For the Love of Yoga with Nish the Fish

After we gave our Secrets of the Devī Māhātmyam | Śākta Theology 101 talk at the start of Navarātri (The Autumn Goddess Festival) earlier this year, we then gave this talk where we examined the Devī Māhātmyam (which we only introduced in the previous talk) in much more detail to see exactly what kind of text it is and from that, learn how we may use it in the context of our day-to-day spiritual practice! Most importantly, I make the claim that the 700 verses that make up this text all of them form a complex and powerful mantra (or more technically, vidyā) that one can repeat like any other mantra for a whole host of both magical and spiritual applications!You'll find all of our lectures on this profound and ancient śākta text, the Devī Māhātmyam here.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

As one of the most ancient and important texts of the Tāntrik Goddess (śākta) tradition, the Devī Māhātmyam is of course unspeakably rich in its every dimension!In its esoteric dimension, it is a very complex manual of mantra, ritual and magical application. As literature, is aesthetically and poetically sublime beyond comparison. As a narrative, it is astoundingly complex and ingenious in terms of structure and progression. And as a philosophy or theology, it is among the most refined and sophisticated that any religious tradition has ever offered! Politically, never have we encountered a more triumphant depiction of fierce, untamed feminine power! Theologically, the texts challenges our metaphysical ideas of objective reality & temporality, our ethical understanding of "good & evil" (the narrative is intensely morally ambiguous, after all as I point out in this talk) and our spiritual notions of the One & the Many, the Transcendent & the Immanent, the Absolute & the Relative etc. Studying and contemplating this text (and of course chanting and living the text) will dramatically transform everything about your world view, especially with regards to how you view the self, the world and "God" who in the text is "put to sleep", i.e transcended by this Absolute Reality we call Śakti, Power. In order to tease out some of this complexity as part of our Navarātri celebrations last week, we offered this talk! May all this be placed at the feet of our beloved Mā who comes to me in the form of all of you! Jai Mā! PS: you'll find all the talks we've given on the Devī Māhātmya 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

After our discussion on the Three Kinds of Madness | Kālī vs. Laxmī vs Sarasvatī on Laxmī Purnimā earlier this week, we launched into a very beautiful, rich and universally helpful Q&A discussion on difficult emotions and how to transform them into ecstasy! We discuss the importance of setting boundaries and not spiritually bypassing our feelings but we also present that state beyond all boundaries in which everything is seen, accepted, and celebrated as God's will! We argue against "healing", "growth" and "transformation" as valid goals in spiritual life in favor of unconditional love, Bhakti for the Infinite Reality, God. We argue that there is no such thing as a true atheist! We present a few metrics for gauging our own spiritual growth. And most importantly, we discuss what happens after you see God!Here is a playlist of our all our Q&A discussions over the years! 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

On this very auspicious Laxmī Pūrnimā (Autumn full moon) I want to discuss the topic we’ve been meaning to discuss for sometime now: “Kundalinī emergency” or “spiritual crisis" & how to say safe.First, we distinguish between three different kinds of “lunacy”with an emphasis on the destabilizing, “not so fun” kind that can sometimes induced by intense spiritual practice! I argue that the kind of divine madness we see in great realized souls like Sri Ramakrishna is fundamentally different in nature and flavor than the kinds of mental illness that we sometimes fetishize in the name of spirituality but is really a destabilizing and painful experience for ourselves and others. Although outwardly, the "spiritual" kind of madness might resemble the "not so fun" kind, they are not the same and in this lecture we carefully explain why. We also make a reference to a politicized use of "madness" to disenfranchise groups or ideologies that don't fit into the norm as defined by the powers that be, just so that we can be nuanced in our use of the word "madness" or "lunacy" or "craziness", which are all themes that are very central not just to mysticism and spiritual as a whole but specifically to Mother Kālī & her cremation ground retinue! You'll notice much of this talk is expanding on ideas that you might have first encountered here in the Why is Kālī Crazy? talk. And since it was Laxmī Pūrnimā we made sure to have plenty of asides on Mā Laxmī as the embodiment of abundance in every sense of the word. We tell a few Purānic stories to show the secrets of calling in abundance & also, I make a case against understanding "money" (which we point out as a rather superficial conceptual structure) to be the only symbol for wealth! Naturally, this took us into a discussion of the Goddess in all her aspects as Kālī, Laxmī & Sarasvatī (as encountered in the Devī Māhātmyam) and as per the next three big moon celebrations (Laxmī Pūrnimā followed by Śyāma Kālī Pūjā followed by Sarasvatī Pūjā) that come after Navarātri, the 9 Nights of the Goddess. We make a few arguments as to why the cremation ground/cemetery is so important for spiritual life as representing that realm beyond the conscious, "civilized" mind of concepts which we are attempting to venture into as part of spiritual quest, in our journey from the finite to the Infinite! It was a rather rich talk, if I may so myself.May it be an offering to the Divine Mother! 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

As part of our Navarātri celebrations, we explored some stories from the Devī Māhātmyam and contrasts them to/built up on them with some similar narratives from other Purānic Śakta texts like the Devī Bhāgavatam (i.e the Devī Gitā) to excavate some deeper meaning and significance, from a philosophical and esoteric, sādhana point of view!You'll find all our talks on Navarātri & the Devī Māhātmya, its central litany here. 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

