Tantra and Behavioral Sciences

Contributed by Sri Lalita

At Dharmanidhiji’s request, I would like to share two articles with the Vac readership. Both articles describe new developments in the behavioral sciences–both human and animal. Part of our goal as tantrikas is to align ourselves closely with nature; as such, the behavioral sciences offer us insight into our own actions and tendencies, and by extension sometimes helping us understand natural urges within our cultural context.

What Do Women Want?

Photo credit: Stephen K Willi

At the March 2010 teaching “Overcoming Trauma and Grief” in Berkeley, Dharmanidhiji referred to an article titled ‘What Do Women Want?’ by Daniel Bergner which appeared in the New York Times Magazine in January 2009. This article discusses research on human sexual behavioral and differences between women and men. In the study on which Dharmanidhiji focused our attention, scientists investigated human arousal.

Participants were shown a variety of images and sounds during which they rated their arousal using a keypad. Concurrently, probes monitored their physical reactions, such as blood flow, etc. The findings indicated that women are aroused by a far wider range of stimulii than men, including less traditional imagery. What was also striking was that men’s keypad ratings matched their physical responses much more closely. Women, on the other hand, rated less arousal by keypad than was indicated by data from the probes.

Does this mean that women don’t know what they want, that there is a disconnect between mental and physical arousal? Or, perhaps women are more or less aroused by everything–by life itself? The margin between data from the probes and keypads merely show that women are clear about who they would actually want to share their beds with.

From a tantric perspective, this data points to how sexually rich woman’s day-to-day life can be. The research can be further interpreted to back up the tantric view that women are innately and intimately connected with nature. For practitioners, such rich and full-bodied communion with shakti can be a beautiful vehicle for integration. It backs up the teaching Dharmanidhiji often gives about the role of female practitioners, reminding us that men and women can be of great utility to one another.

The following link contains the complete article:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/25/magazine/25desire-t.html

Can Animals Be Gay?

The second article Dharmanidhiji asked me to pass along is from the same publication and is titled ‘Can Animals Be Gay?’ by Jon Mooallem from March, 2010. It collates various research challenging the Darwinian thought that all animal behavior and consequent genetic mutations are geared toward advancing and refining reproduction. Or, if not outright challenging it, the research certainly asks us to change our view of what sorts of behaviors and dynamics between members of a group serve to advance a species.

New research on the albatross, a threatened Pacific seabird, debunks the long-held assumption that the bird is monogamous. Moreover, it shows that they are not always coupled with birds of the opposite sex. In fact, a high percentage of the birds–almost a third–partner with same-sex birds, sharing all co-parenting duties from incubating eggs to rearing chicks together.

Though the scientists study animal behavior exclusively and do not purport to draw conclusions about humans from their research, the press has nevertheless swelled to their doorsteps, politicizing their inquiry. The bird species has been championed by humans for decades as one of the few monogamous species, bolstering human monogamy for many. The gay community has been quick to use this research to benefit their cause, and there has been a sharp outcry against the research from anti-gay activists. Overall, the research has raised many questions about taboo human behavior and its cultural implications. The article refers to similar findings in as yet unpublished research across several species, seeming to strengthen the meaning humans glean from the albatross’s story.

Another interesting aspect of this article looks at whether animals may have sex for reasons other than reproduction. Do animals have sex for reasons other than to pass on their genes? Researchers posit that there may be a “gay gene” in humans, which would benefit our species by giving us sort of turbo-charged uncle figure: one who is biologically positioned to assist in extended family care of nieces and nephews. Such a member of society contributes greatly to his species without directly contributing his genes.

All of this research benefits us as practitioners as we review our preconceived notions of family. If we can be so bold as to infer meaning from animal society and use it to review our own, this research explodes the myth of the nuclear, self-contained family. It widens our understanding of the different roles we play for one another and provides insight into why we are taught that kula is indeed a Daytime Star.

Please read the full article at the following link:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/04/magazine/04animals-t.html?pagewanted=1&ref=general&src=me

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Mahasamadhi

Contributed by Omkarnath

My first visit to India… a place that impossibly, seemed even more grand and vast, than the mythic proportions it holds in the mind I share with all those who have found their home in it’s spiritual sciences…

And to travel with my Guru, to bask in the benefit of this privilege and honour for the first time, to attend the final three days of the Pujas for my ParamGuru Swami Satyananda Sarasvati’s Mahasamadhi, to be present and celebrate a Yogi of singular influence on this yogi and countless beings the world(s) over… How auspicious! So lucky that I sent my passport to Bangkok a week earlier to get that Indian Visa…

“You’re late…” I shuddered. “Sorry, Guruji… I got confused about the time…” And away we fly to Kolkata… So named for the Kali Kutir – Kalighat – one of the oldest, if not THE oldest Kali temple in all of India. Our visit to the Mother’s shrine was a blur of scents and colors; wish-fulfilling trees, sacrificial goats – both scared and sanguine, wandering musicians singing her praises, priests – both petty and pious. Saturn horshoes, sugarcane juice, and a special red string bound around my right wrist, reminds me of my prayer to have her keep opening me raw and real, to benefit all…

The next day’s trip to Deoghar was in doubt when we realize our train awaits in the OTHER station, across town… but we make it and a remarkably ordinary train ride with Guruji, Kiranamayi, Mahatama, Sivani and Rohan unfolds, sparkling the facets of precious moments… looking at everyone’s charts and Jyoti-shop talk with the Guru, eating kit-kats and bananas, Mahatma sharing new facts he’s uncovered about waste management… Rohan repeatedly asserting, “It’s dark in here…we need some light!” and proceeding to shine his new 10-rupee toy flashlight in my eyes. Kid’s got the metaphor down and a bright future in the dharma!

