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Everybody
Loves Lakshmi:
Here's How to Attract
Fortune into Your Life
by Rev. Laurie Sue Brockway |
Lakshmi is the Hindu Goddess of Good Fortune and Beauty.
Born of Indian heritage and worshipped daily by millions
of Hindu people in all corners of the globe, she is also
appreciated worldwide by adoring devotees and fans who
take an interfaith or Goddess-based approach to religion
and spirituality. She is a universal Goddess, and can be
called upon by anyone of any faith who chooses to take a
spiritual approach to bringing more good fortune into
his or her lives.
Lakshmi, by nature and name, means Fortune.
From a religious point of view, the Goddess herself is
considered one who guides people to Fortune and,
especially, a deity who has authority to grant and
deliver Fortune. Fortune is seen as both material and
spiritual.
Lakshmi can help you focus positive energy in the
general direction of material and spiritual wealth. Here’s
how she can assist you in having more prosperity, good
health, love, success and joy in life:
Clarify Current Reality and Make New Choices: Buy
a spiral note book that can be your special Lakshmi
book. Over a period of time, at your leisure, make three
lists:
- Things in my life that make me feel rich
- Things in my life that make me feel poor
- My financial goals
The first list is designed to help you get a
sense of the good fortune and prosperity that already
exists in your life. The second list is designed
to help you to see the things in your life that deplete
you or drag you down. It may feel like a bummer to write
them down, but it is an effective way to dredge them
from the depths of your subconscious mind so you can be
aware of what is in the way of your prosperity. The
third list is the first step to turning goals into
reality. Putting your dreams and goals on paper helps
you to organize your thoughts about what you would like
to create – and it gives Lakshmi a sense of the
direction you want to head toward. Next step is to bring
her presence more fully in your life.
Look at her image: Like any Goddess, Lakshmi
likes to be noticed and appreciated! It is a
long-standing Hindu tradition to evoke Lakshmi by
focusing on her image or icon. The Hindu culture
produces these images in huge quantities because they
love to share their deities and make them available to
all.*
Offer her a prayer. Pray to her every day for 30
days and your life will change. The "Sri Sukta"
or "Lakshmi Sukta" is considered to be
one of the most popular and "well-tested"
among Lakshmi devotees. It’s used in many forms of
worship and uttered as a blessing during the building of
Hindu temples. It is a composition of fifteen verses
that have very specific intentions and guidelines for
honoring Lakshmi. And a sixteenth verse contains the
suggested method for attaining desires. This translation
by J.L. Gupta for B.C. Butala Books embellishes
the meanings of this ancient text in parenthesis. Keep
in mind it is quite ancient. It may make more sense when
brought up to modern times--such as substituting
requests for "cows"(unless you’re a farmer)
and "heirs" with prayers for a "new
job" or a "beautiful home."
Before you begin this prayer, light a white candle or
a pink candle to Lakshmi, focus on the image of the
Goddess, and be still for a moment. Speak this prayer
out loud or in silence. If you can do it at a specific
time every day for 30 days it will help you establish a
prosperity pattern: a sanctified time you give to
honoring Lakshmi, and therefore, a time set aside to
focus on fortune!
Sri Sukta
O Jatavada! Bring Laksmi (the Goddess of Wealth) of
golden color to me, (bring her to me) who is remover of
sins, who is (resplendent) with her garlands of (lotuses
of) gold and silver, who is the source of pleasure like
the moon (for the universe) and who possesses a lot of
(wealth) gold, etc.(1)
O Jataveda! Bring me that Laksmi who will not ever
desert me and by whose grace I may get gold, cows,
horses and sons together with other descendants. (2)
I invoke Goddess Sri (Laksmi) who has the calvary
before her and the chariots (carried by horses) in the
middle, who delights the world by the resounding trumpet
of elephants (attending on her). May she be graceful to
me and reside at my place forever! (3)
I invoke Sri, the blissful goddess, who is
sweet-smiling, who lives in a hall of gold, who is full
of compassion and drenched with it from the heart (due
to the fact of being bathed by attending elephants or
having risen from the milky ocean), who is resplendent
at the seat of the lotus, is lotus-hued, and who bestows
all pleasures to her devotees.(4)
I take refuge in Sri who is the effulgent one like
the moon, who shines with the fame of herself, who is
adored by the Gods like Indra, etc. Who is benevolent in
offering gifts, who dwells in the middle of the lotus,
who protects all (her devotees). May the poverty be
removed from my end, (and for that) I invoke you, O
Goddess Laksmi.(5)
O (Laksmi) of sun-like lustre! The Tree of the name
Bilva was produced by your penance. May the fruits of
that tree remove all our ignorance, distresses and other
extrinsic things by (our) penance.(6)
O Mother Laksmi! May the Gods like Indra, Kubera
(friend of Mahadeva) come to me together with fame and
gems. (Here the fame is Sati, the daughter of Daksa, and
the gems are the friends of Kubera like Manibhadra) I am
born in this world and may you (Kubera) give me fame and
plenty for wealth.(7)
I destroy the poverty (Alakshmi) which is the cause
of hunger and thirst, which is the elder sister of
Lasksmi, and which is impure. O Goddess, please get the
paucity of wealth from my abode obliterated and all the
hurdles in the way of the acquisition of wealth be
removed.(8)
I invoke Sri, who is to be gotten by offering
fragrant flowers, who is unassailable, who has abundance
of crops and wealth and cattle, and who is supreme of
all beings. (9)
O, Laksmi! May we realise all the wishes of our
hearts and willingness, the truth of our words, the
wealth of cattle (milk, curd, etc.) and forms of food.
