For the Love of Yoga with Nish the Fish

Last year, on Hanuman Jayanti we gave the talk The Tantrik Hanuman exploring some of the Tantrik aspects of this fierce rudra, Mahavīra! This year on Hanuman Jayanti, we decided to talk a little about what makes Hanuman so powerful! First, we discuss the significance of Hanuman in our own lineage with a reference to Sri Ramakrishna's Hanuman sādhana and the parallels between Hanuman and Swami Vivekananda. Then, we analyze the secret sauce, the special something that makes Hanuman so unstoppable powerful. Its the Krabby Patty secret formula. Jai Hanuman Ji Ki Jai! You'll find a complete playlist of lectures on Tantra in both theory and practice here. And here is a playlist on Tantrik Vaishnavism. 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 the second to last chapter of Swami Vivekananda's Bhakti Yoga (or Volume III of the Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda), Swamiji gives us a walkthrough of all the attitudes of supreme love, prema with which we can relate to God: God as quietistic ideal (shānta), God as master (dāsya), God as friend (sakya), God as child (vatśalya) and of course, God as lover (Madhura).We explore the first three of these attitudes and discuss what makes seeing God as "master" so much more intense than a quietistic reverence and what seeing God as a "friend" that much more radical! We also make a strong claim for non-sectarianism when studying these attitudes to avoid putting everything in a kind of hierarchy and using that to judge others and to feel superior about our own spirituality. As such, we do a study of Bhakti Yoga in the light of Sri Ramakrishna, the spirit of Harmony of Religions and the "bhāva-rāja", king of devotional attitudes!You'll find the playlist for our Swami Vivekananda Bhakti Yoga series here! And here is a playlist on Tantrik Vaishnavism. 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/U8zKP8yMrMJai Swamiji! 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 our Friday morning zoom satsangh, we're studying the Paramārthasāra of Abhinava Gupta, a very profound and concise introductory text for Non-Dual Shaiva/Shakta Tantra. In Verses 2 & 3 of this text, we're given a hint as to what qualifies a person to become a Tantrik Guru and what qualities are required in the student for them to be ready receptacles for the Guru's transmission. We compare and contrast Abhinava Gupta's point in Verse 2 with Sri Ramakrishna's teachings on the Guru with a reference to Swami Vivekananda's Bhakti Yoga discussion on the qualifications of Guru and Disciple to triangulate on what the true Guru is!We also discuss the different kind of dīkshas and abhisekhams (initiations and consecrations) in the Tantrik tradition as per Abhinava Gupta's Tantrāloka. Then, we do an overview of the text so far and close out with a meditation on the sky like nature of Awareness, as per Verses 35 and 36 of our text!You'll find a complete playlist of lectures on Tantra in both theory and practice here.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

Because we've come to the end of Navaratri and because many are now finishing their mantra-repetition sādhana (puraścarana), I thought it would be nice to discuss the mantra for offering japa to the Divine Mother:oṁ guhyātiguhyagoptrī tvaṁ gṛhāṇāsmatkṛtaṁ japamsiddhirbhavatu me devi tvatprasādān maheśvari"O You who are the Protectress of the Secret of all Secrets (i.e the sacred, intimate mantra), accept this repetition of mantra done by us! Make me perfect (i.e help me accomplish the goal of this mantra repetition), which happens only by thy grace, You who are the Great Ruler of the Cosmos (mahā-īsvarī)"PS: if you are offering to a male deity then change "goptrī" to "gopta", "Devi" to "deva" and "maheśvarī" to "maheśvara" in the above mantra!" So it would be:oṁ guhyātiguhyagopta tvaṁ gṛhāṇāsmatkṛtaṁ japamsiddhirbhavatu me deva tvatprasādān maheśvaraThe prayer:oṁ mahāmāye jaganmātaḥ kālike ghoradakṣiṇegṛhāṇa vandanaṁ devi namaste parameśvarioṁ gṛhāṇa vandanaṁ mātaḥ sadā vijayavardhinipādapadmaṁ sadā vande sthānaṁ dehi padāmbuje"O Cosmic Confoundress (in the vocative case here), Mother of the World, Terrifying , Southward-Facing Kali! Accept my prayer! Salutations to you, Supreme Ruler of the Cosmos! (parama-īsvarī) Accept my prayer, O Mother who art ever Victorious (or who always increases victory!), I always praise thy lotus feet! Keep me forevermore at thy lotus feet!"This was the preamble to our Hatha Yoga class earlier today which you can watch here and practice along! We meet Wednesdays at 11am PST for postural yoga practice. You'll find a complete playlist of introductory lectures on Tantra in both theory and practice here. 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