We arrive at the town nearest to Swamiji’s Rikhia Peeth – basically, in the middle of nowhere in the poorest state in India, and thus I begin to see everything anew with my own eyes and through Dharmanidhi’s eyes, which are returning 10 years later and remarking at all the changes. “Nothing was here! The last hotel I stayed at was crawling with rats…” We really got to see the tangible effect that a Siddha like Swamiji can have on the world in just a few decades. Hotels, businesses, schools, kids who went to them to learn English and get jobs, bringing possibility where once there was nothing.

Indeed, one of the most touching moments of the whole trip for me was a eulogy delivered by a local girl, one of Swamiji’s cherished Kanyas, when she described, in perfect English, the ways in which her life – and the whole town’s prosperity – had been changed for the better by Swamiji’s charity and love. It struck me that in America, we have false myths of Santa Claus, while in India, the jolly old round man is real. And in America, would the most powerful being choose to live out the end his life simply and humbly amongst the poorest and weakest?

And choose to end his life, he did. Swamiji left his body sitting up, shortly after he called his two closest disciples – Swami Niranjanananda and Swami Satsangi – and told them that he had a choice to “live another 20 years and continue or leave his body and pursue his spiritual life in higher dimensions”. This, detailed in Satsangi’s deeply moving and inspiring speech, in which she eloquently stated, “The question that we all have to think about right now is ‘can death be great happiness? Can death bring you happiness?”

Swamiji taught us how to die, she said, as “he told me that everything I did in my life had a purpose and so too, my death shall have a purpose… There are moments of time when the universe opens up and there is a fast way, and he chose such a moment and entered the universe. And the universe received him with open arms.” Whoa.

“The response confirms it,” she said. “From everywhere we are getting letters that Swamiji has entered our hearts.” And being there, I agree there was a palpable feeling of virtuous essential joy, Swamiji’s omnipresence pervaded and is with me still. His blessing power truly feels expansive and undiminished.

“This is what you read in the books and you say ‘Hoah! How nice this is! I wish this would happen to me.’ But it did happen to your Guru, and his success is your success,” Satsangi reminded us of the true non-duality of Guruyoga. “In the last 16 days, he has lifted us (from ordinary waking) Jagrat to the (subtle) realms of Svapna (dream) and Susupta (sleep). If I was in Jagrat, then like you, I would be crying. From the Svapna state, all this looks like a dream. From the Susupti state, this is a joke!”

“Life is much more than just living… That is what Swamiji has taught us… Disciples and seekers can be uplifted by connecting to the Guru.”

And I’ve barely mentioned Swami Niranjan. What a presence! It’s almost as if Swamiji is actually still here, so much is Niranjan an extension of his energy. (There are jyotisical congruences that are too perfect to be mere coincidence…) The first moments I saw him, I felt like a kid looking at Superman! What appreciation and gratitude I have that he gave Guruji the sacred Tantra and sent him to us, to me. To say nothing of the moment of Darsan, Swami Niranjan sitting in Swamiji’s body’s Kutir aglow with flowers, relics and tiger skin, his eyes looking straight through limited me, right before I prostrate… a memory I will take to my grave and probably beyond…

All of this walking by the site of Swamiji’s Pancagni Sadhana, his beloved Tulsi tree… the Space shaped and decorated by the chanting of the Sri Vidya Pujaris that performed Guruji’s MahaPurna Abhiseka… great Yogis lining up to pay their respects… the most powerful and beautiful Sama Veda chanting I’ve ever heard… next to my Guru… hawks circling overhead… So fortunate was I to be there, delighting in the cascading waterfall of grace of the Parampara.

And yet there was one occurrence for me that encapsulated my whole pilgrimage experience. During a break in the program, Guruji took us on a little walk to one of his favorite places during his days at Swamiji’s Rikhia Peeth, a little lotus pond, surrounded by palm trees, water buffaloes cooling down, local tribal girls bathing and washing… except when we got there, the palm trees had been felled, the lotus’ uprooted and the tribal girls, still strikingly beautiful and wild, seemed a little bit more modern…

This furthered my relationship with the passing of time. I gained a new relationship with the maxim, “You can never go home again.” The home one remembers is never there in the present. And I saw a time and place that was such wellspring of inspiration and energy for our Guru and lineage, I saw it all elapsed into the present. I imagined myself as seeker, showing up today to the place where my Guru learned such beautiful Sadhanas and gifted secrets of the tradition, and I saw that it has all closed up. There was nothing there for me; it was all in my Guru.

And it saddened me to see people in the Ashram system thirsting for God and drying up in the transcendental Tapasya, to feel the bristling dissatisfaction and repression of many who walked about the grounds. Many kind hearts, but the deeper teachings and practices, ones appropriate for this day and age, remain elusive for most.

And my appreciation for my Guru deepened. We must realize that it is very, very hard to find such depth of view, such breadth of method and such ripe and nourishing fruit – especially in our native tongue. And here we have it, in the grace of our Guru’s teachings. Indeed, here I am in India right now, awestruck by the tangible nourishment in the atmosphere of the motherland, and it is only due to the teachings and trainings I have received in the past five years that I can make use of it. I look around, and see that what I have been graced with is truly hard to find, even here. It’s only been a month and, boy do I have some stories of the beauty and insanity that are embraced by mother India. And each experience seems like the teaching of my Guru come to life. Unbelievable. We are so lucky. We don’t even know.

Another moment of this Yatra sticks out in my mind. As I narrowly escaped the snares of the Ashram Gestapo so that I could be standing in line with my Guru as we received darshan of Swami Niranjan in Swamiji’s Mahasamadhi shrine, Mahatma heard one of those sexually-frustrated, desiccating-before-your-eyes women lean to the other and say, “I don’t think Ashram life is for him.”

To which I now respond. “Jaya Gurudev! Thank God! To Kailash Akhara I go!”

Hari Om. Namo Narayan. Bolo Sat Gurudev Maharaj Ki Jai.

