This booklet presents a ceremony in the tradition of Sri Ramakrishna, who worshiped the Divine Mother with selfless devotion and a longing heart. With practice it can be completed within a short time. It can be used for daily worship or for special days sacred to Her, such as the new moon.

Kali is the Goddess who takes away darkness. She cuts down all impurities, consumes all iniquities, purifies, Her devotees with the sincerity of Her Love. Now we can worship Her according to the ancient tradition. Kali Puja is a treasure house of Her Wisdom. It contains abundance Kali's tools for living: Her sattvic worship, Her Hundred Names, Her Thousand Names, Her Armor, the mantras for offering bhanga, alcohol, animal sacrifice and how to give birth to spiritual children. These offerings have great spiritual significance when performed with the mantras which explain the meanings and appropriate circumstances for such worship.

This book is compiled with the goal of explaining the hidden history, significance, and meaning of the mantras used in common Hindu puja rituals performed by the Bengalis to the Bengali immigrants.

"Never before in print have I seen Her brought to life with such passion and truth. Harding brings Mother Kali to everyone who sees her path".

"Kal" is Time, "KALI" is She Who is Beyond Time. She leads our awareness into timelessness. Kali is also is the Goddess who takes away darkness. She cuts down all impurities, consumes all iniquities, and purifies the hearts of Her devotees. Now we can worship Her according to the ancient tradition. The complete worship of the Divine Mother who Takes away Darkness includes Her advanced puja, Her thousand names, the mantras and mudras for traditional offerings, as well as the systems of worship for conceiving spiritual children, offering bhang and alcohol. Also available to accompany the text is a beautiful CD or cassette of Shree Maa's recitation of the thousand names. It includes the original Sanskrit mantras, Roman transliteration and English translation.

In Praise of Adya Kali details the goddess Kali, and her culture of devotion in West Bengal and South Asia. Different from most contemporary books about this Dark Goddess, this book offers a liturgy of worship—a spiritual practice, the Song of the Hundred Names of Adya Kali, that readers can use to cultivate a direct devotional relationship to Kali. In Praise of Adya Kali is also a context-setting guide, establishing this practice as a general orientation to life. Most compelling, the text of this liturgy and Commentaries contain an intimate revelation of how the goddess establishes herself in her devotees’ bodies and thus intervenes, by unconditional love and acceptance, in their lives. A lengthy Introduction, both scholarly and personal, describes the goddess and the possibilities that these prayers will offer. Aditi Devi guides us in how to build a shrine to Kali, various types of offerings to make to her, and suggests a schedule for how to use this liturgy with a long-term commitment over the course of 108 nights. “This Song of the Hundred Names is a powerful teaching that all forms are her forms,” the author notes. Male, female, or other gendered, readers are presented with the possibility to experience the depths of their own internal feminine energies, and thereby come into greater healing and wholeness, more readily able to express this often neglected part of ourselves.

"Swami Bhajanananda Saraswati, a monk of Shankara's Order and the main priest of Kali Mandir in Laguna Beach, is an austere traditional monk. This inspiring book, Return to the Source, reveals his devotion and passion for God, knowledge of the Hindu scriptures and rituals, words of wisdom and practical spiritual guidance. This book originated from some of his class talks, articles, and writings, and over and above from his sadhana and experiences. Readers will find in this book the pure spiritual tradition of Vedanta. It will help them to build their inner lives, to breathe the freshness of the eternal, and to attain peace and bliss." - Swami Chetanananda, Minister, Vedanta Society of St. Louis Author of over thirty books on Sri Ramakrishna and Vedanta

Eternal salutations to Sri Durga, to Sri Kali, the boundless ocean of spiritual Wisdom who is the Divine Mother of the Universe. This ever-present Goddess epitomizes both the bliss of unlimited Awareness and the enthralling play of universal projection. She manifests countless beings abiding in an infinite set of worlds, seen and unseen, gross and subtle, hidden and exposed. Her existence is confirmed by the holy scriptures, for She is perceived intellectually by means of the Six Darshanas, Her perpetually flowing streams of eternal spiritual knowledge. She is approached and contacted by the devotees through intense sadhana, spiritual disciplines prescribed by the guru, and She is accessible through contemplation and meditation. Ultimately, She is realized as the essence of limitless Consciousness, infinite, indivisible, all-pervading and absolute... The Twenty-Four Aspects of Mother Kali, then, represent in book form an attempt to remind humanity of their divine parentage, of their divine nature, of their source of origin. It is hoped that those who are still asleep to this supreme verity called the Divine Mother of the Universe will have their inherent spirituality awakened; that those who have fallen into complacency or despondency will have their commitment to this non-dual Truth of existence rekindled; that those who are already abiding in this Truth will further exult in this sublime Essence of pure Being and continue to spread the pure light of Timeless Awareness to all inhabitants sporting consciously or unconsciously in the boundless ocean of the Universal Mother’s ineffable Grace.

Collection of essays on Hindu Kali goddess.