Namaskar.
Here's a story that I'd like to share that came to me before (out of all things) taking a nap.
A baby is lying in his crib and he begins to cry because he can't go to sleep. In his constant flailing of his arms, he touches his pacifier which was right next to him. After a while of using it, he spits and out and begins to cry again.
The baby now sees his bottle of milk. He picks it up and starts drinking it.Once the bottle is empty, the baby tosses it aside and is quiet for a few minutes. Then it starts to cry again.
Now, the mother comes in. She picks up the baby and starts rocking him back and forth. The baby is quiet and is enjoying his mother's company. The mother begins to breast-feed the baby. Then she puts the baby back into his crib and then leaves. The baby looks up and sees that his mother disappeared. He starts crying other for a few seconds, and then realizes where she had gone. He smiles and drifts off to sleep.
The Baby = A jiva
The crib = Sansara
Pacifier = Worldly actions that lead to worldly pleasure
Milk (from the bottle) = False knowledge
The Mother = Mother Durga
The Mother's Breast milk = Divine knowledge
Sleep = Moksha
So, to retell the story knowing these things:
A jiva begins its silent cry because it is stuck in sansara and can't achieve moksha. As its life in sansara progresses, it begings to do things that are for its own benefit and begins to indulge in worldly pleasures. After a while of doing this, it stops and says; "This is giving me no permanent happiness"
The jiva now turns to religion, thinking that this will give it permanent happiness. The jiva begins its 5 daily prayers (if it's Muslim), its 3 daily prayers (if it's Jewish), and going to church and reading its Bible and praying (if it's Christian). It may also begin chanting the Lotus Sutra and/or "Nam Myoho Renge Kyo" (if it's Buddhist). These religions also bring it no benefit, so the jiva tosses religion in general to the side and begins searching for a new way to find permanent happiness.
Mother Durga finally says to Herself; "I'll stop my illusion on this jiva and lead it to moksha, to Divine Union with Me". She takes the jiva and begins guiding it to Her. The jiva is quiet and is enjoying Mother's company. Now, Mother Durga begins to feed the baby Divine Knowledge. She stops and then "disappears". The jiva looks around, wondering "Where's Mother?". It begins its silent cry again for a few moments, and then realizes where She had gone. It smiles and drifts on towards moksha, knowing that Mother was also on that thousand-petaled Lotus inside of it, guiding it towards Her and directing all of its action.
However, note how the "baby" (the jiva) is still in the crib. This is because its life in sansara still isn't over, even though it is constantly worshiping the Divine Mother and is meditating on Her. If our only goal in life was to strive for moksha, then we would die once we achieved it. We must remember that knowledge is both freedom and prison (this is my paraphrasing of someone else's quote). It is freedom because we have obtained happiness. It's a prison because now we must guide others (with the Help of Mother Durga) to the Ultimate Goal. This is our true goal in life - to guide others to Mother after She guides us.
This leaves the nagging question unanswered; why would I want to merge into the Divine Mother when I could eternally worship Her?
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