LEARNING. If you are embarking on a course of study or creativity and would like to channel some inspiration, call on the Goddess of Learning — Saraswati. She is connected to higher forms of learning: drawing from the ancient sources of knowledge, and teaching and transmitting those teachings through the arts.
SARASWATI MANTRA
AIM
Pronounced like "I'm"
Saraswati is the highest form of creative energy. She represents purity and sattva — the pure quality. She delivers the pure teachings from the scriptures from the celestial plane, and any form of study can be augmented by her propitiation.
The word Saraswati means she who has flow, speech, who in her essence is herself. She was born of Brahma the creator and became his consort after creating the beauty of the Universe through her wisdom. She is the first of the trinity of deities for birth, life, and death, representing the creative forces. Seen as communing with the gods and the highest teachings, she is absorbed with her articles of learning: her four arms share the knowledge of the four books of the Vedas; she holds mala beads for japa mantra practice; she plays the veena, the musical instrument through which she chants the divine names; she carries a water pot — the water symbolizing the power to wash away impurity — and holds a pen and paper for writing. She rides a white swan or is seated beside a peacock, dressed in the simplest white cloth. She is less associated with material adornment or practical knowledge and more wholly concerned with the spiritual teachings.
The white of her clothing is itself a symbol of purity and truth. The swan is a bird said to be able to separate the pure from the impure through its digestive powers — showing us the capacity of the discerning mind to decipher truth. Saraswati is an independent form, rarely seen with Lord Brahma, without children, communing instead with the highest aspect of herself. She flows through your body and ends at the tip of your tongue. The Saraswati River in India — now dry — is said to be the river of the Goddess herself.
When you feel you need to get out of your own way and let the creative forces flow through you, it is Saraswati Ma you are calling for. Self study, study of the scriptures, and focus on higher learning will open these channels, as will creative practices — music, writing, dance, art, and the spiritual practice of meditation. Both learning and teaching are practices she presides over.
This is not the art born of sweat and guts, but the art born of transmission — divinely inspired, bliss-filled moments when the channel opens and truth flows through. In those moments, Saraswati has revealed herself. Her energy resides in the face. As you recite AIM you can place one hand on your face and gaze at the center of the Saraswati Yantra to bring this energy to life within you.
LEARNING. If you are embarking on a course of study or creativity and would like to channel some inspiration, call on the Goddess of Learning — Saraswati. She is connected to higher forms of learning: drawing from the ancient sources of knowledge, and teaching and transmitting those teachings through the arts.
SARASWATI MANTRA
AIM
Pronounced like "I'm"
Saraswati is the highest form of creative energy. She represents purity and sattva — the pure quality. She delivers the pure teachings from the scriptures from the celestial plane, and any form of study can be augmented by her propitiation.
The word Saraswati means she who has flow, speech, who in her essence is herself. She was born of Brahma the creator and became his consort after creating the beauty of the Universe through her wisdom. She is the first of the trinity of deities for birth, life, and death, representing the creative forces. Seen as communing with the gods and the highest teachings, she is absorbed with her articles of learning: her four arms share the knowledge of the four books of the Vedas; she holds mala beads for japa mantra practice; she plays the veena, the musical instrument through which she chants the divine names; she carries a water pot — the water symbolizing the power to wash away impurity — and holds a pen and paper for writing. She rides a white swan or is seated beside a peacock, dressed in the simplest white cloth. She is less associated with material adornment or practical knowledge and more wholly concerned with the spiritual teachings.
The white of her clothing is itself a symbol of purity and truth. The swan is a bird said to be able to separate the pure from the impure through its digestive powers — showing us the capacity of the discerning mind to decipher truth. Saraswati is an independent form, rarely seen with Lord Brahma, without children, communing instead with the highest aspect of herself. She flows through your body and ends at the tip of your tongue. The Saraswati River in India — now dry — is said to be the river of the Goddess herself.
When you feel you need to get out of your own way and let the creative forces flow through you, it is Saraswati Ma you are calling for. Self study, study of the scriptures, and focus on higher learning will open these channels, as will creative practices — music, writing, dance, art, and the spiritual practice of meditation. Both learning and teaching are practices she presides over.
This is not the art born of sweat and guts, but the art born of transmission — divinely inspired, bliss-filled moments when the channel opens and truth flows through. In those moments, Saraswati has revealed herself. Her energy resides in the face. As you recite AIM you can place one hand on your face and gaze at the center of the Saraswati Yantra to bring this energy to life within you.