Note: some noteworthy events – such as parakeet street oracles, Avatar in 3D, meat-filled room service banquets, horrible digestion and illness, old Jyotisis, rickshaw rides and retarded cabbies, Twilight: New Moon, musical instrument shopping sprees, horse races, gentrified Anglo-Indian hoteliers, cheesy nightclubs named Tantra, beautiful breakfast buffets, mosquito wars, even more train chaos, Kali-devotee street-walkers, fish fingers and cucumbers stuffed in Rohan’s cheeks, melting in the crucible of the Guru’s presence, and general good ol’ times  – have been edited from this article for brevity and integrity of purpose.

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Soul Power

Contributed by Manomani

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2010 Fine Art Auction!

Save the Date!

Sacred Art & Sacred Space & Yoga Mandala invite you to the 2010 Fine Art Auction featuring masterworks of modern Tantric art, contemporary Indian art, vacation packages and other fantastic surprises!

Sunday March 21, 2010
6:00pm wine, hors d’oeuvres, and preview. 8:00pm live auction begins

Pizzaiolo 5008 Telegraph Avenue, Oakland, CA [Map] $25

RSVP Today: General Admission Tickets available online.

Visit www.TantricArt.net to learn more about this exciting event!

Proceeds to benefit Trika Institute, a non-profit organization committed to bringing the richness of authentic Eastern traditions to the West through Hatha Yoga, Ayurveda, meditation, and philosophy classes.

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Reflections on “Aghora”

Contributed by Dharmavrat

“The basis of all fears is the fear of death”

I arrived at the path of Tantra as a response to the death of my Mother. Witnessing her death was an enormous gift to me. It stripped me of everything I believed myself to be. It terrified me. It took me three years to understand all that I had learned, and most of it did not penetrate until I read the book Aghora by Robert Svoboda.

As many times as I have heard Kali described and sat in Kali puja, I don’t think I ever felt fear or terror. There was something familiar and alluring about Kali. I would contemplate her murti, as we made the offerings and wonder why she was described as “terrible,” why her tongue dripped blood and why she was “chaotic” and “fierce.” I would recite her mantra when I found myself clinging to a person, an experience or a situation. I would pray for her knife to come down and free me from my current attachment. Always I would be comforted and released.

It was not until I read the description of the garland of severed human heads around her neck, that I began to re-arrange my relationship to her, and realize that she had visited me as my Mother was dying. It is said that the heads around Kali’s neck represent lust, anger, greed, delusion, envy, shame, fear and disgust. I remembered the disgust my mother had at her inability to control her bowels and I remember trying to comfort and reassure her. I remember crying about my Mother’s difficulty accepting her old age.

I moved quickly from that memory to the realization of the fear that had haunted me for three years before my Mother died, and three years since. I watched my mother being stripped away of everything. Surgery after surgery I prayed for her recovery. I clung to her. But I did not cling to her as she was, frail, and in great pain, her face and body marked by her 80 years. I clung instead to my earliest memory of her and I wanted that memory of my burying my head in her skirt and inhaling her smell and feeling her arms embrace me to become real again. I wanted my mother to be strong and powerful and immortal as I believed she was when I was a child. I wanted her to be elegant and bright, active and implacable. Weren’t those attributes to be preserved? I loved my mother as she was in the past. But I now realize that I was unable to love her as I needed to when she was dying.

In fact, her existence, became intolerable to me because I would cry and fall apart when I saw her as she was. I told myself I was preparing for her death. I told myself that my tears were mourning her passing. Perhaps, that was true to some degree. But many of my tears were about myself and my own journey towards my old age, my own mortality. I remember once, her caregiver shocked me by asking me why I didn’t go and see her, why I didn’t call her once a week at least. Wasn’t I spending half my income to keep her in her home? I had to work to support her, right? The money I would have spent on airplanes was better spent on adult diapers, and blood pressure medication, and home repairs. How dare a stranger judge me. I was certain I had no other choice. I was righteous in my certainty. I brushed away the thought that it was too difficult to understand her on the phone, and that I could not find the time in my life to be with her. I brushed away the fear that gripped me when I saw her in her wheelchair.

The last week before her death my mother became delirious. She raged at her grandchildren, at me, at my siblings. The catheter hung from her bed dangling with urine. I wept as I turned her over to help remove the feces from her back. I was numbed by the fierce cruelty I was witnessing. I grimaced at her pain. She stopped eating, then drinking water, then speaking, then moving. I remember her last look at me with distant red-rimmed vacant eyes. I remember her last breath.

In addition to the grief, there was anger now. Why had she suffered so much as she was dying? It was unjust, she had worked so hard, sacrificed so much for her children. She deserved a “good death”, and she always was very clear that she was ready to die. I realize now that the real question is why had I suffered so much as she was dying?

“You see Smashan Tara in Her terrifying form because you are possessed of the eight nooses, of eons of karmas, and all the rest of the filth of your false personality, and She wants to disconnect you in the fastest way possible…most humans are such idiots that they are terrified of Ma, because they are afraid to disengage themselves from their filth”

Sometimes I watch people and I get a flash of when I was 20, when my children were born, when I was 30, and rushing around “making a career”. It is a dream. At times it feels like a movie I watched long ago. At times I get a whiff of the intense physical sensations of that time. I am the same inside, I am curious, I hunger to learn. I still long to dance and run. But my body is no longer the same and I am learning the swift biting lessons of the march of time.

I will never know all that my Mother was carrying or coping with before her death. But I know that her letting go was fierce, cruel, abrupt and chaotic. I now see the delusions I hold about myself, about death, about pain, and about suffering. Above all I see the fear that kept me from a genuine relationship with my Mother in her old age and in her death. I see the fear that lives within me. I saw Kali back then and did not know her name or her essence. But I have found her again, and I am grateful for her teaching. I take my fear and leave it at her feet.

