The Internet as Devi’s Temple: Technology, Initiation, and a World Without Walls

 

(from "The Goddess and the Guru"): 

Guruji saw this explosion of new data and multipolar participation as the Goddess’s own intent—her way of fulfilling the promise of an ever-smaller, more interconnected world.

“I believe in the power of nature as a loving goddess,” he said. “I have seen her physically manifest, and she has been my mentor through decades of meditations. She made me build a temple for love, for Rati, at Kamakhya, in the form of her creative center, the yoni, and another unique temple in the form of her bosom, called Sri Meru, for the protection and the nourishment of humanity. Now she is asking me to build an international temple on the Internet, not confined by walls. She made me create graphic learning modules for connecting to her. She made me use technology as a means of initiation or immersion, and to accelerate the learning curve. Her purpose is to promote a better quality of life for all.”

In an age of cell phones, tablets and cloud technology, he added, the Internet has emerged as a powerful teaching tool for even graduate-level coursework—and as the medium of choice for the young. “If we don’t adapt our methods of teaching to the current generation’s way of thinking and doing things, then it’s natural for them not to have any interest,” he explained. “We need to find more meaningful ways of involving them, using their ways of doing things.”

Online teaching is not only a convenient resource, he said; it is also an eminently effective one for teaching Sri Vidya. “The power of mantras travels through the voice; it can be transmitted as an audio file,” he said. “That allows the learning to happen at a place and time of your choice—even while driving to work—at whatever speed is comfortable for you. Love can and should transcend boundaries of country, color and creed. I ask you: If organizations can deliver threats to nations through videos, why can’t we use them to deliver care and love?”