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A Series of Lessons on the Inner Teachings of the Philosophies and Religions of India1330
the higher Shakta cults have a beautiful ritual and interesting ceremonies,
inspired by poetic idealism.
But, as is the case in the Shiva worship which it accompanies, Shakta
worship has its unpleasant side. In contrast with the beautiful images and
ideas of Shakti, favored by the higher sects which dwell upon the beauty and
beneficence of Nature or Shakti—the lower sects picture Shakti in hideous
forms, representing death, disease, plague, horror and other undesirable
aspects of Nature and Nature’s Laws. And just as the higher sects picture
the Divine Feminine in Shakti, endowing her with the attributes of maternal
love, and feminine influence and affection of the highest kind, in all of its
gentleness and attractiveness—so do the lower sects picture Shakti as
representing the gross side of the female nature, partaking of licentiousness,
and lust, and fierce animal passion. Just as Woman herself may rise to the
highest heights, or sink to the lowest depths, so have the conceptions of
the Shaktas risen high, or fallen low, according to their natures. And just as
the higher sects consider the “Magic of Nature” as shown in her wonderful
transformations and phenomena; and endeavor to obtain control or mastery
of these processes and forces by studying the underlying laws, according to
their theories of physics and psychology—so do the lower sects prostitute
this study into witchcraft, or sorcery, or degraded and debasing forms of
psychic phenomena, resembling the practices of the lowest Voodooism and
Conjuration, thus giving a fit companionship to the lowest Shaiva practices.
And, so, in the case of the Shaktas, as with the Shaivas, there is the paradox
of the Very High and the Very Low.
The Sikhs.
The Sikhs, dwelling for the greater part in the Punjab, or northwestern
province of India, comprising 2,500,000 people, follow the teachings of
Nanak, who lived in the Sixteenth Century b.c., as stated in our preceding
lesson. The Sikhs regard Nanak as a minor incarnation of Divinity, and highly
revere his writings and teachings. They are intensely opposed to images or