One of my favorite lectures of all time. We inquire into some "scary" themes in spiritual life like the potential difference between my will and God's will, as it is understood across various traditions with an emphasis on the life-affirming, immanence-oriented and desire-positive view of the Goddess traditions. We make a few remarks about why vampires as such a good metaphor for Tantrik spirituality and point out how the theme of vampirism appears in our tradition in the form Dākinīs and Yoginīs, Mā's fierce fanged, bloodthirsty attendants! We discuss Dākinī pūjā towards the end. 

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The best way to start is to just start. Here's everything you need and more.

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A conversation about the mechanism of image-worship and the subtler (and more radical) aspects of the Tāntrik worship tradition. 

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One of the most important ideas in Tantra (and often one of the most misunderstood and most difficult to discuss) is Kuṇḍalinī! What exactly is this "serpent power", as Arthur Avalonji once called it? Specifically in this talk, we relate Kuṇḍalinī to Kālī to show her centrality in the Kaula tradition of Tantra! Finally, based on this reflection, we discuss the quintessential Kaula ritual, the "Ādi Yāga" which features in Chapter 29 of Abhinava Gupta's Tantrāloka. 

You'll find all of our talks on foundational Tāntrik concepts here

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After we gave our Secrets of the Devī Māhātmyam | Śākta Theology 101 talk at the start of Navarātri (The Autumn Goddess Festival) earlier this year, we then gave this talk where we examined the Devī Māhātmyam (which we only introduced in the previous talk) in much more detail to see exactly what kind of text it is and from that, learn how we may use it in the context of our day-to-day spiritual practice! Most importantly, I make the claim that the 700 verses that make up this text all of them form a complex and powerful mantra (or more technically, vidyā) that one can repeat like any other mantra for a whole host of both magical and spiritual applications!

You'll find all of our lectures on this profound and ancient śākta text, the Devī Māhātmyam here.

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As one of the most ancient and important texts of the Tāntrik Goddess (śākta) tradition, the Devī Māhātmyam is of course unspeakably rich in its every dimension!

In its esoteric dimension, it is a very complex manual of mantra, ritual and magical application. 
As literature, is aesthetically and poetically sublime beyond comparison. 
As a narrative, it is astoundingly complex and ingenious in terms of structure and progression. 
And as a philosophy or theology, it is among the most refined and sophisticated that any religious tradition has ever offered! 
Politically, never have we encountered a more triumphant depiction of fierce, untamed feminine power! 

Theologically, the texts challenges our metaphysical ideas of objective reality & temporality, our ethical understanding of "good & evil" (the narrative is intensely morally ambiguous, after all as I point out in this talk) and our spiritual notions of the One & the Many, the Transcendent & the Immanent, the Absolute & the Relative etc. Studying and contemplating this text (and of course chanting and living the text) will dramatically transform everything about your world view, especially with regards to how you view the self, the world and "God" who in the text is "put to sleep", i.e transcended by this Absolute Reality we call Śakti, Power. 

In order to tease out some of this complexity as part of our Navarātri celebrations last week, we offered this talk! 

May all this be placed at the feet of our beloved Mā who comes to me in the form of all of you!

Jai Mā!

PS: you'll find all the talks we've given on the Devī Māhātmya in this playlist.

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After our discussion on the Three Kinds of Madness | Kālī vs. Laxmī vs Sarasvatī on Laxmī Purnimā earlier this week, we launched into a very beautiful, rich and universally helpful Q&A discussion on difficult emotions and how to transform them into ecstasy! We discuss the importance of setting boundaries and not spiritually bypassing our feelings but we also present that state beyond all boundaries in which everything is seen, accepted, and celebrated as God's will!

We argue against "healing", "growth" and "transformation" as valid goals in spiritual life in favor of unconditional love, Bhakti for the Infinite Reality, God. We argue that there is no such thing as a true atheist! We present a few metrics for gauging our own spiritual growth. And most importantly, we discuss what happens after you see God!

Here is a playlist of our all our Q&A discussions over the years! 

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On this very auspicious Laxmī Pūrnimā (Autumn full moon) I want to discuss the topic we’ve been meaning to discuss for sometime now: “Kundalinī emergency” or “spiritual crisis" & how to say safe.

First, we distinguish between three different kinds of “lunacy”with an emphasis on the destabilizing, “not so fun” kind that can sometimes induced by intense spiritual practice! I argue that the kind of divine madness we see in great realized souls like Sri Ramakrishna is fundamentally different in nature and flavor than the kinds of mental illness that we sometimes fetishize in the name of spirituality but is really a destabilizing and painful experience for ourselves and others.