This past weekend, on Saturday, we celebrated Tārā Jayanti. It felt very fitting to give a talk praising this enigmatic form of Mā! The first thing we do in this lecture is to distinguish the very popular Tibetan Buddhist deity, Tārā from the Tantrik Hindu version. We then trace the origins of the Tibetan Buddhist Tārā to Parā Devī, the esoteric Tantrik Sarasvatī who is the absolute conception of reality in the Trika System of Non-Dual Shaivism. As an aside, we track how elements of Parā's iconography is present in the meditation/visualization mantra for Abhinava Gupta, the Trika master par excellence. We show how elements of Dakshinamurthi Stotram are also present in the Abhinava Gupta visualization mantra and that of the Goddess Parā! Having established the link between Parā and the Tibetan Buddhist Tārā, and having made the case that this is a Saumya (gentle) form of the Tārā, we then turn to the Tantrik Hindu Tārā of the cremation ground which tends to emphasize the Ghora (fierce) aspects of the Deity. We explore Tārā's link to the Tantrik left-hand (Vāma-marga) and we also compare Mā Tārā to Mā Kālī to make the case that they really are the same Being. Naturally, we say something about Tārāpītha, Mā's sacred temple in a cremation ground in the Birbhum district of Wes Bengal and about Mā's empowered saint, Vama Khepa. We tell the story of Vāsistha and how he had to go to Tibet to learn the Kaula Marga or the Vāmachāra (left-hand path) from the Buddha and how this allowed him to succeed in Tārā-sādhana and establish the holy site of Tarapeeth in Bengal as a śākta-pītha! We really get up to some Tantrik stuff in this lecture! Thanks all for coming live. Jai Mā Tārā!PS: here is our playlist on all things daśa-mahāvidya!You'll find a complete playlist of introductory lectures on Tantra in both theory and practice here. 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

Earlier this week, we celebrated the Spring Goddess Festival, Chaitra Navarātri or the 9 nights of the Mā Durgā! Naturally, we had a conversation about the very profound and very elaborate Durgā Pūjā which is performed on the last five days of the festival. We discussed how the Durgā Pūjā is the modern equivalent of the Vedic sacrifice par excellence, the Aśvamedha Yajña (horse sacrifice) and how performing Durgā pūjā can create the same amount of spiritual and secular merit! We discussed the communal aspects of Durgā Pūjā, mainly to explain why it is only open to householders. After our inquiry into why householders tend to be favored in the Vedic and Tantrik ritual traditions, we then offer a Durgā Pūjā substitute as per the teaching in the Kulārnava Tantra chapter on mantra-japa. We close with offering a simple durgā pūjā, a five-item offering that anyone can do to connect to the energy that is Durgā, who is none other than Kālī, who is your very own essence nature!To worship, Durgā, first chant this mantra while visualizing her form in your heart: oṁ hrīṁ kālābhrābhāṁ kaṭākṣair arikulabhayadāṁ maulibaddhendurekhām śaṅkhaṁ cakraṁ kṛpāṇaṁ triśikham api karair udvahantīṁ trinetrām। siṁhaskandhādhirūḍhāṁ tribhuvanam akhilaṁ tejasā pūrayantīṁ dhyāyed durgāṁ jayākhyāṁ tridaśaparivṛtāṁ sevitāṁ siddhikāmaiḥ॥"one should meditation on Durgā who is called the Victorious One who is radiant like a dark storm cloud, who casts a sidelong glance at the group of foes, thus terrifying them, with a crescent moon tucked into her crown while holding a conch, discus, sword and trident in her hands, three eyed, riding on the shoulders on a lion, filling the three worlds with her radiance, surrounded by the 30 (33) gods* and who is worshipped by those desiring perfection and pleasure!"Then, imagine she is present in the candle/lamp/picture or statue and offer the following items with the following mantras:Offer flower with perfume or fragrant oil:oṁ hrīṁ durge durge rakṣiṇi svāhā eṣa gandhaḥ jayadurgāyai namaḥOffer flower with sandalwood paste or just any fragrant flower:oṁ hrīṁ durge durge rakṣiṇi svāhā idaṁ sacandanapuṣpaṁ jayadurgāyai namaḥOffer a vilva leaf (or alternatively, any other three-petalled leaf) w/ sandalwood paste:oṁ hrīṁ durge durge rakṣiṇi svāhā idaṁ sacandanavilvapatraṁ / vilvapatrārthatripatraṁ jayadurgāyai namaḥ Offer incense:oṁ hrīṁ durge durge rakṣiṇi svāhā eṣa dhūpaḥ jayadurgāyai namaḥ Offer a light / candle:oṁ hrīṁ durge durge rakṣiṇi svāhā eṣa dīpaḥ jayadurgāyai namaḥPS: while you wave the incense and light clockwise around your deity (thrice around the feet, thrice around the heart, four times around the face and thrice around the whole statue/picture), you can chant the Durgā Gayatrī Mantra or the following: oṁ jayantī maṅgalā kālī bhadrakālī kapālinīdurgā śivā kṣamā dhātrī svāhā svadhā namo’stuteThen, Offer some sweets or fruits:oṁ hrīṁ durge durge rakṣiṇi svāhā idaṁ naivedyaṁ jayadurgāyai namaḥOffer wine and/or water:oṁ hrīṁ durge durge rakṣiṇi svāhā idaṁ karanodakaṁ jayadurgāyai namaḥ (for wine)oṁ hrīṁ durge durge rakṣiṇi svāhā idaṁ pāniyōdakaṁ jayadurgāyai namaḥ (for water)(you can consume the fruits, sweets, water and wine afterwSupport 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

