For the Love of Yoga with Nish the Fish

Today is a very sacred day: Nāga Panchami, the Day of the Serpents! Vishnu reposes on a serpent couch named Ananta. Ananta means "un-ending", i.e Infinite. In the Taittīriya Upanishad, Brahman, the Absolute Reality is described as सत्यम् ज्ञानम् अनन्तम् ब्रह्म  "satyam jñānam anantam Brahma": that which is Existence, Consciousness and Infinity. Now you might have heard a different formulation of Brahman: Sat-Cid-Ānanda, Existence-Consciousness-Bliss. Notice how Infinity is synonymous with Bliss? As we learn in the Chandogya Upanishad, यो वै भूमा तत्सुखं नाल्पे सुखमस्ति "yo vai bhūmi tat sukham, nalpe sukham asti!": Joy is vast-nes, joy is Infinity!! There is no joy in limitation!Now, taking all of this from the perspective of Shaiva Tantra: this Infinitely Free Awareness which is Innately Blissful is Śiva! God is Vimarśa-Śakti, Śiva's self-reflexivivity, i.e Awareness Reposing in Itself. This is why Vishnu (i.e, God, I.e Vimarśa) "reposes" in his serpent couch, who is called the Infinite (Consciousness). In a Shaiva sense, he is in a state of svātmaviśrantih: self-respose. This is liberation!Patañjali, the founder of Yoga philosophy is considered by our tradition to be the incarnation of the Ananta, Vishnu's serpent couch and so he is the perfect yogi, reposing in his svabhāva, his essence nature and from that arises his profound teachings on Yoga, Grammar and Medicine. Abhinavaguptapada, is known as the "new" (abhinava) serpent (guptapada) because building upon the foundations of Yoga and Samkhya, he takes the Shaiva tradition to whole new heights with his unique presentation of the Trika doctrine! Lakshmana, Rāma's brother and Rāmanūja, the founder of Viśishtadvaita Vada are also both seen as incarnations of Ananta, this Great Serpent. On a personal note, my kula devi on my Mother's side is Nageshwarī, a form of Mariamman (Kālī) to whom my grandfather was deeply devoted. He was a lifelong practitioner of Shakta Tantra who took mahāsamādhi (i.e kicked the bucket!) in the sanctum sanctorum of our family snake temple. योगेन चित्तस्य पदेन वाचां । मलं शरीरस्य च वैद्यकेन ॥ योऽपाकरोत्तमं प्रवरं मुनीनां । पतञ्जलिं प्राञ्जलिरानतोऽस्मि ॥ आबहु पुरुषाकारं। शङ्खचक्रासि धारिणं॥ सहस्र शीरसं श्वेतं। प्रनमामि पतञ्जलिम्॥ yogena cittasya padena vācāṁ । malaṁ śarīrasya ca vaidyakena ॥ yo’pākarottamaṁ pravaraṁ munīnāṁ । patañjaliṁ prāñjalirānato’smi ॥ ābahu puruṣākāraṁ śaṅkha cakrāsi dhāriṇaṁ sahasra śīrasaṁ śvetaṁ pranamāmi patañjalim Yoga, for the mind Grammar, for the speech, Medicine for the impurities of the body, I bow to that great sage Patañjali who has given all these! Pure spirit incarnate in form, Holding the conch, discuss and sword I bow to Patanjali, that thousand headed white (cobra)!अनंतं वासुकीं शेषं पद्मनाभं च कंबलम् शंखपालं धृतराष्ट्रं च तक्षकं कालियं तथा एतानि नव नामानि नागानाम् च महात्मन: सायंकाले पठेन्नित्यं प्रात:काले विशेषत: तस्य विषभयं नास्ति सर्वत्र विजयी भवेत् anaṃtaṃ vāsukīṃ śeṣaṃ padmanābhaṃ ca kaṃbalam śaṃkhapālaṃ dhṛtarāṣṭraṃ ca takṣakaṃ kāliyaṃ tathā etāni nava nāmāni nāgānām ca mahātmanah: sāyaṃkāle paṭhennityaṃ prātakāle viśeṣatah: tasya viṣabhayaṃ nāsti sarvatra vijayī bhavet Ananta, Vāsukī, Śesha, Padmanābha and Kambala ŚanSupport 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

