For the Love of Yoga with Nish the Fish

Swami Vivekananda, in his English poem "Kali The Mother" and in his Bengali poem, "And Let Śyāmā Dance There", highlights the Worship of God as the Worship of The Terrible: God might cure our cancer but She is also the one who gave us cancer! If God is truly all powerful then She must also be responsible for all the evil in the world as well as all the good. If God is truly non-dual and all inclusive then She must contain both the auspicious and the inauspicious! 

Ah, what a challenging theology! 

On this auspicious Hallowe'en which also happens to be Śyāmā Kālī Pūjā, the day when we worship Mā in her terrible aspect as radiant darkness, we gave a special talk on embracing evil as equally divine, in the name of the most radical and inclusive non-duality! 

This lecture of course references many of the ideas in our Theodicy Trilogy, one of our signature lecture series which you can watch here: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLfGGe32PDNMZe_6Yju87nv0rvxnSW2ub_&si=-GtdSqUZl-t-SOc3

For more detailed instructions for how to perform Kālī pūjā, watch this playlist: https://www.patreon.com/collection/233799

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

For more videos, guided meditations and instruction and for access to our lecture library, visit me at:
https://www.patreon.com/yogawithnish

To get in on the discussion and access various spiritual materials, join our Discord here: https://discord.gg/U8zKP8yMrM

Hit Me Up x

Support the show

Lectures 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/7028380815

For more videos, guided meditations and instruction and for access to our lecture library, visit me at:
https://www.patreon.com/yogawithnish

To get in on the discussion and access various spiritual materials, join our Discord here: https://discord.gg/U8zKP8yMrM

Last week we gave a talk on the very often misunderstood and misrepresented vāma-cāra, "the Left Hand Path of Tantra"  you can watch that here and then we went over some "left leaning" aspects of Kālī pūjā like the cremation ground Bali as well as the candālinī pūjā which you can watch here.

Sri Ramakrishna once described this path as entering the mansion (of God realization) through the scavenger's door (i.e the back door). What did he mean by that? Also, is there a way to integrate the modalities of this path into our daily sādhanā in a safe and sustainable way? In this lecture, we explore some of these ideas in the context of interpreting the Kālī dhyāna śloka, with the translation by Swami Mahayogananda:

ॐ क्रीं करालवदनां घोरां मुक्तकेशीं चतुर्भुजाम्। 
कालिकां दक्षिणां दिव्यां मुण्डमालाविभूषिताम॥१॥ 
सद्यश्छिन्नशिरःखड्गवामाधोर्ध्वकराम्बुजाम्। 
अभयं वरदं चैव दक्षिणोर्ध्वाधः पाणिकाम्॥२॥ 
महामेघप्रभां श्यामां तथा चैव दिगम्बरीम्। 
कण्ठावसक्तमुण्डालीगलद्रुधिरचर्चिताम्॥३॥ 
कर्णावतंसतानीतशवयुग्मभयानकाम्। 
घोरदंष्ट्रां करालास्यां पीनोन्नतपयोधराम्॥४॥ 
शवानां करसङ्घातैः कृतकाञ्चीं हसन्मुखीम्। 
सृक्कद्वयगलद्रक्तधाराविस्फुरिताननाम्॥५॥ 
घोररावां महारौद्रीं श्मशानालयवासिनीम्। 
बालार्कमण्डलाकार-लोचनत्रितयान्विताम्॥६॥ 
दन्तुरां दक्षिणव्यापिमुक्तालम्बिकचोच्चयाम्। 
शवरूपमहादेवहृदयोपरिसंस्थिताम्॥७॥ 
शिवाभिर्घोररावाभिश्चतुर्दिक्षु समन्विताम्। 
महाकालेन च समं विपरीतरतातुराम्॥८॥
सुखप्रसन्नवदनां स्मेराननसरोरुहाम्। 
एवं सञ्चिन्तयेत् कालीं धर्मकामार्थमोक्षदाम्॥९॥(सिद्धिदाम्) 

