For the Love of Yoga with Nish the Fish

Here is a particularly inspired and lively discussion from our Atlanta retreat in which we sketch out the Sāmkhya, Yoga & Śaiva Siddhānta traditions & thus, prepare the foundations for understanding Non-Dual Śaiva/Śākta tantra, in both theory and practice, in a much deeper way.By Ma's grace, this talk turned out to be all at once a good introduction for absolute beginners, a helpful review for intermediate practitioners/students and a subtle, direct path teaching on the higher dimensions of Śrī Vidyā for the seasoned! You can watch the video version here on the Vedanta Atlanta YouTube page, along with the other talks from this retreat!Support the showLectures 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/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/U8zKP8yMrM

Some years back, we gave a talk called "Can Atheist Be Spiritual?" (alas its gone now since the YouTube ban of 2025!) Anyway, there, I presented some non-theistic traditions like Advaita Vedanta, Buddhism, Jainism and of course, Sāmkhya to show how Indian spirituality is inclusive to all spiritual dispositions. i.e: you don't have to believe in "God" to make spiritual progress! In that talk, we also pointed out how the atheistic position is important for theists too since we must first reject the God of dogma, i.e the God of Religion, before we can move towards the God of Realization, the Living God. Now, a few years later, in this talk, we take a slightly different approach: understanding that the bhūpura is as much the cakra as the Bindu, I try to construct a non-dual, spiritually edifying view using the basic premises of scientific materialism. My claim here is that if we are to be honest materialists, we would be fully realized actually since this too, is a valid way like any other for realizing Mā!Support the showLectures 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/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/U8zKP8yMrM

Dive into an inspiring discussion where Nishanth explores the profound principles of pūjā and Tāntrik philosophy. He highlights the role of the pujari as a crucial intermediary in worship and illustrates how sacred places amplify spiritual encounters. Nishanth contemplates the transformative power of saints and introduces the unique interpretation of worshiping Lalita/Shodhashi as the most inclusive deity. The conversation blends intellect and devotion, emphasizing the importance of mature spirituality in connecting with the divine.

Dive into an exploration of Ramakrishna's teachings on love as the essence of life. Discover how love transcends mere liberation and fosters heroism. Nishanth shares insights on embracing the world joyfully, viewing it as God's manifestation. He provocatively contrasts compassion with a profound devotional love, advocating a life sparked by playfulness. The discussion ranges from a whimsical theology of a free Divine to the enriching experience of suffering. Join in for a vibrant theological journey that celebrates love and life in all its forms!

Spiritual life is unbelievably simple. It is essentially all about single-pointed, sincere, intense love for God, by whatever name you want to call Her! It's about obsessions and absorption, about losing yourself in love for that which is most love-able, Love Itself. It's all about just choosing one Ideal and like a moth into flame, plunging recklessly into it! It should be fun! It should always be fun. It's the most fun! But, part of the fun is that we tend to make things very complicated for ourselves! Especially given how maximalist the Tāntrik tradition can be with all of its concepts, tools and techniques, we tend to ask somewhat unimportant questions and focus on peripheral, non-essential, and often unhelpful priorities. There is a great temptation and proclivity in Tantra to overcomplicate. As such, the so-called left hand path of Tantra (Kaulamārga, Vāmācāra etc.) has always emphasized intensity and sincerity over rules and purity, force and feeling over form and finesseecstasy of feeling over technicality and thought! Let's fucking lose our heads and go crazy for Mā already! What the fuck are you waiting for? The world is mad! Let the dead bury their dead. Fuck 'em. Lets go dance mad with joy in the smaśāna with our friends, the ghosts and drink deep the liquor of devotion! Here are the 3 simple, direct, no-nonsense, single-syllable mantras to do just that! ^ Jai fucking Mā! Support the showLectures 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/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/U8zKP8yMrM

