MatriTalks 2
DEVOTION
Questions
& Answers
with
Han Marie Stiekema Sermes
Q. Yesterday we have been talking about getting
insight into the Great Mother as the Ultimate Reality. Are there other ways of approaching
Her?
A. Yes, indeed.
Q. Are there less "abstract" ways?
A. It depends on letting go of
your own "serious", "ambitious", "adult" e.g.
"spiritual" attitude. The more your ability or willingness of becoming a child
once again, the easier you may enter "Her Womb".
Q. You mean imagining being a child seeking for
its mother?
A. Exactly, the more concrete
you will become a child, the easier you will find yourself in the arms of the Mother.
Q. Isn't this a little naive? It seems you only
make a regression back to the time of your childhood. It sounds like a therapy, rather
than a spiritual practice.
A. Has not been written:
"Unless you become like a child again, you will not enter the Kingdom of
Heaven?"
Q. Yes, sure, but you may not take such
things literally.
A. I think, you don't take it
seriously enough, otherwise you would know where I am talking about.
Q. Thus, it is not a regression?
A. It is a cosmic regression,
which doesn't exclude the emotional one. They may go together perfectly well.
Q. What do you mean by "cosmic
regression?"
A. It is consciously going back
to the Source from Which you have been originating.
Q. How does this function in practice?
A. Imagine yourself to be a
child, surrendering itself to its Cosmic Mother. Feel yourself protected, embraced and
nurtured by Her. The more you become one with the Mother, the better you are going to know
Her.
Q. It still feels foolish to me. In my opinion,
it remains some kind of visualization game, not reality at all.
A. The more foolish you dare to
be, the more you let go of every visualization. The whole affair becomes a (aware) feeling
matter. You don't imagine being a child, you become one.
Q. Isn't this much more difficult for those,
who have had a distorted relationship with their biological mother?
A. There are two types of
longing. One arises out of shortage, neglect and a painful relationship, the other one
because of affluence, the memory of love and care. It doesn't matter so much, it is the
intensity that matters.
Q. If somebody hates his or her mother?
A. If you love your mother, the
Great Mother will be an extension of that love; if you hate your mother, the Great Mother
will become the compensation for the love you have missed.
Q. How can I surrender to Something Which you
don't know e.g. will probably never know?
A. You have to remember,
that a child has unconditional and unlimited trust in its mother. Therefore, your
surrender should be accordingly. You should throw yourself in Her arms blindly.
Q. Blindly?
A. Without premeditated
calculation, yes.
Q. Coming back to my earlier remark. It remains
weird, that I am supposed to surrender to something I have no idea of.
A. Surrender to something you
know is not really surrendering. You will not loose yourself in something, that can be
defined. Something that you can define is smaller than you, it is a projection of your
mind. You can only forget yourself in something that is bigger than you. Hence, the
ultimate surrender is to surrender to the Unknown.
Q. This sounds pretty scary.
A. It helps, if you accept the
fact, that the Great Mother is the All-Embracing Cosmic Womb.
Q. Yeah, if that would be true...
A. It works both ways. If you
accept the Mother as A Loving (Cosmic) Mother, surrender will be more easy; if, on the
other hand you courageously surrender yourself blindly, then you will more easily come to
know Her.
Q. Are there other ways to know Her?
A. Surrendering is not
depending on the object of worship. Hence, we are grateful to have learned from other
traditions, especially those with a long history of devotion, like Christian mysticism.
Q. Could you elaborate that?
A. The Supreme Master in this
regard is Teresa of Avila. Her books are a testimony of the "effectiveness" of
contemplation or "inner prayer".
Q. Teresa of Avila?
A. Her teaching transcends
everything else. To her, "inner prayer" includes three aspects simultaneously:
self-awareness, awareness of the object of worship and the spontaneous utterances, which
may follow from that relationship. Something that only works, if everything is part of one
undivided moment.
Q. This needs a little more
explanation, I would say.
A. You start with becoming
consciously aware of yourself. First you relax, feeling your body in contact with the
ground, then feeling your breathing in and out, resulting in becoming the inner observer.
Subsequently, you try to have a sense of the subtlety of the space around you, realizing
that this is a manifestation of the Mother's Womb*. Having established a conscious
relationship between yourSelf and the Ultimate, sooner or later you may start opening up
your heart, sharing what is most intimate to you.
* The Space ultimately being the
Mother's Light Body. See other Talks.
Q. What are the benefits of such a practice?
A. For instance: To be like a
child embedded in unlimited love; a beggar being granted a Kingdom; Enlightenment not as
the result of ego-ambition, but as a gift of the Mother; a pilgrim finding the peace of
true Homecoming; or simply being a trustful, joyful, aware, compassionate, accepting,
spontaneous and loving person.
Enough for you?
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