The Gods and Goddesses of Instagram
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This episode is all about the current culture of the gods, goddesses, kings, and queens that are emerging on Instagram. Chandresh shares how this is a good thing that people are acknowledging the power within them. However, with everything that is online, such concepts go to an extreme and take people away from their reality as well. This week’s episode discusses going back into the basics of being a human and how that will ultimately be above all the gods and goddesses. Being a human is such a powerful doorway into your spiritual growth.
Episode Transcript
The Gods and Goddesses of Instagram Transcript
Chandresh Bhardwaj:
Don't call me a King or a Queen. Don't call me God or Goddess. Don't enforce the man made labels on me. Labels limit my flame. Witness me as a human. Witness me as a possibility. Witness my flaws. Witness my bleeding. Witness my darkness. Witness me as a possibility. Witness me as an evolution. Witness me as a revolution. I am Chandresh Bhardwaj, and this is Break The Norms. Namaste, everyone. I hope you're doing well. Welcome to another episode of Break The Norms Podcast. As always, I'm very grateful for the compassion, for the love, support that you have been giving to this podcast. Before we get into today's topic, quick reminder to join leelagurukul.com. You can sign up on the website or join me on Sunday for the live meditations. That's where I'll be spending most of my energy and time in the coming months and years. Each week, I become a little more clear about how I want to connect with the modern social media apps and all this network there.
Chandresh Bhardwaj:
And the more assurance I get from my own intuition, my inner voice, that I do need a space like Leela to connect with all of you in order for us to grow, nurture our spiritual path in a safe non-judgemental environment. So I do hope you join me on Leela Gurukul. And many of you have been asking me about the one-on-one programs, whether they are still on or if I'm taking on any new students. I am taking on new students. You can go to cbmeditates.com and apply from there. But just so you know, the one-on-one programs are intense. They're deeper. They require a certain level of commitment for a few months. And if you feel you are in a place where you can give that level of energy to deepen your path, to heal a certain energy or to heal a certain block in your journey, then the one-on-one program is for you absolutely, and I'm excited for you to show up for that. It takes courage. Not everyone is ready for it, so I have huge respect for those who show up for that kind of work.
Chandresh Bhardwaj:
Now, coming to this podcast, this topic for today, the Gods and Goddesses of Instagram. I honestly never thought I would ever talk about it in public. This was a concern that was shared by plenty of my students, especially the younger students, I would say, the ones who are in their 20s, early 20s. They would always share all that's happening about this whole God and Goddess culture, especially on Instagram, because I feel it's a visual medium and if you have to show that you are a Goddess or a God or a King or a Queen, you have to do it visually, and that's why Instagram really became the hub of it. And all these students would always ask me what's my take on it, and I would share my take. But lately, it's started becoming a concern because I started getting emails or direct messages on Instagram and through the website. These people started sharing the concern that they feel a little inferior because whenever they see this group of Goddesses or divine masculine energy, they would feel, "Maybe I'm not masculine enough, maybe I'm not feminine enough."
Chandresh Bhardwaj:
A few of my students had this deep pain or trauma in a way that they felt, "When I look at these women, I don't feel I am sensual enough, I don't feel I'm playful enough. What can I do to be part of it? I try very hard to relate to that, but I cannot. And then I feel more confused." And this is the kind of question that has come from men and women both. All the genders have had struggle connecting with it. It's like before I recorded this, it reminded me of the high school groups that we have. There's a group that feel they are a little cooler than the other group and the other group start to feel inferior. And then they realize that we need to be like them. And in the conclusion, everyone is just going through their own journey and no one is really wrong in the deeper process, if you look at it.
Chandresh Bhardwaj:
So before I even share my take, my opinion on this, I want you to know I am not at all trying to convince anyone to stop calling yourself a Goddess or a God, King or a Queen. That's absolutely your choice. No one should tell you what you should be calling yourself. I use the lion emoji all the time, so that doesn't make me a lion. I'm still a human, but I like using it. I've always had fondness for the lions. So maybe your fondness is with the Goddesses. So chill and relax. I'm not going to convince anyone or even try to convince you, you should not be using the term God and Goddesses to describe your existence. This is actually not even an episode for those who are calling themselves God and Goddesses. And most likely they'll not even listen to this. This one is more the episode that's majorly for one group of people who are struggling trying very hard to relate to the God and Goddess culture on Instagram, and they are confused, where do they belong?
Chandresh Bhardwaj:
And how can they cultivate that Goddess sensual playful energy. This is for them. And I'll share my take on it. One thing I really feel that I must share that most of these popular trends on social media, they start with good intention. At least that's what I believe in, that they start with a noble intention and then the social media noise takes over and things are never the same. Also, I feel we all are trying to heal ourselves in our own unique way, because our wounds might look the same from outside, but deep down they are not the same. They have very unique roots. They come from unique struggles, unique level of suffering. And then we find our own way to understand, to make sense of that pain. And then whatever we think is right, we opt for it. There were ways that I chose to go into my healing 10 years ago, and now I won't go there. There were methods I chose 20 years ago, but now I don't go there. And the methods I'm in right now, maybe they'll also change in a few years.