These past few weeks, we've been discussing some slightly more esoteric ideas including the ethos and strategy around Vāmācāra, the often misunderstood and misrepresented "left-hand path" of Tantra. Since it's the Gregorian new year, and since we're just about to roll out some Vāmācāra stuff in both practice and theory, in the light of Śrī Ramakrishna I thought it'd be good to start with this discussion from the Kāmakalā Vilāsa, an important Sri Vidya text in which we learn the bīja mantra which is, arguably, the foundational bīja for all śakti vidyās. We both present the bija as well as some exegesis on how it represents the entire universe, which is entirely reflected non-differently in the mirror of Consciousness, which is my very own Self, all for the sake of play. You'll find all of our other lectures on Vāmācāra here, in this rapidly growing playlist! Happy Gregorian New Year! May every moment be new for you!Support the showLectures 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/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/U8zKP8yMrM

Recently, we've been having some fascinating discussions around Sārada Devī = Jaggadhātri = Ṣoḍaśī in order to understand the deep mystery of the pūjā that Śrī Rāmakrsna performed to Her on the Phalahārinī Kālī Pūjā new moon! Because the worship of the woman's body is considered to be the culminating practice in the Kaula mārga (as per its characterization in Abhinavagupta's Chapter 29 from Tantrāloka), we reflected a little bit on the Kaula (I.e left hand path) elements in Thakur and Holy Mother, especially with reference to elements in Her dhyāna mantra from last week's How To Meditate on the Tāntrik Goddess | Śrī Sāradā Devī Dhyāna Mantra lecture. In this class, we explore Holy Mother's avatarahood (to make the exciting claim that we have our female Avatāra in Her) and also the significance of this Shodaśī-pūjā, aforementioned. We continue to point out some Kaula or Vāmā mārga elements in Holy Mother's life and teaching!You'll find all our talks on Holy Mother over the years in this playlist. Support the showLectures 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/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/U8zKP8yMrM

When we don't have honest and open discussions, with close scriptural and lineage citation when it comes to the more esoteric dimensions of our tradition and heritage as śaivas, it allows for so much superstition! Now, many are under the impression that Vāmāchāra is nothing more than hedonism masquerading as spiritual practice! What Vāmāchāra is or isn't is surely not up to any one lineage to define but at the very least we can say: it is surely a lot more than just offering transgressive items like meat and wine! In this video, I argue that Vāmācāra/Kaulācāra is about bhāva, an inner disposition of fearlessness and intensity of devotion! While its true that almost all of our talks are given from a Kaula point of view anyway such that a playlist would be superfluous here, I thought it might still be helpful to have some of the more specific, focused and directed lectures on the more left leaning ideas and practices of our tradition all in one place for you! So here is a playlist for all our Vāmāchāracontent ! Support the showLectures 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/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/U8zKP8yMrM

In this exceedingly beautiful discussion we did last week as an offering to Holy Mother for Her Jayanti, he say a few things about how Tāntrik meditation and practice works in general (with reference to some of its unique, aesthetically rich features) and then based on this understanding, we translate and unpack the dhyāna-mantra, meditation/visualization mantra of Holy Mother Sārada Devī and in so doing, we explore many very esoteric Tāntrik concepts encoded in the verses of this hymn! The mantras are reproduced below and all our talks on Holy Mother over the years are in this playlist. dhyānamoṁ dhyāyeccittasarojasthāṁ sukhāsīnāṁ kṛpāmayīm। prasannavadanāṁ devīṁ dvibhūjāṁ sthiralocanām॥ālulāyitakeśārdhavakṣaḥsthalavimaṇḍitām। śvetavastrāvṛtārdhāṅgāṁ hemālaṅkārabhūṣitām॥ svakroḍanyastahastāṁ ca jñānabhaktipradāyinīm। śubhrāṁ jyotirmayīṁ jīvapāpasantāpahāriṇīm॥ rāmakṛṣṇagataprāṇāṁ tannāmaśravaṇapriyām।tadbhāvarañjitākārāṁ jaganmātṛsvarūpiṇīm॥jānakīrādhikārūpadhāriṇīṁ sarvamaṅgalām।cinmayīṁ varadāṁ nityāṁ sāradāṁ mokṣadāyinīm॥snehamayīṁ śivāṁ śāntāṁ bhuktimuktipradāyinīm।sarvajīvatrāṇakartrīṁ sāradāṁ jñānadāyinīm॥One should meditate on She who abides in the lotus of the mind, sitting easefully, filled with compassion and with a serene face, the two armed Goddess with steady eyes, Her long flowing hair adorning half Her bosom with half Her body clothed in white garments, adorned with golden ornaments, Her hands placed in Her own lap and bestowing knowledge and devotion, She is radiant light, the Destroyer of ignorance and suffering in human beings, whose every breath flows to Ramakrishna, who delights in the hearing of His name, Her form saturated with the ecstatic mood of absorption in Him, She is the Mother of the whole world! She is all-auspicious One who becomes Rādhā and Sītā, She is the Eternal Sārada, Sarasvatī, the giver of boons and liberation! Full of love, auspicious and peaceful, She is Sāradā, the bestower of enjoyment, knowledge and liberation, the protector of all beings!dhyāyed hṛdambuje devīṁ taruṇāruṇavigrahām।varābhayakarāṁ śāntāṁ smitotphullamukhāmbujām॥sthalapadmapratīkāśa-pādāmbhoja-suśobhanām।śuklāmbaradharāṁ dhīrāṁ lajjāpaṭavibhūṣitām॥prasannāṁ dharmakāmārthamokṣadāṁ viśvamaṅgalām।svanāthavāmabhāgasthāṁ bhaktānugrahakāriṇīm॥One should meditate upon the Goddess in the lotus of the heart. She has a youthful, red form, her hands showing the boon-giving and fear removal gestures. She is peaceful and upon her lotus-like face blooms a smile! Her feet are like radiant lotus flowers upon the earth, clad in white garments, steady, She is adorned with the veil of mystery! She is gracious and grants the four goals of life: dharma, pleasure, wealth and liberation! She is embodied as this auspicious universe (She is the auspiciousness in all things auspicious), seated to the left of Her lord (established in the yoni), bestowing grace upon devotees! gāyatrī – oṁ hrīṁ sāradāyai vidmahe viśvajananyai dhīmahitanno mātā pracodayāt oṁ।Support the showLectures 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/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/U8zKP8yMrM

