Podcasts about tantrik

On behalf of this most auspicious occasion of Easter Sunday, celebrating the resurrection of Christ and the upsurge of spring-time energy in nature, we reflect a little bit on Christ as Solar Deity. Importantly, I wanted to compare the Christ's resurrection to the resurrection of Osiris in Egyptian mythology and how that might mirror not only the Tantrik understanding of Shakta Peethas (i.e the natural world as a metaphor for spiritual themes in the soul's journey) but also the reverence for the Sun that we see in Vedic and Saurya-Tantrik context! This lecture follows closely on the heels of the discussion had earlier this week on Why We Worship the SunIt is after all Easter Sun-day!Mainly though, we spend some time reflecting on the Christ's innovation on spiritiuality: that of learning to regard God as your very own, your intimate Master, Friend, Parent, Child and Lover.Christ expressly stressed the first three relationships with a strong emphasis on the third. In this class, using Swami Vivekananda's Bhakti Yoga book, we say a few words about "God as Divine Child" having already discussed "God as Master" and "God as Friend" in the How To be God's Friendand How To Be Powerful Like Hanumanlectures respectively. Jai Christ ji! May this be an offering at the lotus feet of that great master, embodiment of purity and incarnation of love. May he arise in all our hearts today! May we all become Christ-like by his grace!Here is a playlist on all things Tantrik Christianity. Support the show

Today is Good Friday and since the Christ is a solar deity in a sense (the "sun" of God moving through the 12 disciples who are the 12 zodiac signs), I thought it would be nice to discuss the worship of the Sun of the Vedic and Tantrik context. In this class, which is part of our How To Do Tantrik Puja Series, we explore the sandhya vandana, the ancient practice of worshipping the sun with water at dawn/twilight and show how this ritual has been adapted into a Tantrik context. We discuss the significance of the sun as symbol for Brahman, the Unchanging Absolute of the Vedas, Existence-Consciousness-Bliss. We also make a few points about the Tantrik cult of the sun known as the Saurya Marga! It was a fun class! Thank you all for coming. Next, we'll go into more detail about the "arghya-dānam", the offering to the Sun and Mā willing, we'll cover the dhyāna-mantras and offering mantras for the Sun worship section of our ritual manual. oṁ namo vivasvate brahman bhāsvate viṣṇutejase। jagatsavitre śucaye savitre karmadāyine॥ eṣo'rghyaḥ oṁ hrīṁ haṁsaḥ mārtaṇḍabhairavāya prakāśaśaktisahitāya oṁ śrīsūryāya svāhā। "Salutations to Vivasvān, who is Brahman, the Absolute Reality, The Effulgent One (Consciousness) who is God's brilliance, the world-mover, the pure Sun who is the giver of all action we make you this offering, O Bhairava of the Setting Sun, you who are radiance (prakāśa) and self-reflection (vimarśa)! Salutations to Śrī Sūrya, the Sun!"oṁ raktāmbujāsanam aśeṣa-guṇaika-sindhuṁ bhānuṁ samasta-jagatām-adhipaṁ bhajāmi padma-dvayābhaya-varān dadhataṁ karābjaiḥ māṇikya-mauli-maruṇa-aṅga-ruciṁ trinetram OM seated on a red lotus, a single ocean of endless qualities the shining one, lord of all the world, I praise you, O three eyed one, Holding two lotuses and offering the gestures of fearlessness and boon-giving in your lotus like hands, Adorned with a ruby crown, your body glows red! oṁ javākusumasaṅkāśaṁ kāśyapeyaṁ mahādyutim dhvāntāriṁ sarvapāpaghnaṁ praṇato'smi divākaram OM deep red like a hibiscus glower, the descendent of Kāśyapa, supremely radiant, the enemy of darkness and the destroy of all sin, I bow before you, the maker of the day! oṁ namaḥ savitre jagadekacakṣuṣe jagatprasūtisthitināśahetave trayīmayāya triguṇātmakāriṇe viriñcinārāyaṇaśaṅkarātmane Salutations to Savitre, the single eye of the world, the non-dual witness of all things, the source of the world's creation, maintenaince and dissolution, the embodiment of the three states of waking, dreaming and deep sleep, the maker of the three qualities of the Self, the very essence of Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva!You'll find a complete playlist of lectures on Tantra in both theory and practice here.Lectures happen live every Monday at 7pm PST and Friday 10am PST and again Friday at 6pm PST.Use this link and I will see you there:https://www.zoom.us/j/7028380815For more videos, guided meditations and instruction and for access to our lecture library, visit me at:https://www.patreon.com/yogawithnishTo get in on the discussion and access various spiritual materials, join our Discord here: https://discord.gg/U8zKP8yMrMJai Mā!Support the show

This is perhaps one of my favorite lectures yet and one of the most foundational. In this talk, we track the idea of the "self", the most immediate reality through various different schools of philosophy: first we sketch out scientific materialism (physicalism) and use the ancient ideas of Sāmkhya philosophy to refute it. Then, we refute Sāmkhya before moving on to sketch out the Buddhist idea of no-self. Having refuted the Buddhists, we then sketch out the Shaiva Siddhānta (Tantrik Dualism) view on the Self which we then develop into the non-dual Tantrik view of the One Consciousness in all beings as all beings. 00:00:00 Opening Invocations00:00:47 5 Forms of the Self 00:08:24 The Buddhist Idea of "No Self" 00:10:41 The Vijñāna-Bhairava Tantra on the Self00:15:30 The Self in Sāmkhya vs the Self in Materialism00:42:00 An Argument Against Sāmkhya: There is Only One Consciousness00:52:38 The Buddhist Idea of No-Self 00:59:43 Refuting the Buddhist View of No-Self01:05:30 The Self in Shaiva Siddhanta, Tantrik Dualism01:19:45 The Non-Dual Tantrik Idea of the One SelfYou'll find a complete playlist of lectures on Tantra in both theory and practice here.Lectures happen live every Monday at 7pm PST and Friday 10am PST and again Friday at 6pm PST.Use this link and I will see you there:https://www.zoom.us/j/7028380815For more videos, guided meditations and instruction and for access to our lecture library, visit me at:https://www.patreon.com/yogawithnishTo get in on the discussion and access various spiritual materials, join our Discord here: https://discord.gg/U8zKP8yMrMJai Mā!Support the show

Last year, on Hanuman Jayanti we gave the talk The Tantrik Hanuman exploring some of the Tantrik aspects of this fierce rudra, Mahavīra! This year on Hanuman Jayanti, we decided to talk a little about what makes Hanuman so powerful! First, we discuss the significance of Hanuman in our own lineage with a reference to Sri Ramakrishna's Hanuman sādhana and the parallels between Hanuman and Swami Vivekananda. Then, we analyze the secret sauce, the special something that makes Hanuman so unstoppable powerful. Its the Krabby Patty secret formula. Jai Hanuman Ji Ki Jai! You'll find a complete playlist of lectures on Tantra in both theory and practice here. And here is a playlist on Tantrik Vaishnavism. Lectures happen live every Monday at 7pm PST and Friday 10am PST and again Friday at 6pm PST.Use this link and I will see you there:https://www.zoom.us/j/7028380815For more videos, guided meditations and instruction and for access to our lecture library, visit me at:https://www.patreon.com/yogawithnishTo get in on the discussion and access various spiritual materials, join our Discord here: https://discord.gg/U8zKP8yMrMSupport the show

In our Friday morning zoom satsangh, we're studying the Paramārthasāra of Abhinava Gupta, a very profound and concise introductory text for Non-Dual Shaiva/Shakta Tantra. In Verses 2 & 3 of this text, we're given a hint as to what qualifies a person to become a Tantrik Guru and what qualities are required in the student for them to be ready receptacles for the Guru's transmission. We compare and contrast Abhinava Gupta's point in Verse 2 with Sri Ramakrishna's teachings on the Guru with a reference to Swami Vivekananda's Bhakti Yoga discussion on the qualifications of Guru and Disciple to triangulate on what the true Guru is!We also discuss the different kind of dīkshas and abhisekhams (initiations and consecrations) in the Tantrik tradition as per Abhinava Gupta's Tantrāloka. Then, we do an overview of the text so far and close out with a meditation on the sky like nature of Awareness, as per Verses 35 and 36 of our text!You'll find a complete playlist of lectures on Tantra in both theory and practice here.Lectures happen live every Monday at 7pm PST and Friday 10am PST and again Friday at 6pm PST.Use this link and I will see you there:https://www.zoom.us/j/7028380815For more videos, guided meditations and instruction and for access to our lecture library, visit me at:https://www.patreon.com/yogawithnishTo get in on the discussion and access various spiritual materials, join our Discord here: https://discord.gg/U8zKP8yMrMSupport the show

This past weekend, on Saturday, we celebrated Tārā Jayanti. It felt very fitting to give a talk praising this enigmatic form of Mā! The first thing we do in this lecture is to distinguish the very popular Tibetan Buddhist deity, Tārā from the Tantrik Hindu version. We then trace the origins of the Tibetan Buddhist Tārā to Parā Devī, the esoteric Tantrik Sarasvatī who is the absolute conception of reality in the Trika System of Non-Dual Shaivism. As an aside, we track how elements of Parā's iconography is present in the meditation/visualization mantra for Abhinava Gupta, the Trika master par excellence. We show how elements of Dakshinamurthi Stotram are also present in the Abhinava Gupta visualization mantra and that of the Goddess Parā! Having established the link between Parā and the Tibetan Buddhist Tārā, and having made the case that this is a Saumya (gentle) form of the Tārā, we then turn to the Tantrik Hindu Tārā of the cremation ground which tends to emphasize the Ghora (fierce) aspects of the Deity. We explore Tārā's link to the Tantrik left-hand (Vāma-marga) and we also compare Mā Tārā to Mā Kālī to make the case that they really are the same Being. Naturally, we say something about Tārāpītha, Mā's sacred temple in a cremation ground in the Birbhum district of Wes Bengal and about Mā's empowered saint, Vama Khepa. We tell the story of Vāsistha and how he had to go to Tibet to learn the Kaula Marga or the Vāmachāra (left-hand path) from the Buddha and how this allowed him to succeed in Tārā-sādhana and establish the holy site of Tarapeeth in Bengal as a śākta-pītha! We really get up to some Tantrik stuff in this lecture! Thanks all for coming live. Jai Mā Tārā!PS: here is our playlist on all things daśa-mahāvidya!You'll find a complete playlist of introductory lectures on Tantra in both theory and practice here. Lectures happen live every Monday at 7pm PST and Friday 10am PST and again Friday at 6pm PST.Use this link and I will see you there:https://www.zoom.us/j/7028380815For more videos, guided meditations and instruction and for access to our lecture library, visit me at:https://www.patreon.com/yogawithnishTo get in on the discussion and access various spiritual materials, join our Discord here: https://discord.gg/U8zKP8yMrMSupport the show