May Goddess bring me fame and wealth too. (10)
O Kardama! Come dwell in me. Make Sri, who is the
Universal Mother and who is adored with a garland of
lotuses, dwell in my family. (11)
(It is said that Lord Varuna produces oily
substances, i.e., beautiful things) (The beauty in
substances is known as Laksmi. She has three sons--Kardam,
Ciklita and Sruti. Here Ciklita is prayed: O Ciklita
(son of Laksmi)! Come to dwell in my house, and, not
only you but make your mother (also Mother of The
Universe), Laksmi, also live in my abode.(12)
O Lord Agni, (God of Fire)! Bring to me Laksmi, who
is very kind, who has elephants around her pouring water
on her (for her bath), who is the goal of sacrificial
rites, who is tawny-hued, who is decked with a garland
of lotuses, who is lustrous like the moon and thus
enlightening the living beings and also possessed of
plenty of wealth.(13)
O Jataveda! Bring to me Mother Laksmi, who is always
compassionate to her devotees, who punishes the wicked
ones, who is golden (exquisitely beautiful) color, who
puts on garland of gold, who is wealth (herself), and
who makes the whole world illumine like the sun. (14)
O Jataveda! Bring to me Laksmi who will never leave
me and by whose grace I may get plenty of gold,
prosperity, cows, horses, servants and other
descendants. (15)
One who aspires for the attainment of Laksmi, should
regularly, in a sanctified and determined way, offer the
cow-ghee in oblation and recite all the 15 verses of
Srisuktam. (16)
- Sri Suktam, translated by Jawaharlal Gupta,
published by B.C. Butala
© Copyright
2002 Reverend Laurie Sue Brockway All Rights Reserved.
* You can find unique Hindu
devotional paintings at www.mahakali.com.
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Getting To Know The Goddesses
Looking for more information,
inspiration and insight?
Urban Goddess
Reverend Laurie Sue will speak about Lakshmi, and
all the Hindu Goddesses, at the Urban Goddess
events on August 10, and October 13 and 27, 2002. She
joins Marianne Williamson, Debbie Ford and others as a
featured speaker at this exciting gathering and
celebration. Sign up as a member of the Delphi Circle to
receive information and find out more at www.urbangoddess.net.
A Goddess Is A Girl’s Best Friend
Did you know that almost every religion and
tradition in history has a Goddess or Spiritual Heroine
who can guide you in life? Want more information on Rev.
Laurie Sue’s new book, A Goddess Is A Girl’s
Best Friend: A Divine Guide To Finding Love, Success and
Happiness (Perigee Books, December 2002)
and her special inspirational Goddess Nights in New
York? She will be speaking about "Getting To Know
The Goddesses" of various traditions and cultures
and how to invite them in your life. Join Rev. Laurie
Sue's mailing list at GoddessLaxmi@aol.com.
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Reverend Laurie Sue
Brockway is an author, teacher and contemporary clergy
person who specializes in matters of the heart and soul. As an ordained
interfaith minister and non-denominational wedding officiant, it is her honor
to regularly marry couples in love.
Prior to becoming a minister she enjoyed a successful and colorful 20 years
in media as a widely published journalist, editor and author of several books
on relationships and romance, as well as being a noted spokesperson on those
topics. She was editor-in-chief of two national magazines and several
regional publications, and her articles have been published around the world
and in many newspapers and national magazines, such as the NY Daily News, The
Washington Post, Women's News, New Woman, Ladies' Home Journal and Child.
She evolved years of specialized reporting in the field of male-female
relationship dynamics into a more spiritual pursuit that led her to train to
be an interfaith minister, and then establish her wedding ministry along with
a number of popular relationship enhancement programs. Her wedding ministry
is based in New York.
She is also dedicated to bringing about a deeper awareness and understanding
of the Divine Feminine. As a graduate of The New Seminary in NYC, the world's
premier seminary for interfaith ministers, she was educated and trained in
the tenants, spiritual practice and worship of many faiths. She became a
specialist in the feminine aspects of God in all the world's religions.
Today, she is widely recognized as a minister, teacher and scribe
specializing in women's spirituality and The Divine Feminine from an
interfaith and all-inclusive perspective. She is on the board of directors of
World Light Fellowship, heading up their Feminine Faces of God programs, and
is Founder of Our Mother's House, a cyber ministry at www.OurMothersHouse.org.
Long devoted to helping women access the "Goddess Within," she is currently
working on two books that bring the wisdom of ancient archetypes to modern
women. Her newest book, A Goddess Is a Girl's Best
Friend, is due out from Perigee Books in December 2002.
To be placed on a mailing list for information about
A Goddess Is A Girl's Best Friend: OurMothersHouse@aol.com
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