One of the distinctive features of Kālī pūjā is animal sacrifice. But you know, this is only practice for a much greater sacrifice: the killing of the paśu, that is, one's own sense of limited self. Notice how Sri Ramakrishna used the same sword that is reserved for the goat sacrifice to offer Mā Kālī his own head (the best form of Nara Bali, human sacrifice) and also how later in his sādhana, he used a subtle, internal sword to cut even his beloved Kālī in half, to discover Her formless aspect? This krama (process) of killing the literal, external animal, then killing the "paśu" (the animal within) and then finally even killing Mā as the "other" or "object of devotion" (in order to recognize Her as the Self) are the three stages of Tāntrik sādhana that I hope to explore with you a little bit in this talk.You see, to become Śiva you must first kill Brahmā as per the foundational Puranic story of the beheading of Brahmā and the transformation of Śiva into Bhairava, the Kāpālika par excellence. This narrative arc is the age old process of going beyond religion to spirituality, from externalized institutions to the interiority of genuine mysticism. Its at its core a story about transcending the rules and regulations (and above all, externally and societally informed purity codes of the Vedācāra all of which at one point can be spirituality productive but eventually become obstacles to intimacy, to true interiorization. And to get to Mā you have to then kill Śiva! Otherwise, on what corpse will Mā dance? We gave this talk a day or two after the Śyāma-Kālī pūjā and clearly we're in some kind of bhåva because this might be one of our more controversial, yet most honest and if I may say so, most inspired  discussions we've had in a while: Khadganāthāya namah! Śīghram! Śīgrham! Kuru Kuru Svāhā!Mā, idam māmsa ca raktam! Mā, esha sa-pradīpa śirsha! Rudhirapriye, Balipriye, Grhna imam! Grhna imam! Prasīda, prasĩda! Siddhi me bhavatu, Devī Tvat prasādān, Vameśvarī!Salutations to the performer of the animal sacrifice!Quickly! Quickly! Do it, quickly! May it be an offering!O Mā, here is some meat! Here is some blood! Here is the severed head with the burning lamp!O You who are fond of blood and sacrifice,Come! Come and take this and be pleased, Mother!Grant us power and perfection, O Goddess of the Left, By Your grace alone is anything possible. MāLead us from religion to spiritualityFrom externalized institutions to the interiority of genuine mysticism From purity to powerFrom morality to freedom From the periphery to the centre!Support the showLectures 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/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/U8zKP8yMrM