Maha Kali - the great tantric goddess

Tantra is a science, philosophy and art combined in a beautiful complex methodology giving the practioner the necessary theory and exercises to take the steps to a higher understanding of himself and the universe, ultimately leading to an opening of the soul and a fusion with the divine.

In tantra we explore the energies of the universe to thereby understand the essence behind these energies. These energies are embodied in the wide range of deities present in the Tantric universe, the 10 main ones being the Maha Vidya who represent 10 fundamental, archetypical energies in the universe (poetically called the 10 faces of God).

Each Goddess has her cosmic function in the universal harmony, and meditating upon her leads to a realization of the mysterious nature of God from a certain perspective, awakening different specific aspects in the practitioner who then starts to manifest her qualities in all areas of his/her life.

The first Goddess is the terrible Maha Kali.
She is the initiator of the spiritual path. She is the goddess that takes us out of our predefined ego patterns so that we are able to take the first steps of transformation. Leaving these patterns is not always a comfortable undertaking so for those who do not yet know Maha Kali, her energy seems dark and terrifying.
For this reason she is portrayed with black skin, 4 arms, wide open glaring eyes, a necklace consisting of severed heads and dances on the graves in the cemetery her tongue lolling wildly out of her big wide open mouth, laughing at the attachments of us mortal humans.

Maha Kali often takes from us the objects to which we are most attached, but there is always a meaning to it. We are happier when we let go of our attachments which can enchain us in negative thought patterns and actions.

Maha Kali stands for the energies of time, transformation and death. Time is a merciless energy and gives the framework in which all transformation takes place in the universe. With time order turns to chaos, life turns to death, death turns to new life, and chaos to new order.
In every moment of manifestation something is dying, giving place for something new in a continuous transformation.

We humans fear death. It is a moment which for certain lies ahead, but which we do not understand. To truly live we have to understand death and to transcend it.

Maha Kali gives us the courage to dare to do things we have always dreamed of but never dared to do.
Maha Kali kills within us the ephemeral, so we get in touch with the universal.
Maha Kali gives us the strength to take that first step into the unknown where the ground seems to tremble and disappear beneath our feet.

When the two poles of life and dead are intuitively understood through the worship of Kali, a new level of consciousness is born in the worshipper.

According to the spiritual tradition of Tantra, our spiritual evolution starts with a profound awakening of our potential energy, in tantra called Kundalini, stored at the base of our spines. This energy is correlated with our sexual energy. True transformation starts when we awaken this energy and channel it to higher centers of consciousness in our being.
This potential energy of Kundalini is symbolized by a snake which lies coiled up sleeping at the base of our spine and which symbolically starts dancing up our spine when awakened.

We are drawn to the mysterious. Maha Kali is like a sensual woman luring us, teasing us, daring us to awaken our kundalini, to break out of the box created by our daily routine and to fully awaken our latent potential.

Maha Kali is powerful as a fully vital and sensual woman, who has the ability of fully enjoying life, her energy and knows the power of love. The egoistic mind, which is stiff and afraid, fears such a female expansive energy, which explains why we have seen womanhood and femininity being repressed through centuries, due to the fear of her sensual, erotic power, which is in fact representing the life energy itself, and thus fearing the fully awakened woman, in tantra referred to as Shakti, we are fearing life itself.

Somebody who starts a serious study or worship of Maha Kali will discover how Kali starts taking away from him what he really does not need. He might lose his job or his house, but Maha Kali knows that this is what is needed to jolt him out of his sleepy life. A person not worshipping Kali might be terrified by these aspects but a person who knows the ways of Maha Kali would smile inside and thank the Goddess for giving him the chance to wake up and move on.

Maha Kali is often spoken of as the Great Mother. She will terrify us but she will also pick us up afterwards and caress us softly and if we are open to her we will understand the grace that she gives to us.
Without this power of Maha Kali we could not move out of our confinements of our self imposed box and truly transform. She is purely beneficial in all her aspects, the terror relates only to the fear of life we have inside ourselves and all our egoistic tendencies.

Death is an important moment in life. The monks of the Tibetan tradition use a large part of their lives for a spiritual practice, which is preparing for this great moment of transition in the very end of our lives. "Die before you die", or "Memento Mori" (remember death) are old profound sayings that have a deep meaning. We cannot truly taste life before we accept and embrace the fact of death as a part of life. Every little moment contains a death, a destruction, for events to be able to unfold through the energy of time.

After having gone through a death, the adept is now in the heart of Kali. He has faced his worst fears and his ego has died, but he is resurrected and still alive but now with a newer and higher understanding. After facing his death a mystical feeling awakens in his heart. Life and death are two sides of the same coin and a sense of the eternal now dwells in his heart. He is one with the divine mother, and the energy of time is on his side. He perceives everything in the world with love and acceptance, and is no longer longing for the past or fearing the future. He is simply here and now, deeply connected to his spirit that resides in the heart.

To live in the heart of Kali is to be aware of every breath you take, is to be aware of every heart beat and to be aware that each moment in life is a death and new rebirth. Life has become a divine mystery and God has revealed his face to the adept.