“All people, objects and situations are always dissolving though they may appear to be stable or growing/evolving. Our own death may be surprising if we forget that we die.” (Dharmanidhi Sarasvati)

Photo by: Albert Egazarov

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“The Inner Yogas”

Contributed by Omkarnath

Lord Krsna in the Bhagavad Gita:

“When the Dharma is threatened, the Dharma destroys.
When the Dharma is preserved, the Dharma flourishes.”

Abhinavagupta:

“Our normal condition is a fake heart filled with wonder.
We live in a mental stupor.”

Guruji:

“My Karma is limitless, so I devote myself
to a life of limitless Sadhana.”

This is my attempt to share with you a bit of the process of three months in retreat in Thailand with my Guru Dharmanidhi Sarasvati, learning and practicing the cherished Inner Sadhanas of our grand lineage. The experience, like any other in the relative world, was punctuated with high/low ebb and flow, excitements and boredoms, sorrowful failings and inconceivable successes. For me, it was a rich tapestry woven from tangled karmic threads and the elegant strands of nature, waving and shining in the wind.

We ate a lot. Some of us (NOT ME!) tried to memorize the breakfast sequence. I gave many Jyotish (Indian Astrololgy) readings, telling myself that it was a Sadhana and not a distraction. (I was half-right.) I became entranced by the Moon’s dance through the Naksatras, or lunar mansions (I MEMORIZED THEM!) and delightedly watched Jupiter creep out of Capricorn. I fell in love with prostrations all over again, not just for the abs. I wondered how my baseball team was doing in the playoffs more often than I care to admit. We learned about permaculture and got intimate with our waste. We were instructed to take naps! (I suck at that.) People got sick with staph infections, a few left retreat early. There were periods dense with teachings and group activity and times of less structured, solo endeavors. People were less solitary than some expected and others hoped. We banded together into one Kula energy body and realized unprecedented confidence in ourselves and our path. Well, I did, and I didn’t feel alone in it. We learned a hell of a lot about ourselves and our hallowed tradition. I feel unspeakably grateful to have been given practices and insights I have been waiting years – perhaps even lifetimes – to receive.

The following is a chronological account of direct quotes of Guruji’s teachings from my notes (left margin, bold), direct quotes from my journal of my experience (right margin, unbold), and a Rudi quote from Spiritual Cannibalism that was a pole star for me in retreat. My hope is that you get some small sense of the twists and turns, ups and downs, that I went through, and that you learn something new from the wise words of our teacher, or perhaps you are reminded of something old that burns deep inside your being, close to your essence.

September 29

“There are greater things in the world
than your own personal story.”

“Doing the practice IS enlightenment.”

“Don’t go forcefully into the tension; let the
openness spread, millimeter by millimeter…”

“Accidents are caused by resisting resistance.
Relax!”

October 5–8

“It’s hard. That’s why it’s called yoga and
it takes years to master and you live forever.”

“Your life is a cherished vessel that should be
shared with people who can appreciate and savor
the precious dharma of this vessel.”

“I have no eyebrows and I’m a bit freaked out about it.”

“Don’t worry (about that). Do the exercises.
Get enlightened. It will all make sense.”

“Open my heart to the heart pulse of the Kula.
We are all doing our best…”

October 9–10

“Find vigor! The head is a very, very,
very limited part of the body.”

“The desire to be properly understood runs deep in this one.”

“If you doubt, you remove yourself
from the flow of grace.”

“So here I am, contemplating my navel…
making the container strong.”

“No matter how small the energy is,
you can make more from it.
You CAN make more from less.”

October 11-13

“Smile! You can’t feel blissful energies when you frown.”

“Why would anyone want to do this? Because it can feel
so awesome in ways that people have no concept of.”

“Still throwing daggers; I need to stop but
I don’t know how… perhaps cut out
the idea of ‘mine’ at any time,
even in regard to friends…”

“When you are not afraid to get lost, getting lost is
a great adventure. Reality is (actually) short
chains of cause-effect and open space of chaos.”

“It’s nice to get outside confirmation that I’m not as
lost and trapped as I feel sometimes.”

“Starting to hit so much energy that
I just want to blow it!”

“Power gives you the ability to love.”

“Not sure what to do about it but continue
dropping it from my mind…”

“Do the work, stay humble,
no strenuous effort and it will come.”

October 14

“Fickle doesn’t work for alchemy.
Pendulum swings piss away energy.”

“It’s not super easy to be here.
Although it is. Although it isn’t.”

“Pray for the fortitude to navigate the uncharted
waters of my whirling subconscious mind.”

Me:

“Ask the guru. With every cell in my body.
Ask for help from his three bodies to experience
something richer than this dense reality.
The pure light of consciousness. But ask not with worry;
rather plead with a desperate joy permeating
every exhale and inhale into this body a world that
lives to share his light. Do not take it for granted
for even a moment.”

October 15

“Wonder is a virtue and confusion is the perversion of it.”

“People are chatting up a storm. I am not
sinking in deeper and we are not as a group.”

“If you don’t love the guru, you don’t love your kula.
If you don’t love your kula, you don’t love your guru.
The daytime stars are equal as one.”

October 17

“Look at the (jyotish) chart as a Yantra and then
allow the images to come to you. Don’t just analyze.”

“The intimacy I am privy to when looking at charts
is awe inspiring. I am humbled by the trust.”

“It is only when a yogin becomes indifferent of
power over others (that he) becomes liberated
and then can liberate others.”

Abhinavagupta:

“Guru: Wisdom that is expertly put into practice.”

October 20

“Both the mystical and the logical have to be present
in every aspect or else it is not a complete practice.”

“Haven’t been sick like this in years.
102 degrees. I hope it’s not dengue fever.”

“Pride: Stealing Your Soul From God.” – Veda

“Vajra Pride: Realizing Your Soul Is God’s.”

