For the Love of Yoga with Nish the Fish

Chaitra Navaratri (the Spring Goddess Festival) is about to come up in only a few days! To usher in these coming 9 nights of the Goddess, I wanted to upload this throwback to the Fall Goddess Festival last year when we had a wonderful discussion on the intersection between art and spirituality, and specifically, on the role of aesthetics (poetry, music, dance, theatre, sculpture, visual art etc.) in the very refined and rich world of Tantrik spirituality. When I was cleaning out. my hard drives I came upon this lecture and couldn't believe that I hadn't uploaded it yet! But I suppose Mā was saving it for the Spring and for Chaitra Navaratri! In any case, here you go! May Mā illumine us. 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 central questions we ask in spiritual life is, "what about sexuality?" On one side of the spectrum you have world-negative traditions (which seem to be in the majority in classical times and whose effects can still be felt today) which reject sexuality wholesale and on the other side of that same spectrum you have world-affirming traditions that often get abused as a license for hedonism, mitigating greatly their spiritual value. This second type seems to be on the rise in todays consumerist culture (no surprise there: sex sells!) and this often gets linked to Tantra. So then:Is Tantra really about sex? Like not at all? Not even a little bit?Well, the answer is both yes and no. The answer is very nuanced. And in this discussion, Mā willing, I hope to explore that nuance in several ways. This discussion will take us into the heart of Vedic culture, into the Upanishads, into the Candi, into the Tantras and into the traditions around the Goddess and so I felt like it would be a perfect lecture of this auspicious second day of Navarātri!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/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 haven't missed a single Monday night satsangh since we started in 2020. That's a four year streak for our community? Isn't that wonderful? Thank you all for your continued support over the years! Anyway, we had a bit of a close call the other day since due to some circumstances, I was not able to start the lecture until 11:30pm that Monday night! Here is the late night "after hours" lecture that saved our streak:This talk was given on special day, a day that marks the anniversary of my grandfather, my first guru kicking the mortal coil which also incidentally happened to be  the birthday of Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsadev by tithi puja (moon calendar)!And not to mention we are still vibrating off the buzz of the shiva Ratri festivities! As such, in this lecture, we say a few words about these things.Thank you all who came even though it was so late at night.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/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 the occasion of Maha Shiva Ratri 2024, the great night of Shiva, we say a few words about the central mantra of Shaivism known as the Panchakshara. First, we explain the mystical significance of "akshara", phonemes (Sanskrit letters) and then we consider the esoteric significance of the number 5 in Shaivism, in a few different ways. Then, we put this all together to explain the hidden meaning of the Panchakshara mantra and conclude by commenting upon and ultimately rocking out to the Panchakshara Stotram.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/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 on the occasion of mahashivaratri 2024, we say a few words about the Tantra in general, the Vijñāna-Bhairava Tantra in particular and Shiva puja in theory and practice. What do we do on shivaratri and why do we do it? We discuss the unique and wonderful features of Shiva Puja. May this be my offering to you, you who are Shiva embodied. OM Namah Shivayah!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/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

Not only was it just Swami Vivekananda’s birthday weekend but also at the time of this lecture it was the anniversary of the composition of Abhinavagupta’s Bhairava Stava, one of my favorite non dual hymns of all time!As such we’ll celebrate by exploring Swamiji’s highest, edgiest most powerful non dual teachings and more importantly his advice on how to live them alongside a running commentary on the Bhairava Stava!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/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/U8zKP8yMrM00:00:00 Opening Invocations00:00:35 Swamiji's Edgiest Teachings and Emphasis on Jñāna00:05:09 Swamiji's Central Message to the West: Religion is Realization00:08:00 Bhairava Stava of Abhinava Gupta which was composed on this day around 993 AD00:15:00 How Jñāna-Yoga, the "Direct Path", Works: Shankara Vedanta vs Ramanuja Vedanta vs Vivekananda Vedanta00:30:25 How Ramakrishna trained Vivekananda to be a Non-Dualist00:35:45 A Direct Path Teaching for Instant Awakening Here and Now: You Are God, Here's Proof.00:58:00 How To Practice Jñāna-Yoga: Hearing, Contemplating, Meditating and Stubornness!01:06:13 Vivekananda's Tantrik Non-Duality: The Power of Consciousness01:09:22 Real Devotion and Worshipping Kālī as Non-Dual practice.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 Buddha had a message for the East, so too did Swami Vivekananda have a message for the West, if not for the whole world. What was that message? While it is of course a very multifaceted, variegated and nuanced message, three core principles stand out; we explore them in the course of this lecture, as part of our Vivekananda Jayanti celebrations earlier this month. These principles are:1. Religion is a matter of Direct Experience, not dogma. Inspired by his teacher Ramakrishna who daily experienced God for himself in all of Her aspects, the central thrust of Swami Vivekananda's teaching is that spirituality is a matter of verification. Placing an emphasis on yoga (the means for acquiring experience) and on an individual's own perception of God here and now, Swami Vivekananda transforms religion which was even then at his time becoming an antiquated, useless bundle of beliefs from a hoary past into a living, viable method that is strikingly in keeping with the most modern notions of the scientific inquiry, rationalism and verificationism. 2. You are innately divine. Inspired by Ramakrishna who felt that "the wretch who considers himself a sinner verily becomes one; as you think so you become", Swami Vivekananda took the Christian West to task for its fixation on original sin. Most religions begin with a disempowering view of the human condition, i.e "you are broken in need of fixing, lacking in need of growing, sick in need of healing" etc. But the vision of Non-Dual Hinduism is: "you are already free, you are already pure, you are infinitely strong as you are for your very nature is divine!" This is the truth and Americans at once recognized it as it was spoken, thus breaking their centuries long dream of being spiritually fraught. Anyway, it is only the person who has this latter attitude who will have the self-confidence to really progress with their spiritual practices!3. All existence is One. Swami Vivekananda stressed above all Non-Duality. But his was a far more radical and inclusive non-duality than Shankara's Advaita Vedanta or Ramanuja's Qualified non-duality. His view, in my opinion, comes closer to the Shaiva Non-Dual view of masters like Abhinava Gupta: everything is God. Matter is non-dual, thought is non-dual, spirit is non-dual, all are just various reading of the one indivisible Consciousness-Bliss-Absolute that is both Formless and with Form, that is both Impersonal and Personal. And that One Existence is your very own Self! It is from this non-duality that we derive the 2nd principle sketched out above and also the notion of "harmony of all religions," which is the idea he is perhaps most famous for but which, as you can see, is just the natural consequence of the must more fundamental and far deeper principle of absolute, uncompromising non-duality! 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/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