When we fall in love with a particular kind of spiritual philosophy like advaita, non-duality we tend to become a little dogmatic and reject other forms of spirituality like duality. In our discussion called The 8 Schools of Shaivism, A Non-Sectarian Approach we made the point that a real Tantrik Shaiva will see all the teachings of Shiva as equally valid and since Shiva revealed both duality and non-duality as well qualified non-duality in the various āgamas/tantras, they must all be valid and true! The fullest practice of Tantra then makes use of all these schools and incorporates elements of each! Now, in this video, we talk about why it is so important, especially for non-dualists like us, to ground ourselves in dualistic philosophies and practices as part of firm foundation for spiritual life, as we argued here in 3 Ways to Stay Safe in Tantra!You'll find a complete playlist of introductory lectures on Tantra in both theory and practice here. 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

The past few weeks since Shiva Ratri, we've been giving a few talks on the "foundations of Tantra" both philosophically and practically to make the case that advanced transgressive, esoteric & non-dual sādhanas are best founded on firm, devotional, rule-adhering footing! We started our discussion with How To Practice Tantra Safely and then looked at the importance of duality and a non-sectarian approach in The 8 Schools of Shaivism, A Non-Sectarian Approach. Now in the third installment of this series, we break down the "3 foundational practices" that we see reflected in the life of Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa! You'll find a complete playlist of introductory lectures on Tantra in both theory and practice here. 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

Recently, we've been asking the question How To Practice Tantra Safely and we proposed that the historical progression of ideas in Shaivism presents a kind of graded syllabus where the traditions that come earlier (like the Vedas and the Shaiva Siddhanta etc.) act as firm foundations for the traditions that emerge later, like the transgressive, non-dual Goddess-oriented traditions (Kaula etc.). Abhinava Gupta presents us with a kind of hierarchy for the various schools in Tantrāloka 29.51:1. Veda (Smārta and Śrauta)2. Vaishnava Tantra (Pañcarātra)3. Pashupāta systems (Lakulīśan etc.)4. Siddhānta5. Vāma 6. Dakshina7. Mata8. Kula9. Kaula10. Trika (kulāt parataram trika)Of course, the fact that he distinguishes "Kula" from "Kaula" is worth noting and perhaps worth discussing in depth on another occasion. In what sense the Trika is the "highest" is also worth questioning. In a sense. the Veda and Siddhānta might be the most important since they are the most foundational and yet in another sense, the Kaula and Trika might be the "best" because they are the most refined, specialized revelations of Lord Shiva for the most advanced practitioners. In any case, the world of Tantra, both Hindu and Buddhist is full of "doxographical hierarchies" like this where other schools are accepted as true and good but only insofar as they can lead to "my" school which necessarily I will position as the greatest. We find this strategy also in the Tibetan Tantra masterpiece "Progressive Stages of Meditation on Emptiness" by Khenpo Tsultrim Gyamtso Rinpoche where the various Buddhist schools are presented in a hierarchy. This approach is called "religious inclusivism" and it is certainly better than "religious exclusivism" which says "my path alone is right and other paths are wrong!." In this video, I argue for a third approach as exemplified by Sri Ramakrishna: "all paths are equally, non-hierarchically good as many aspects of the Infinitely Varied One!" This view is called religious "pluralism" and it is to this view that our lineage belongs. As such, in this video, having carefully examined these various approaches to the many schools of Tantra, we make a case for a non-sectarian reading! We present the major 8 schools of Shaivism as follows:Pāshupata dualism (includes Nyāya and Vaishesika)The Lakulīsha PāshupataShaiva Siddhānta DualismShaiva ViśishtādvaitaViśeshādvaita (Vīra Shaivism)Nandikeśvara ShaivismRaseśvara ShaivismShaiva monism (Advaita Shaiva Vada)You'll find a complete playlist of introductory lectures on Tantra in both theory and practice here. 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 oSupport 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

