There probably isn't one chart that could represent what all Hindus believe. My personal hierarchy would be…
Shiva, the ultimate unchanging reality
⬇️⬇️⬇️
Shiva's Shakti (power to create and/or manifest as a universe in motion and flux) Sati/Parvati and all Her different forms
⬇️⬇️⬇️...
@Aupmanyav Most of the info out there about Shaktism in Nepal focuses on the Kumari tradition.
Based on what little I know, I would say Nepalese Shaktism is more similar to the Shaktism of the Northeast of India like West Bengal, than to the Shaktism of the North. Nepalese Shaktism seems...
Thank you, that's a good suggestion. I think I'm going to get a flowering plant and use fresh flowers. It would have to be one that can bloom inside, because I have no garden or yard to plant it in. Maybe a jasmine. In between blooms, I'll think I'll just buy fresh flowers. Maybe expensive but...
thank you so much for your replies!
I'm also wondering about Shaktism in Nepal. That's another subject that little is written on. Does anyone know anything about the nature of Shaktism in Nepal? All the same questions I had in my original post apply.
Hello all,
What is Shaktism in Northwest India like? Almost all the information out there is about Shaktism in the South and East. There's one book about Shaktism in Northwest India that I know of, but I haven't been able to get a copy yet.
Some questions I have on my mind include...
Who are...
Why not advisable? Is there reason to believe a deity would prefer fresh over dried flowers, I mean.
The intent is to be able to reuse the flowers and not have to buy (or pick, but there aren't many relevant flowers around for me to pick) new flowers for every day's puja. Is that being a...
Hello all,
Is it permissible to use dried flowers for puja? Not really brown and crumbling, but pressed, so that they're preserved and still somewhat colorful? I've read that they should always be fresh but I'm not sure.
Yes, these links are very helpful!
I'm currently reading through "Shakti and Shakta" by Arthur Avalon (John Woodroffe) which is included in the first link you posted. He mentions mishra tantra but does not discuss it in great detail.
It seems like most sources focus on either Kaula tantra or...
hello everybody.
Does anyone know anything about the path of mishra tantra? I imagine it must be mainly an oral tradition because information is scarce online. All I can really find is that it focuses on the heart chakra, it combines external and internal rituals, and that it is mainly...
God is the totality of existence. He's all good things, manifest or unmanifest, limited or unlimited. Technically, since I think all things are good (it would take a while for me to explain what I mean by that), I think God is everything. Everything you can see, everything you can imagine, and...
I view my favorite deities as entirely God without being the entirety of God, which corresponds well enough with the Western, Christian notion of the differents Persons of the Trinity being fully God but not, on their own, the fullness of God. But other people may have different views that...
Hmm, I don't know if it's in Shaivism, but I have read some Shakta devotional songs that express a similar belief about remembering the Mother's name at the moment of death.
Maybe in some mysterious way, what looks like intervention by a deity does not violate the laws of karma and/or is part...
Yes it is Uma/Parvati. Both deities in the picture are Parvatis, in different positions.
The Uma you've posted here is excellent- is it yours?
Many things. More candles, framed images of the Holy Family, an image or figure of Ardhanarishvara, and a larger and more colorful Parvati murti like...