Question: Are the goddesses working particularly at this time in history?

Sri Chinmoy: God in both masculine and feminine form supports humanity's consciousness. There are always goddesses working in the inner worlds, such as Maheshwari, Mahakali, Mahalakshmi and Mahasaraswati — the goddesses of perfection, power, beauty and wisdom. There are many, many gods and goddesses, but these are the four main goddesses who help human beings, whom they regard as their children.

Mahakali is my favourite of the four. She is the goddess of speed and power. Each Indian family has a presiding deity, and this deity can be male or female. Our family deity is the goddess Mahakali, so she is the one I am extremely fond of. Also, she has helped me many times. In my teens, when I was practising hard for sports, she helped me considerably. Once, after I had run the four hundred-metre race, I lost consciousness and my soul left my body. In five or ten minutes the doctors would have pronounced me dead. But Mahakali took my soul and brought it back into my body. If this goddess had not shown me that infinite Love and Compassion, I would have gone back to the soul's world. So, all of my disciples should be extremely grateful to her.

There are also other goddesses working like that. It is up to the individual how to invoke them. If one individual likes one, then he will invoke her; and if another person likes some other goddess, then he will invoke that one. But in essence they are all one. They are not like four women: if you please one, the others will be displeased. They are like limbs of one body. If somebody needs my arms or my legs or my eyes or my nose for some help, the other parts of my body are not disturbed. Similarly, these gods and goddesses are absolutely one.