Earlier this week, we celebrated the Spring Goddess Festival, Chaitra Navarātri or the 9 nights of the Mā Durgā! Naturally, we had a conversation about the very profound and very elaborate Durgā Pūjā which is performed on the last five days of the festival. We discussed how the Durgā Pūjā is the modern equivalent of the Vedic sacrifice par excellence, the Aśvamedha Yajña (horse sacrifice) and how performing Durgā pūjā can create the same amount of spiritual and secular merit! We discussed the communal aspects of Durgā Pūjā, mainly to explain why it is only open to householders. After our inquiry into why householders tend to be favored in the Vedic and Tantrik ritual traditions, we then offer a Durgā Pūjā substitute as per the teaching in the Kulārnava Tantra chapter on mantra-japa. We close with offering a simple durgā pūjā, a five-item offering that anyone can do to connect to the energy that is Durgā, who is none other than Kālī, who is your very own essence nature!To worship, Durgā, first chant this mantra while visualizing her form in your heart: oṁ hrīṁ kālābhrābhāṁ kaṭākṣair arikulabhayadāṁ maulibaddhendurekhām śaṅkhaṁ cakraṁ kṛpāṇaṁ triśikham api karair udvahantīṁ trinetrām। siṁhaskandhādhirūḍhāṁ tribhuvanam akhilaṁ tejasā pūrayantīṁ dhyāyed durgāṁ jayākhyāṁ tridaśaparivṛtāṁ sevitāṁ siddhikāmaiḥ॥"one should meditation on Durgā who is called the Victorious One who is radiant like a dark storm cloud, who casts a sidelong glance at the group of foes, thus terrifying them, with a crescent moon tucked into her crown while holding a conch, discus, sword and trident in her hands, three eyed, riding on the shoulders on a lion, filling the three worlds with her radiance, surrounded by the 30 (33) gods* and who is worshipped by those desiring perfection and pleasure!"Then, imagine she is present in the candle/lamp/picture or statue and offer the following items with the following mantras:Offer flower with perfume or fragrant oil:oṁ hrīṁ durge durge rakṣiṇi svāhā eṣa gandhaḥ jayadurgāyai namaḥOffer flower with sandalwood paste or just any fragrant flower:oṁ hrīṁ durge durge rakṣiṇi svāhā idaṁ sacandanapuṣpaṁ jayadurgāyai namaḥOffer a vilva leaf (or alternatively, any other three-petalled leaf) w/ sandalwood paste:oṁ hrīṁ durge durge rakṣiṇi svāhā idaṁ sacandanavilvapatraṁ / vilvapatrārthatripatraṁ jayadurgāyai namaḥ Offer incense:oṁ hrīṁ durge durge rakṣiṇi svāhā eṣa dhūpaḥ jayadurgāyai namaḥ Offer a light / candle:oṁ hrīṁ durge durge rakṣiṇi svāhā eṣa dīpaḥ jayadurgāyai namaḥPS: while you wave the incense and light clockwise around your deity (thrice around the feet, thrice around the heart, four times around the face and thrice around the whole statue/picture), you can chant the Durgā Gayatrī Mantra or the following: oṁ jayantī maṅgalā kālī bhadrakālī kapālinīdurgā śivā kṣamā dhātrī svāhā svadhā namo'stuteThen, Offer some sweets or fruits:oṁ hrīṁ durge durge rakṣiṇi svāhā idaṁ naivedyaṁ jayadurgāyai namaḥOffer wine and/or water:oṁ hrīṁ durge durge rakṣiṇi svāhā idaṁ karanodakaṁ jayadurgāyai namaḥ (for wine)oṁ hrīṁ durge durge rakṣiṇi svāhā idaṁ pāniyōdakaṁ jayadurgāyai namaḥ (for water)(you can consume the fruits, sweets, water and wine afterwards if you like or distribute them to friends/family) I ran out of words! See the rest of the ritual here.Support the show

Perhaps one of the most important and foundational lectures we've ever done, this talk features a broad overview of Tantrik non-duality in the beginning and then moves on to make a case for a Vedic lifestyle and basic devotion as important foundations for more dramatic, esoteric, non-dual and transgressive practices of Goddess-oriented tantra.We also study the Vedic (and pre-Vedic) roots of Tantra and look at a few of the early schools of our tradition such as the Mīmāmsa, Pāśupata, Lakulīśa, Nyāya & Vaiśeshika to derive from them some grounding ideas for practicing Tantra safely! This lecture was given just after Shiva Ratri and Sri Ramakrishna's birthday and so we attempt to map the historical progression of ideas in Shaivism unto the life of Sri Ramakrishna where we see all these ideas expressed! Books Referenced: 1. Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna by Swami Nikhilananda, a translation of the Kathamrita by M. 2. Sri Ramakrishna and his Divine Play by Swami Chetanananda, a translation of Lilaprasangha by Swami Saradananada3. Sri Ramakrishna and His Disciples by Sister Deva Mata4. Ramakrishna and His Disciples by Christopher Isherwood 5. Sri Ramakrishna: A Prophet For The New Age by Richard Schiffman(if you're new to the literature, I would start with 3., 4. and 5. before moving on to 1. and 2. from the list above) ^You'll find a complete playlist of introductory lectures on Tantra in both theory and practice here. 00:00:00 Meditation on Lord Shiva 00:02:00 Tantrik Non-Duality in a Nutshell 00:08:40 Other Flavors of Tantra and the Progression of the Tradition00:10:36 (a digression on exegesis vs eisegesis) and "doxographical hierarchy"00:13:15 finding the foundations for Tantrik practice & the avatāra (incarnation of God) 00:19:10 our project: mapping the history of Shaivism/Tantra unto the life of Sri Ramakrishna to make a case for finding the foundations for Tantrik practice!00:20:39 The importance of Texts and accountability in teachers00:51:51 Staying Grounded as a Foundation for Esoteric Tantrik Practices 00:55:58 Why this PSA is especially relevant after Shiva Ratri 00:51:12 The importance of Veda and Vedic living, the true foundation of Tantra 01:13:00 Rta, living according to the Rhythm of Nature & Fulfilling the 5 Debts to Rsis, Gods (Forces of Nature), Ancestors, Community and Animals/Plants. 01:14:15 An Aside on Why Swami Vivekananda is Not On My Altar... 01:15:45 Sri Ramakrishna's Adherence to the Veda and Brahminical Codes of Conduct 01:20:02 Shaiva Tantras in the Vedas and "before" the Vedas: the History of our Tradition 01:26:00 Nyāya and Vaiśeshika are early Shaiva Schools! 01:28:50 Why Logic and Thinking Clearly are So Important! (lessons from Nyāya) 01:30:19 The Transgressive Practices of Early Shaivas (Lakulīśa Shaivism) and the Cult of Bhairava as a way of moving beyond the Veda in the name of Devotion! 01:35:45 the Shaiva Siddhānta as the foundation for all Tantra & Puja as the foundational Tantrik Practice Lectures happen live every Monday at 7pm PST and Friday 10am PST and again Friday at 6pm PST.Use this link and I will see you there:https://www.zoom.us/j/7028380815For more videos, guided meditations and instruction and for access to our lecture library, visit me at:https://www.patreon.com/yogawithnishTo get in on the discussion and access various spiritual materials, join our Discord here: https://discord.gg/U8zKP8yMrMSupport the show

Anadolu'nun Şifacı Kadınları'nı konuk ettiğim programın bu haftaki konuğu Senem Kalender. 1974 yılında Ankara'da sanatla uğraşan bir ailede dünyaya gelen doğan Senem, arkeolog olmak isterken ailesinin yönlendirmesiyle Devlet Opera ve Çocuk Balesine girdi ardından Konservatuarda bale bölümüne girdi. Lisede sakatlanmasıyla sahne arkasına geçerek dans yazısı koreografi ve eğitmenlik bölümünde okudu. Ardından modern dans topluluğuna giren Senem, 1997 yılında büyük bir trafik kazası geçirdi ve ağır yaralandı. Kazadan sonra tüm hayatı değişen Senem, iyileştikten sonra sahne arkasında çalışmaya devam etti. Ardından kendi hayallerinin peşinden koşmaya karar veren ve bir arayışa giren Senem Feng Shui ve pilates, ayurveda Yoga Eğitmenlik Eğitimi aldı. Yoga eğitiminin ardından evliliğini bitirmeye karar veren Senem, yıllar sonra 2015 yılında dans ve yogayı birleştirdi. 2023 yılında Dünyaca ünlü Kundalini Yoga eğitmeni Gurmukh'tan Hindistan'da eğitim alan Senem'in paylaşımlarını ve çalışmalarını https://www.instagram.com/damla_senem_kalender/ Instagram hesabından takip edebilirsiniz. Keyifli dinlemeler :)*****Anadolu'nun Şifacı Kadınları'nı Desteklemek İster Misin? :)Hiçbir maddi destek almadan 5 yıldır gönüllü sürdürdüğüm bu programın içeriğini beğeniyor ve hayatına bir katkı sunduğuna inanıyorsan, beni ve programı maddi olarak da desteklemek istersen, https://kreosus.com/ask üzerinden ister aylık, ister tek seferlik katkı sunabilirsin :)*****Artık Anadolu'nun Şifacı Kadınları'nın Whatsapp Grubu var :)https://chat.whatsapp.com/D29r8vCHBN6ARYI6UTJtYpDuyuruları, geri bildirimleri paylaştığımız bu alanda olmak istersen, yukarıdaki linkten gruba dahil olabilirsin.*****Yazılarımı ve yolculuklarımı takip etmek istersen; https://www.instagram.com/didemmollaoglu/*****Anadolu'nun Şifacı Kadınları'nı aynı zamanda Spotify ve Apple Music'den podcast olarak dinleyebilirsin. https://open.spotify.com/show/312t5k7BqvGSv7c9l88Y6Z https://podcasts.apple.com/tr/podcast/anadolunun-şifacı-kadınları/id1519077215*****Ben Kimim? 2016'da tüm eşyalarını satarak çıktığı yolculukta henüz kendine doğru bir yolculukta olduğunu bilmiyordu. Ta ki yuvasından binlerce kilometre uzaklıkta Anadolu onu çağırana kadar. Yuvasına dönüşüyle birlikte kendi şifa yolculuğu başladı. Çünkü bir ağacın yeşermesi için önce köklerinin iyileşmesi gerektiğini biliyordu ve kökleri bu kadim topraklardaydı. Çıktığı bu yolculukta Maya Şamanizmden yogaya, yogadan tasavvufa uzanan farklı ilimlerin peşinden gitti, birçok eğitim aldı. Anadolu'nun Şifacı Kadınları'nı konuk ettiği bir podcast yapan Didem kendi deyimiyle Aşk'ı arayan bir aciz kul, yolcu. ***** Light Of Daytime by Vlad Gluschenko | https://soundcloud.com/vgl9 Music promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com Creative Commons / Attribution 3.0 Unported License (CC BY 3.0) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/deed.en_US

In our paddathi (ritual manual), throughout the nyāsa section which we've been studying together over the past few weeks, we find these Sanskrit verses. They are all dhyāna-ślokas, meditation mantras for the Goddess of Speech, Parā Devī or Sarasvatī. This argues the case that nyāsa is not only about consecrating the body, it is also about invoking the Goddess of Speech and meditating upon her as an act of devotion. In a sense, the nyāsa section in our pūjā is itself a kind of Sarasvatī Pūjā! Anyway, since we weren't able to have to have a class on Vasant Panchami last month (which is the day we celebrate Sarasvatī and which also is the first day of Spring in the Vedic calendar) I decided to use this Spring Equinox to discuss the Goddess! May all these words be an offering to Her who is speech and articulation Itself! Here are the three meditation mantras we find in our book, along with some loose translations: oṁ pañcāśallipibhir-vibhakta-mukhadōḥ-pan-madhya-vakṣaḥsthalāṁ bhāsvanmaulinibaddhacandraśakalāmāpīnatuṅgastanīm mudrāmakṣaguṇaṁ sudhāḍhyakalaśaṁ vidyāṁ ca hastāmbujairbibhrāṇāṁ viśadaprabhāṁ trinayanāṁ vāgdēvatāmāśrayē "I take refuge in the Goddess of Speech who is three-eyed and radiant who holds in her lotus hands a mudra, a rosary, a pot of nectar and a book, whose breast are full, who is adorned by the crescent moon and whose face, mouth, hands, body are formed by the 50 distinct letters!" oṁ sindūra-kāntimamitābharaṇāṁ trinētrāṁ vidyākṣasūtra-mr̥gapōta-varān dadhānām pārśvē sthitāṁ bhagavatīm-api kāñcanābhāṁ dhyāyēt karābja-dhr̥ta-pusataka-varṇamālām "Who is beautiful with vermillion, who is adorned with jewelry, who is three-eyed, who shows the boon-giving gesture and who holds a rosary, a book and a young deer, the Divine Goddess who is beside Shiva, radiant like gold; one should meditate upon her who holds a book and a garland of letters in her lotus like hand!"oṁ akṣasrajaṁ hariṇapōtamudagraṭaṅkaṁ vidyāṁ karairavirataṁ dadhatīṁ trinētrāmardhēndumaulimaruṇāmaravindasaṁsthāṁ varṇēśvarīṁ praṇamata stanabhāranamrām"Who holds a rosary and a young deer, whose brows are high and beautiful, adorned with earrings, who constantly holds a book in her hands, who is three eyed, who's crowned is adorned with a half moon and who sits in a red lotus, slightly bent from the weight of her full bosom, She is the Goddess of Speech! I bow to Her! Here is our complete playlist of puja classes: https://www.patreon.com/collection/233799Lectures happen live every Monday at 7pm PST and Friday 10am PST and again Friday at 6pm PST.Use this link and I will see you there:https://www.zoom.us/j/7028380815For more videos, guided meditations and instruction and for access to our lecture library, visit me at:https://www.patreon.com/yogawithnishTo get in on the discussion and access various spiritual materials, join our Discord here: https://discord.gg/U8zKP8yMrMSupport the show