Chandresh Bhardwaj:
We all are trying our best to live life through our level of awareness. That's really where we are. And I spoke to different people, different humans, I also went online and saw the root of it. And I clearly saw the group that calls themselves God or Goddesses, they have a strong reason for it. They are trying to heal and strengthen their existence through this story. And the ones who don't do it, they're also doing it for their own unique reason. So it's not even about who's right and who's wrong, it's really about understanding the root of your existence, understanding how you can relate to yourself in a more organic, sacred way. And one concern that I want to share, and then I'll also share a very interesting take away from the, journey of a Goddess. I've always said this, "God is a teddy bear for grownups. The way we define God, the way we connect with God, it's really a teddy bear for the grownups." We find a certain cushion, a shoulder to cling on.
Chandresh Bhardwaj:
I've come across many people who have not done work to experience that godliness, but they're given the idea that this is how a God should behave and look like, and you should just follow that. And either these people become blind followers or they go totally against it, but they both have not done the work. They both have not done the work to really experience whether this whole godliness exists or not. And this is one thing I always recommend, do your inner search, do your seeking, and find out for yourself, does that this idea of God really exist? Or is it just an idea? I personally use the word godliness because I feel it is a consciousness, it is a force that's invisible, yet you feel it. It makes all experiences fully alive. And the more you dive deeper into your meditation, the more experiences you start to have that there is a force that's beyond, powerful beyond your imagination.
Chandresh Bhardwaj:
And your mind may not be able to understand that yet, and that's okay. But if you go deeper into it, there are forces, cosmic energies, that should not be put into the human labels. And I grew up meditating and understanding the Goddess worship in a very close environment. My lineage and growing up in India where the Devi worship. Devi means Goddess. The Devi rituals are very normal to go through. In fact, in a few days, we are going to have a nine day ritual. In fact, by the time you listen to this podcast, that ritual will be active. From February 12th til 20th, we have this ritual called Navaratri, where we honor the Goddess consciousness, the divine feminine consciousness for nine days. And it happens a few times in a year. The one thing I would share about the journey of a Goddess that while you may romanticize with the idea of being into that Goddess playful energy, but before she becomes playful, before she becomes this powerful force, she has to go through an intense journey of knowing who she is.
Chandresh Bhardwaj:
She has to go through this experience of breaking all the boundaries, breaking all the norms, and indulging into this love affair with darkness. That's where she realizes that she's a Goddess. The more you study the journey of a Goddess, it could be through Greek culture or Hindu culture, and all other cultures where the divine feminine is honored, you realize that none of them had a very rosy journey. You cannot romanticize it so much because it involves hustles, struggle, pain, suffering, battles, fighting through the circus of patriarchy, and really struggling through to find out who you are, struggling through to find what your voice is. Why are you here? Each Goddesses journey is built on this foundation of darkness, struggle, battles, wars, but that's why they are worshiped and revered and loved so much, because they have gone through that hustle. And I can keep going into it.
Chandresh Bhardwaj:
In fact, one of the programs in Leela Gurukul will be about understanding the journey of a Goddess, because I truly feel this will be such a learning experience for all of us to indulge into that journey of understanding, journey of a Goddess through the lens of tantra. So having said that, I feel those who struggle to relate to this culture of Goddesses and Gods on Instagram, those who struggle to relate to that, I would tell you, relax, breathe, and meditate on a beautiful possibility that exist beyond this God and Goddesses of Instagram, a possibility that's human consciousness. And there is so much significant and fascinating stuff about the human consciousness. That puts you way above and beyond any sort of God or Goddess vibes. I promise you that. I can quote mantras, I can go into Wisdom Scriptures, and actually prove that, because the more, the most beautiful part of the human consciousness is that it holds a powerful possibility of a complete transformation.
Chandresh Bhardwaj:
I remember watching and reading many stories of the sages and monks, and I'll share the most popular one of them, because you all might find it relatable. The journey of Buddha, when he became enlightened, it's believed that the night he became enlightened sitting under the Bodhi tree, the Gods and the Goddesses from the universe, they showered roses on him. They showered flowers on him. I saw that visual in documentaries, in the movies that I saw in India, I read that in the Wisdom Scriptures that Buddha was honored and loved by the gods and Goddesses by the flowers. And that intrigued me, that even Gods are honoring this man, this human who became enlightened. When God's come to honor you, that means you have achieved something really big. And I remember sharing it with my guru and Guruji said, "This is the beauty of a human consciousness, you carry the possibility of becoming enlightened." And my instant question was, "But why Gods are coming to honor you, because God's already have this capability. Isn't that very normal for them?" And the answer is, it's not.
