For the Love of Yoga with Nish the Fish

On the 8th day of the waning moon in the Vedic calendar month of Mrgaśirsha, we celebrate the birth anniversary of Holy Mother Sārada Devī. This an exceedingly auspicious a day for our lineage especially if not also for all worshippers of the Divine Mother everywhere in every lineage. It is a special day for everyone, actually, because today, we celebrate the "avatarahood" of the Divine Mother Herself! In 2023, we gave the talk The Tantra of Holy Mother Sarada Devi exploring Holy Mother's central teaching, "don't find fault with others/no one is a stranger to you/the world is your very own": we tried our best there to point out the non-dual teaching embedded in this seemingly innocuous, but actually theologically dense, teaching. Then, we asked Who is Holy Mother Sārada Devī? in 2024. With the disclaimer that स्वरूपं त्वदीयं न विन्दन्ति देवाः, "even the gods do not understand her true nature", we tried to sketch out a brief biography of this mysterious avatāra of Mā. Also, I thought it would be helpful to contemplate Holy Mother both as the ideal student as well as the Guru in Sārada Devī as Tantrik Guru. In this talk we encounter her emphasis on japa, that is, the recitation of the holy name as the centerpiece of spiritual practice. This year, I thought we'd do something a little more esoteric: let's explore the link between Holy Mother and various forms of the Tāntrik Goddess, with a special emphasis on the red-hued Jaggadhātī (who is very likely Holy Mother's ishta besides Ramakrishna and certainly her kula-devī, family deity) and the red-hued Lalitā Mahātripurasundarī (or Ṣoḍaśī).We also make a few etymological claims also about Her name and about Sāradā as the patron deity of Kashmir and also Adi Shankara's Śrī Vidyā stronghold in the south: Sringeri Math. You'll find all of our talks on Holy Mother all in one place here. Today is also the Feast Day of the Lady of Guadalupe! Last year, we gave a lecture called Kālī = The Lady of Guadalupecomparing the two! It is to this day one of my favorite talks ever! But ultimately, what can we say about She who becomes the very words we use to praise Her? Who can praise Her here? By Her power Brahma, Vishnu and I have taken our embodied forms! Who then can truly praise You, You who are prior to all of us? And yet, futile though it may be, here is our attempt to try to fit the ocean of your limitless Being into the teacup of our limited understanding! May all these clumsy words be like so many hibiscus flowers placed one by one at Your lotus feet in worship! 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

I'm just so thrilled about all the new Kālī content we've been putting out this past month, in the days leading up to Śyåma Kālī Pūjā, and the weeks after: First, in How To Get Possesed By Kālī we carefully explained what it is to be a paśu or anu, a discreet unit of consciousness (i.e an embodied soul or jīva) and then carefully pointed out why the ānavopaya is so suited for most of us, despite our pretense at high-flying non-dual philosophies! The ānavopaya assumes duality, individuality and the separate, external existence of God that can be invoked, evoked and experienced in the vigraha (image). We discussed how the goal of ānavopaya is a kind of immersion in the Goddess through worship and other techniques that can very well be understood as a kind of "possession" (aveśa) experience. Then, having explained all of that, we presented you with How To Get Started With Kālī Worship and also Who Is Kali? | & A Ritual to Invoke Her to kickstart your practice and for more seasoned practitioners, we even went over a A Left Hand Path Ritual for Kālī having given some nuance and context for it in Introducing The Left Hand Worship of KālīAnd for whatever reason if you're somehow not convinced about the power and importance of ritual worship in your spiritual life (because you're attached to some notion of non-duality or something, for instance), we make a case for it in The Essence of Tantra | & Why You Should Learn Pūjā. I think it's neat also that you can watch a demo of the whole pūjā (in an albeit abbreviated form) in Śyāmā Kālī Pūjā 2025. Of course, lectures like How To Say Grounded & Reasonable In Kālī Pūjā and The Two Extremes of Kālī Worshipadd further theoretical nuance to the very practice-oriented, anavopaya-esque discussions aforementioned and I am particularly fond of this year's Hallowe'en special Vampires, Kali and Christ | A Hallowe'en Special which was about yoginīs and what not but also touched upon some pretty deep themes regarding free will vs determinism ("my" will vs. "God's" will that is and if they can even be distinguished!).Anyway, in this class, I point out some distinctive features in Kālī pūjā like the ghost worship, jackal worship, cremation ground sacrifices, the transgressive offerings and animal/human sacrifice that give this pūjā and the Deity to whom it is offered its unique flavor! Jai Śrī Rādha-Rānī Ki Jai!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