Last week on Friday we had a full moon and total lunar eclipse! In the light (or lack thereof) of that (haha), and because we are entering into eclipse season, we took some time on Friday to discuss the Tantrik significance of the eclipse, both lunar and solar. Who exactly is Rahu and why is he considered an inauspicious graha, planetary spirit? How does Rahu cause the eclipse? And are eclipses auspicious or inauspicious? We ask these and other questions. We look at verse 8 of our text, the Paramārthasāra of Abhinava Gupta where he uses the eclipse as a metaphor for Consciousness becoming revealed in those entities with a subtle body to show how Abhinava Gupta subtly reinterprets what is usually considered inauspicious to be in essence, auspicious! We also look at how the eclipse metaphor is used throughout the tradition to argue for its importance in Tantrik theory and practice!Lectures happen live every Monday at 7pm PST and Friday 10am PST and again Friday at 6pm PST.Use this link and I will see you there:https://www.zoom.us/j/7028380815For more videos, guided meditations and instruction and for access to our lecture library, visit me at:https://www.patreon.com/yogawithnishTo get in on the discussion and access various spiritual materials, join our Discord here: https://discord.gg/U8zKP8yMrMSupport the show

After our lecture on The 12 Secret Kālīs | & The Most Closely Guarded Secret in Tantra where we introduced the powers of non-dual consciousness which flow in a 12-step sequence (which we argued was one of the subtlest teachings of Tantrik non-duality if not THE subtlest teachings), many were asking: "how do we invoke the 12 Kālīs, worship them, relate to them and incorporate them into our day-to-day sādhanā?" In this talk, we introduce one of the two Krama Stotrams and introduce Abhinava Gupta's "wheel of fire meditation" from Tantrasāra Chapter 4, which he received from his Krama guru, Bhūtirāja. The 12 KalisPrameyam (aparā): KNOWN OBJECTSṛṣṭikālī = manifesting an object internally, she then Raktakālī (bahirmkuhī) = becomes passionate towards that object Sthitināśakālī = wishes to reabsorb it and starts to internalize it Yamakālī = manifests and dissolves a "vighna" (obstacle) to re-absorption Pramānā (parāpara): ACT OF KNOWING Saṃhārakālī = reabsorbs the object Mṛtyukālī = and contemplates "svabhava": my very nature is to reabsorb! (i.e savors the experience just had) Rudrakālī = perceives a subtle impression left over from perception + also Pure Consciousness and then devours the subtle impressionMārtaṇḍakālī = reabsorbs the solar-mandala of 12 faculties into the "Lord of the Circle" (ego) Pramātr (parā): KNOWER Paramārkakālī = reabsorbs the Lord of the Circle (ego) Kālāgnirudrakālī = reabsorbs the separation of one purusha (individual knowing subject) from another (mayīya-mala) Mahākālakālī = reabsorbs the Universal Subject (Shiva) into full expansion Mahābhairavacaṇḍograghorakālī = reabsorbs even that fully expanded ground into...what? void unspeakable! (or rather: articulates transcendence as immanence!) Here are just the first 5 verses of the Krama Stotram:Kaulārṇavānanda-ghanormi-rūpām unmeṣa-meṣobhaya-bhājam antaḥ |nilīyate nīla-kulālaye yā tāṃ ṣṛṣtikālīṃ satataṃ namāmi || 1 ||I always praise that Kālī of Emission, who blooms and recedes like a wave of bliss in the ocean of the Kaula! mahā-vinodārpita-mātṛ-cakra- vīrendrakā-sṛg-rasa-pāna-saktām |raktīkṛtāṃ ca pralayātyaye tāṃ  namāmi viśvākṛti-rakta-kālīm || 2 ||I always praise that Passionate Kālī who manifests this world and who savours the world during a pause in dissolution, she who happily drinks the nectarean blood offered to the circle of Mothers by heroes (Tantrik adepts)! vāji-dvaya-svīkṛta-vāta-cakra- prakrānta-saṅghaṭṭa-gamāgama-sthām |śucir yayāstaṃ gamitorciṣā tāṃ  śāntāṃ namāmi sthiti-nāśa-kālīm || 3 ||I salute that peaceful one, The Kali Who Destroys Stasis, who is there in the coming and going of the breath and the perfect union of breath which is set in motion by the Wheel of Wind (life-force), who dissolves all notions of purity! sarvārtha-saṅkarṣaṇa-saṃyamasya  yamasya yantur jagato yamāya |vapur mahāgrāsa-vilāsa-rāgāt  saṅkarṣayantīṃ praṇamāmi kālīm || 4 ||I prostrate before that Kali who out of desire for the play of great devouring and controlling the world dissolves Yama the controller, who controls the destruction of things! unmanyanantā nikhilārtha-garbhā yā bhava-saṃhāra-nimeṣam eti |sadoditā satyudayāya śūnyāṃ Saṃhārakālīṃ muditāṃ namāmi ||5I salute that Destroying Kali who is the endless, ever-radiant and joyful transcendent Void, the Womb of all things, who closes her eyes in order to withdraw the world so as to give rise to the Void (Consciousness).Support the show

Having explored the philosophy and life of Sri Krishna Chaitanya, and having outlined Bhakti in practice as part of last year's Gaur Purnima (Chaitanya Jayanti) celebration, we now turn to some more specialized themes in our study of Tantrik Vaishnavism beginning with some dhyāna mantras (meditation and visualization techniques) for Krishna and Rādhā Rāni! Here is some of what we shared in the talk:“I meditate on the golden hued Gauranga whose beautiful hair is bound by a string of pearls whose moonlike face beams a gentle smile his body is smeared with sandalwood and other fragrant pastes and a beautiful cloth who is garlanded and ornamented in a divine way. Asborbed in dancing, he delights in rasa (the sweetness of devotion/chanting the name). He shines brighter than the Cupid (kandarpa-veśojvallam) and is attended to by His devotees.”   Brahma Samhita:A great hexagonal yantra in which the Kāma-bīja is the diamond peg in the center, accompanied by Rādha and Krishna surrounded by the Krishna mantra, the 18 syllabled Gopāla mantra and then the Kāma gāyatrī surrounded by the ashta-manjaris and beyond the petals the abode of the sakis… “evambhūta yoga-pīthe srī srī rādhā-krshnau smaret”...”mīlitam bhāti mudritam” it blooms and contracts through the desire of rādhā-krishna-līla-rasa (the bliss of the union of Rādhā and Krishna)   dhyayed vrndāvane ramye gopa-gobhir alankrte  kadamba pādapacchāye yamuna jala śitalerādhaya sahitam krshnam  vamśī vādana tat param  tribhanga lalitam devam  bhaktānugraha kārakam   “Krishna plays in the cool waters of the Yamuna, rests in the shade of the Kadamba tree in Vrndāvan. He is surrounded by cows and milkmen/milkmaids and is with Srī Rādha. He stands playfully with three bends and plays the flute, blessing us with the gift of devotion!  From svayambhuvāgama:   Kāmadevāya vidmahe  pushpa-bānāya dhīmahi Tan no'nanga pracodayāt   From Gaurī Tantra“I mediate on Rādhā who is shining red (sphurad-aruna) with a smiling lotus mouth, dressed in crimson, the border of her cloth is her veil, from the braids in her hair a lotus flower dangles, and with her thumb and forefinger she offers a tambulam into the mouth of Sri Krishna. She has beautiful long ears and eyes and she is filled with honey, the sweetest in all the three worlds!”   Śrī-rādhikayai vidmahe  prema-rūpāyai dhīmahi  tanno rādha pracodayāt Here is our playlist on all things Tantrik Vaishnavism! Lectures happen live every Monday at 7pm PST and Friday 10am PST and again Friday at 6pm PST.Use this link and I will see you there:https://www.zoom.us/j/7028380815For more videos, guided meditations and instruction and for access to our lecture library, visit me at:https://www.patreon.com/yogawithnishTo get in on the discussion and access various spiritual materials, join our Discord here: https://discord.gg/U8zKP8yMrMSupport the show

In today's class as part of our Paramārthasāra series, we take a broad sweeping tour of some of the major categories of thought in the non-dual Tantrik world starting with the 5 Kalās which are mentioned in verse 4 (nivritta, Pratishta, vidyā, śānta & śantatīta) in which shine the 36 tattvas (which are mapped out for us in verses 10-23), in which the 118 bhuvanas (realms) have their being. Also, we make a small mention of the three malas (impurities) which are featured in verse 24 and we intimate the 6 layers of the embodied self which are sketched out in verse 32 of our text. Having done this survey, we now have some powerful tools for understanding Tantrik cosmology in a systematic and spiritually meaningful way, demonstrating yet again how appropriate the Paramārthasāra is as a text for both beginners and seasoned practitioners! Lectures happen live every Monday at 7pm PST and Friday 10am PST and again Friday at 6pm PST.Use this link and I will see you there:https://www.zoom.us/j/7028380815For more videos, guided meditations and instruction and for access to our lecture library, visit me at:https://www.patreon.com/yogawithnishTo get in on the discussion and access various spiritual materials, join our Discord here: https://discord.gg/U8zKP8yMrMSupport the show

In this next installment of our How To Do Tantrik Ritual series, we look at three very important moments in Tantrik ritual worship (namely, bhūta-śuddhi, nyāsa and gandhādi pūjā) that all serve to reinforce the idea of Advaita, non-duality in the context of worship. Over and over we affirm that the One being worshipped and the One worshipping as well as the very tools and items of the worship themselves are all One and the Same Reality: Consciousness-Bliss, Shiva. As such, we discuss how pūjā (ritual worship) and japa (mantra recitation) can act as powerful sādhanas (spiritual techniques) for truly realizing non-duality beyond mere intellectual concepts. We also talk a little bit about the importance of the sacred pilgrimage places known as śākta pīthas, and how these might be mapped unto the body in the process of nyāsa. Excitingly, we compare the rather similar mythological structures of the "Dismemberment of Osiris" episode in the Egyptian pantheon to the "Dismember of Sati" incident in the Purānas to make a point about sacred geography and the Immanence of God, following from last week's discussion on Nyāsa as a Sacred Pilgrimage Practice!A truly exciting discussion! Thank you all for coming! Jai Mā!Support the show