Although outwardly, the "spiritual" kind of madness might resemble the "not so fun" kind, they are not the same and in this lecture we carefully explain why. We also make a reference to a politicized use of "madness" to disenfranchise groups or ideologies that don't fit into the norm as defined by the powers that be, just so that we can be nuanced in our use of the word "madness" or "lunacy" or "craziness", which are all themes that are very central not just to mysticism and spiritual as a whole but specifically to Mother Kālī & her cremation ground retinue!

You'll notice much of this talk is expanding on ideas that you might have first encountered here in the Why is Kālī Crazy? talk.

And since it was Laxmī Pūrnimā we made sure to have plenty of asides on Mā Laxmī as the embodiment of abundance in every sense of the word. We tell a few Purānic stories to show the secrets of calling in abundance & also, I make a case against understanding "money" (which we point out as a rather superficial conceptual structure) to be the only symbol for wealth! 

Naturally, this took us into a discussion of the Goddess in all her aspects as Kālī, Laxmī & Sarasvatī (as encountered in the Devī Māhātmyam) and as per the next three big moon celebrations (Laxmī Pūrnimā followed by Śyāma Kālī Pūjā followed by Sarasvatī Pūjā) that come after Navarātri, the 9 Nights of the Goddess. 

We make a few arguments as to why the cremation ground/cemetery is so important for spiritual life as representing that realm beyond the conscious, "civilized" mind of concepts which we are attempting to venture into as part of spiritual quest, in our journey from the finite to the Infinite! 

It was a rather rich talk, if I may so myself.
May it be an offering to the Divine Mother! 
Jai Mā!

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Lectures happen live every Monday at 7pm PST and again at Friday 11am PST
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As part of our Navarātri celebrations, we explored some stories from the Devī Māhātmyam and contrasts them to/built up on them with some similar narratives from other Purānic Śakta texts like the Devī Bhāgavatam (i.e the Devī Gitā) to excavate some deeper meaning and significance, from a philosophical and esoteric, sādhana point of view!

You'll find all our talks on Navarātri & the Devī Māhātmya, its central litany here. 

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Lectures happen live every Monday at 7pm PST and again at Friday 11am PST
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Congratulations on completing another 9 (or perhaps 10) nights of intense contemplation, celebration and worship of Mā! What a powerful Navarātri it's been and each time feels like the first time especially if it was, in fact, your first time celebrating!

But whether you are a seasoned śākta or just now getting acquainted to the festivals and practices of the tradition, Navarātri and its central litany/liturgy, the Devī Māhātmyam remain ever fresh and ever meaningful!

Anyway, at the end of the 9 nights of the Goddess, there is a festival called Vijaya Daśamī, "The Victorious 10th night" when we bask in the after glow of our worship. Essentially, we are celebrating the fact that we've been celebrating...

But it's also very poignant time because Mā's image will be immersed and that is sometimes a very sad thing for some. And not only that, one can feel a little listless on this day or like there's a kind of anticlimactic feeling arising.

In this talk, we discuss what Vijaya Daśamī is, from a philosophical point of view, with an inquiry into form vs formlessness and we also address some of the aforementioned feelings that can come up. Also, I launch into a sustained defense of what some might call "idol worship".

Jai Mā! Śrī Durgārpanam astu!

The books mentioned in this video for further study:

1. Srīmad-Devī Bhāgavatam by Swami Vijñānānanda
2. I didn't mention it in the video, but as a companion to this ^, try "The Devī Gītā" by C.Makenzie Brown
3. Devadatta Kali's "In Praise of the Goddess" (and also "Veiling Brilliance", which I forgot to mention in the video)

And the Sanskrit texts to recite and contemplate as part of your Devī Māhātmya sādhanā moving forward:
1. Devī Sūkta from Rg Veda (10.125) and
2. Rātri Sūkta from Rg Veda (10.127)
You'll be able to find these online quite easily but their also available in Devanāgri and translation in Devadatta Kali's "In Praise of the Goddess"!

and here's the full Caṇḍi & Navarātri playlist featuring all our talks over the years (I'm trying to organize it in a way that makes sense: https://www.patreon.com/collection/784368

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Lectures happen live every Monday at 7pm PST and again at Friday 11am PST
Use this link and I will see you there:
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To get in on the discussion and access various spiritual materials, join our Discord here: https://discord.gg/U8zKP8yMrM