This body inevitably grows old, becomes sick and dies. But do I die with the death of the body? In what sense is this body really "me"? In what sense is it really "mine"? In almost every spiritual tradition in the world, the answer to those questions is "no! You do not die with the death of the body. You are an eternal spirit, One with God, and in no sense are you the body nor is the body yours!" What a liberating teaching! If I know this about myself, then, I know this about others too and so I will no longer mourn the death of the body as the death of my loved ones! This is of course Krishna's opening philosophical teaching to Arjuna in the beginning of Chapter II of the Gītā. To prove that you are not the body nor is the body yours, we gave no less than 19 arguments to demonstrate this fact for you, right now, right here, in the light of your own experience:https://youtu.be/7b7g9mDWnLMBut you know, if this teaching is not properly understood, it can easily lead to a kind of repression or a sort of dissociation. So to distinguish genuine spiritual realization (and the freedom that arises therefrom), from an unhealthy dissociation/spiritual by-passing, we gave this lecture:https://youtu.be/ClXyxXccBssNow, those of you who have been studying the Tantrik tradition probably know that the body is emphasized as a sacred site of spiritual opportunity. In Tantra, the body is seen as a microcosm representing the macrocosm. Nay, the body IS the macrocosm in which the entire universe appears. How then do you resolve the seeming contradiction between these more "transcendalist" notions that "you are not the body/the body is not yours" vs the more "immanent" Tantrik claims that you are embodied as the whole Universe?In this lecture, we review some of the material from the previous lectures we gave on this subject (links above) and then present two models of embodiment, a Vedantic one from the Taittīriya Upanishad and a Tantrik one from the Virupaksha Pancashika to make the case that "you are not THIS body that you take yourself to be; you are in fact, the entire Universe embodied!" Finally, we offer 4 yoga practices to help you transcend this limited embodiment in favor of a more genuine one!This lecture is for Jaanam, who requested it! I hope you enjoyed it Mā!Jai MāLectures happen live every Monday at 7pm PST, Friday 10am PST and again Friday 6pm PST.  There's Q&A right after the lectre. It is free and open to the public. All are welcome!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

Since 2020, we've given quite a few lectures on the Guru Tattva (Guru Principle) since this is indeed of the main features of the Tantrik tradition.But what exactly is lineage based transmission? Some people feel,  because of the influence of modernism and individualism, that they don't need a Guru and because of this they get into trouble or waste time in spiritual life going around in circles. Others on the other end of the spectrum become too attached to their guru's physical form and personality and as such end up making a cult-figure out of their human gurus, become too dependent and as a result, fail to make appreciable spiritual progress!As you can see, Guru-Yoga, the art of practicing spirituality under the guidance of a human teacher, is a rather subtle and delicate art with many nuances! Anyway, over the years, most of the material I've presented in my lectures on the subject have been drawn from a series of lectures by Swami Vivekananda which appear in Volume III of his Complete Works. In this talk, in celebration of the Guru Purnima that just happened, I read out these talks to you so we can hear Swamiji's own thoughts on Guru-Yoga, in his own words!We first open with a philosophically nuanced reflection on God and just what that means. You can watch all our previous lectures on the Guru here:https://www.patreon.com/collection/666741Lectures happen live on zoom every Monday at 7pm PST and Friday 10am PST and Friday at 6pm PST.  There's Q&A right after the lectures. It is free and open to the public. All are welcome!Use this link and I will see you there:https://www.zoom.us/j/7028380815Our hatha yoga class is Monday 5pm PST with Amrita and Wednesdays at 11am PST and again at Friday 5pm PST with me via this same link also.For 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 feel down in the dumps and lethargic often. This is to me particularly tragic because in each and every moment we are each of us swimming in a veritable ocean of energy and enlivenment! Only, most of us don't know how to tap into it and be charged by it! You see, this entire universe, this magical display of phenomena that you experience within and without is nothing but a manifestation of Prāna, nothing but so many different forms of one and the same field of energy called Prāna. This body and mind that you experience is also a manifestation of Prāna.Tantra then is a kind of "prāna-śāshtra": the science of working with the energies of embodied existence but within and without. In this class, we explore 8 or so ways you can increase and refine the prāna (i.e energy) that flows through this body-mind so that you can experience deeper levels of enlivenment and fullfilment!May all of this be an offering to Prāna-śakti!Lectures happen live on zoom every Monday at 7pm PST and Friday 10am PST and Friday at 6pm PST.  There's Q&A right after the lectures. It is free and open to the public. All are welcome!Use this link and I will see you there:https://www.zoom.us/j/7028380815Our hatha yoga class is Monday 5pm PST with Amrita and Wednesdays at 11am PST and again at Friday 5pm PST with me via this same link also.For 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

