For the Love of Yoga with Nish the Fish

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 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 we gave a talk on Divine Madness in Why is Kālī Crazy?  where we looked at the fervor that comes upon the devotee when she is truly in love with God. Now, in this short talk, we present a portrait of that Divine Madness in the form of Swami Vivekananda specifically with regard to his 1896 letter to "Frankincense", one of my favorites!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 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

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 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

Religion is only for the strong! No weakling can realize God! Some time ago, we gave the lecture called "Do I Have To Be Vegetarian To Practice Spirituality"  based on some of the remarks Swami Vivekananda makes in his Bhakti Yoga book, in chapter 10 called "Methods and Means". In this chapter, Swamiji takes up the question of ethics and diet in the practice of spirituality. In this lecture, we pick up the threads of that aforementioned discussion to make the point that only rule in religious life is "keep with you that which makes you strong; disregard that which disempowers you." Whatever diet and whatever ethical code strengthens you, that is the right thing to do. And whatever diet or moral code disempowers you, however "holy" society says it is, throw that away! But of course, first we have to ask the question: "what exactly is strength?" 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 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

Those who are very serious about spiritual life will find that from time to time, they get a reaction from doing too many spiritual practices. Usually it's the case that when we clean out the mind with mantra, meditation etc. all sorts of repressed complexes come out to be reviewed, compassionately digested and dissolved. So it's only natural that as we practice, we can feel like we are regressing because of all this stuff that comes up when in truth, that's precisely what's supposed to happen! But also, in other cases, it really is possible to do too much, too soon like lifting weights that are too heavy for us in the gym. Because the practices of Tantra are very powerful and because they can have such a profound effect on the body, on the nervous system, on the hormonal system and on the psyche, we must ensure our practice proceeds systematically and sensible, so that we may avoid a reaction or backlash. In this short piece, we provide 3 keys ways (by no means an exhaustive list) for avoiding spiritual burnout: 1. Practice consistently and intensify your practice gradually and slowly over a period of time.2. Diversify your practice with the four yogas. 3. Exercise, eat well and sleep well. But perhaps best of all: practice Hatha yoga regularly to prepare the nerves for the shock of spiritual realization!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 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 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

Swami Vivekananda's Message on Individuality in Spirituality: when a seed is planted, it is nourished by soil, sun, air, light and rain. And yet the seed does not "become" soil, or sun, or air, or light or rain. The seed becomes a plant, growing according to its own sva-dharma, its own unique law of growth. Similarly, while the seed of spiritual aspiration is nourished by the the various "isms" of the world: Hinduism, Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Taoism etc., the point is not to "become" a Hindu or a Christian or a Muslim or a Taoist or what have you! The point is to be free and realized! Books, dogmas, rituals, forms...these are the kindergarten of religion, necessary tools for the "coming up" of the burgeoning saint but they are but secondary details. As such, there should be as many sects as there are people; each person ought to be a religion unto themselves!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 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 talk, we give a comprehensive overview of the Path of Devotion:00:00:00 How Bhakti Yoga Works: Vaidhi Bhakti (Devotion with Rules) vs Para Bhakti (Ecstatic Love)00:04:30 The full moon of Bhakti, the scorching sun of Jñāna 00:05:47 An outline of  Swami Vivekananda's "Bhakti Yoga":00:07:10 The definition of Bhakti: " the genuine and earnest quest for God that begins in Love, continues in Love and ends in Love." 00:10:30 The philosophy of Ishvara: the formless pure non-dual Consciousness (Impersonal Absolute), which is the ideal of Jñāna and Buddhism, is exactly the same as the form of God with qualities (Personal God), which is the ideal Bhakti. 00:13:20 Swami Vivekananda's definition of God: unfathomable love. God is Love itself, i.e L.O.V.E Personified. 00:15:00  Bhakti is about realization and for this we need a guru to transmit the wordless, invisible "quickening impulse"00:16:30 Qualifications for aspirants: what kind of a student is required? Pining, patience and perseverance! 00:17:35 Qualifications for teachers: grounded in the spirit of the scriptures, pure in character and teaching for the right reasons (not for material profit)00:19:10 The role of the Avatar in Bhakti Yoga in providing a concrete form for the mind to focus on in Devotion 00:26:03 How mantras work in Devotion (and the meaning of OM) 00:30:34 Technical Difficulties!00:31:32 Technical Difficulties ends...00:34:00 Invocation of Swamiji00:34:23 The Worship of Substitutes and Images (and why its so important)00:47:30 How this idea leads to the Harmony of All Religions 00:49:17 Ishta Nishta, Steadfast Devotion to the Chosen Ideal: while all forms are equally Brahman, we should choose one and dive deep into It without hating any other forms 00:53:19 depth vs breadth in spiritual life 01:02:22 worshipping all deities through your Ishta and worshipping your Ishta through all deities 01:08:00 How to practice Bhakti Yoga, the path of Devotion: the methods and theSupport 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

Today, on the 12th of January, we are celebrating India's National Youth Day, to commemorate the birth day by Gregorian Calendar of Swami Vivekananda, who was born on the 12th of January 1863. Of course, in the Hindu tradition, we celebrate birthdays by tithi, that is, by moon day so this year (2025), Swami Vivekananda's birthday will be celebrated in earnest on Monday, the 20th of January. But nevertheless, to commemorate this very auspicious day and to get us all revved up for Swamiji Puja that's coming up, I thought I would read you a few excerpts from letters from American disciples describing what it was like to be with the Swami in New York and at the Thousand Islands Park retreat, which was when the Swami was allegedly at his finest. Over the next few days, I will be unleashing a slew of "Vivekananda content" here  so brace yourselves! May my entire breath and being be offered to the Swami's work and mission. I stand ever ready to lay down life and limb for his message!Ever yours in Vivekananda,NishanthFor 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 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 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 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