Congratulations on completing another 9 (or perhaps 10) nights of intense contemplation, celebration and worship of Mā! What a powerful Navarātri it's been and each time feels like the first time especially if it was, in fact, your first time celebrating! But whether you are a seasoned śākta or just now getting acquainted to the festivals and practices of the tradition, Navarātri and its central litany/liturgy, the Devī Māhātmyam remain ever fresh and ever meaningful! Anyway, at the end of the 9 nights of the Goddess, there is a festival called Vijaya Daśamī, "The Victorious 10th night" when we bask in the after glow of our worship. Essentially, we are celebrating the fact that we've been celebrating...But it's also very poignant time because Mā's image will be immersed and that is sometimes a very sad thing for some. And not only that, one can feel a little listless on this day or like there's a kind of anticlimactic feeling arising. In this talk, we discuss what Vijaya Daśamī is, from a philosophical point of view, with an inquiry into form vs formlessness and we also address some of the aforementioned feelings that can come up. Also, I launch into a sustained defense of what some might call "idol worship". Jai Mā! Śrī Durgārpanam astu!The books mentioned in this video for further study:1. Srīmad-Devī Bhāgavatam by Swami Vijñānānanda 2. I didn't mention it in the video, but as a companion to this ^, try "The Devī Gītā" by C.Makenzie Brown 3. Devadatta Kali's "In Praise of the Goddess" (and also "Veiling Brilliance", which I forgot to mention in the video) And the Sanskrit texts to recite and contemplate as part of your Devī Māhātmya sādhanā moving forward:1. Devī Sūkta from Rg Veda (10.125) and 2. Rātri Sūkta from Rg Veda (10.127)You'll be able to find these online quite easily but their also available in Devanāgri and translation in Devadatta Kali's "In Praise of the Goddess"!and here's the full Caṇḍi & Navarātri playlist featuring all our talks over the years (I'm trying to organize it in a way that makes sense: https://www.patreon.com/collection/784368Support 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

It's that time of the year again, gang! You know what's up. Here's the document we were presenting in this talk: it walks you through a Navarātri sādhanā (spiritual practice) that you can do over the course of the 9 nights of the Goddess. Remember that Navarātri happens 4 times a year (and in some traditions, 8 times) and so this sādhanā can be done at least that many times but it is also a sādhanā that you can do anytime, for as long as you like. It is a profound sādhanā because it uses as its centrepiece the most powerful and beloved text of the Śākta tradition, the Devī Māhātmya which is, among many other things, a compilation of unbelievably powerful and transformative mantras! Every word of this text is mantra (or rather, vidyā in the Tāntrik sense of the word) and the sādhana which we outline in this talk will lead you directly into the text and ideally, Mā willing, enable you to access its fullest power! May Mā bless us all with fervor! PS: as supplement to all this, you'll find many videos in this Caṇḍi & Navarātri playlist to help you flesh out this sādhanā and to keep you company during this most auspicious of festivals! This talk How To Worship Mā Durgā might be especially helpful in contextualizing Navarātri and the opportunity it presents! 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

A high level talk on some of the subtle and esoteric ideas sketched out by Devī in the opening verses of the Vijñāna Bhairava Tantra.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 the Who Should Worship Kālī? | Dakṣiṇa Kālī vs Smaśāna Kālī talk, we explained the technical term "jagadānanda" which describes the bliss of fullness. We argued that from the Kaula point of view, the goal is not transcendence but fullness; not freedom "from" the world but freedom "as" the world. And we pointed out how Kālī sādhanā is uniquely about embracing this non-dual totality of all things! The Absolute Reality is dynamic, ever-free Consciousness, my very own Self and the goal is to realize this in all things, as all things. Necessarily, this involves coming to terms with realities that the dualistic, conditioned and limited mind often rejects. "Who dares misery love: to him the Mother comes" etc. Then, in Kālī's Non-Duality of Radical Acceptance | vs. Classical Non-Duality we went in with some finer brush strokes to compare the view of Classical Advaita, which we termed the "path of absolute negation" with that of Tāntrik Advaita, or the Non-Duality of Kālĩ which we described as the "path of absolute acceptance". Both can lead to non-dual realization and yet who can deny that these might be different flavors of non-dual realization! The former path is fit for some while the latter suits the disposition of others and for many, the two paths are practiced sequentially, one after another. All this we discussed in last week's talk. Now, this week, we take up this topic yet again but using the Sāmkhyan idea of the gunas to show how Kālī sādhana (i.e Tāntrik non-duality) is unique and therefore for some people, uniquely disturbing. I make a case against transcendentalists, "sattva-only" oriented traditions! Originally, I had intended this lecture to be about staying safe and grounded in Kālī sādhanā or something along the lines of a PSA on kundalini emergencies/spiritual crisis but I spent so much time describing how Kālī sādhanā uniquely leads to destabilization that I never really got around to talking about techniques for grounding! We briefly mention a few towards the end but I suspect I'll want to develop these theme on safety more next week: stay tuned! 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

Broadly speaking, there are to archetypical non-dual traditions, two very valid paths to bliss: The Non-Duality of Total Negation (Classical Advaita) & Kālī's Non-Duality of Total Acceptance (i.e Tāntrik Non-Duality or paramadvāya). Of course there are infinite shades of nuance and variation in between these two extremes. In this talk, we do a comparison of these two extreme models (or rather, flavor)s of non-dual Sādhanā, playing off of some ideas from last week’s “Who Should Worship Kālī? | Dakṣiṇa Kālī vs Smaśāna Kālī” talk! This lecture is mostly a theoretical survey of the absolute state of realization which can anyone anywhere can attained through grace (i.e, sudden spontaneous insight) of course, but which is more likely to be a result of sincere spiritual practice! As for the practical side of this discussion, you might like to pair this talk with the What Do You Need To Start Worshipping Kālī & Practicing Tantra? lecture from two weeks ago! PS: you might find this lecture somewhat reminiscent of Who Created The World? | Vedanta vs Tantra and also Who or What is God? | Vedanta vs Tantra but we've certainly developed the ideas quite a bit since then! 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