After watching What Does Kālī Want From You? | The Yoga of Grief & Fullness, Who Should Worship Kālī? | Dakṣiṇa Kālī vs Smaśāna Kālī and What Do You Need To Start Worshipping Kālī & Practicing Tantra? you might be starting to get the impression that Kālī pūjā and sādhana is (as Sri Ramakrishna himself put it) no joke!

As such, to stay safe and to practice in a meaningful, gradual and integrated way, we have to discuss some foundations. After all, Mother Kālī is always standing on Śiva: isn't this a clue for us? To practice Kālī sādhanā, we should become like Śiva, that is to say, we should build our Kālī practice on top of some firm and stable Śaiva foundations!

As such, in this class, which is the culmination of this year's śrāvana festivities, O walk you through more or less the entirety of śiva pūjā & sādhana with a special emphasis on the foundational mantras of our Tāntrik tradition, known as the pañca-Brahmā mantras from the Taittirīyāranyaka from Yajur Veda, the foundational Veda for Śaivism & Tantra: 

sadyojātaṁ prapadyāmi sadyojātāya vai namo namaḥ
bhave bhave nāti bhave bhavasva māṁ bhavodbhavāya namaḥ

I take refuge in the ever-fresh (newly born) Śiva, salutations again and again! Do not let me be born into mundane existence again and again with every birth! Become my very Being! Salutations to You, the source of all Becoming!

oṁ sadyojātāya paschimavaktrāya namaḥ
Salutations to Sadyojāta, the Westward facing Śiva!

vāmadevāya namo jyeṣṭhāya namaḥ śreṣṭhāya
namo rudrāya namaḥ kālāya namaḥ
kalavikaraṇāya namo balāya namo
balavikaraṇāya namo balapramathanāya namaḥ
sarvabhūtadamanāya namo manonmanāya namaḥ

Salutations to Vāmadeva, the eldest, the supreme Rudra (howling one), to Time and Dynamism, to Strength, to the Transformer of Strength and Destroyer of Strength, to the One who Subdues All Beings, abiding beyond the mind!

oṁ vāmadevāya uttaravaktrāya namaḥ
Salutations to Vāmadeva, the Northward facing Śiva!

aghorebhyo’tha ghorebhyo aghoraghoretarebhyaḥ
sarvabḥyo śarvaḥ sarvebhyo namaste rudra rūpebhyaḥ

Salutations to the gentle forms, fierce forms and forms that are both gentle and fierce, salutations to all the forms of Rudra everywhere!

oṁ aghorāya dakṣiṇavaktrāya namaḥ
Salutations to Aghora, the Southward facing Śiva!

oṁ tatpuruṣāya vidmahe mahādevāya dhīmahi
tanno rudraḥ pracodayāt oṁ

May that spirit, may that Great God, may that Rudra guide my intellect!

oṁ tatpuruṣāya purvavaktrāya namaḥ
Salutations to Tatpuruṣa the Eastward facing Śiva!

īśāna sarvavidyānāmīśvaraḥ sarvabhūtānāṁ brahmādipati brahmaṇo’dhipatir
brahmā śivo me astu sa eva sadāśiva oṁ

O Lord of all Knowledge, the Lord of all Beings, the Primordial Lord of Brahmā (and the other gods) and theLord of  Brāhmanas, may you Śiva be Brahmā for me. You are the eternally auspicious oṁ

oṁ īśānāya urdhvavaktrāya namaḥ
Salutations to īśāna the Upward facing Śiva!

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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/7028380815

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