October 22-23

“The food was amazing today. Hearing Guruji talk about
Mahasiddhas is amazing! Amazing is not the word.
Magical is. The feeling in the air changes.”

“Everything is process; process
of revealing Essence Nature.”

“Just gotta do my thing and little by little
deal with the resulting pain and pleasure.”

“Is feeling great that realization
that I’m looking for? It’s a start…”

“I caught myself thinking of myself as serious today.
Why think of myself as anything? Why not just be
whatever I am and do whatever I think is important
for my dharma. Why even think of myself at all…”

October 25

“Hospital today. Infections Kapha systemic pustules
Narasimha Puja group dejected karmas going wild!”

“Stop telling myself that I can’t do it! That I’m not good
at something… Stop saying it! Can I be the essence
heart virtue of all sentient beings at all times?
Of course I can! That’s what I am!”

Guruji:

“Without a basis of self-cherishing,
no actual spiritual development is possible.”

October 26-27

“You can not separate yourself from other beings!
Nothing you ever do is just for you!”

“Dharma seeks permanence; Adharma seeks impermanence.
Pursue the permanent! Drop the impermanent!”

“Every karma you produce is unending! Cut off the
negative ones and stop a chain of suffering for eternity.”

“There is no growth without the suffering
of ego death. The only growth comes from
the old you dying and transforming.”

“I harbor this call for vengeance, this limited pattern
of justice in my heart. Why do I care? What does it matter
to me if or when anything does or does not happen?”

“I think my internal self-doubt/critic/judge is
the most bearable misery in the world.
How long do I want to be in this crucible?
How long do I want to delay the inevitable?
What do you have planned for me, Lord Sani?”

“Realize that this is all God and thirst for it to be
revealed
divine like a man drowning in molten hot sand…”

October 30

“Guruji came back today and beamed essence
light into our developing kula energy body.
He also brought doughnuts! And called me egocentric.
Maybe I shouldn’t try so hard to get rid of
the pain and just do what I’m told.”

Swami Rudrananda:

“Conditions for inner work differ throughout the world.
There are countless ways for man to pursue
the unknown. But they all achieve the same result,
which is nothing or close to nothing. Only
the exceptional man who is born gifted within grows.
He grows in spite of everything he does wrong.
He grows solely because his seed is strong enough to
withstand the psychic battle.”

October 31

“Psychic battle indeed!”

“I want to know the interface between fixed karma
and Anugraha (grace); between karma-burning
sadhana and one’s chart… help me, Ma Durga!
Help me, Jyotir Vidya!”

November 1

“The first thing you should expect,
when you open something real, is a test.”

“I’d rather be anonymous,
with no power at all
and love everything!”

“The whole world is in me;
I am in everyone.”

“All I need not to be such a miserable shit
all the time is the space to feel good!”

“Four Yoga Nidras a day may do the trick…”

“Starting to miss the outside world and peoples a bit.”

Guruji:

“On one hand, the spiritual path is the easiest,
most self-fulfilling thing possible; on the other hand,
you gotta bust your ass.”

November 4-7

“Ambivalent, conflicted about the next course of action.
Don’t have to know; just get up tomorrow and
do it again. Rahu transit impending…”

“Still chugging along, letting my cares and
worries transform in the Wisdom Fire…”

“…Refractions of judgments and pettiness and separating
thoughts. Desires to make people feel bad, usually when
they give me as hard a time as they give themselves.
Just watch and cut off with my tool bag…”

November 12–13

“So much of Tantra is being in the field of
someone who is whole when we are not yet whole.”

“You need both devotion and transmission of essence
but you work devotion because that’s
the only thing you have control of…”

“My observations are inconsequential to what is.”

“It’s funny to see the karma that you want
to be blind to on a sheet of paper.”

“Let go of repression for survival!”

“To become whole, you can not fight; you must
accept what happened and you must surrender!”

“Tremendous pain and elation simultaneously!
A joy to live whether it’s fucked or fantastic.”

“I don’t know why I use ideas to protect me
from the overwhelm that can come with reality
but I don’t want to do it anymore.”

“I worry about losing control but to quote Guruji:
“you’re not going to go postal, you’re just a big teddy
bear.”

November 16

“Breathe in the blessing power of the fire.
Breathe out obscurations into the fire.”

“Wonderful Yajna tonight. I want to sit in that space all
night
and break down borders but this is not the context.
Oh well, better luck last life!”

November 17

“Vidya sakti! Wisdom is there; relax and learn to see it.”

“Focus on the expansion, not the limitation.
Pat yourself on the back for a good effort
and move on, says the Guru…”

“Am I really changing anything?
Can I escape from anything?
Why would I want to!”

Guruji:

“You must have Belief in Self for Siddhi of Sadhana.
Tantriks always believe in themselves and their capacities.
For Tantriks, there is no 1st, 2nd or last place; there is
only
the clear fulfilling of your destiny. Don’t be afraid to
step up and take responsibility for the innate
greatness you are meant to be.”

November 18–19

“Effort is always there! Practice with the intent
that you must know your Self or you will die.”

“Our personalities are a teeter-totter between
endearing and embarrassing, the fulcrum being
the absence/presence of judgment in the observer…”

“I am a think-too-much person; so hard for me
to not get lost in the misty film of ideas…”

“Getting realized is a fantasy we push away with our plans.
This is a mad world. I am a crackpot coconut
waiting for the priest’s hammer…”

November 21

“It struck me today that I’m not actually ready to make
the giant leap into letting go of my agenda – or so I think…
I still have ideas/illusions of what is meant to happen
in my life and I’m not quite sure which ones are
my true Dharma and which ones are ideological
safety-nets/self-preservation strategies.
Some of them involve women…”

“I can feel the pattern follow me… my karma follows me.
Or is it the other way around… or is it both…”

“The Sadhana is very effective. When I fall out of rhythm
with it,
I forget how it solves the obscurations of little mind.”