On Tibetan New Year, the Friday just after Shiva Ratri, we spent some time practicing non-dual meditation (practice with us here) using the Nirvana Shatakam as a "guided meditation" tool. We sandwich some postural yoga practice to rest, recover and energize after our physical exertions over the course of the week in between two non-dual meditations, using the 6 verses of the text. Then, right after that, in honor of the great yogi Milarepa, and Tibetan Tantrik tradition, we launch into a discussion on Milarepa featuring Kavindraji who is a lineage holder of the Kagyu, the tradition Milarepa founded. By learning about Milarepa, we can learn about the Tantrik world of magic and liberation, guru and disciple and ultimate freedom. One day, we will double back to offer a more complete biography and commentary on this greatest of Yogis, Mila of the Cotton Cloth (repa) and about his householder Gurus, Marpa and Dakmema. For now, we offer this light introduction based on Lobsang P Lhalungpa's wonderful book: "The Life of Milarepa".PS: Here is our playlist on all things Shiva! Lectures happen live every Monday at 7pm PST and Friday 10am PST and again Friday at 6pm PST.Use this link and I will see you there:https://www.zoom.us/j/7028380815For more videos, guided meditations and instruction and for access to our lecture library, visit me at:https://www.patreon.com/yogawithnishTo get in on the discussion and access various spiritual materials, join our Discord here: https://discord.gg/U8zKP8yMrMSupport the show

One of the most secret (and perhaps misunderstood) traditions in Tantra is the Kaula, the path of radical embodiment. "Kaula" which is the adjectival form of the Sanskrit word "kula", means "the body" and as such presents a spiritual approach that divinizes the body, seeing embodiment (along with all the energies thereof like lust and anger and greed) as an opportunity for spiritual progress and not as an obstacle. More esoterically, the "kula", body here refers to the philosophical view that God in Her fullness is "embodied" as this entire Universe. As such, Kaula is a transgressive, radically non-dual, Goddess-oriented Tantrik tradition. Because of this, utmost secrecy is required and so a third connotation of the world "kula" is "family" either biological or spiritual in which these spiritual teachings are offered in strictest confidence. Over the next few weeks, I want to explore the Kaula with you in both theory and practice and work our way up to study the Adi Yajnya or the "Kaula Ritual" which Abhinava Gupta presents in Chapter 29 of his Tantraloka. This talk is a bit of a soft introduction to the origins of the Kaula and how it fits into the wider context of Indian Tantra. This lecture follows closely on the heels of the discussion we had last week on Why is Tantra A Secret? We review some of the ideas from that talk and also make a few new points about the value of secrecy. Also, because this talk was given on the 6th day of Magha Gupta Navaratri, we say a few things about Mātangi Mā, the Tantrik Sarasvatī in order to express our gratitude for Sarasvatī who appears in the form of teacher, teaching and also our desire to learn!|Jai Mā Nīlā Sarasvatī Ki Jai! For more detailed instructions for how to perform Kālī pūjā, watch this playlist: https://www.patreon.com/collection/233799Lectures happen live every Monday at 7pm PST and Friday 10am PST and again Friday at 6pm PST.Use this link and I will see you there:https://www.zoom.us/j/7028380815For more videos, guided meditations and instruction and for access to our lecture library, visit me at:https://www.patreon.com/yogawithnishTo get in on the discussion and access various spiritual materials, join our Discord here: https://discord.gg/U8zKP8yMrMSupport the show

Two weeks ago we gave the talk called "how to perform the best Tantrik ritual & overcome superstitions in Tantra" where we referenced Swami Vivekananda saying in the Introductory Chapter of Raja Yoga that mystery-mongering and superstition weakens the mind: everything that is could she be taught openly, and preached in the street in the broad daylight of reason. In that lecture, I argued that in some case the secrecy of Tantra was the attempt of an unscrupulous few "to keep the power all to themselves", to borrow Swami Vivekananda's phrase. But perhaps there are indeed good reasons for keeping things secret! While in the worse cases secrecy is a tool for hegemonizing Tantrik discourse, most of the time, it is an expression of compassion and a necessary tool to create an authentic spiritual community where practitioners are practicing in a meaningful and safe way. As such, to balance out the view I presented in the aforementioned lecture, I'd like to make a case for the importance of secrecy in the Tantrik tradition. We can think of a few reasons, some of which I briefly mentioned towards the end of the talk and a few others that are coming to mind now: 1. Because these practices can be exceedingly powerful, they can sometimes backfire and cause a reaction in students who are not ready. 2. Because these practices confer tremendous power, a student with the wrong motives might misuse this power to further entrench themselves in samsaric attachment, thus retarding their spiritual growth. 3. Secrecy ensures the student will seek out a guru to get access to the tradition thus protecting them from the #1 and #2 4. Tantrik practices can be controversial and even transgressive and as such when done openly, there is the risk of public censure and misunderstanding 5. That which is secret is sacred. Secrecy reaffirms the intimacy and privacy we enjoy with God and also helps cultivate reverence and sanctity in the practice. 6. It helps students value what they have more, increasing enthusiasm and reverence for the mantra and for the practice.For more detailed instructions for how to perform Kālī pūjā, watch this playlist: https://www.patreon.com/collection/233799Lectures happen live every Monday at 7pm PST and Friday 10am PST and again Friday at 6pm PST.Use this link and I will see you there:https://www.zoom.us/j/7028380815For more videos, guided meditations and instruction and for access to our lecture library, visit me at:https://www.patreon.com/yogawithnishTo get in on the discussion and access various spiritual materials, join our Discord here: https://discord.gg/U8zKP8yMrMSupport the show

How do Tantrik rituals work, really? Is it the intercession of spirits and divinities? Or perhaps something far more profound?IIn this talk, I want to make the case that there are no gods or spirits outside Consciousness. The entire Universe and all the powers in it are contained within the Mind, which is an expression of Consciousness, with reference to verses 160 onwards in Abhinava Gupta's Tantrāloka, Part I, and with special reference to Swami Vivekananda's emphasis on strength and non-duality.You are Consciousness and as such, all power is within you! All the gods and demons, all the spirits and energies, they are all in YOU, expressing themselves as body and mind. Harnessing these energies is what Tantra is all about. As such, any time your "prayers have been answered", it is only you gracing yourself. You are God, in every sense of that word. A Tantrik ritual functions only to create the suggestion, through sound and symbol, to call forth that Power inherent in the Self! For more detailed instructions for how to perform Kālī pūjā, watch this playlist: https://www.patreon.com/collection/233799Lectures happen live every Monday at 7pm PST and Friday 10am PST and again Friday at 6pm PST.Use this link and I will see you there:https://www.zoom.us/j/7028380815For more videos, guided meditations and instruction and for access to our lecture library, visit me at:https://www.patreon.com/yogawithnishTo get in on the discussion and access various spiritual materials, join our Discord here: https://discord.gg/U8zKP8yMrMSupport the show

This lecture, which follows closely on the heels of How To Become A Bhairavi, A Tantrik Adept and also The Best Tantrik Ritual explores the puraścarana from Chapter 15 of the Kularnava Tantra in much more detail. We present a few different strategies for practicing puraścarana which in the Tantra Lord Shiva describes as the "supreme ritual" (i.e best of all practices). While this is the main feature of the talk, we also offer a reading of the Introductory chapter of Swami Vivekananda's "Raja Yoga", to make a point about the purpose of puraścarana and its true purpose. Also, we respond to degenerating influences on the mind of the aspirant (superstitions, secrecy and mystery-mongering) that we often find in the Tantrik world and present a strategy for getting the most from Tantrik practice while avoiding the aforementioned elements. Lectures happen live every Monday at 7pm PST and Friday 10am PST and again Friday at 6pm PST.Use this link and I will see you there:https://www.zoom.us/j/7028380815For more videos, guided meditations and instruction and for access to our lecture library, visit me at:https://www.patreon.com/yogawithnishTo get in on the discussion and access various spiritual materials, join our Discord here: https://discord.gg/U8zKP8yMrMSupport the show

To love is the essence of what it means to be human. Love is the sweetest, most meaningful experience in embodied existence and it is for this love that we do everything. But what does it mean to really love? We have all of us been disappointed in love. This is because we don't know how to truly, really love. We are content with our little loves and little attachments and as such, we are all of us likely to miss out on the real thing! Bhakti Yoga, the path of Devotion, is the science of higher love. In this talk, we give perhaps one of our most lucid interpretations of real, higher love based on Swami Vivekananda's book "Bhakti Yoga". We first discuss the two phases of love, love with form vs ecstatic love. And then, we have a discussion about renunciation, why it is so central to love and how it is naturally produced through love itself, reviewing the material we covered in this talk: How To Get Renunciation | Bhakti Yoga, Swami Vivekananda and then finally, we offer a Tantrik reading of two works by Swami Vivekananda: "The Bhakta's Renunciation Results from Love" and "The Free Soul" from Volume III of the Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda. This is my favorite talk on Bhakti yet! Thank you all who came live and all who are watching the recording! May we become enflamed with awakened Love for the Infinite!Support the show

In October of 1896, in London, Swami Vivekananda gave a series of three lectures on the ancient concept of Māyā, that which causes the One to appear as Many, the Eternal to appear as the Changing and the Real to appear as the Unreal. Naturally, since Māyā is synonymous with "Ignorance" in the Advaita Vedanta system of Srī Shankara, it is a very, very elusive concept that has eluded even some of the brightest minds of India and abroad. As such, Swami Vivekananda's treatment of Maya over three lectures might be the most comprehensive and illuminating to have ever been given in the history of philosophy. Sister Nivedita considers the Swami's best work. In this talk, I focus on the third of the three lectures, "Maya and Freedom". The first on is called "Maya and Illusions" and the second, "Maya and the Evolution for the Concept of God" and all three can be found in Swami Vivekananda's Complete Works, Vol II or in the Jñāna-Yoga book. Particularly in my commentary of this lecture, I would like to compare the Shankarite notion of Māyā as illusion to the Tantrik concept of Śakti, as the playful power of God to hide Herself from Herself (Paramārthasāra, Verse 15) to compare Vedantic Idealism with Tantrik Realism, making the case that Swami Vivekananda's reading might lean closer to the Tantrik notion. Lectures happen live every Monday at 7pm PST and Friday 10am PST and again Friday at 6pm PST.Use this link and I will see you there:https://www.zoom.us/j/7028380815For more videos, guided meditations and instruction and for access to our lecture library, visit me at:https://www.patreon.com/yogawithnishTo get in on the discussion and access various spiritual materials, join our Discord here: https://discord.gg/U8zKP8yMrMSupport the show

After we gave the two fiery lectures on Why You Need To Realize God Now! | The Urgency of Spiritual Life and also on The 2 Most Important Things In Spiritual Life & 7 Ways To Get Them we are all fired up to make some genuine headway into our spiritual life that we may realize God and enjoy eternal blessedness! But how do we make spiritual progress? In this short talk, we introduce the idea of Puraścarana, the Tantrik ritual par excellence which Lord Shiva calls the "best of all rituals" in verse 3 of Chapter 15 of the Kulārnava Tantra. For more detailed instructions for how to perform Kālī pūjā, watch this playlist: https://www.patreon.com/collection/233799Lectures happen live every Monday at 7pm PST and Friday 10am PST and again Friday at 6pm PST.Use this link and I will see you there:https://www.zoom.us/j/7028380815For more videos, guided meditations and instruction and for access to our lecture library, visit me at:https://www.patreon.com/yogawithnishTo get in on the discussion and access various spiritual materials, join our Discord here: https://discord.gg/U8zKP8yMrMSupport the show

