In Praise of Adya Kali by Aditi Devi

Author:Aditi Devi
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781935387817
Publisher: SCB Distributors

When we first undertook the practice of the Song of the Hundred Names of Ādyā Kālī as a community, at this point in the sādhana I went into silent private retreat. Spiritual retreat is a time when we turn our focus from external stimulation, withdrawing from the external world so that we can come into more connection with the inner worlds, the sacred worlds, Kālī’s cosmologies, the yoniverse. We go quietly, taking time and space to dive down, through, and into the womb of her existence. Later, when we emerge, we then try to integrate this mysterious dive we have taken into the secret realms with our lives in the external, more public, realms. We bring up the treasures and pray for their manifestation as wisdom in our lives.

Retreat allows long practice sessions, study, rest, movement (yoga/dance/walk), and pleasure. Each day can include all of these elements. These are not necessarily the traditional elements of retreat (pleasure, for example, is not on any list nor in any teaching that I know of), but over the years, I have discovered that this is what works best for me, a female practitioner, to shepherd myself into the more subtle realms. While there is some structure to my days, it is not a rigid retreat schedule. This is a feminine retreat meant to support my relationship to Kālī, to these practices, and to my offerings in the world. These are the elements that support me dropping into more openness, while keeping me present for the discipline of practice.

Most people I know take retreat by going somewhere else, leaving their daily life. I don’t go anywhere for retreat; instead I withdraw into my home, my personal temple and yoni crucible. I have everything I need here already and I do not need to leave home to find space to go deeply. I stock up on food, cover the mirrors so I turn inward, soften the judgments, and find my way without the external reflections. During this retreat, my bathroom mirror had a beautiful yoni goddess maṇḍala covering it so I could remember my truest face as I brushed my teeth and used my neti pot.

At times, going on retreat at retreat centers or other locales has been useful. I even took this so far that I once lived and worked at a retreat center. Yet now, I am living in the world more fully, and it serves me more to pay attention to what is emerging right here, to more firmly ground the yoni crucible that is my personal shrine and home. It takes far less effort than traveling, and is far less expensive, far less work, and far less disruption of the practice space I’ve developed in my own home.

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