God the Mother and God the Father

In the West it is difficult to conceive of the idea of God the Mother. In the Bible it is only the Father, Father, Father. In the East, especially in India, it is very easy to think of God the Mother. There are many, many people who have realised God by the Grace of the Supreme Goddess or, you can say, one of the forms of the Supreme Goddess. In India we have four principal goddesses: Maheshwari, Mahakali, Mahalakshmi and Mahasaraswati. All of these four goddesses are the emanations of the Supreme Goddess and, at the same time, these goddesses embody the highest absolute Truth.

On the one hand, just as the soul is neither masculine nor feminine, neither is God masculine nor feminine. Masculine and feminine are always here on earth, in the mind. At the highest level there is only Brahman. Brahman is neither masculine nor feminine; it is neuter.

Again, a seeker can see God and speak to God the way he wants to. If he cares for the qualities of the Mother, if he has more fondness for his mother than for his father, then he will approach God the Mother. But if he cares more for the father's qualities, then he will approach God the Father. But Mother and Father are always one.

When we approach God the Mother it is like the human mother. The human mother always feels her son is a child even if he is sixty years old. This man who is sixty years old is for her still just a baby. Always the mother will show overwhelming affection, love, concern, compassion. The mother will try to give the child everything all at once. The father also has boundless love, concern, blessings, but he is different. The father is more practical; he will not spoil the child. The father feels the child may squander the money. When the child is more mature, more advanced, then at that time he will give the money. But the mother feels, "No, just because he is my child, let me give him all our wealth. Even if he misuses it, no harm: we have plenty." This is the mother's way.

It is always easier and faster if one can approach God the Mother. When the child cries, immediately the mother comes. But the realisation is the same whether one approaches God the Mother or God the Father.