We gave this lecture some time ago, in July of last year on Swami Lakshmanjoo's birthday. However it occurred to me that it would be a very good start to 2025 if we could not only review the fundamentals of spiritual life in general but also revisit the foundations, historical, philosophical and spiritual the underlie our Tantrik tradition. Note: around 14:00 I mention a lecture I did called "Texts and Lineages in Kashmir Shaivism". I never actually got around to uploading that one but if you stay tuned for the video called "Our Tantrik Lineage", I go over the same material with albeit more detail. Anyway, in this talk, we make a few points about Tantra and texts like the Vijñāna-Bhairava Tantra and then plunge into what I consider, on perhaps a more anecdotal note, to the be the essential flavor of Shaivism and how it developed throughout history. For more detailed instructions for how to perform Kālī pūjā, watch this playlist: https://www.patreon.com/collection/233799Lectures happen live every Monday at 7pm PST and Friday 10am PST and again Friday at 6pm PST.Use this link and I will see you there:https://www.zoom.us/j/7028380815For more videos, guided meditations and instruction and for access to our lecture library, visit me at:https://www.patreon.com/yogawithnishTo get in on the discussion and access various spiritual materials, join our Discord here: https://discord.gg/U8zKP8yMrMSupport the show

There are of course innumerable similarities between the life and message of the Buddha and Swami Vivekananda: in a future lecture, I hope to sketch this out in much more detail. I think there is a particularly strong resonance between Swami Vivekananda's various spiritual experiences and realizations (and also his highest ideal of serving God man) and the Boddhicitta/Boddhisattva ideal of Mahayana Buddhism. One day, I will make a strong case for the Mahayana Buddhist interpretation of Sri Ramakrishna's life and teaching. Of course, in terms of modality, Sri Ramakrishna emphasized a Tantrik, deity-oriented approach which leads us into exciting Vajrayana territory too. A discussion comparing Nirmanakaya, Sambhogakaya and Dharmakaya to Vaikhari, Madhyama and Pasyanti Vak is of course fore coming. And I have a desire to do a short biography on Milarepaji also, perhaps on his Parinirvana which is the full moon of Bumjur Dawa (by the Tibetan Lunar Calendar) I believe. It will be around Shiva Ratri time!Naturally all these links between Shiva, Swami Vivekananda and the Buddha are particularly pronounced in Varanasi, especially near Sarnath where the Buddha spoke the words that would resound timelessly through eternity! There is a striking resemblance to what he spoke about and what Swami Vivekananda spoke out, a resemblance that is of course more tangibly felt in this place than intellectually cognized. Since I happen to be in Sarnath on Christmas Eve, I thought I'd reflect a little on that in this talk. Jai Jesus Christ! Jai Buddha! Jai Swami Vivekananda Guru Maharajji Ki Jai!Lectures happen live every Monday at 7pm PST and Friday 10am PST and again Friday at 6pm PST.Use this link and I will see you there:https://www.zoom.us/j/7028380815For more videos, guided meditations and instruction and for access to our lecture library, visit me at:https://www.patreon.com/yogawithnishTo get in on the discussion and access various spiritual materials, join our Discord here: https://discord.gg/U8zKP8yMrMAnd if you feel moved to donate to support me and this work, you're welcome to here:https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/jaimakaliSupport the show

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Giving in to our desires (which is to say: following them into externalized action) can sometimes be just as repressive as avoiding them altogether. In either case, the energy of desire is not fully experienced:; it is instead dissipated through repression or expression. One wonders: what would it be like to simply sit with the energy of agitation or inspiration, breathing into it and following it back into its point of origin? In the Vijñāna-Bhairava Tantra, there is a very subtle technique that falls into the category of "Śambhavopaya", the Way of Śīva because it is a practice centered on icchā, the creative desire of Non-Dual Consciousness to bloom outward into expression. The source of all expression is Consciousness and it is back into Consciousness that all expressions dissolve. As such, any urge, inspiration or desire that we experience has its origin point and resting point in Awareness. By experiencing fully the blooming of any icchā, creative outpouring we can "guide it" to a still point and thereby experience enlivened Awareness! We took a first pass at this practice here but because we didn't have as much time as I would have liked to discuss it, we decided to revisit it in this short discussion before we took up a Hatha Yoga practice, which you can watch here.Our Vijñāna-Bhairava Tantra series:https://www.patreon.com/collection/143200Classes meet live every Thursday at 6:30pm PST. You can sign up to attend the zoom meetings here:https://yogaworldheart.com/schedule Also, lectures happen live every Monday at 7pm PST and Friday 10am PST and again Friday at 6pm PST.Use this link and I will see you there:https://www.zoom.us/j/7028380815For more videos, guided meditations and instruction and for access to our lecture library, visit me at:https://www.patreon.com/yogawithnishTo get in on the discussion and access various spiritual materials, join our Discord here: https://discord.gg/U8zKP8yMrMSupport the show

On this auspicious Mrgaśīrsha Pūrnimā (full moon) to which is ascribed Bhairavi Jayanti, Annapurna Jayanti and also Dattatreya Jayanti, we decide to say a few words about just who Mā Bhairavi might be. She is one of the most mysterious of the mahāvidyās (the ten terrifying forms of Mā). In this video, referring to the meditation mantra below, I make the case that Bhairavi is a euhemerized Tantrik adept! We of course discuss Bhairavi Brāhmani, Sri Ramakrishna's Tantrik guru and we spend the first half of the talk discussing what makes Tantra, Tantra in order to clearly indicate the path upon which we ourselves must trod to become a Bhairavi/Bhairava! उद्यद्भानुसहस्रकान्तिमरुणक्षौमां शिरोमालिकांरक्तालिप्तपयोधरां जपवटीं विद्यामभीतिं वरम् ।हस्ताब्जैदधतीं त्रिनेत्रविलसद्रक्तारविन्दश्रियंदेवीं बद्धहिमांशुरक्तमुकुटां वन्दे समन्दस्मिताम् ॥udyad-bhānu-sahasra-kāntim-aruṇa-kṣaumāṃ śiro-mālikāṃraktā-lipta-payodharāṃ japa-vaṭīṃ vidyām-abhītiṃ varam .hastābjaidadhatīṃ trinetra-vilasad-raktāravinda-śriyaṃdevīṃ baddha-himāṃśu-rakta-mukuṭāṃ vande samandasmitāmRadiant like the splendour of a thousand suns, clad in red garments, garlanded in headsBreasts smeared with blood, holding a rosary and a book, assuring fearlessness and granting boons With her lotus like hands, Her third eye shining with the beauty of blood-red lotus flowers,She is the Goddess who wears a red crown in which is tucked the moon- I worship Her who is smiling gently!For more detailed instructions for how to perform Kālī pūjā, watch this playlist: https://www.patreon.com/collection/233799Lectures happen live every Monday at 7pm PST and Friday 10am PST and again Friday at 6pm PST.Use this link and I will see you there:https://www.zoom.us/j/7028380815For more videos, guided meditations and instruction and for access to our lecture library, visit me at:https://www.patreon.com/yogawithnishTo get in on the discussion and access various spiritual materials, join our Discord here: https://discord.gg/U8zKP8yMrMSupport the show

Today we are celebrating the feast day for a very important Marian apparition that occurred on the site of a former Tonantzin temple: The Lady of Guadalupe! This is among my favorite occurrences in Catholic history and it gives us a nice opportunity to talk about Mā beyond any one cultural context (i.e the Universal "Mā" as opposed to the particular). As such, in this class we discuss the distinctions between the sthāna-devatā (deities of the region), grāma-devatā (village deities), kula-devatā (family deities) and Ishta-devatā (ones chosen ideal). These are exceedingly important categories of thought in the Tantrik ritual worship context, the "pūjā world" and these are distinctions I would have done well to discuss sooner in our series. In any case, we will take up the topic in the first of two lectures tonight with a special reference to how the Lady Guadalupe, the patron deity of Mexico, fits into all of this! We'll draw a bit from the material in this lecture on Mā Kālī in Other Cultures. Since I'm back home in Kuala Lumpur, this will give me an opportunity to discuss some unique regional deities also like Pechy-Amman, Muniswaran, Karappan etc.For more detailed instructions for how to perform Kālī pūjā, watch this playlist: https://www.patreon.com/collection/233799Lectures happen live every Monday at 7pm PST and Friday 10am PST and again Friday at 6pm PST.Use this link and I will see you there:https://www.zoom.us/j/7028380815For more videos, guided meditations and instruction and for access to our lecture library, visit me at:https://www.patreon.com/yogawithnishTo get in on the discussion and access various spiritual materials, join our Discord here: https://discord.gg/U8zKP8yMrMSupport the show

Some time ago, we gave a talk on Mary of Magdalena, who I argued was the śakti (power) of Christ in the same way that Rādhā is for Krishna, Sīta is for Rāma and Sārada Mā is for Sri Ramakrishna. This argues for a "dual-aspect" to the avatāra (divine incarnation) as being both Shiva (Consciousness) and Shakti (Energy) embodied. This is of course one lecture in a series of talks on Mary. We did one where we compared Mā Kālī to Mā Mary and we did one called Mary Magdalena, the Śakti of Christ also this would perhaps be the third in the series!In this video, we look at all the references to Mary in the Gospel and work out a few Tantrik ideas based on them. We also draw from Bourgeault's wonderful work "The Meaning of Mary Magdalena" which I highly recommend for all. The emphasis in this talk is on articulating a different approach to spirituality that one might consider "feminine" in a sense as opposed to the more mainstream from of spirituality which I am choosing to label as "masculine" in this video. Of course, these gendered labels should be held as lightly as possible: they are not to be taken as hard and fast categories since that would (a) be manifestly against the thesis of this video that argues for a softer approach and (b) be against the idea of God as including the entire spectrum of sex and gender and yet transcending all such categories! In any case, I figure this comparative might validate many and allow for a more spacious, embodied approach to spirituality that resonates with the ideals of this age. Naturally, I argue that the life and teaching Sri Ramakrishna are the best examples for this mode of spirituality and so I draw a lot from Swami Bhajanananda Puri's reflections on Sri Ramakrishna's unique brand of spirituality (which I'm calling "feminine) from the book "Light of the Modern World", which I also could never recommend more highly! Anyway, for whatever reason I've just been sitting on this video. I have been waiting for an auspicious day to upload it. Somehow or rather, the Feast of Mary Magdelana came and went this year and I was unable to upload this then as I had originally intended. However, today we are celebrating the feast day for a very important Marian apparition that occurred on the site of a former Tonantzin temple: The Lady of Guadalupe!I figured today was as good a day as any!"¿No estoy yo aquí que soy tu madre?" "Am I not here, I who am your Mother?"Jai Mā! Guadalupe Devi Ki Jai!For more detailed instructions for how to perform Kālī pūjā, watch this playlist: https://www.patreon.com/collection/233799Lectures happen live every Monday at 7pm PST and Friday 10am PST and again Friday at 6pm PST.Use this link and I will see you there:https://www.zoom.us/j/7028380815For more videos, guided meditations and instruction and for access to our lecture library, visit me at:https://www.patreon.com/yogawithnishTo get in on the discussion and access various spiritual materials, join our Discord here: https://discord.gg/U8zKP8yMrMSupport the show