I have quite the treat for you: we’re going to be looking at Swami Vivekananda’s highest teachings from a series of lectures he gave in San Francisco. I thought of calling the talk “Swami Vivekananda in San Francisco”, to reference the series of three talks that Swami Ashokananda gave in 1946 and 1949 at the Old Temple and 1965 in the New Temple on the subject. I wanted to say a little about what kind of person the Swami especially while he was here in California and also reflect a bit on his life prior to coming America. But more than that, I want to cut right to the chase and share with you what he taught, the ideas of which he was a living embodiment, ideas of power and freedom that you can never un-hear, that will immediately and instantly awaken you to the one fact: you are God! As such, in this elevated mood of contemplating on Swamiji in honor of his upcoming birthday on February 1st, let us discuss the very highest until our very blood tingles with the power of the truth of Non-Duality! You are God! Everything is God! Stand up and declare it! Down with the “sky fairy” God of superstitions! Dethrone that old man and claim your true place as God of the Universe! (And ps: how does Kali fit into all of this? We’ll explain in the lecture!)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/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, we attempted to ask the question "Who is Sarada Devi?" and we ended up with the answer, "who knows?" Svārupam tvadīyam na vindanti devah! Even the Gods do not know your true nature, Mother! In any case, in that previous lecture (which you can watch here), we attempted a sketch of the early years of this great life and today, we're going to go in for a second pass at this most inscrutable and yet most intimately accessible of lives but this time we're going to pay particular attention to Ma Sarada's role as a guru, or spiritual teacher! 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/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/U8zKP8yMrM00:00:00 Opening Invocations  00:00:58 What will we talk about today?   00:05:07 The Imitation of Christ and how to learn from Incarnations  00:11:00 What is Sarada Devi's spiritual wealth?  00:16:40 What does "real" spirituality look like? A story about my guru.  00:25:40 How to deepen your spiritual attainments  00:30:50 Sarada Devi as the Ideal Karma Yogi   00:35:10 Sarada Devi's Lesson on Practicality and Spiritual Bypassing  00:38:22 Sarada Devi's Lesson on Consistency in Spiritual Practice   00:38:53 The Guru as Mother   00:45:32 Sarada Devi's First Disciple, Beej mantras and Dīkshā  01:02:06 Holy Mother and Lord of the Rings...?!  01:06:36 Sarada Devi's Yatras, Austerities and Spiritual Practice (And qualifications for Guru)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

Who knows? Who could ever know? As Shankara put it in his Kalikāshtakam: "svarūpam tvadīyam na vindanti devah: not even the Gods know your true nature!"With this in mind, humbled and awed, we approach this profound mystery of the Divine Mother of the Universe who is at once inscrutable and yet easy of access to us. She is at once Kali, the Mistress of Maya who confounds the Universe as well as our very own Mother, appearing in the form of a very nondescript, traditional Brahmin housewife. In discussing this most exalted and wonderful of topics, we first take up some philosophy to make the case that it is the Feminine Principle, Prakriti or Maha Mayi, that is responsible for the appearance of the Avatara, the Incarnation of God. And further, not only is the Incarnation therefore wholly Female in principle whether it is Jesus or  Krishna or Rama etc. but that, additionally, the Avatara often comes with a consort who is really his power in the world and the true facilitator of his mission. For example, for Rama it was Seeta, for Krishna, Radha and for Jesus, Mary of Magdala. For Sri Ramakrishna it is Ma Sarada Devi, the Holy Mother. Then, after some philosophical contextualizing, we go into. a brief and short biographical sketch of the Holy Mother's early years. 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/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