The Universal* Way
THE ORIGINAL TRADITION
(Also: "Initiation into Your Maitreya Mind")
* Used to be called "The Integral Way"


The Universal Way

 

Taking Refuge
in
The "Great Mother"
(THE UNITIVE LIFE)

STEP 6

The claim of patriarchy appears to be false.
The Ultimate Reality isn’t God, Father or Buddha,
but the Womb, the Great Mother, the Vacuum,
the Inconceivable Abyss of the universe

1. The greatest shift of all is taking refuge in the Great Mother. She - Emptiness beyond Emptiness - is including the dynamic aspect of life: the eternal process of death and rebirth. This Law of the Universe is ruling everything and everybody without exception. Even the Divine is governed by Her, in a sense that it, like everything else in the universe is continuously born and dying in the Cosmic Womb. Because death and rebirth happen in the selfsame Eternal Moment (...) the "result" is the Absolute, the Unchanging. The Light has a counterpart: the Great Death. The former is the "creative" aspect of the Mother, while the latter is the "destructive" part. Both are aspects of the Matrix. Through the "descent" of the Sermes - the messenger of the Great Mother - in the HereNow a new teaching has emerged. The Mother (Vacuum, Matrix) is the Ultimate Reality giving birth to the Divine. Hence, we should neither take refuge in the messengers (Buddha, Jesus or anybody else) but exclusively in the One Who has sent them. Taking refuge in the Great Mother means accepting birth and death/rebirth as inevitable parts of life. This is especially relevant in a time, in which things are deteriorating. We are rapidly moving toward the death pole of existence. Emptiness doesn't tolerate selfcenteredness, greed and accumulation. It is a sin against the Law of the Universe. Hence "everything" will be broken down, sooner or later confronting us with Nothingness. Existential fear seems to be unavoidable. Only by knowing that Cosmic Emptiness in fact is equal to the Great Mother - the One Who is turning death into rebirth - our fear may become transformed into trust. Once accepted, many things may become clear to us. It is only through continuous dying to the old that we can become reborn. We should therefore strive for a new balance. Being limitless compassion the Mother is taking care of everything. Her revival comes at the right time. By dying (to the old) before you die, you will be saved. Thanks to Her new hope is given to the world.

Our greatest fear: that of Nothingness. Yet only Nothingness
(The Great Mother) can save us

2. The Great Mother is the Womb of Buddhahood, the Ultimate Reality. She cannot be "attained" or "realized", only revered, adored or surrendered to. Giving up your ego "in exchange of a greater one" (Enlightenment), is not so difficult. Who wouldn't like to attain after all? Surrendering to Her nothing can be gained though. Hence, She is the only one who truly mirrors us, e.g. destroys our hidden ambitions, egocenteredness and (spiritual) greed. She is the ultimate confrontation, the final Truth.

Enlightened Ones also need redemption

3. Are we - just like 2000 years ago - at the eve of a worldwide spiritual-religious turning point? Many who have read „The Lap of the universe" think so. Others are hoping it dearly. This book is the witness of a new era. The Unchanging exists, but appears not to be the Ultimate Reality. Both Eternal Light (eventually being the Great Transparency) and Darkness have their home in the The Depth of the Beyond though, the Non-Dual, the Vacuum, the Womb, the Lap of the universe. Hence, the beginning of the universe isn’t „male" but „female" - in Reality of course neither of the two - it is (can be named) the "Great Mother". Therefore, „God", Being, Light is not the Father, but the Son, as is Buddhahood. The world isn't a creation, but a birth. The Light is born in the bottomless Abyss of The Mother. Everything, including Buddha is born out of Her, while returning in the same Eternal Moment. The purpose of life is therefore to conform to the Law of the Mother: to continuously die and being reborn, while the suffering of mankind is ignoring it.

*) See chapter Realization "The Cycle Completed"

Our mantra: "Womb of God"

Death and Rebirth

The Law of Creation, Preservation and Destruction

4. Death is a permanent companion of life. They are two sides of the same coin. Every day we come closer to our physical death. Besides death is inherent to life itself. In nature we can see the cycle of birth, life and death renewing itself uninterruptedly. The miracle is, that the ancient Hindu (and later Hellenistic) philosophy of creation, preservation and destruction can actually be found in our bodies. Without us realizing it 25% of all our cells are in a process of dying, 50% are stable, while 25% are in a process of renewal 1). The Ultimate Source of this is the Great Mother. In Her Abyss all levels of existence continuously die while being reborn.
1) Menstruation is a very clear example of this. 