In this talk, we discuss something very edgy and maybe even quite dark: hating God as a legitimate mode of worship!This is lesser known bhāva is called vipaksha or shatru-bhāv, the "mode of the enemy" and applies to great devotees like Mahishāsura in the Candi, Hiranyāksha, Hiranyakashipu, Kamsha and Sishupāla in the Bhāgavatam and even Jacob in the Old Testament.Importantly, a discussion on how "hating God" can help one to realize God takes us into deep Tantrik waters regarding the use of all emotions, even darker ones like anger, pride, hatred, jealousy, greed and lust to make spiritual progress! I think tonight's conversation will reveal something very essential and profound about how spiritual practice works with regard to the centrality of intensity and consistency in sādhana.As we see in a few select Ramprasad poems and taking Sri Ramakrishna's idea of "tāmasic Bhakti" (dark devotion), we learn that this attitude of "frustrating" or "annoyance" with God actually only implies real intimacy, not distance.Naturally, this is a continuation of last week's excting 6 hour satsangh on madhura bhava, the romantic mode in Kali worship which you can watch here.Here are some of the references we made towards the end of the talk:In Bhāgavata Purāna, Jaya-Vijaya, Vishnu's doorkeepers were cursed by Sanaka, Sanandana, Sanatana, and Sanatkumara (mind born sons of Brahma) to etiher be born 3 times as enemies or 7 times as devotees. They chose the former and became, in three respective ages:Satya Yuga: Hiranyakashipu, HiranyākshaTreta Yuga: Rāvana, Kumbhakarna Dvāpara Yuga: Sishupāla, Dantavakra Also Kamsha/Chānura, Duryodhana etc. In Skanda Purāna, we find Tarakāsura whose boon is to be slayed only by Shiva's unlikely son (this is where we get the Shiva burning Kāmadev story), in Brahmānda Purāna we get Bhandasura, born of the ash of Kamadev  who is then slain by Lalitā Devī. In Shiva Purāna, we get Andhakasura who is born from Parvati's sweat after the world is darkened and then born to Hiranyāksha, who does penance and who then gets the boon to be killed only when he lusts after his own Mother. This is also a matrka origin story and resembles the motif from Raktabījā. Which brings us to the Candi demons:"Ebhirhatair jagadupaiti sukham tathaite kurvantu nāma narakāya cirāya pāpamsangrāma mrtyumadhigamya divam prayāntuMatveti nūnamahitān vinihamsi devi" (4.18)For more detailed instructions for how to perform Kālī pūjā, watch this playlist: https://www.patreon.com/collection/233799Lectures happen live every Monday at 7pm PST and Friday 10am PST and again Friday at 6pm PST.Use this link and I will see you there:https://www.zoom.us/j/7028380815For more videos, guided meditations and instruction and for access to our lecture library, visit me at:https://www.patreon.com/yogawithnishTo get in on the discussion and access various spiritual materials, join our Discord here: https://discord.gg/U8zKP8yMrMSupport the show

Loriliai Biernacki is Associate Professor of Religious Studies at the University of Colorado at Boulder. Her research interests include Hinduism, gender, New Materialism, and the interface between religion and science. Her first book, Renowned Goddess of Desire: Women, Sex and Speech in Tantra (2007) won the Kayden Award in 2008. She is co-editor of God's Body: Panentheism across the World's Religious Traditions (2013). Her most recent book is The Matter of Wonder: Abhinavagupta's Panentheism and the New Materialism (2023). In this episode, Loriliai and Jacob spoke about:Artificial intelligence and whether or not AI can become conscious.How Abhinavagupta's work responds to the mind-body problem.What the modern understanding is of matter and how Abhinavagupta's matter is one that includes subjectivity, “I-ness”.How looking at Abhinavagupta's work as “religious” misunderstands the philosophical significance of his ideas.How the deities referenced throughout the Tantrik tradition are a way of understanding the different “voices” or “personalities” of consciousness manifest in our seemingly singular embodiment. The continental and analytic philosophy tradition, and why the continental tradition is a better home for Abhinavagupta.Links mentioned in the episode:CYBER MONDAY! https://enroll.embodiedphilosophy.com/cyber-monday-2024Jacob's Substack, “Into the Void”: jacobkyle.comSādhana School: enroll.embodiedphilosophy.com/sadhana-school-listWisdom School (Free Trial): enroll.embodiedphilosophy.com/wisdom-school

Many people are becoming increasingly familiar with Advaita Vedanta, the classical Non-Duality of Adi Shankaracharya but fewer people are aware that there are indeed other versions of Non-Dual spiritual philosophy and practice. In this video, we do a cursory introduction to my favorite form of Non-Duality: The Tantrik Non-Duality of Abhinava Gupta which is sometimes called The Kaula Trika, the Pratybhijñā Vada (Recognition School) or more commonly, just "Kashmir Shaivism". We start the  lesson by exploring the idea of "Bhairava", in his fierce (ugra) form and also in his more, esoteric formless aspect as pure Non-Dual Consciousness which is the interpretation Abhinava Gupta often has in mind when he uses the term "Bhairava". Then, we explore some of the drawbacks and delusions of Neo-Advaita/Direct Path Teachings and well as some of the difficulties of Bhakti with a reading from the Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna which teaches us how to realize the Formless God!Finally, we take up Verses 10 and 11 from the Non-Dual Tantrik introductory manual, Paramārthasāra of Abhinava Gupta to offer a teaching on the nature of the Highest Reality, the Supreme Principle in Non-Dual Shaivism which you can call Paramaśiva of which I tend to call "Kālī." And here are the Bhairava lectures we mention early in the talk:Secret Mantras for Bhairava and His 8 FormsThe Secret Teaching of BhairavaHow To Pray To Kāla BhairavaHere's the German compound word we mentioned in the lecture: Donau-dampfschiff-fahrts-gesellschaftLectures happen live every Monday at 7pm PST and Friday 10am PST and again Friday at 6pm PST.Use this link and I will see you there:https://www.zoom.us/j/7028380815For more videos, guided meditations and instruction and for access to our lecture library, visit me at:https://www.patreon.com/yogawithnishTo get in on the discussion and access various spiritual materials, join our Discord here: https://discord.gg/U8zKP8yMrMAnd if you feel moved to donate to support me and this work, you're welcome to here:https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/jaimakaliSupport the show

After we did our class on how to worship Bhairava (which you can watch here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/secret-mantras-8-116490016?utm_medium=clipboard_copy&utm_source=copyLink&utm_campaign=postshare_creator&utm_content=join_link) we hopped into this inspired discussion about the deeper meaning of the word "Bhairava" in the context of the subtlest non-dual Tantrik teaching. Then, after exploring a few nuances in the name itself, we then review a profound practice that Bhairava reveals secretly in the Vijñāna-Bhairava, a practice that we are all of us quite familiar with by now but that we can hopefully take up again with fresh perspective as a result of this evening's discussion! भैरव उवाच।Bhairava Uvācaऊर्ध्वे प्राणो ह्यधो जीवो विसर्गात्मा परोच्चरेत्।उत्पत्तिद्वितयस्थाने भरणाद् भरिता स्थितिः॥ २४॥ūrdhve prāṇo hy adho jīvo visargātmā paroccaret |utpatti-dvitaya-sthāne bharaṇād bharitā sthitiḥ: || 24 ||Bhairava said:Goddess Parā (Vāk, the Transcendent-Immanent Goddess) expresses Herself in a visarga as (the transcendence) of exhaling upwards (into spacious dissolution) and (the immanence) of inhaling downwards (into embodiment). Should one fix (one's attention) at the two places of their origin (i.e where the breath emerges), and fill them (with attention), one becomes established in fullness. For more detailed instructions for how to perform Tantrik pūjā, watch this playlist: https://www.patreon.com/collection/233799Lectures happen live every Monday at 7pm PST and Friday 10am PST and again Friday at 6pm PST.Use this link and I will see you there:https://www.zoom.us/j/7028380815For more videos, guided meditations and instruction and for access to our lecture library, visit me at:https://www.patreon.com/yogawithnishTo get in on the discussion and access various spiritual materials, join our Discord here: https://discord.gg/U8zKP8yMrMSupport the show

In this class, we first explore Yogarāja's mangala-śloka (opening verse), in addition to Abhinava Gupta's own mangala-śloka from the profound text, Paramārthasāra which teaches us some of the subtle nuances on Tantrik non-duality in all of its life-affirming, realist glory which of course sets it apart from classical Sāmkhya and also from other forms of non-duality like Advaita Vedanta. We introduce the 5 powers and 5 acts of Awareness, which from as it were two central doctrines in Tantrik Non-Duality and of course, no conversation about this subject can be complete without saying something about the 36 tattva model! So we introduce that briefly by showing Rudhiji's beautiful art work! We close with a discussion about whether or not AI is conscious! This is part of a larger series on the Paramārthasāra of Abhinava Gupta which you can watch here. https://www.patreon.com/collection/106196The class meets live every Friday at 11am PST via this link:https://www.zoom.us/j/7028380815Lectures also  happen live every Monday at 7pm PST and again Friday at 6pm PST, via the same link. For more videos, guided meditations and instruction and for access to our lecture library, visit me at:https://www.patreon.com/yogawithnishTo get in on the discussion and access various spiritual materials, join our Discord here: https://discord.gg/U8zKP8yMrMSupport the show

In this lecture, given on the auspicious ashtami of Jagaddhātri pūjā, I first take a moment to express gratitude for our community, let you in on what's upcoming and also  make an important point about the threefold epistemological model of learning: sat-guru, sat-tarka and sat-āgama! While the Guru is central, the role of the teacher in spiritual life is always checked and balanced against sound reasoning/philosophical understanding which is itself guided and refined through taking recourse to texts, "sat-āgama". I try to make a strong case for the centrality of primary sources (i.e the Sanskrit literature) in Tantrik study to offset the idiosyncrasy of teachers and also the proliferation of new-age nonsense on the internet and renew my commitment to you, our beloved community, to always try to stay close to these primary sources so we just don't spin off and make stuff up on our own! Let us always stay grounded! Also, I talk about how to work with texts like the Paramārthasāra especially with their mangalā-ślokas (opening verses) that can be treated like philosophical bīja mantras to attain not only non-dual awakening but also integration. Integration is the key! Anyone can have an experience. The key is holding and assimilating that experience until it becomes a consistent reality with us. Because I make a strong case for approaching the Formless Non-Dual through God with Form, and because we were discussing dīkshā and bīja mantras and what not, I decided to call this talk "Tantrik Tips for Realizing Non-Duality." But really it is just another installment in our Paramārthsāra series which you can follow along with here:https://www.patreon.com/collection/106196The class meets live every Friday at 11am PST via this link:https://www.zoom.us/j/7028380815Lectures also  happen live every Monday at 7pm PST and again Friday at 6pm PST, via the same link. For more videos, guided meditations and instruction and for access to our lecture library, visit me at:https://www.patreon.com/yogawithnishTo get in on the discussion and access various spiritual materials, join our Discord here: https://discord.gg/U8zKP8yMrMSupport the show

On the 31st of October this year (2024), we will be celebrating Kālī Pūjā. But this Kartika new moon is also Diwali/Dīpāvalī and many will be worshipping Laxmī, who is light embodied! Last week, on this day, we celebrated the Sarat-Pūrnimā, the Autumn Full Moon which is considered to be the most auspicious, most beautiful and most charming of the full moons. Naturally, then, the full moon of autumn (which is in the month of Ashwin, following the Sharada Durgā Pūjā/Navarātri) is associated to the Goddess Laxmī.As such, on the occasion of Laxmī Pūjā last week, and to set you up for the upcoming Dīpāvalī, we gave two lectures on the Goddess in her Tantrik aspect. This first lecture deals with some of the specifics in worshipping Laxmī in a Tantrik context which you can watch here: https://youtu.be/F0jwaTkWfdw and now in the second lecture, we make a few observations about the esoteric aspects of Mā Laxmī as per the Caṇḍi, Srī Vidyā and Daśamahāvidya traditions with a reference to Parā/Sarasvatī from the Trika tradition!Jai Mā Laxmī! For more detailed puja instructions, watch this playlist:https://www.patreon.com/collection/233799Lectures happen live every Monday at 7pm PST and Friday 10am PST and again Friday at 6pm PST.Use this link and I will see you there:https://www.zoom.us/j/7028380815For more videos, guided meditations and instruction and for access to our lecture library, visit me at:https://www.patreon.com/yogawithnishTo get in on the discussion and access various spiritual materials, join our Discord here: https://discord.gg/U8zKP8yMrMSupport the show

