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We adore Lakshmi, who has the nature o f supreme peace and the lustre o f pure gold, whose form is radiant,

wearing gold and possessing all ornaments.

Who carries a golden chalice and a golden lotus, whose hands give gold, the original power, the Mother of allt who dwells at the side o f Lord Vishnu.

— Lakshmi Dhyanam THE GODDESS OF THE LOTUS

The lotus is the most sacred flower of the Hindus and of the people of east Asia in general. The lotus is a symbol of unfoldment: it represents the opening of the lotuses of the different chakras of the subtle body, particularly the lotus of the heart. Though the lotus puts its roots into the mud and grows in marshlands, it produces the most beautiful flower, like the soul coming forth from the earth of the physical body. The lotus is also a plant of great energy and its seeds give much vigor when taken as a food.

Kamalatmika is one whose nature is of the lotus. She is sometimes just called Kamala, which is one of the many Sanskrit names for lotus.

The lotus Goddess is Lakshmi, the consort of Lord Vishnu, the preserver of the universe. Lakshmi arises out of a lotus from the cosmic ocean.

Kamala is Lakshmi among the Ten Wisdom Goddesses. Lakshmi is the Goddess of wealth, beauty, fertility, love, and devotion, like Roman Venus and Greek Aphrodite, who, like Lakshmi, is bom from the ocean, but on a sea shell rather than a lotus. Lakshmi is the great Mother in her role of fulfilling all desires. She represents the water of fulfillment, the flowering of Divine grace and love.

KAMALA AND SUNDARI

Kamala is similar to Sundari in that both rule over love, beauty and bliss. Sundari, however, rules over the subtle fomi of bliss bom of perception of the Self. Kamala governs the outer form of beauty, not merely as pleasure but as the unfolding of the Divine nature into the realms

KAMALATMIKA

of action and creation. Kamala causes us to create forms in the outer world, while Sundari allows us to withdraw the outer world into our own consciousness. Kamala thus relates to the Earth, which contains the maximum manifestation of the Divine in the material word. The Earth Goddess, Bhu Devi, is considered to be the second consort of Lord Vishnu.

However, the special abode of Kamala is Heaven, the realm of celestial delight, wherein alone all desires can be fulfilled. In Heaven exists the celestial form of the Goddess as the essence of all the tanmatras (subtle sensory qualities), in which all wishes can be granted. This is the higher form of Kamala.

Kamala nourishes and supports whatever we truly aspire to do. She aids in all projects and ever seeks to promote their fulfillment, allowing layer upon layer of Divine grace to come forth in various degrees of wonder. She can be propitiated both for ordinary worldly goals and for spiritual realization. But the ordinary goals we seek through her — wealth, progeny, or success — should be part of seeking Divine fulfill­

ment in life, an unfoldment of our soul’s desires through an organic process of evolution, not a mere satisfying of neurotic wants.

MATERIAL AND SPIRITUAL WEALTH

Kamala is the form of the Goddess most worshipped by people in this world, as we are mainly cognizant of outer beauty and abundance. Most of us are engaged in the pursuit of pleasure, fortune, talent, fame and so on, which are nothing but superficial or limited aspects of the power of Lakshmi. Since we naturally pursue Lakshmi, we might as well pursue her highest form. The most beautiful thing in life is devotion to the Divine.

Lakshmi also gives this. When we have that spirit of devotion for the Divine presence everywhere we find incomparable beauty and wealth in everything.

Thie richness, moreover, is not what we own but what we are able to give. Kamala symbolizes this spirit of giving that dispenses all that we might outwardly or inwardly seek. Yet we should be careful in what we seek, because it will eventually be given to us. Lakshmi or the fortune we seek leads to Kamala or its unfoldment. Hence if we are going to seek anything, we should seek everything. We should ask for nothing less than the Divine, an infinite, eternal and perfect existence, consciousness, and bliss (Sacchidananda). We should seek the total unfoldment of ourselves and of the universe and not merely content ourselves with transient goals.

This is the real worship of Kamala or Lakshmi which puts an end to all outer seeking.

Kamala also relates to the beauty of perception whereby we see the Divine quality in each thing. The quality of our consciousness is our greatest wealth, not what we possess outwardly, which we can never really hold onto anyway. Fart of the worship of Kamala is to unfold the full powers of inner perception in order to see the extraordinary beauty in the simple presence of nature and the Earth.