“Oh great masters! Take me from this carousel of
hazy dreams of loss and longing and into the ever-fresh
ascending course of my dharma. Show me the clear path
out of my crushed skull and into the unending
pulsation of my essence truth. Share this with me!”

Tashi Shardza Gyaltsen’s Final Teaching:

“The base of all knowledge is faith, devotion and vow.”

“Really realize the value of the teachings.
Think of what your life might be like without them.
Remember how lost you were.
The ego denies reality as it is
until it is no longer able to do so.”

November 26–29

“Paradox IS Reality.
The more you embrace the paradox, the healthier you are.
Paradox mind allows for transformation to succeed.”

“India will sort you out faster than any place
on the planet; it is the ultimate karmic cleanser.
Love the paradox of India and you will go to heaven.”

“Retreat is essential.
Nothing feeds a human like nothing else. ”

“To be alone – To be really alone –
is untoward and off putting in my mind
to the point of me thinking that perhaps it is wrong.”

“Act from your dharma and nature is in line with you.”

December 4–6

“I’ve never heard of one good reason
why you shouldn’t resolve a karma. Still looking…”

“I feel, for the first time, the possibility of accessing
this deep primal and powerful energy
and re-channeling and redistributing it.”

“Don’t worry about being scared and panicky.
Work harder/softer! Get back on it.”

“I have prejudices. Listen and work with them.
Open them up…”

“Guruji is back. Swamiji has left.
The world is coming crashing in…”

Guruji:

“Don’t doubt that you are enlightened and don’t be
arrogant that you are enlightened; it’s a very ordinary
thing.”

_____________________

My journaling practice fell by the wayside as Swami Satyananda Sarasvati’s Mahasamadhi had me frantically preparing at the end of retreat to wisk away for my first trip to India, where these words find me. I was fortunate enough to travel with Dharmanidhi and witness the final three days of the rituals for my Param Guru as my introduction to the Motherland. You are welcome to please read my reflections on this auspicious occurrence in the next Vac.

In Loving Service,
Omkarnath

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The Four Levels of the Word

Contributed by Christopher D. Wallis (Hareesh)

The Self-Expression of the Goddess

Namovaḥ. First, a slightly academic introduction to this topic; then the juicy stuff.

The name of this newsletter is Vāc (“the Word”), so it seemed only appropriate to contribute something about that subject as it is understood by classical Tantrik philosophy. In the tradition of the Trika (by which term I refer to the nondual Trika as expounded by the Pratyabhijñā lineage of Kashmir), the concept of the Word is absolutely central; indeed, the whole bedrock of the Trika doctrine is a kind of linguistic mysticism. As the greatest master of the Trika, Abhinavagupta, says: “For us, the totality of sounds is the highest Divinity itself, and the goddess of the alphabet is his Power.” This emphasis on language makes sense when you know that the supreme Goddess of the Trika, Parā, is in fact the secret Tantrik expression of the goddess ordinarily called Sarasvatī; for her full name is in fact Parā Vāc, “the Supreme Word”. In this brief article I will describe the four levels of the self-expression of that Goddess. Having known Her, the texts say, nothing remains to be known.

Let’s begin by setting out the four levels in a tabular form so you can see a map of where we’re going:

	Name	Translation	Predominance	Power	Bodily Locus
4	Vaikharī	Corporeal	Object	Action	Palate
3	Madhyamā	Intermediate	Process	Knowledge	Throat
2	Paśyantī	Visionary	Subject	Will	Heart
1	Parā	Supreme	Trans. subject	Freedom	Kanda

The first of the four levels, Vaikharī, is the level of ordinary everyday “corporeal” speech. It functions on the level of duality, and in it, object-awareness is predominant. This discourse in which we engage every day is, in this philosophy, just the tip of the iceberg. It is constantly informed by deeper levels of discourse, and can point us towards those deeper realities. In other words, ordinary speech is shaped by how we think; how we think is shaped by our deep unconscious beliefs about reality; and those in turn are expressions of the singular divine consciousness that freely chooses to express itself in a rhythm of contracted and expanded forms. In light of this, the way you speak expresses the pattern of your consciousness. If change is desireable, then, we Tantrikas seek that transformation not in terms of superficial programmatic adjustments of our words to conform more successfully to social sanction. Rather, we seek shifts on the deepest level of our awareness that then express themselves naturally through the dance of our thoughts and words. So words do matter, not in terms of themselves but of what they signify, what they reveal about the way we are encountering and understanding our world. Additionally, they are forms of action, by which we effect or inflict change on the world around us.

The second level, then, is Madhyamā Vāc, the level of thought. Here the process of knowing is predominant. This is the arena in which the mind formulates its thought constructs—the forms of verbal symbolization that we then superimpose on reality, forcing it to fit these predetermined molds. Yet this is also the level of contemplation and imagination, expansive forms of inner discourse that move us closer to our natural state of freedom and presence. Our thought constructs (vikalpas) limit the range of possibilities for how we experience any given reality; yet cultivating purified thought constructs (those aligned with the organic flowing patterns of awakened consciousness) can by the same token expand our range of possibilities.

This is very difficult to do, however, if we are not also working on the third level, the Paśyantī or “Visionary” level of Vāc. This is the level where subjective awareness is dominant, a level beyond ordinary discourse, where the vibrations of thought and feeling are entirely wordless. It is the level of precognitive Will [icchā]. On this level, there is no differentiation of space and time, and sound and light too are synesthetically fused. Yet the Word is active here too, though it is condensed and concealed. For this is the level of our pre-cognitive, deeply held beliefs about reality, woven into our sense of self and all the stronger for being wordless. This level is called Visionary because the pattern held here powerfully shapes our vision of reality, structuring our thought on the Intermediate level and our words on the Corporeal level. This then is the dwelling place of our deepest saṃskāras, or subliminal impressions of past experience, which constantly provide the template for our mental and physical engagement with reality. This is the level of deep healing, where our goal is to create a pattern in awareness that perfectly aligns with the cosmic divine pattern. There are three methods to penetrate to this level.