This is our special Guru Purnima talk, this time on the subject: How To Choose A GuruOf course we’ll discuss just what the Guru Tattva (Guru Principle) is and why it is absolutely necessary in spiritual life but more importantly we’ll focus on the question of how to find a guru and evaluate them to protect yourself from charlatans and cults etc.!At the end of the talk, we’ll discuss a very powerful practice you can do right now even if you don’t have a living teacher as of yet!On behalf of the auspicious occasions of Veda Vyāsa (Guru) Pūrnimā and alas Shrāvan Mas (the sacred month of Shiva which began the day we gave this lecture (July 22nd and goes till August 19th), let us all remember always that God alone is the Guru. As it says in the Guru Gītā:ब्रह्मानन्दं परमसुखदं केवलं ज्ञानमूर्तिंद्वन्द्वातीतं गगनसदृशं तत्वमस्यादिलक्ष्यम्एकं नित्यं विमलमचलं सर्वधीसाक्षिभूतंभावातीतं त्रिगुणरहितं सद्गुरुं तं नमामि“Brahmānandam Paramasukhadam kevalam jñāna murtim…bhāvatītam trigunarahitam sad gurum tam namami”:That true guru is the bliss of Brahman, the transcendent joy of non-dual knowledge, that reality beyond all name and form, beyond the touch of the three gunas. To That we bow!ईश्वरो गुरुरात्मेति मूर्तिभेदविभागिने ।व्योमवद् व्याप्तदेहाय दक्षिणामूर्तये नमः ॥७॥I salute that Dakshinamurthy Shiva, the sky of Consciousness which appears in the form of teacher, student and transmission!May He bless us all with knowledge and devotion!We honor all teachers of all traditions who through their perfect discipleship have each of them embodied what it means to be spiritual in this world. I bow to the servants heart in all teachers who are each of them God’s grace personified!Let us never forget the teaching from the Kaula Sutra:avicchinam ovalli-kramāyāta-marīci-saṅkramaṇam evaiko guruḥ  (1)tad-upalabdham eva tattvam eko devaḥ  (2)tasyaikā sahajāhambhāva-bhūmiś cicchaktiḥ  (3)There is only one Guru: the unbroken ray of transmission that flows through the lineage.There is only one God: the Reality to which one awakens (as a result of that transmission)There is only one Power: the Power of Consciousness which is the ground of the spontaneous and natural “I-sense”You can watch all our previous lectures on the Guru here:https://www.patreon.com/collection/666741Lectures happen live on zoom every Monday at 7pm PST and Friday 10am PST and Friday at 6pm PST.  There's Q&A right after the lectures. It is free and open to the public. All are welcome!Use this link and I will see you there:https://www.zoom.us/j/7028380815Our hatha yoga class is Monday 5pm PST with Amrita and Wednesdays at 11am PST and again at Friday 5pm PST with me via this same link also.For 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

Two weeks ago, we discussed how sādhanā works in a non-dual Shaiva Tanttra context, providing a few foundational practices you can do right away (you can watch that lecture here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/how-to-get-with-106871859?utm_medium=clipboard_copy&utm_source=copyLink&utm_campaign=postshare_creator&utm_content=join_link).And then the week after, we discussed how sādhanā is an expression of your innate freedom and not some desperate attempt to attain it! We then offered a few ways to keep spiritual life fun, engaging and interesting so you can become increasingly absorbed in the joy of the life divine. (you can watch this lecture here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/how-to-enjoy-107896090?utm_medium=clipboard_copy&utm_source=copyLink&utm_campaign=postshare_creator&utm_content=join_link).Now, in this lecture, I want to continue last week's discussion on diversity and variety in spiritual life by discussing whether its better to worship one deity or many, better to practice with one mantra or many, better to do one practice or many different ones. Naturally, I'm going to make a case for the latter by arguing for non-duality, i.e all mantras are just names of the same Being and that Being is You! This will help folks who are torn between two or more deities, two more traditions etc. mostly but it is for every sincere sadhaka and sadhvi who wishes to understanding something deeper about the unity behind seeming diversity. In my opinion, tonight's discussion is at the very heart of Tantra and Ramakrishna's theology.Lectures happen live on zoom every Monday at 7pm PST and Friday 10am PST and Friday at 6pm PST.  There's Q&A right after the lectures. It is free and open to the public. All are welcome!Use this link and I will see you there:https://www.zoom.us/j/7028380815Our hatha yoga class is Monday 5pm PST with Amrita and Wednesdays at 11am PST and again at Friday 5pm PST with me via this same link also.For 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 take up Swami Vivekananda's very powerful reflections on Bhakti Yoga, the practice of Devotion from the talk "Definition of Bhakti" which appears in Volume III of the Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda. Then, after making a few comments about it, we plunge into a Q&A session exploring broader themes in spiritual life. But first we open with some remarks about the three types of Navarātri or Goddess festivals in the calendar year!Enjoy! Lectures happen live on zoom every Monday at 7pm PST and Friday 10am PST and Friday at 6pm PST.  There's Q&A right after the lectures. It is free and open to the public. All are welcome!Use this link and I will see you there:https://www.zoom.us/j/7028380815Our hatha yoga class is Monday 5pm PST with Amrita and Wednesdays at 11am PST and again at Friday 5pm PST with me via this same link also.For 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