KAMALA, LAKSHMI AND KALI

Kamala is a little different from Lakshmi. Kamala is the aspect of Lakshmi that is part of the Wisdom Goddesses. She is the form of Lakshmi which relates specifically to the practice of Yoga. Hence she is also a form of Kali. Kali or the beauty of the void is also the basis of Kamala or the beauty of life. The spiritual lotus, which is the basis of the universal energy, blooms in the void. It comes forth in the space of pure conscious­

ness. Hence to allow it to come forth we must first make ourselves empty and clear. Only the non-attachment of Kali enables us to enjoy life and find our fulfillment through Kamala.

Though Kamala is beneficent in form, she may appear as Kali and remove our head if we become attached to her delights. On the other hand, if we recognize Kali and surrender our desires to the eternal reality, then Kali appears as the beautiful and beneficent Kamala, granting us all good things in the glory of God.

THE LAST OF THE TEN WISDOM GODDESSES

Kamala as the tenth and last of the Wisdom Goddesses shows the full unfoldment of the power of the Goddess into the material sphere. Kamala is the beginning and the end of our worship of the Goddess. We first approach the Divine seeking help in achieving ordinary human wishes, like health, prosperity, and a happy family. We complete our understand­

ing of the Divine by seeing its presence even in the ordinary things of human life, in the forms of nature and the Earth, discerning a Divine urge toward union hidden even in worldly desires.

LOCATION IN THE BODY

Kamala is located in the heart, specifically the Heart Chakra of the subtle body, which is the place of devotional worship. She is the image of the heart’s delight and the heart’s wish for perfect beauty and happiness.

We should visualize this perfect fulfillment as the Divine grace that naturally comes to the hearts of all beings.

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MEDITATION FORM

Kamala is golden in color, seated on a lotus, and with two of her hands she gives the gestures which grant boons and dispel fear. With her other two hands she carries lotuses, or sometimes one hand dispenses gold coins and the other carries a water pot. She is often portrayed with a lotus above her on either side and sitting with one leg hanging down. As Lakshmi she can be portrayed as being bathed by water from the trunks of elephants on each side.

The lotus is the symbol of inner unfoldment. Water is a symbol of spiritual grace, love and communion. Gold is the richness of perception and devotion. Kamala is abundance in all of its forms.

The Buddhist form of the Goddess Tara is generally portrayed in the same manner as Hindu Lakshmi, but with slightly different hand gestures.

These two Goddesses are related as ruling over beauty, fertility and love.

Tara in Hindu iconography also carries a lotus in one of her hands.

MANTRA

Kamala’s seed-syllable (bija mantra) is the same as that of Lakshmi, Shrim. Shrlm is the great mantra of beauty, abundance, splendor, devo­

tion, surrender, and refuge. Like Lakshmi it grants all the goals of life up to the highest liberation. Hence it is one of the most important, auspicious and generally useful of all bija-mantras.

The seer of her mantra is the Rishi Bhrigu, one of the great repositories of spiritual and occult knowledge, identified with the planet Venus.

Lakshmi is the daughter of Bhrigu, who is connected with the ocean and the ocean-God Varuna who is his father. Bhrigu along with Angiras, who is a form of Agni or fire, are the two main founders of the families of Vedic Rishis to whom most Hindus claim their descent. Bhrigu relates to Vishnu, while Angiras is Shiva. The Kamala Yantra or Lakshmi Yantra can be used along with the mantra for Kamala.

MEDITATION APPROACHES

One gives reverence to Kamala by recognizing the Divine beauty manifest in the world of nature. To do this one should meditate upon the rays of the Sun, not as material forces but as powers of Divine light, life and love which nourish all things and cause them to grow not only physically but with intelligence and virtue. The rays of the Sun, as shown in ancient Egyptian art and in the verses of the Rig Veda, are the hands of the Sun God (or Sun Goddess), whereby we are touched by Divine grace and enlightenment Seeing the spiritual power of the solar radiance sets in motion the process of inner unfoldment which is Kamala.

Any acknowledgment of the Divine presence in outer forms of beauty and splendor is a worship of Kamala. This may be the appreciation of art or music, a beautiful sunset, a beautiful face, or just the joy of being alive.

It also occurs when we ourselves participate in any spiritually creative work. More specifically the worship of Kamala involves putting an icon of the Goddess in our own home and doing daily worship and meditation on it

All forms of devotional worship are aspects of Kamala. Most specif- ically puja — offering flowers, scents, incense, lights, and food to an image of the Goddess — is an important way to honor Kamala. But this should be done with knowledge, recognizing that the outer form is nothing but a reflection of the Goddess power that resides within our hearts.

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