The first is to repeatedly cultivate purified thought constructs on the Madhyamā level. This method is carefully and beautifully explained by the mahāsiddha Abhinavagupta in “The Essence of Tantra”. The second method is meditation, where by accessing the Witness Consciousness that characterizes this level, we create a healing space of awareness in which old saṃskāras are automatically released. The third method is mantra-japa, which begins on the Vaikharī level where not much benefit is experienced, but if sufficiently practiced, it becomes subtler and subtler until it purifies all three levels of speech, eventually leading us to the highest. When the Paśyantī level is purified, the unobstructed light of divine Will Power directs us to realization of our ultimate nature.

That ultimate nature is the Supreme Word [Parā Vāc]. The foundation of all language, thought, feeling, and perception, Parā is a divine mystery, for despite being the highest principle of reality, we have all experienced Her as our own expanded self-awareness. She is not some mystical state stowed away in a void, but rather the singular all-encompassing vibration by which all things move and sing. Srī Abhinavagupta describes Parā Vāc in this way: “She is the primordial, uncreated Word, the very essence of the highest reality, pervading all things and eternally in creative motion: (she is simply) luminous pure Consciousness, vibrating with the greatest subtlety (as the ground of all Being).” He goes on to say that everything—stones, trees, birds, human beings, gods, demons—is a harmonic vibration of that one supreme Word. Her dominant powers are svā the power of absolute Freedom, and the power of self-awareness. She is most fully expressed in human experience in the state of chamatkāra, the state of fully self-aware ecstasy where consciousness is suffused with the rapture of extreme beauty, vibrating with wonder and awe. This state, absolutely expansive and wordless, transcendent yet completely engaged with the reality present in awareness, reveals to us how the Goddess Parā can be simultaneously the transcendent source of all things, yet completely immanent in all things. She suggests to us, then, that ultimately we can experience exquisite beauty in each aspect of human existence: in stillness and change, in death and birth, in growth and decay, in pain and in happiness.

We are excited to have Hareesh teaching a new weekly class Wednesday evenings at Yoga Maṇḍala, focusing on a line-by-line study of the key Tantrik texts, beginning with Abhinavagupta’s “The Essence of Tantra”.

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Navaratri in Gujarat

Contributed by Siddhartha Shaw

As a child I was very anti-social. I would show up at the Indian parties my parents would go to with a coloring book and crayons or something to read, anything to avoid hanging out with other children my age. Or, I would follow my mother around, clutching to her sari while she made simple conversation with all her lady friends. I dreaded these functions with a passion as I always felt very different from the other kids…for various reasons. It was only as we approached Navratri that I would impatiently await these gatherings. This holiday was always centered on dancing!

Navratri is the most important celebration in Gujarat and, most specifically, in Baroda (the city where my family is from and where I spend most of my time in India). People from all over India come to Baroda to celebrate the Nine Nights of the Goddess because, for us, this is a time for dancing. Each night, the streets are filled with literally millions of people in their most colorful clothing, dancing to beat of drums and singing devotional songs to Amba.

Garba is the most popular women’s folk dance of Gujarat that was originally associated with hunting and later transformed into an agricultural ritual dedicated to the goddess Amba. During Navratri, the tradition in villages is for a pot to be decorated with attractive designs and then placed on the heads of young women who go from door to door. At every step they gracefully bend to the sides, their arms sweeping up and down, each movement ending in clap. The movements and gestures seem to dispel negativity and invite great joy and prosperity for the future. Today, in cities like Baroda, garba is a ceremonial dance for all to join in together, irrespective of their caste, religion, or social standing.

The traditional dance of men during Navaratri is raas or dandiya raas in which each participant holds two wooden sticks and reenacts the battle between Durga and Mahishasura through a complicated rhythmic pattern of movements. It is also a sacred dance in the cults of Krishna in northern and western India. The dance, that can feature hundreds or thousands of participants, takes place in two concentric circles, with an inner circle of dancers facing the outer circle of dancers. The circles move in opposite directions with each dancer having the opportunity to dance with each member of the facing circle. The dancers strike their own sticks as well as those of their partner, mimicking a sword dance between two warriors, beginning in a very slow tempo and eventually rising to a highly charged, loud, and fast rhythm.

Today, both men and women can participate in either or both dances. For many, it is through this celebration and the repetitive, ecstatic dances that they gain access into the energy of goddess Amba. Fury, heat, power, and riotous forces are invoked and embodied during Navratri in Gujarat, and it is certainly the most exciting time for millions of adults and children each year. While we may seek to honor Amba or all the goddesses at this time of year, it is essential for us to understand that this is also the time for us to experience victory and celebration within ourselves for the battles we have overcome in our lives. This is a time of great happiness and revelry! Fortuitous times are still to come…

Siddhartha V. Shah is an art historian, dealer, and lecturer who focuses on the function of contemporary art in spiritual practice. Numerous paintings by artists he represents can be seen at Yoga Mandala Studio and at www.TantricArt.net

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Durga, the Matrikas and Navaratri

a Q&A with Laura Dakshayani Amazzone

Vac: Who is Durga?

Dakshayani: The South Asian Goddess Durga, whose name means the Invincible One, is a Great Goddess of justice and peace. As the remover of difficulty and fear, She is a Goddess of compassion and fiercely discriminating wisdom. To millions, Durga serves as a spiritual guide through the chaos and violence that threatens the precious equilibrium of our lives. She reminds us that while suffering and pain plague this planet – joy, well-being and love are always attainable by confronting that which we most greatly fear. We can experience Her states of grace by fully surrendering to the natural cycles and wisdom of Goddess. To know Her mysteries, we must become them.