The highest realization: Nothing can be attained

5. Watching the mind you see thoughts, emotions and desires - the content of the spirit - arising, being there for a time while disappearing (shortly) after. Every evening the ego disintegrates in the darkness of the night, the Mother's womb. Spiritual quest is continuously dying to the old. By expanding awareness the smaller self is disappearing into a greater entity. The witness disappears into the true Self, the True Self into satori, satori into full Enlightenment. Every true renewal therefore includes the death of the previous. Hence, the Great Mother - think of Kali-Ma, the Mother goddess of India - both destroys and gives birth. A personal account of the Great Death, the experience of unprotected exposure to cosmic destruction - as I was able to give - is extremely rare to find though.

Light and Darkness are both aspects of the Great Mother;
they are reflecting creation and destruction

6. „Dying" appears to be the condition for renewal. Our own body cells tell a clear story. A dying cell secretes a substance called "necro-hormone", which stimulates the formation of new cells. If the cell is (artificially) kept alive, the necro-hormone will not be secreted, thus preventing the birth of new ones. It gives a totally new perspective to dying. You start realizing that "dying" is a necessary thing, aimed at breaking down of old, sick, degenerating, accumulating substance, in favor of new life. The more thoroughly this happens the more powerful your regeneration. Breathing is continuously dying (breathing out) and being reborn (breathing in) as well. The conclusion is, that dying is there all the time, on all levels. The art is how to cooperate with it. In this respect the damage Christianity has inflicted on our culture - "Christ died for us", so we don't need to anymore - becomes even more revealing. It has deprived us of our innermost core: the power of regeneration. Separating us from nature's cycle of birth, life, death and rebirth was patriarchy's ultimate revenge over the Great Mother. 

The fear of death e.g. the inability to die are pushing mankind further into progress, growth, expansion and exploitation. To die and being reborn on the other hand is restoring balance, moderation and the center

Trusting the Mother
Praising Her

7. Optimal life is to surrender to the "Great Mother" and "Her Vow" represented by the Law of Universe, in which everything dies and is being reborn. Rather than trying to attain liberation e.g. eternal life (both based on fear of death...), you accept life and death equally. She is the all-inclusive One, the Womb, embracing, loving everything and everybody without exception. While giving your life "in Her motherly care", everything old, sick and dying - bodily cells, thoughts, emotions, identifications and obsessions - is constantly cleaned up, while simultaneously giving space to the new. Trusting your Origin, your Homeland, the Mother by reuniting with Her is the ultimate healing process. You constantly give yourself, your problems, anxieties, conflicts, worries back to Her. They disappear in Her Void, the Latter bringing forth original freshness in the selfsame Moment. Therefore, by surrendering to Her "limitless compassion", your awareness, renewal and regeneration will be optimal. By consciously leaving everything to Her - remembering Her, Her Vow and Her work in you - you become utterly relaxed, with the gate to your deeper Self wide open. She is doing the work for you, after all. Hence, having faith in the Mother is the effortless Path. You take life as it is. Carefree living in the Present is the Mother's greatest gift, an unbelievable joy. Hence, your devotion is limitless, continuously praising Her.

The founders of patriarchal religions all denied their descent of the Great Mother. F.i. the Buddha neutralized Her by calling Her "Nirvana"; Jesus simply renamed Her by calling Her "Father". Mohammed erased all memory of the time of the Goddess. The purpose was to give their own actions absolute authority. It has been enough though. We have come to restore the unity with the True Origin: "Buddha" and "God" being born out of The Primordial Mother

8. There is a superior way of "contacting" the Great Mother. It is called the "inner prayer". The crucial moments in this kind of prayer are the following. They appear to be threefold. You are tuning in to the Mother, your own heart and the words you are going to say. The first includes the sense of intuitively feeling Her Omni-Presence e.g. you feel yourself sitting surrounded by Her Cosmic Womb. Secondly,  you open your heart to Her. That means that your awareness stays centered. You have to combine two things in this stage: While feeling your heart region you simultaneously are aware of the Vacuum around you. (PS. It often helps, if you also feel body-contact with the ground or the chair). Then the third factor is introduced, namely opening your heart to the Mother, by uttering words. The crucial thing here is the quality of your devotion. The more you unconditionally surrender to Her - while simultaneously remaining the inner observer - the easier contact will be established. Equally decisive is the way you pray to Her. Mechanical praying will not of any use. On the contrary, only words coming directly out of your heart, will do. Words that are directly related to your inner being, your emotional state and the situation you are in. If you open yourself up to your deepest longings, in a totally open, genuine, honest and vulnerable way, the Mother will surely hear your prayer e.g. request*.

* Summarizing: Inner prayer is to be simultaneously in tune with a sense of the Cosmic Womb around you; your centeredness in your own heart and the words you are uttering.  