Last week, on this day, we celebrated the Sarat-Pūrnimā, the Autumn Full Moon which is considered to be the most auspicious, most beautiful and most charming of the full moons. Naturally, then, the full moon of autumn (which is in the month of Ashwin, following the Sharada Durgā Pūjā/Navarātri) is associated to the Goddess Laxmī. As such, on the occasion of Laxmī Pūjā this year, we gave two lectures on the Goddess in her Tantrik aspect. This first lecture deals with some of the specifics in worshipping Laxmī in a Tantrik context. Inevitably, we also have to talk about wealth and how to attract it, which I imagine is a topic of particular interest to many hahaEnjoy!Jai Mā Laxmī! For more detailed puja instructions, watch this playlist:https://www.patreon.com/collection/233799Lectures happen live every Monday at 7pm PST and Friday 10am PST and again Friday at 6pm PST.Use this link and I will see you there:https://www.zoom.us/j/7028380815For more videos, guided meditations and instruction and for access to our lecture library, visit me at:https://www.patreon.com/yogawithnishTo get in on the discussion and access various spiritual materials, join our Discord here: https://discord.gg/U8zKP8yMrMSupport the show

Many people all over the world are diligently chanting Tantrik mantras and hymns and yet are not getting any results whatsoever. In fact, many people are doing sādhanā, spiritual practice rather consistently and still they find no real progress! Why is that? In this lecture on "How To Succeed At Tantra", we take up this question and offer a few "troubleshooting" solutions to make sādhanā, especially of the Tantrik kind, more meaningful and effective. Naturally, then, we have to talk about what "effective" looks like! So we reflect a bit on the goals and aims of spiritual life. Because I was in a mood (what with Kālī pūjā coming up in 11 days and all) we went on a nice, long tangent on Swami Vivekananda's Bengali poem "And Let Śyāma Dance There", to make the case for Kālī worship as "the worship of the Terrible". For more detailed puja instructions, watch this playlist:https://www.patreon.com/collection/233799Lectures happen live every Monday at 7pm PST and Friday 10am PST and again Friday at 6pm PST.Use this link and I will see you there:https://www.zoom.us/j/7028380815For more videos, guided meditations and instruction and for access to our lecture library, visit me at:https://www.patreon.com/yogawithnishTo get in on the discussion and access various spiritual materials, join our Discord here: https://discord.gg/U8zKP8yMrMSupport the show

Be forewarned: This is quite a powerful mantra so one's experience of it can be quite intense, especially after chanting it in such a sustained way like this. As always, it is better to receive it from a qualified guru in the context of Tantrik initiation, dīkshā and of course, it is always recommended that you practice out of simple devotion and sincerity with no desire to "get something out of the practice" besides knowledge, devotion, renunciation and a connection to Mā!Here's the mantra:ōṃ aiṃ hrīṃ klīṃ chāmuṇḍāyai vichchē ।ōṃ glauṃ huṃ klīṃ jūṃ saḥ jvālaya jvālaya jvala jvala prajvala prajvalaaiṃ hrīṃ klīṃ chāmuṇḍāyai vichchē jvala haṃ saṃ laṃ kṣaṃ phaṭ svāhā ॥ 5 ॥Now you might be familiar with this whole mantra or just a part of it, which is sometimes called the "navarna mantra", the 9-syllable mantra which is very secret and held to be very, very powerful. But you might not be familiar with where this mantra is from! As such, to explain the origins of this much beloved mantra in the Śākta tradition, we reverently go to the Siddha Kuñjika Stotram to explain the context in which this mantra lives. The recitation of the whole Stotram daily is a powerful practice that conveys all the benefits of the daily recitation of the Devī Māhātmyam, the 700 verses devoted to Mā! Jai Mā!Support the show

This week's episode features an archival conversation with Ben Joffe and Katherine Bennett, exploring what it means to practice tantrik sādhanā in today's world. We share personal stories about our journey as scholar-practitioners, discussing how to balance academic rigor with spiritual practice, and how to integrate philosophical study with lived experience. The conversation touches on the critical role of initiation in tantrik traditions, the importance of having a guru, and how these practices have evolved in contemporary contexts. We draw parallels between the historically guarded nature of tantric teachings and the more accessible forms available today, addressing the challenges faced by modern practitioners who want to engage with these spiritual systems in an authentic way.Discover a treasure trove of guided meditations, teachings, and courses at tantrailluminated.org. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The calling card of Tantrik spiritual practice is creative visualization on rich, complex and thoroughly symbolic imagery along with the repetition and chanting of subtle sound patterns or speech formulae known as "mantras." After all, Tantra is a highly aesthetic tradition and it is as much of a literary and artistic movement as it is a spiritual one! If you want to learn more about Tantrik art and spirituality you can check out these two videos here and here. Anyway, the heart of Tantra is connecting to a particular form of Divinity, an aspect of Non-Dual Consciousness, through visualizing that Deity's specific form while chanting the Deity's mantra. Many often wonder: "how does all of this work? What is the inner mechanism behind the process? Is there a psychological explanation for why simply visualizing something and repeating something can induce a full-blown mystical experience? Also, if you are regularly chanting a mantra or something like a kavacam (Tantrik hymn of protection) but  not enjoying the desired effect, we say a few things to  (a) troubleshoot why this might be the case and (b) resolve the issue for better, more meaningful and more effective chanting! Of course, this discussion is centered around the Mahalaxmī-Dhyānam (meditation on the Warrior Laxmī) which we also talked about in the previous podcast episode/ video here.Laxmī pūjā (the upcoming full moon after Sārada Navarātri) is coming up so it's nice to contemplate Mā in this form as much as we can around this time!Jai Mā!For more detailed Kali puja instructions, watch this playlist:https://www.patreon.com/collection/233799Lectures happen live every Monday at 7pm PST and Friday 10am PST and again Friday at 6pm PST.Use this link and I will see you there:https://www.zoom.us/j/7028380815For more videos, guided meditations and instruction and for access to our lecture library, visit me at:https://www.patreon.com/yogawithnishTo get in on the discussion and access various spiritual materials, join our Discord here: https://discord.gg/U8zKP8yMrMSupport the show

The Aṣṭa mātṝkās (the 8 mothers) are so central to Tantrik theory and practice and oh so mysterious! We first meet these 8 fierce, blood drinking, intoxicated Goddesses in the third act of the Devī Māhātmyam! And so, in this lecture, we'll take up that hymn and we'll list them one by one and consider their dhyāna ślokas (meditation mantras) so that we'll be able to visualize them. Of course, we'll discuss how to worship and why you want to worship them! Most importantly though, I want to discuss some very subtle Tantrik linguistic mysticism concerning the nature of the Sanskrit language and how to it maps on to/ mystically explains Reality! Abhinava Gupta has a really interesting section in chapter 3 of his Tantrāloka on this which we discuss a little bit in this lecture. We open with a comparison of Shankara's Kevalādvaita (classical non-duality) system with the Tantrik version of non-duality (Advaita Śaiva or Śāktadvaita Vāda) to compare Māyā to Śakti to make the case that language is the power of Consciousness to reveal Herself to Herself!Devī Kavacam 9-18 1. Cāmundā on corpse2. Vārāhinī on buffal3. Indrānī on elephant4. Vaishnavī on Garuḍa (eagle)5. Narasimhinī mahāvīrya6. Śivaduti mahābalā7. Maheśvarī on a bull8. Kaumarī on a peacock9. Lakṣmī on a lotus, holding lotus flowers10. īsvarī on a bull, wearing white11. Brāhmī with ornaments on a swanAṣṭamodhyāyah (Chapter 8), verses 12-21 describes their origin and appearance and verses 33-63 describes what they do! In  Ekādaśodhyāyah (Chapter 11), verses 13-21, they are praised Kali Yantra (inner lotus petals) BrāhmīVaishnavīMaheśvarīCāmundāKaumarīIndrānīVārāhinīNarasimhinī Srī Cakra (in bhūpura) brāhmī,māhēśvarī,kaumāri,vaiṣṇavī,vārāhī,māhēndrī,chāmuṇḍē,mahālakṣmīSupport the show

First, we take a look at the Caṇḍi (Devī Māhātmyam) to see all the different forms of Mā: 1. Mahākālī from chapter I who is described as being blue like a jewel with ten hands holding various weapons, ten legs and ten heads , 2. Kālī who springs forth from Parvatī in Chapter 5, Verse 88 after the aparājita hymn and of course, 3. Kālī who springs forth from Ambika's furrowed brow, a personification of her rage, in Chapter 7, in verses 7-27 to slay two demons named Caṇḍa and Muṇḍa thereby receiving the moniker Cāmuṇḍā, who is Herself one of the Aṣṭa Mātrikās (The 8 Tantrik Mothers) which you can learn more about here.And then we ask this question:In what way are all these forms of Kālī in the Devī Māhātmyam related if at all? How is Kālī different from Durgā/Ambika? And in what way are these Kālīs different from or the same as 4. Dakṣiṇā Kālī? To answer it, we offer the Tantrik theory of sarvākara nirākara: the Absolute Reality is formless and without attributes and therefore She can include ALL forms and attributes. Ultimately, I make the argument that all these aspectsa and forms that we see in Tantra are not themselves different Goddesses but just different sarees that the One Being, Pure Non-Dual Consciousness, wears to play! For more detailed Kali puja instructions, watch this playlist:https://www.patreon.com/collection/233799Lectures happen live every Monday at 7pm PST and Friday 10am PST and again Friday at 6pm PST.Use this link and I will see you there:https://www.zoom.us/j/7028380815For more videos, guided meditations and instruction and for access to our lecture library, visit me at:https://www.patreon.com/yogawithnishTo get in on the discussion and access various spiritual materials, join our Discord here: https://discord.gg/U8zKP8yMrMSupport the show

On this auspicious day of Lalitā Pañchami, I pray to the Divine Mother Tripurasundarī, the beauty of the three cities (of waking, dreaming and deep sleep), who soaks the states of Consciousness with beauty like oil soaks a cloth, that we may successfully approach Her and have Her vision! Many people want to worship the Srī Cakra/Srī Yantra but are overwhelmed by its stunning complex and sophistication! Where to begin? In this class, we do a brief and cursory introduction for the Khaḍgamālā Stotram, the Garland of Swords Hymn from the Vāmakeśvarī Tantra, arguably among the most powerful Tantrik hymns ever. After the nyāsas (consecration) and dhyānam (meditation), the hymn runs like a nāmavali (a list of names) listing all the deities of the Srī Cakra one by one from the bhūpura (outer gate) through the āvaranas (various levels or "coverings", nine in all including the bhūpura) such that chanting this stotram is itself equivalent to performing the very complex (and often time consuming) Srī Cakra pūjā proper. As you say the names, you can offer flowers or flower petals, vermillion (sindura) or even just spoonfuls of water into the bindu and trust that the energies of the cakra (i.e the cakreśvarīs) will naturally carry the offering to the appropriate point in the cakra corresponding to the name of the Goddess you just chanted so that you don't have to figure out where they all are in the diagram! Of course, this hymn acts as a kind of "gateway drug" to the Srī Cakra pūjā. After we become fluent with the krama (sequence of deities), and after we have become acquainted with the texture of the energies of these deities (and after we've acquired their grace to some extent), we will naturally come into a Srī Vidyā dīkshā and naturally, we will take the next steps if we so desire. But for now, let us chant this stotram with great ardor! Jai Mā Lalitāmbika Devī Ji Ki Jai! You can find the hymn towards the end of this document but it's also quite readily available on the internet.For more detailed Kali puja instructions, watch this playlist.Lectures happen live every Monday at 7pm PST and Friday 10am PST and again Friday at 6pm PST.Use this link and I will see you there.For more videos, guided meditations and instruction and for access to our lecture library, visit me at https://www.patreon.com/yogawithnishTo get in on the discussion and access various spiritual materials, join our Discord here.Support the show

