We are a spiritual group aspiring to study and live the universal teachings of the Vedanta philosophy of India which teaches: "Truth is One; sages call it by many names." That Truth ultimately has no name or form and cannot be claimed by any one religion or philosophy.
However, again and again over many millennia all over the globe, people have been inspired to visualize that great Truth manifesting as the Mother of the Universe. Why? The ideal mother is the first exemplar of love, wisdom, sharing, caring, strength, sacrifice, forgiveness, spiritual presence, all in the service of her children and the people of her extended family. Many times it has been said that the ideal mother is closest to God himself. In fact, she IS the Motherhood of God. The English word God came from the original German word Guth which was NOT masculine, rather it referred to She-He-It—The Good, The Totality, Partnership, Synergy, Yoga, Unity—of all Existence. Many scholars of prehistory are now finding that this "unity and partnership of life" idea was very much a part of Neolithic farming communities around the world (see Riane Eisler's The Chalice and the Blade). And the Goddess was the unifier at the center.
Who is this "Mother of the Universe?" She is a bearer of light as well as the darkness which envelops, protects and hides the minutest life forms. Thus, she is often expressed as "Twin Goddesses" of darkness and light, mother and maid (daughter). Out of the darkness came great light. She also knows the place where light and darkness merge into a great peace. "Peace" is one of her names and attributes. On the other hand, sometimes she is called "Energy," "Fury" or "Death," but her name is also "Justice." Sometimes "play" or even "error" come from her cosmic hand. Her subtlest presence is indestructible and ever supportive. She was the origin of the concepts of after-life, rebirth, and resurrection. It was she who watched over and facilitated all birth, growth, death and regeneration. Thousands of her names and attributes are to be found from ancient times from around the globe, and can still be found in modern India today.
Ma, mama, ama and variations thereof are found in words related to "mother" in most languages all over the world. This is not just an accident, but rather, an indication of a very ancient common language and world view which spread to the four corners of the earth. Mama in ancient Babylonian meant, "She who responds to cries," and she was midwife of the gods. Ma in Sanskrit means "a cry to the mother (for various reasons)" and "to measure or measure out." She is the one who measures cycles and seasons, and she is the one who measures out to her children and teaches them to share and be fair. Ancient Maat of Egypt weighed the heart of each deceased person against her feather of Truth.
Does this mean anything practical to us in this modern age? In the three beautiful pictures at the top of our website we find the answer. In the center is Sri Sarada Devi (the Holy Mother) of India, 1853-1920. Her last words before her death were, "If you want peace my child, do not look into the faults of others. Rather, face your own faults. Learn to make the whole world your own. No one is a stranger" (Teachings of Sri Sarada Devi, pp. viii, 97). She literally treated people of all nationalities, castes, religions and economic strata, as her very own child. Sri Ramakrishna, the Great Master, was her husband and attracted all sorts of people to his extraordinary spiritual presence, so she had ample opportunity to practice this ideal. After his death she continued to be an incomparable spiritual center and support for 34 more years. She was a living exemplar of "One who responds to cries" (and she even took on a midwife role at times). In Bengal, India, her home state, mothers are most highly regarded and are often addressed as Ma, as are little girls, Holy Women, the Hindu goddesses and Sarada Devi herself. Holy Mother adapted to a very difficult time for women in India, and often lived in purdah (entirely covered by cloth from head to foot in a Muslim fashion), yet rose to the status of the greatest of teachers (see the biography Sri Sarada Devi by Swami Nikhilananda, www.vedanta.com). The whole world is in agony for peace at the present time—it is only by emulating her vision, universality, steadfastness, practicality and great spiritual insight that peace will come. Two independent monastic orders have grown around Sri Ramakrisha and Sri Sarada Devi, which strive to emulate and spread their great universal spirit and service to others.
The right hand picture at the top of our website shows a statue of the ancient Greek goddess Demeter or Damateer (ancient Doric dialect) as she can be seen at the Vatican in Rome. Damateer and her daughter Persephone or Kore are Twin Goddesses (mother-maid) who evolved out of the prehistoric stone age (early Neolithic, late Paleolithic) of Europe and the Levant (countries on the eastern end of the Mediterranean Sea). Korn in German means "grain." The Twin Goddess concept was found in many ancient places including Egypt, Babylon, N. Europe and India. It has been suggested that some of these locations may be one of several "cradles of civilization." Damateer is the older, earth goddess who is said to have laid the foundations of civilization by teaching humans about the cycles of nature, by giving the plow and other farming techniques, by teaching people to observe and weigh, think and act with equity and wisdom. Her name contains the roots mateer or meter which mean "measure"—the beginnings of Europe's metric system. Damateer was the center of the ancient Eleusinian Mysteries which were more popular at times that the ancient Olympics and which were open to all without distinction.
The left hand picture at the top of our website shows the Statue of Liberty, as she stands in New York Harbor, U.S.A. She was a gift from France, is a "daughter" so to speak, of the ancient European sun goddesses of light, nourishment, growth and is related to the ancient Twin Goddess concept. The prehistoric Germanic goddess Hel appears to be such a sun goddess—hel in modern German means "luminous, intelligent, holy." Holle was her dark mother of the earth-underworld. The Statue of Liberty has a sun-crown on her head consisting of seven rays representing the seven continents and seas. In ancient times it was thought there were seven planets and levels of existence as well as seven chakras of energy in the body. The seven-pointed sun has become the logo of the Institute of LUV. In one hand Ms. Liberty holds a flaming torch and in the other a book. She is a symbol of freedom, vision, liberty, wisdom, compassion, fairness, light and has welcomed many "children" from all over the world to her shores. Excerpt from poem about the Statue of Liberty by Emma Lazarus, 1883:
Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore—
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me.
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!