Perhaps one of the most important and foundational lectures we've ever done, this talk features a broad overview of Tantrik non-duality in the beginning and then moves on to make a case for a Vedic lifestyle and basic devotion as important foundations for more dramatic, esoteric, non-dual and transgressive practices of Goddess-oriented tantra.We also study the Vedic (and pre-Vedic) roots of Tantra and look at a few of the early schools of our tradition such as the Mīmāmsa, Pāśupata, Lakulīśa, Nyāya & Vaiśeshika to derive from them some grounding ideas for practicing Tantra safely! This lecture was given just after Shiva Ratri and Sri Ramakrishna's birthday and so we attempt to map the historical progression of ideas in Shaivism unto the life of Sri Ramakrishna where we see all these ideas expressed! Books Referenced: 1. Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna by Swami Nikhilananda, a translation of the Kathamrita by M. 2. Sri Ramakrishna and his Divine Play by Swami Chetanananda, a translation of Lilaprasangha by Swami Saradananada3. Sri Ramakrishna and His Disciples by Sister Deva Mata4. Ramakrishna and His Disciples by Christopher Isherwood 5. Sri Ramakrishna: A Prophet For The New Age by Richard Schiffman(if you're new to the literature, I would start with 3., 4. and 5. before moving on to 1. and 2. from the list above) ^You'll find a complete playlist of introductory lectures on Tantra in both theory and practice here. 00:00:00 Meditation on Lord Shiva 00:02:00 Tantrik Non-Duality in a Nutshell 00:08:40 Other Flavors of Tantra and the Progression of the Tradition00:10:36 (a digression on exegesis vs eisegesis) and "doxographical hierarchy"00:13:15 finding the foundations for Tantrik practice & the avatāra (incarnation of God) 00:19:10 our project: mapping the history of Shaivism/Tantra unto the life of Sri Ramakrishna to make a case for finding the foundations for Tantrik practice!00:20:39 The importance of Texts and accountability in teachers00:51:51 Staying Grounded as a Foundation for Esoteric Tantrik Practices 00:55:58 Why this PSA is especially relevant after Shiva Ratri 00:51:12 The importance of Veda and Vedic living, the true foundation of Tantra 01:13:00 Rta, living according to the Rhythm of Nature & Fulfilling the 5 Debts to Rsis, Gods (Forces of Nature), Ancestors, Community and Animals/Plants. 01:14:15 An Aside on Why Swami Vivekananda is Not On My Altar... 01:15:45 Sri Ramakrishna's Adherence to the Veda and Brahminical Codes of Conduct 01:20:02 Shaiva Tantras in the Vedas and "before" the Vedas: the History of our Tradition 01:26:00 Nyāya and Vaiśeshika are early Shaiva Schools! 01:28:50 Why Logic and Thinking Clearly are So Important! (lessons from Nyāya) 01:30:19 The Transgressive Practices of Early Shaivas (Lakulīśa Shaivism) and the Cult of Bhairava as a way of moving beyond the Veda in the name of Devotion! 01:35:45 the Shaiva Siddhānta as the foundation for all Tantra & Puja as the foundational Tantrik Practice 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 aSupport 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