For the Love of Yoga with Nish the Fish

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 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

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 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

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 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

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 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

Navarātri is never quite complete until we all get together and chant the Mahiṣāsura-Mardinī Stotram! This hymn is sometimes attributed to Adi Shankarācharya (as many, many hymns in the Sanskrit tradition tend to be) but it is also sometimes attributed to Rāvana, the antagonist of the Ramāyana! I like the second account much better for reasons I get into in the beginning of this discussion! After discussing the "bhāva" of this song (and making a case for "rajas in the service of sattva" while we're at it), we discuss Rāga Bhairava and some music theory before taking a stab and singing the hymn together. I made many, many mistakes and my rendition: I hope you can forgive me! Also, I made a mistake in saying Raga Bhairavi is a "night time rāga". Actually it's considered the "queen of the morning rāgas" but since I worship Mā usually at night and since I hear it most around then and also since it is sometimes used to close out a musical performance (which for me usually ends at night), I somehow made the association between this Rāga and the nighttime. Whoops, pardon the misinformation!All my mistakes are entirely mine and everything that I have said that is helpful is by the Grace of Guru! Jai Guru Kripa Ki Jai!For more detailed Kali puja instructions, watch this playlist:https://www.patreon.com/collection/233799Here's the chanting document:https://docs.google.com/document/d/1N1pEDmWZWdJq5Q27dGiZb9DQFrr1Ouq2FC85jIwQ66c/edit?usp=sharingLectures 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

On Navami last week, for our final online Navarātri celebration, we chanted one māla of the siddha-kunjika mantra together, which as it says in the Rudra-Yāmala Tantra is itself equivalent to chanting the whole Caṇḍi! 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. 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 ॥Then, of course, we plunge into some kirtan! To sing and clap and celebrate God is Sri Ramakrishna's preferred prescription for worldliness! Kirtan begins at 00:48:45 with the first and third hymns of the Caṇḍi, Shiva kirtan begins around 1:08:30 and at 1:17:10 Eliotji leads us in the Kāmākhya Ārati centered around the daśa-mahāvidyas:Namo Kāmākhya Namo Kāmākhya Jaya Jaya Māta Namo KāmākhyaŚakti-pīṭha Namo Namah, Ādi Śakti Namo NamahMāta Kālika Namo Namah, Tāra Mā Namo NamahTripura-Sundarī Namo Namah, Bhūvaneśvarī Namo NamahChinnamastaka Namo Namah, Māta Bhairavī Namo Namah Dhūmavatī Mā Namo Namah, Bagalāmukhī Mā Namo NamahMātangī Mā Namo Namah, Kāmalātmika Namo Namah Also, forgive me for the very sludgy and distorted sound of the guitar . When I was playing in punk bands, that was exactly the kind of tone I wanted but for this video, it sounds very muddy! I think the gain is on too high on the microphone! I'll do a soundcheck next time :'( And also, the video quality is kind of wonky so if you'd prefer just an audio version of all of this to chant along to, I've attached the audio-file with this post! Special thanks to Danielji and Eliotji for the percussions and thank you to all who came online and in person to celebrate Mā on Navami! 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

Whenever we think of the Goddess Durgā, the image that almost invariable comes to mind is of Her standing on her lion of Dharma with Her right foot, stepping on a buffalo with Her left foot and, spear in hand, stabbing the mustachioed villain-turned-devotee through the heart, an otherworldly smile on Her beautiful face. This image of Mā is called Mahiṣāsura-mardinī (The Slayer of the Buffalo Demon) and it is the central story of the Devī Māhātmyam in the sense that it is (a) literally, in the middle of the text, the "Madhya carita" and (b) most commonly referenced in Śākta literature and iconography. There is just something so very compelling and so very ancient about this image! We see parallels in the image of Archangel Michael stepping on the head of the serpent with sword or spear in hand. What exactly is being depicted here?In this video, we chant Chapters 2-4 of the Devī Māhātmyam to enter into the gory and lurid story in which this scene appears. As we chant and read out the translations from Swami Jagadishwaranandaji, we also offer some commentary and explanation exploring the deeper, subtler meanings of the narrative. This was arguably the "main event" in our celebration together online!In the coming Monday evening satsangh, we will chant the Mahiṣāsura-mardinī Stotram together, Mā willing!Jaya Jaya He Mahiṣāsura Mardini Ramya Kapārdini Śaila Sute! 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 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 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 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 full moon after Sārada Navarātri (Autumn Goddess festival) is known as Laxmī pūjā, the day where we celebrate the Goddess of Beauty, Elegance, Auspiciousness and Wealth! Of course we'll have many, many more things to say about the "Tantrik Laxmī" in the days to come, but I thought I would just go ahead and get the balling rolling with this video which presents Mahalakshmī from the Devī Māhātmyam not as she is commonly depicted but rather as fierce and aggressive Warrior-Goddess. This video presents a technique for meditating on Laxmī in her Aries aspect as opposed to her Aphrodite one, to use a Hellenestic allegory since we compare this depiction to a very similar one of Pandora in Hesiod's hymns, making the case that the Goddess belongs to all cultures, beyond just India! This meditation takes place between Verses 10-33 in the second chapter of the Devī Māhātmyam. We open with a few broad, overarching statements about the Caṇḍi chanting sādhanā and how to stay safe practicing Tantra in cremation grounds before plunging into the chanting! Jai Mā!For more detailed Kali puja instructions, watch this playlist:https://www.patreon.com/collection/233799Here's the chanting document we showed in the video:https://docs.google.com/document/d/1N1pEDmWZWdJq5Q27dGiZb9DQFrr1Ouq2FC85jIwQ66c/edit?usp=sharingLectures 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

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 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