Lakshmi is the Goddess of wealth and prosperity, both material and spiritual. The word ''Lakshmi'' is derived from the Sanskrit word Laksme, meaning "goal." Lakshmi, therefore, represents the goal of life, which includes worldly as well as spiritual prosperity. In Hindu mythology, Goddess Lakshmi, also called Shri, is the divine spouse of Lord Vishnu and provides Him with wealth for the maintenance and preservation of the creation.
In Her images and pictures, Lakshmi is depicted in a female form with four arms and four hands. She wears red clothes with a golden lining and is standing on a lotus. She has golden coins and lotuses in her hands. Two elephants (some pictures show four) are shown next to the Goddess. This symbolism conveys the following spiritual theme:
* The four arms represent the four directions in space and thus symbolize omnipresence and omnipotence of the Goddess. The red color syinbolizes activity. The golden lining (embroidery) on Her red dress denotes prosperity. The idea conveyed here is that the Goddess is always busy distributing wealth and prosperity to the devotees. The lotus seat, which Lakshmi is standing upon, signifies that while living in this world, one should enjoy its wealth, but not become obsessed with it. Such a living is analogous to a lotus that grows in water but is not wetted by water.
* The four hands represent the four ends of human life: dharma (righteousness), kama (genuine desires), artha (wealth), and moksha (liberation from birth and death). The front hands represent the activity in the physical world and the back hands indicate the spiritual activities that lead to spiritual perfection.
* Since the right side of the body symbolizes activity, a lotus in the back right hand conveys the idea that one must perform all duties in the world in accordance with dharma. This leads to moksha (liberation), which is symbolized by a lotus in the back left hand of Lakshmi. The golden coins falling on the ground from the front left hand of Lakshmi illustrate that She provides wealth and prosperity to Her devotees. Her front right hand is shown bestowing blessings upon the devotees.
* The two elephants standing next to the Goddess symbolize the name and fame associated with worldly wealth. The idea conveyed here is that a true devotee should not earn wealth merely to acquire name and fame or only to satisfy his own material desires, but should share it with others in order to bring happiness to others in addition to himself.
* Some pictures show four elephants spraying water from golden vessels onto Goddess Lakshmi. The four elephants represent the four ends of human life as discussed above. The spraying of water denotes activity. The golden vessels denote wisdom and purity. The four elephants spraying water from the golden vessels on the Goddess illustrate the theme that continuous self-effort, in accordance with one's dharma and govemed by wisdom and purity, leads to both material and spiritual prosperity.
Goddess Lakshmi is regularly worshipped in home shrines and temples by Her devotees. A special worship is offered to Her annually on the auspicious day of Diwali, with religious rituals and colorful ceremonies specifically devoted to Her.
- Bansi Pandit
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"'Shree Yantra' - Shree meaning wealth and Yantra - Meaning 'Instrument' -
"Look into the center of the Yantra, trying to blink as rarely as possible; you don't want to look at the particular details of the Yantra, just keep your sight right in the center and observe the whole Yantra at once.
"In time, after at least seven days of Yantra meditation you will be able to tap into the same yantric energy even without a Yantra (at the beginning you may fix your sight on an exterior or imaginary point or evoke the Yantra with your eyes closed).
"In superior phases the Yantra absorbs the practitioner's complete attention, and he can no longer tell if the Yantra is within himself or if he is within the Yantra; this is the state of non-duality."[/COLOR]
Om Shreem Hreem Shreem Kamale Kamalaleyi
Praseed Praseed
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Om Shreem Hreem Shreem Mahalaxmiyei
Namaha
(Various ways ways to spell the Sanskrit transliteration)
My very rough translation:
Underlying Vibration of all creation, abundance please, cherishing your lotus feet, be pleased Great Laxmi Goddess, I bow to You.
The audio is by Shri Anandi Ma and Dileepji from the CD "Mantras For Abundance" published by Sounds True.
The audio is available at Shri Anandi Ma's group's website www.dyc.org, or directly from Sounds True at www.soundstrue.com (Thanks to purna24 for info)
27 Repetitions (Repeat 4 times for 108 rounds = 1 mala = 40 minutes)
*Morning is the best time to chant, especially after bathing. But in the evening before dinner, or 3 hours after dinner is ok too.
**Once you learn it by heart, just practice on a mala, especially a lotus seed one, and it will take around 30+/- minutes to do 1 mala a day.
*If you recite this mantra daily 108 times financial worries, trouble will go away.
**Daily worship of this mantra helps in attaining Siddhi. *Siddhi is typically defined as "a magical or spiritual power for the control of self, others and the forces of nature."
"Also to solve your financial worries, experience its wonder within 90 days. Proved to be very effective. Bestows you with lot of money and wealth from unexpected source. [Especially when using with either the Shree or Lakshmi/Laxmi Yantra
http://hinduism.about.com/library/weekly/aa021103d.htm
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