Chandresh Bhardwaj:
This whole [dev loc 00:16:28]. Dev loc means the universe where only Gods and Goddesses reside. And it's a pretty normal narrative in the Eastern spirituality called dev loca or dev loc. These devs, these divine beings, are always happy. It's like the good vibes only culture there. It's almost like a forced good vibe only culture, the forced light. You're always happy, joyful, content. There is no pain, no suffering. And when you are in a space where there is no pain, no suffering, no hustling, you're only happy 24/7, then there's not transformation happening, really. Because to experience true happiness, you have to experience sadness at some point. To experience real success, you have to experience real failure at some point, because how would you even differentiate that there is success and failure? The reason we celebrate night, because we know in the day we are working hard. The reason we celebrate day, because we know after a long night, there's a day, another possibility of achieving and being productive and doing something.
Chandresh Bhardwaj:
So in the dev loca, or in that divine being universe, it's supposed to be 24/7 happiness, and they don't even go through the pains, the darkness. They're always happy. And it's interesting how, when you look at this God and Goddess culture of Instagram, there is this element of 24/7 happiness there. There is that good vibes only culture there, and it's so similar and so fascinating that what's in the Wisdom Scriptures thousands of years ago, it's very much relevant on even what's happening in the modern, self-proclaimed dev loca. So this is one point to understand, if you're a human being, you already carry such a beautiful possibility to evolve. And human being is this wonderful possibility that if you go down, if you degrade that possibility, you could become even worse than a wild animal. You could set examples that are horrific, terrible, and I don't even need to go into those examples because if you start reading the news, if you start watching these documentaries where you know these serial killers, and you're like, "How can a human become this violent? How can a human become this hateful?" But that's another possibility of human being.
Chandresh Bhardwaj:
If they don't handle that conscious energy well, that conscious energy can go into any direction. It's like a river. When it loses the direction, it can create floods, it can destroy lives. But if it goes into the right direction, it can bloom flowers. So the same consciousness, when it goes down, when it goes into the direction of hate, violence, it can destroy everything, including its own existence. But the same consciousness, when it chooses to go upward, it can become Bodhisattva, which means Buddha consciousness. The Buddha consciousness, that's what it becomes. And this is the blessing and curse of this human life, because every moment you have to be reminded of this wonderful opportunity and possibility that you carry within. So if you are struggling to relate to the God and Goddess culture of Instagram, relax. Remind yourself that, "I already am a human being, and that's the possibility that universe, the divine has given me," and that's way beyond any hashtag, way beyond any trend.
Chandresh Bhardwaj:
Now, if you're wondering, how do you really cultivate that possibility? I mean, my entire podcast is filled with those episodes. The entire science of meditation is filled with that power that you can evolve into the higher layers of awareness. There is a reason why in the Wisdom Scriptures of the East, they keep on saying that you have to go through millions of births and deaths before you take birth as a human being, because this life and this human life is a great blessing. All the sages and masters have continually seen this, that if you wish to experience liberation, if you wish to experience your highest truth, the journey has to go through human life. It cannot go through life of an animal. It cannot go through life of a God or Goddess. It has to go through human life. You cannot bypass that. You cannot escape that reality. When we don't want to look deeper, when we are escaping the reality, the imagination starts to feel better, and I feel that's where this movement of God and Goddess culture starts to go wrong.
Chandresh Bhardwaj:
I'm going to share three elements that can hopefully help you to not only expand the strength of this human consciousness, but also open the door to experience that divinity within you. Number one is sankalpa, which means intention. The power of sankalpa in intention is a significant game-changer. I have a podcast on it, but the truth is a life or meditation path without intention is like roaming around in a car with no GPS, with no direction, no address. You'll keep on driving, but you'll only end up exhausting your energy. So have this intention, have this sankalpa, for your journey. You can go deeper into my meditations, different podcasts, to understand how to really plant that intention. Number two, sādhanā, which means disciplined spiritual practice, which also means meditation. Show up for your meditation, show up for the work that we all need to do to experience this life better, to expand this human consciousness in a better way.
Chandresh Bhardwaj:
And the third one is dharma, the conscious purpose. And the truth about dharma is life doesn't have a purpose. Life in itself is a purpose. Helping your life to bloom is our greatest dharma, that's all. So understand all the barriers that you have been building unconsciously. When the barriers are taken care of, then the blooming can happen effortlessly. So three points, sankalpa, which means intention, sādhanā, which means consistent, disciplined meditation, and finally, dharma, which means conscious life purpose. Allow your life to be what it's designed to be. I hope this podcast makes you think, makes you reflect upon how you relate to yourself and others around you. And I hope you listen to this podcast with open heart and receptivity. We have the right to call ourselves whatever we want to call ourselves, a unicorn, a lion, a God, a Goddess, a King, Queen, anything. But in all these labels, don't forget that our ultimate responsibility is to live and breathe through this human consciousness. It's a gift that we cannot and should not take for granted. Honor your existence in all possible ways.
Useful Links
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