9. With regard to "Self-realization" the "process" is turning upside down. "Normally" the ego is the departure, projecting its desire for liberation into the "ideal" of Enlightenment. You try to escape from your (miserable) actual situation. This is the common self-centered way. It is taking place in the realm of having, rather than being. Hence, ambition to be the driving force behind your spiritual quest. One of the big "disadvantages" is the egoistic attitude behind it. Even in case of attainment, this underlying mechanism will not disappear. Sooner or later it will come to the surface again. The possibility of ego-inflation ("I am enlightened") is tower-high. Lucky are those, whose quest is not fuelled by ego-ambition, but by an authentic longing for the Ultimate. It is corresponding to Reality, in which the Ultimate - the Vacuum, the Cosmic Womb - is continuously pulling everything into Her Realm. Giving in to that call is the true religious attitude. The miracle is this: Surrendering to Her identifies you with the Source of ego-death e.g. the rebirth of the True Self. Her Emptiness is the cauldron of regeneration in which the uninterrupted birth of Being is taking place. Hence, by sacrificing your ego to Her, you may become united with the Divine, the Light body of the Mother. This time It doesn't come as an attainment (effort), but as a birth, a gift from Her Womb. Ego-death and Enlightenment thus being two sides of the same coin! Needless to say, that the attitudes behind the ways described here - although "striving for the same thing" - are totally different. Actually they are opposing each other.

Crucial in your devotion is remembering the Womb as the Ultimate Reality, Her Vow of uninterrupted regeneration, having total trust in Her, enjoying a carefree life of total surrender and joy, continuously praising, celebrating the "Mother"

10. Remembering the Vow your self-centeredness dissolves, leaving behind a clear awareness of everything interconnected. Your alienation is replaced by being part of the Whole. Her Lap is weaving the fabric of life in which everything is interrelated. As a consequence female values will receive the place that they deserve: in the center. Individuation (C.G.Jung) as dominant philosophy has to be extended to „to be your Self connected", in which freedom, Self-realization, commitment and community are of equal merit. Whereas the purpose of life of the (reborn) man is chivalry and service to the Whole. "Mother" worship will spread unchecked around the world. It is open to everyone, regardless of „race", gender, religion or culture. Patriarchy on the other hand as caricature of male values, is at its end. The coming period of time will be an unstable one, in which life-threatening accumulations and structures will be broken down. Our culture inevitably is in the stage of dying. It is due to the goodness of the "Great Mother", that all ugly, sick, old and evil is taken back. The more thorough this is going to happen, the more exuberant the rebirth will be. It is Her invitation to cooperate with Her.

I speak on Her behalf

11. The Mother as the "creator" of the world - birth out of Absolute Emptiness - is the Original Myth of mankind. Despite patriarchal religion it can still be recognized everywhere. Lao Tze for instance says: "the valley spirit (Tao) never dies; it is the woman, Primal Mother; Her gateway is the root of heaven and earth; it is like a veil barely seen; use it: it will never fail". In Buddhism Nirvana used to have a female connotation as well. In the so-called "people's" pao-chüan literature - to be distinguished from the official monastic scriptures - it is said that the Eternal Mother has sent to earth ninety-six myriads of Her children. Though they were originally "Buddha's and immortals", once on earth they forgot their true home in paradise and became attached to fame, profit, and sensual pleasures. Trapped by their desires, they were (are) immersed in samsara, the sea of suffering. The Mother, grieved by this, sends down messenger deities to remind Her lost children of their true nature and the way home1). The Hindu idea of the unity of destruction, preservation and creation may go back to the Original Mother as well. Her substitute is the goddess Kali. But even in Christianity the memory was not completely wiped out. In their daily prayers people praise the "Mother of God". This should be taken literally (what Catholics themselves don't), because it reflects Reality as it is. She is the Inconceivable Depth out of Which the Godbirth takes place. All religions appear to be sons of the selfsame Great Mother*. Taking the increasing awareness of women about their common heritage (and not only of women) into consideration, we could very well be at the eve of a great comeback of the Mother.

1). A.Sponberg & H.Hardacre "Maitreya, the future Buddha", 1988 Cambridge University Press.
*) See "Mother & Sons
.

Universal Mother Council

12. Through the Mother - Unity in diversity - all religions are of one family. Hence, all those who take refuge in the Great Mother, regardless their specific backgrounds, be it Buddhist, Taoist, Christian, Hindu, Jewish, Islam or any other group or sect, may join the Universal Mother Council

"I take refuge in the Mother, Heaven and earth"

PS. This page can be opened seperately and as Step 6 of the Integral Way

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 © 2000 Copyright Han Marie Stiekema
Last revising: 12/28/10