V: What is Navaratri?

D: The Durga puja is one of the most important religious festivals in the Hindu world. Millions come together to worship God as Mother Durga. For nine days and nights Durga’s mythic battle is reenacted through ritual, storytelling, dance, and worship across the Hindu world in a festival known as Dashain in Nepal and Navaratri or Durga Puja in other parts of South Asia.

Each autumn around the dark of the September or October moon, the millennia-old harvest festival worshiping the power and bounty of this omnipotent Goddess begins.

At the most astrologically auspicious time, Durga re-appears in Her various manifest forms: womb-like vessel, barley plant seeds and later, sprouts, the red tikka mark on Her devotees’ third eyes (an ancient symbol of our menstrual blood!), and as a bevy of Goddesses who help Her fight demonic forces (greed, ignorance, racism, misogyny, violence) and liberate the oppressed.

V: How does Durga relate to the other Goddesses?

D: Throughout the lunar-based festival the Asta Matrikas (eight Mother Goddesses) and the Navadurga (nine Durgas) are worshiped as a collective form of Durga. Revered as protectors of space and time, they are danced at midnight in the main squares of the three medieval kingdoms of the Valley: Kathmandu, Patan, and Bhaktapur.

While each of these Goddesses is honored on individual days of the festival, they are ultimately understood as the various forms of Goddess Herself. Each Matrika and Navadurga is associated with a plant, Navapatrika, as well as one of Navagraha, the seven planets and nodes of the moon, demonstrating Goddess’ governance over both earthly and cosmic existence. The Great Goddess’ epic text, the Sri Chandi, which dates back to the 6th century CE is recited, hymns to goddess are sung, and temporary shrines holding freshly constructed straw and clay murti (statues) of the Goddess and Her entourage are ritualistically placed throughout cities and towns.

The first three days of the nine are devoted to Kali, Goddess of death and transformation, and rites are performed for removing obstacles and letting go of the old.

On the next three days, Lakshmi, Goddess of spiritual and material abundance, is honored, and rites celebrating fruition and the vegetative world are enacted.

On the final three days Sarasvati, Goddess of wisdom and creativity is revered. Practitioners place their tools, books, work objects, and other daily utensils on the altar and ask for the Goddess’ blessing.

V: What is Vijaya Dashami?

D: The final day of the festival, Vijaya Dashami, celebrates Durga’s victory over the demonic forces. With Her victory a new cycle begins. Although Goddess will now return to Her mountain abode, before leaving She reminds Her devotees that She is always within reach. No matter how joyous or difficult a situation, Durga asks Her devotees to call on Her—and promises She will always come.

JAI MAA!

Laura Amazzone, M.A., is a yogini, independent scholar, and teacher who has recently completed a book on Durga and Navaratri: Goddess Durga: Empowering Women, Transforming the World. University Press of America, Spring 2010.

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Jaya Hanuman!

The book, Miracle of Love, is a compilation of stories about a true modern saint, Neem Karoli Baba, written by his disciple Ram Dass. This book is so heartfelt that it had me crying on page 1. Now, most of you who know me (and how often I tear up) may not be impressed, but I assure you – this is a book of live transmission that is perfect for the aspirant on the verge of deep heart opening. As a true Mahasiddha can, Neem Karoli Baba has a way of really showing up in these pages as the devotion of Hanuman, the love of Sita and Ram, and the Grace of the Guru are palpable throughout.

The book is filled with countless gems of wisdom from this inspiring and awesome glimpse of the god-man-saint known affectionately as Maharajji. The following four quotes remain with me in my little notebook of daily reminders:

“God will give you everything you need for your spiritual development. Hold on to nothing.”

“The best service you can do is to keep your thoughts on God. Keep God in mind every minute.”

“Have no attachment for anything.”

“Love everything.”

Now, by themselves, these words may seem like ordinary clichés, no different from any book of spiritual wisdom. But, embedded within the field of Grace of Miracle of Love, these pithy remarks have had a way of staying with me, day in and day out since I read them. Of course, you are surely likely to be effected by different words, in different moments of time, space, and need, but I have the utmost confidence that within these pages lay deep heart truths for all who sincerely seek within.

It is also good to know, in addition to my humble recommendations, that Maharajji has a significant influence in our lineage, both via our Guru, Dharmanidhi, and through his relationship with our Paramguru, Sivananda. Dharmanidhi credits this book as pivotal in his early heart openings on the Path of Indian tantra, and has also been graced with profound transmissions from Maharajji via a live encounter with Ram Dass in which Maharajji appeared and embraced Dharmanidhi as well as at the Hanuman temple in New Mexico where Dharmanidhi enjoyed the fruits of Hanuman sadhana.

Via the gateway of the heart, Neem Karoli Baba is one of those “energies” that is very accessible in this realm and those of us within the lineage of Jnanagni Kula have a special link to this dimension of being.

Additionally, when Maharajji was alive in the body he had a special kinship with Sivananda, our Paramguru. Sivananda’s ashram was very well known for discipline and service, while Maharajji’s was very well known for a “go with the flow” kind of devotion, or bhakti. Thus, these two as Gurus used each other’s services when they had students that erred too far to one side or another. When a student of Sivananda was too tight or serious, she would be sent to Maharajji in order to be in the looser and more obvious expression of devotional love. And, conversely, when a student of Maharajji was too flaky or ungrounded, she would be sent to Sivananda to get more of the structured expression of love and compassion. In this way, and in many more ways unknown to the rational mind, the two streams of our schools have shared a deep connection for generations.

Thus, we should feel free and inspired to draw upon this source of compassion, wisdom, and love that was embodied by Neem Karoli Baba and which is still accessible in the pages of Miracle of Love.

- By Yogesvara

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