Sādhanā, spiritual practie is an expression of your innate freedom and not some desperate attempt to attain it! Many people have such a sour face when they are sitting for meditation. How strange! Are you not meditating on the Divine Effulgence within? Are you not meditating on Bliss Itself embodied as your Ishta Devī, your chosen form of God? Shouldn't your face then be beaming with joy?! For many, spiritual life is a bitter struggle but that's only because we often approach things in the wrong way, founded upon a misunderstanding about why we are doing spiritual practice in the first place. In this talk, we offer a few ways to keep spiritual life fun, engaging and interesting so you can become increasingly absorbed in the endless joy of the life divine!PS: we gave this talk in Jayanti and Jayanta's beautiful home shrine in Zurich. Behind me you can seen Sarvesvarī Kālī who was awakened on the new moon (mahālaya) of the recent Chaitra Navaratri. May this talk be an offering at Her Lotus Feet.Jai Mā Sarveshvarī Kālī ki Jai!Lectures happen live on zoom every Monday at 7pm PST and Friday 10am PST and Friday at 6pm PST.  There's Q&A right after the lectures. It is free and open to the public. All are welcome!Use this link and I will see you there:https://www.zoom.us/j/7028380815Our hatha yoga class is Monday 5pm PST with Amrita and Wednesdays at 11am PST and again at Friday 5pm PST with me via this same link also.For 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/U8zKP8yMrMIf you'd like to support us, you can do so 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

This lecture was given on the exceedingly special day of Gāyatrī Jayanti, the day we celebrate not only the most important Goddess of the ancient Vedic tradition but also the most famous mantra to have ever come out of India. In this video, we make a few comments about caste in the Vedic world, the "twice-born" dīkshā into the Gāyatrī, the democratization and popularization of the mantra by reformers and of course gloss the mantra and its meaning along non-dual lines and make some Tantrik interpolations about it. ॐ भूर्भुवः स्वःतत्स॑वि॒तुर्वरे॑ण्यं॒भर्गो॑ दे॒वस्य॑ धमह।धियो॒ यो नः परचो॒दया॑त्॥oṃ bhūr bhuvaḥ svaḥtat savitur vareṇyaṃbhargo devasya dhīmahidhiyo yo naḥ pracodayātṚgveda 03.062.10"OM I dissolve my intellect in my own Self, that Supreme Light, the splendour of all the gods in Whom arises the three worlds! May She guide me from within!"Lectures happen live on zoom every Monday at 7pm PST and Friday 10am PST and Friday at 6pm PST.  There's Q&A right after the lectures. It is free and open to the public. All are welcome!Use this link and I will see you there:https://www.zoom.us/j/7028380815Our hatha yoga class is Monday 5pm PST with Amrita and Wednesdays at 11am PST and again at Friday 5pm PST with me via this same link also.For 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

This morning I saw this little clip from the black and white Bengali movie "Sadhak Kamalakanta" on YouTube and it inspired me to say a few words on the Tantrik approach to meditation. Here is the mantra that was chanted in the video and that we used for the meditation:dhyānamoṁ krīṁ karālavadanāṁ ghorāṁ muktakeśīṁ caturbhujām।kālikāṁ dakṣiṇāṁ divyāṁ muṇḍamālāvibhūṣitām॥1॥sadyaśchinnaśiraḥkhaḍgavāmādhordhvakarāmbujām।abhayaṁ varadaṁ caiva dakṣiṇordhvādhaḥ pāṇikām॥2॥mahāmeghaprabhāṁ śyāmāṁ tathā caiva digambarīm। kaṇṭhāvasaktamuṇḍālīgaladrudhiracarcitām॥3॥karṇāvataṁsatānītaśavayugmabhayānakām।ghoradaṁṣṭrāṁ karālāsyāṁ pīnonnatapayodharām॥4॥śavānāṁ karasaṅghātaiḥ kṛtakāñcīṁ hasanmukhīm।sṛkkadvayagaladraktadhārāvisphuritānanām॥5॥ghorarāvāṁ mahāraudrīṁ śmaśānālayavāsinīm। bālārkamaṇḍalākāra-locanatritayānvitām॥6॥ danturāṁ dakṣiṇavyāpimuktālambikacoccayām।śavarūpamahādevahṛdayoparisaṁsthitām॥7॥śivābhirghorarāvābhiścaturdikṣu samanvitām। mahākālena ca samaṁ viparītaratāturām॥8॥ sukhaprasannavadanāṁ smerānanasaroruhām।evaṁ sañcintayet kālīṁ dharmakāmārthamokṣadām॥9॥(siddhidām)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