We gave this talk around the time of the Śyāmā Kālī Pūjā last month and now here is the recording as a present to celebrate this Scorpio New Moon! May it be an offering to each of you who are each living incarnations of the Goddess we worship! You'll find all our classes on Kālī pūjā guiding you in a step by step, mantra by mantra ritual here. Jai 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

After we performed our Śyāmā Kālī Pūjā this year (which you can watch here), we took up a short, concise but I think quite concentrated discussion on how image worship, the danger of superimposing our projections unto Kālī & the check and balance of taking seriously what Her saints have had to say about Her through their own mystical experiences throughout history. Most importantly, we point to the two "extreme" ends of the spectrum when it comes to Kālī devotees and we propose a sort of synthesis of these two, that I pray, will lead to a deeper felt sense of the inscrutability and immediacy of Mā Kālī's unfathomable, all-pervasive wild power! (We recap some material from the How To Say Grounded & Reasonable In Kālī Pūjā lecture also to renew our commitment to śāstra, lineage, and accountable, honest and reasonable spiritual instruction. 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

Before we plunged into the fervor of Śyāma Kālī Pūjā, we paused to reflect on an important question that Sandhyā Devī astutely asked one morning which was more or less along the lines of "how can we verify the truth claims of the tradition"? "how do we stay sane, grounded & reasonable while practicing a somewhat radical form of Tantra?" "how do we know that our spiritual experiences are legitimate and not a function of delusion or egoic thinking?" (I paraphrase). Essentially, before participating fully in something, we have to ask if there are checks and balances inherent in the tradition to keep the narratives and the individuals who represent them grounded and accountable. And the tradition replies resoundingly in the affirmative! In this somewhat foundational and important discussion, we explore what some of these checks and balances might be and how we might access and benefit from them to stay sane, grounded, reasonable and safe even as we plunge recklessly into the fire of devotion like intoxicated moths! 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 time ago on the 11th of September, we gave this talk on the very heart of our tradition and practice. September 11th in 1893 was the day Swami Vivekananda opened his transmission to the West (and the the world at large) at the Parliament of World Religions so for us it is a very sacred day when we commemorate the "turning of the wheel of dharma" yet again! Strangely, I haven't uploaded this talk until now. It felt fitting to do so since as I type this, we are in the midst of the vrśchika sankranti, that is, the sun's transition from the solar house of tulā (libra) and into vrśchika (scorpio) as per the Vedic system. Moments like this are considered incredibly auspicious for spiritual practice. There's also a flavor of a new beginning, of turning over a new page. As such, it is important to return to the fundamentals at a time like so there couldn't be a better moment for this video, I realize! In this talk, we describe Sri Ramakrishna's approach to Tāntrik spiritual practice which is really, at its core, the sincere and fervent performance of ritual worship, pūjā. If as a result of this talk, you're inspired to take up a dedicated pūjā practice, here is our playlist for step by step, mantra by mantra instruction for pūjā. May all be flame with awakened Consciousness! Jai 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

One of my favorite lectures of all time. We inquire into some "scary" themes in spiritual life like the potential difference between my will and God's will, as it is understood across various traditions with an emphasis on the life-affirming, immanence-oriented and desire-positive view of the Goddess traditions. We make a few remarks about why vampires as such a good metaphor for Tantrik spirituality and point out how the theme of vampirism appears in our tradition in the form Dākinīs and Yoginīs, Mā's fierce fanged, bloodthirsty attendants! We discuss Dākinī pūjā towards the end. 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

The best way to start is to just start. Here's everything you need and more.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 conversation about the mechanism of image-worship and the subtler (and more radical) aspects of the Tāntrik worship tradition, we carefully explain what it is to be a paśu or anu, a discreet unit of consciousness (i.e an embodied soul or jīva) and then carefully point out why the ānavopaya is so suited for most of us, despite our pretense at high-flying non-dual philosophies! The ānavopaya assumes duality, individuality and the separate, external existence of God that can be invoked, evoked and experienced in the vigraha (image). We discuss how the goal of ānavopaya is a kind of immersion in the Goddess through worship and other techniques that can very well be understood as a kind of "possession" (aveśa) experience. Jai 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

One of the most important ideas in Tantra (and often one of the most misunderstood and most difficult to discuss) is Kuṇḍalinī! What exactly is this "serpent power", as Arthur Avalonji once called it? Specifically in this talk, we relate Kuṇḍalinī to Kālī to show her centrality in the Kaula tradition of Tantra! Finally, based on this reflection, we discuss the quintessential Kaula ritual, the "Ādi Yāga" which features in Chapter 29 of Abhinava Gupta's Tantrāloka. You'll find all of our talks on foundational Tāntrik concepts hereSupport 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