For the Love of Yoga with Nish the Fish Mā Kālī & Tantrik Puja | Swami Bhajanananda Saraswati
In this special satsangh, we host our mentor and dear friend Pujya Swami Bhajanananda Saraswati of the Kali Mandir, the foremost authority here on the West Coast and perhaps in the world on all things Kali, Tantra and Puja.
Some years ago, I asked Pujya Swami Bhajanananda Saraswati at the Kali Mandir in Laguna a beach: “why is it that some people say worshipping Kālī is dangerous?” He said in his characteristic warmth and humor something to the effect of: “worshipping Kali is like mac and cheese. I love Mac and cheese. But if some people eat it, they’ll die!”
We laughed for a little while and then he proceeded to carefully point out the differences between a Bhakti practice and a properly Tantrik one in approaching Mā.
I tell you this story to give you some sense of what kind of teacher Swami Bhajanandaji is: indescribably profound and yet simple, grounded, direct and honest; seriously funny; academically rigorous yet supremely practical…ah how rare is such a person in this world!
Most importantly, he is an expert ritualist and so is uniquely able to transmit the Tantras from within the tradition.
And now we have the wonderful good fortune of grilling him with questions! Hearing from him is an opportunity that no sincere student of our āgamas would ever want to miss!
In a world where the principle Goddesses of the Tantras like Kālī and Tripura Sundarī have moved into a broader devotional context and have attracted a wider audience who for the most part are befuddled by the twilight language of the primary texts, confounded by misinformation and mischief on the internet and bored by the dry academic speculations of secondary sources who take the philosophies out of their original ritual context, Swamis Bhajananandaji and Ambikanandaji and Usha Devī’s Kali Mandir are guiding lights of inestimable value.
Usha Devī and Swamis Bhajanandaji and Ambikanandaji have been our teachers and dear friends for years now and if ever I have imparted to you any cool Tantrik secrets, I probably got it from them!
Check out their work at the Kali Mandir, a temple of the awakened Kali here:
https://www.kalimandir.org/
Lectures happen live on zoom every Monday at 7pm PST and Friday 10am PST and Friday at 6pm PST. There's Q&A right after the lectures.
It is free and open to the public. All are welcome!
Use this link and I will see you there:
https://www.zoom.us/j/7028380815
For more videos, guided meditations and instruction and for access to our lecture library, visit me at:
https://www.patreon.com/yogawithnish
To get in on the discussion and access various spiritual materials, join our Discord here: https://discord.gg/U8zKP8yMrM
Lectures happen live every Monday at 7pm PST and again at Friday 11am PST
Use this link and I will see you there:
https://www.zoom.us/j/7028380815
For more videos, guided meditations and instruction and for access to our lecture library, visit me at:
https://www.patreon.com/yogawithnish
To get in on the discussion and access various spiritual materials, join our Discord here: https://discord.gg/U8zKP8yMrM