, a fierce aspect of Durga)
Shraddhā
(faith, which Maharishi Mahesh Yogi described as the wrapping that keeps the package, our spiritual journey, intact until it reaches its destination in the state of enlightenment)

Yaj-jā-grato duura-mudaiti daivam
(May divinity replace suffering)
Tadu suptasya tathaiveti
(in my waking and sleeping consciousness)

Jaya Jaya
(rhymes with “my-a”)
Vidjayante taram
(victory to you)

Close your eyes, press your hands upwards in front of your chest, bow, and picture Shiva and Durga sweeping away the darkness with their divine light.

This ceremony of enlivening the deities is a small but real contribution to transforming out of this crisis and establishing an enlightened society living at peace with the planet. And that is worth doing.

If you’d like to contact Shiva and Durga and enrich your life with their presence, this website will show you how, all for free: https://meetshiva985866381.wordpress.com/.

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William T. Hathaway was a Fulbright professor of creative writing at universities in Germany, where he currently writes, meditates, and hangs out with Shiva. His novel of the climate change, Wellsprings: A Fable of Consciousness, tells of an old woman and a young man healing nature through techniques of higher consciousness. Chapters are posted at https://www.johnhuntpublishing.com/cosmicegg-books/our-books/wellsprings. His peace novel, Summer Snow, is the story of an American warrior falling in love with a Sufi Muslim and learning from her that higher consciousness is more effective than violence. Chapters are posted at http://shattercolors.com/fiction/hathaway_summersnow01.htm.