Last week, we went over an abridged ritual worship of the Goddess Kālī with some detail (watch that here) and we also suggested some wonderful resources to help you get started with your pūjā, or Tantrik ritual practice like Swami Bhajanananda Saraswati's "Simple Kali Puja" book which you can find here.Now, we go in with some finer brush strokes! You'll recall that after the worship of Mā Kālī, and right before the worship of Mahākāla Bhairava, in our ritual manual, there's a section on "worshipping the auxiliariy/attendant deities" (āvaranadevatā pūjā). Well, interestingly, this section actually refers to the Kali Yantra, the sacred geometric pattern of Consciousness that corresponds to Kālī and her various emanations! In this class, we talk a little bit about the parivāra (the family of deities) which is a very Tantrik concept and after listing them and offering their worship mantras, we discuss how to map them on to the yantra going from inside out (srsthi krama) for the purposes of your meditation and worship. PS: there are technical difficulties at 00:26:38 forgive me! The internet dropped. The content resumes around 00:33:10The mantras can all be found in written form here.For more detailed puja instructions, watch this playlist.Lectures happen live every Monday at 7pm PST and Friday 10am PST and again Friday at 6pm PST.Use this link and I will see you there:https://www.zoom.us/j/7028380815For more videos, guided meditations and instruction and for access to our lecture library, visit me at:https://www.patreon.com/yogawithnishTo get in on the discussion and access various spiritual materials, join our Discord here: https://discord.gg/U8zKP8yMrMSupport the show

I know the title  sounds new agey and off the wall but only because it is. I intend to discuss cremation ground sadhana a little and present three or four reasons for it, focusing on the concept of “spirit traffic”. This is a bit of a pre-Hallowe'en Hallowe'en talk I suppose!Today will be the last talk of our “summer semester” before we shift gears for the fall!You'll recall the project this summer was to cover some foundational concepts in Sadhana and we started with "How To Get Started In Spiritual Life"  exploring some basics and then we discussed “right motive” in spiritual life and suggested an attitudinal shift that can make for a long term and sustainable sadhana to prevent burnout in "How To Enjoy Spiritual Life"In  Should Worship One Deity or Many, Chant One Mantra or Many? we looked at the underlying reality behind every mantra and deity-form to make the argument for one-ness and to show a way to work with many different mantras and murtis without losing a sense of that one-ness!Then of course we had to take up the question of the all-too-necessary living spiritual guide in How To Choose A Guru & What To Do If You Don't Have OneThen we thoroughly analyzed Tantrik subtle anatomy to explain the dynamics of sadhana, spiritual practice.We explored some basic puja techniques and then we took all of those foundational ideas into the signature lecture of the summer The Secret Worship of Mā Kālī which we gave on Kali Jayanti and which presents a rather complete Sadhana for Mā Kālī.So now that you have everything you need to begin an intense and productive and complete Sadhana, there's only one question left to ask: “how do I stay grounded and not go insane?”Sadly “spinning out into madness” is something that happens far too often to sincere spiritual aspirants who go about things in the wrong way. So today, we'll cover that as a nice closing sentiment for summer semester!Enjoy!Lectures happen live every Monday at 7pm PST and Friday 10am PST and again Friday at 6pm PST.Use this link and I will see you there:https://www.zoom.us/j/7028380815For more videos, guided meditations and instruction and for access to our lecture library, visit me at:https://www.patreon.com/yogawithnishTo get in on the discussion and access various spiritual materials, join our Discord here: https://discord.gg/U8zKP8yMrMSupport the show

In the Tantrik worship of Mā Kālī, after She is worshipped, we then worship Her āvarana devatās, attendant/auxiliary deities which can be each of them conceived of as emanations of Her Being. Among these emanations are the 15 yoginīs, also known as the Nitya-Kālīs, often described as banshee-like dākinī figures that make up her retinue. There is very little on the internet about these yoginīs/dākinīs/nitya-kālī because their worship is rather esoteric and quite guarded. In this lecture, I first make a few broad overarching comments about spiritual life and particularly about how to gauge your progress in spiritual life just so that we can get clear on the goal and the proper motivation behind worshipping Mā in this Tantrik way. Then, we offer a brief description of the 15 Kālīs and what they represent in the context of Tantrik embodiment. Finally, I suggest a simple way to worship these energies in the context of your daily pūjā. Below is their meditation mantra which can also be used to invoke them:ध्यानम्ॐ सर्वाः श्यामा असिकराः मुण्डमालाविभूषिताः।तर्जनीं वामहस्तेन धारयन्त्यः शुचिस्मिताः॥दिगम्बरा हसन्मुख्यः स्व–स्व–भर्तृसमन्विताः। dhyānamoṁ sarvāḥ śyāmā asikarāḥ muṇḍamālāvibhūṣitāḥ।tarjanīṁ vāmahastena dhārayantyaḥ śucismitāḥ॥digambarā hasanmukhyaḥ sva–sva–bhartṛsamanvitāḥ।"They are all black, holding swords, garlanded in heads; they are each holding out their index finger of their left hand and they are all smiling sweetly. They are naked, joyful and filled with the bliss of the self/self-satistified."To offer a flower to the whole group of 15 simply chant:OM ete gandha pushpe kālī devyāmbādi-panca-daśa-yoginībyho namah: or you can offer each one a flower (or a flower petal) individually as follows:OM ete gandha pushpe srī kālī devyāmba srī-pādukam pūjāyami namahOM ete gandha pushpe  srī kapalinī devyāmba srī-pādukam pūjāyami namah OM ete gandha pushpe srī kullā devyāmba srī-pādukam pūjāyami namahOM ete gandha pushpe srī kurukullā devyāmba srī-pādukam pūjāyami namah...etc. Just work your way down the list of names! Notice the mantra is pretty much the same for each offering; it's only the name of the nitya-kālī in question that is changing!  Here are all their names, perhaps published for the first time for the general public on the internet as far as I know:1. Kālī2. Kapālinī3. Kullā4. Kurukullā5. Virodhinī6. Vipracittā7. Ugrā8. Ugraphrabhā9. Dīptā10. Nīlā11.Ghanā12. Balākā13. Mātrā14. Mudrā15. MitāLectures happen live every Monday at 7pm PSTUse this link and I will see you there:https://www.zoom.us/j/7028380815For more videos, guided meditations and instruction and for access to our lecture library, visit me at:https://www.patreon.com/yogawithnishTo get in on the discussion and access various spiritual materials, join our Discord here: https://discord.gg/U8zKP8yMrMSupport the show

On Gaṇeśa Chathurthi, the auspicious day when we worship Gaṇeśa, the elephant headed God who is so beloved by one and one, we gave a talk on the "Tantrik Gaṇeśa", that is to say, on the more esoteric dimensions of the veneration of this Lord of Wild Forces! Gaṇeśa Pañcharatna Stotramमुदाकरात्तमोदकं सदाविमुक्तिसाधकंकलाधरावतंसकं विलासिलोकरञ्जकम् ।अनायकैकनायकं विनाशितेभदैत्यकंनताशुभाशुनाशकं नमामि तं विनायकम् ॥"(Salutations to Ganesh) who holds in his hand the modakam (sweetmeat) representing divine joy who always helps devotees achieve liberation (and that sweetness) who holds the moon as his ornament and who playfully protects the world who has no Lord over himself but is himself the Lord of All and his devotees, protecting them by destroying their demons/bondages. To those who surrender to him, he destroys all inauspiciousness. I salute that Vināyaka and bow to him!"नतेतरातिभीकरं नवोदितार्कभास्वरंनमत्सुरारिनिर्जरं नताधिकापदुद्धरम् ।सुरेश्वरं निधीश्वरं गजेश्वरं गणेश्वरंमहेश्वरं तमाश्रये परात्परं निरन्तरम् ॥१॥He takes a frightening form for those who do not bow down to him and he shines like a freshly risen sun, who is eternal and unchanging, worshipped by Gods and seers, he delivers all those who bow down to him from calamities! He is the Lord of the Gods, the Lord of Wealth, the Lord of Elephants and the Lord of violent forces! He is the Supreme Lord who is Beyond Transcendence in whom I unceasingly take refugeसमस्तलोकशंकरं निरस्तदैत्यकुञ्जरंदरेतरोदरं वरं वरेभवक्त्रमक्षरम् ।कृपाकरं क्षमाकरं मुदाकरं यशस्करंमनस्करं नमस्कृतां नमस्करोमि भास्वरम् ॥२॥He is the auspiciousness of the whole world, who casts out demons, who has a huge belly, who gives boons and whose face represents the Imperishable Reality, who gives grace, forgiveness, joy and glory, the maker of the mind who exaclts those who bow to him! I bow to him!अकिंचनार्तिमार्जनं चिरन्तनोक्तिभाजनंपुरारिपूर्वनन्दनं सुरारिगर्वचर्वणम् ।प्रपञ्चनाशभीषणं धनंजयादिभूषणम्कपोलदानवारणं भजे पुराणवारणम् ॥३॥He easily brushes aside all suffering; he is the receptacle of praises since time immemorial/who is praised by the Immortals! He is the first born son of the enemy of Tripurāsura and he devours the pride of the enemies of the Gods! He himself assumes the terrible form of the devourer of the world, adorning himself with fire and other powers! His cheeks give/are full of the liquor of grace...I praise him with the liqour of the purānas!नितान्तकान्तदन्तकान्तिमन्तकान्तकात्मजंअचिन्त्यरूपमन्तहीनमन्तरायकृन्तनम् ।हृदन्तरे निरन्तरं वसन्तमेव योगिनांतमेकदन्तमेव तं विचिन्तयामि सन्ततम् ॥४॥The exceedingly beautiful, single tusked son of Shiva who puts an end to death, your form is inconceivable, limitless and destroys all divisions/obstacles. You are always present in the cave of the heart of Yogis! Like this, I contemplate the single-tusked one!महागणेशपञ्चरत्नमादरेण योऽन्वहंप्रजल्पति प्रभातके हृदि स्मरन् गणेश्वरम् ।अरोगतामदोषतां सुसाहितीं सुपुत्रतांसमाहितायुरष्टभूतिमभ्युपैति सोऽचिरात् ॥५॥Those who recite these great five jewels of Gaṇeśa, those who chant this contemplation and who remember Gaṇeśa in the heart in the early morning will be free of disease and impurity and will have good company (spouses and children) and will soon get long life and the eight occult powers!Lectures happen live every Monday at 7pm PSTUse this link and I will see you there:https://www.zoom.us/j/7028380815For more videos, guided meditations and instruction and for access to our lecture library, visit me at:https://www.patreon.com/yogawithnishTo get in on the discussion and access various spiritual materials, join our Discord here: https://discord.gg/U8zKP8yMrMSupport the show

A lifelong student of philosophy and comparative religion, a practitioner of Shaiva Tantra in the Shaiva Siddhanta lineage, and recent entrant into the Ramakrishna lineage by his guru, Swami Sarvadevananda Puri, Nishanth Selvalingam shares an authentic, firsthand approach to the Sanskrit texts of the Tantrik scriptural tradition to expose audiences to the profoundly positive and transformative philosophies and practices that this tradition offers. Nishanth Selvalingam graduated from UCLA with a B.A. in Philosophy in 2024 and now lives in Westwood, Los Angeles where he hosts satsanghs with his wife, coaches middle school debate and lectures incessantly on all things Tantra and Non-Duality. Website: nishyoga.com Discussion of this interview in the BatGap Community Facebook Group Interview recorded August 18, 2024