Maya, in Her potential aspect, is the divine power of the Lord. She has no beginning. She is composed of the three universal qualities (gunas), subtle, beyond perception. It is from the effects She produces that Her existence is inferred by the wise. It is She who gives birth to the whole universe. - Adi Shankara, The Crest Jewel of Discrimination Translated by Swami Prabhavananda & Christopher IsherwoodExperience the divinely intoxicating love of the Goddess. Explore the book Soft Moon Shining.
When the Supreme Being is thought of as actionless - neither creating, sustaining nor destroying - I call Him by the name of Brahman (pure absolute formless being) or Purusha. But when I think of him as active - creating, sustaining and destroying - I call him by the name of Shakti (Divine Mother as primal energy) or Maya (the veiling power of the Divine Mother by which the One appears as many) or Prakriti (Divine Mother as primordial nature which, in association with Purusha, creates the universe).
The actionless Brahman and the active Shakti are in fact one and the same. He, who is the Absolute Existence-Intelligence-Bliss, is also the All-knowing, the All-intelligent and All-blissful Mother of the universe. A precious stone and its luminosity are one and the same, for you cannot imagine a diamond without it, and vice versa.
God the absolute (formless) and God the personal (Divine Mother; form) are one and the same. A belief in one implies a belief in the other. Fire cannot be thought of apart from its burning power; nor can its burning power be thought of apart from it. Thus God the absolute cannot be thought of apart from the idea of God with attributes (Mother). - Ramakrishna - The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna Translated by Swami Nikhilananda

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Experience the divinely intoxicating love of the Goddess. Explore the book Soft Moon Shining. |
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Learn how to love the Goddess and feel the Goddess loving you in the book Finding God's Love. |