NEVER DISTINGUISH BETWEEN THE MATERIAL and the spiritual. What is true of the spiritual world is true of the material world. There is not even one percent difference. I am not only talking about physical strength but the pranic, vital strength, spiritual strength, shakti. Invoking that is called aradhana. We do aradhana to the Devi, invocation to the Goddess, so that She awakens in us, so that our evil and deficiencies can be transcended. That is what Durga does. Dur is a Sanskrit word which means remover of evil. She makes us conquer evil. She gives us victory, not domination over others but victory that will make us virtuous and strong to overcome our weaknesses. For that you pray to Mother. Great prophets like Rama worshiped Durga to get the strength to vanquish the evil demon Ravana.
      You can worship Her in whichever form you want. I am not preaching any particular religion or path. But that strength, that shakti is needed— otherwise you can’t even keep yourself awake— the strength, the vibrations that could lift you up to manhood. It is easy to live as bags of flesh and bones, but to live life as a conscious being is a form of shakti. That’s why we invoke, Her, Ya Devi Sarva Bhuteshu, Shakti Rupena Samstita . . . That Devi, that Goddess which is the form of shakti in everyone, I bow to thee, I bow to thee, I bow to thee. My body bows down to You; my mind bows down to You; my soul bows down to You. Therefore three times they say, Namastaseh, namastaseh, namastaseh, namo namaha, which means, “Nothing left for me, Mother. It’s all Yours. I surrender my body, mind and soul.” With that complete surrender, that invocation, She begins to surge. Energy begins to awaken, to pulsate and surge in you. You will feel that newness, that virtue, that nobility, that manhood, spiritual energy coming back to you because She was with you all the time. You didn’t recognize Her. You didn’t awaken Her.
 

      She washes quickly and dispels so many nooks and corners where weakness and darkness have enveloped us. A simple example is given: like a mother washes her baby. No matter how many times the baby spoils its diapers, the mother cleans it. It is the same thing with Divine Mother. When this shakti awakens through our spine and surges upward through our chakras, the plexuses, we begin to awaken. Then you will see many unknown, dark parts of your nature begin to be enlightened. We begin to know more things. Our memories come back. Our talents come back. Our accomplishments grow. New perspectives open up. Our horizon begins to expand. This all is the work of shakti.
      And then at the end you will recognize that She is One with you. She is your soul force, manifesting from you. The glow and the flame are not separate. It is the same throughout. God became all this. The flame became that glow. The flower became that perfume. It is inseparable Oneness. Shakti gives you the capacity to reach that Oneness. As you go higher and higher in evolution with the help of shakti, Divine Mother takes you by hand to go forward. She remains with you until you reach the Goal.
      This is not a question of East and West. You could put it in different wording. Even today in modern science we know that without energy, whether atomic energy or nuclear energy and other energies, nothing is possible. This is a form of Divine Mother. But from where is it coming? She is one with everybody; this recognition we have to see. That will be the culmination of Purusha and prakriti union, as they call yoga.