The energy of the mother
We hear a lot about questions such as “how did life start on Earth”, “did life arrive from space on Earth” and so on. There is though hardly any talk about what life actually is. We mostly take it as self-obvious, and that may be easier for distinguishing a small rock from a snail. But what is exactly the difference between a living cell and the same cell that we call as dead a few minutes later ? Probably the simplest way to look at it is to define it in terms of energy. Living is that which produces and uses energy.
Life is sustained by a slow and controlled “burning” of different cellular fuels and storage of that energy in what is essentially a chemical battery. This process happens in a very specialized and very complex structure in our cells called the mitochondria. It is an interesting fact that we inherit our mitochondria exclusively and directly from our mother. This also means that with genetic studies of the DNA found in the mitochondria - yes, they have their own DNA - we can go back to a single common maternal ancestor. In fact we can continue that logic and go back to the origins of the first cells that had a distinct nucleus and distinct cellular structures, including the mitochondria. That goes back billions of years…In a philosophical way, energy is what binds us together and it is something that comes from the feminine identity.
From a physics of Universe perspective, everything is a form of energy. In fact NASA’s website states that ¾ of the Universe is pure energy and the rest is matter, mostly of the unknown kind. And as Einstein has most famously expressed, matter is ultimately energy as well. If we ask ourselves what energy as such actually is, we will usually mention that it is something that has the power to achieve something. We can know it as it manifests itself. But it remains mysterious and unknowable in its potential state.
This is exactly how it it described in traditional knowledge. In Sanskrit the word for power or energy is shakti. And when capitalized it stands for the Mother that is the origin of all and who gives energy / power to all beings. This Shakti is seen as the doer, and the Father as the witness of the play. At the subtlest level, the Shakti takes the form of our Kundalini. Supremely powerful and yet supremely gentle as one would expect a divine mother to be. Our being is both her child as well as her conduit to manifest her powers, and first and foremost the power of pure love. In ancient times, meditating on the Shakti and on her reflection within us was seen as the best and shortest path to spiritual evolution. It was though still very arduous compared with the path that opens when Self Realization is right at the beginning of the path. Our Mother energy then lets itself be known as it manifests herself and touches every aspect of our being with a surge of soft, cool, balancing power.