When a man honours his father and mother, God says, “I regard it as though I had dwelt among them and they had honoured me."
Those who are ignorant of the supreme purpose of life will never be able to attain nirvana (liberation) in spite of their observance of the vratas (vows) and niyamas (rules) of religious conduct and practice of shila (celibacy) and tapas (penance).
The symbolism of the Goddess is not a parallel structure to the symbolism of God the Father. The Goddess does not rule the world. She is the world, manifest in each of us, she can be known internally by every individual, in all her magnificent diversity.
Quietly they moved down the calm and sacred river that had come down to earth so that its waters might flow over the ashes of those long dead, and that would continue to flow long after the human race had, through hatred and knowledge, burned itself out.