dhyānam oṁ krīṁ karālavadanāṁ ghorāṁ muktakeśīṁ caturbhujām। kālikāṁ dakṣiṇāṁ divyāṁ muṇḍamālāvibhūṣitām॥1॥ sadyaśchinnaśiraḥkhaḍgavāmādhordhvakarāmbujām। 
abhayaṁ varadaṁ caiva dakṣiṇordhvādhaḥ pāṇikām॥2॥ mahāmeghaprabhāṁ śyāmāṁ tathā caiva digambarīm। kaṇṭhāvasaktamuṇḍālīgaladrudhiracarcitām॥3॥karṇāvataṁsatānītaśavayugmabhayānakām। 
ghoradaṁṣṭrāṁ karālāsyāṁ pīnonnatapayodharām॥4॥ 
śavānāṁ karasaṅghātaiḥ kṛtakāñcīṁ hasanmukhīm। sṛkkadvayagaladraktadhārāvisphuritānanām॥5॥ 
ghorarāvāṁ mahāraudrīṁ śmaśānālayavāsinīm। 
bālārkamaṇḍalākāra-locanatritayānvitām॥6॥ 
danturāṁ dakṣiṇavyāpimuktālambikacoccayām। śavarūpamahādevahṛdayoparisaṁsthitām॥7॥ śivābhirghorarāvābhiścaturdikṣu samanvitām। 
mahākālena ca samaṁ viparītaratāturām॥8॥ 
sukhaprasannavadanāṁ smerānanasaroruhām। 
evaṁ sañcintayet kālīṁ dharmakāmārthamokṣadām॥9॥(siddhidām)

For more detailed instructions for how to perform Kālī pūjā, watch this playlist: https://www.patreon.com/collection/233799

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

For more videos, guided meditations and instruction and for access to our lecture library, visit me at:
https://www.patreon.com/yogawithnish

To get in on the discussion and access various spiritual materials, join our Discord here: https://discord.gg/U8zKP8yMrM

And if you feel moved to donate to support me and this work, you're welcome to here:
https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/jaimakali

Hit Me Up x

Support the show

Lectures 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/7028380815

For more videos, guided meditations and instruction and for access to our lecture library, visit me at:
https://www.patreon.com/yogawithnish

To get in on the discussion and access various spiritual materials, join our Discord here: https://discord.gg/U8zKP8yMrM

Here is our pūjā vidhi (ritual manual):
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1pV3lkIQpB75iNfadw3uJwaCpK-S8k50VvGTsoEjKxk4/edit?usp=sharing

For more detailed instructions for how to perform Kālī pūjā, watch this playlist:
https://www.patreon.com/collection/233799

The Secret Worship of Mā Kālī
https://www.patreon.com/posts/secret-worship-111280272?utm_medium=clipboard_copy&utm_source=copyLink&utm_campaign=postshare_creator&utm_content=join_link

A Complete Sādhanā, Spiritual Practice for Mā Kālī:
https://www.patreon.com/posts/complete-sadhana-111343082?utm_medium=clipboard_copy&utm_source=copyLink&utm_campaign=postshare_creator&utm_content=join_link

How To Worship Mā Kālī
https://www.patreon.com/posts/how-to-worship-105659438?utm_medium=clipboard_copy&utm_source=copyLink&utm_campaign=postshare_creator&utm_content=join_link

How To Perform Kālī Pūjā:
https://www.patreon.com/posts/how-to-perform-113071076?utm_medium=clipboard_copy&utm_source=copyLink&utm_campaign=postshare_creator&utm_content=join_link

The 15 Kālīs | & How To Worship Them:
https://www.patreon.com/posts/15-kalis-how-to-111826734?utm_medium=clipboard_copy&utm_source=copyLink&utm_campaign=postshare_creator&utm_content=join_link

How To Worship The Kali Yantra:
https://www.patreon.com/posts/how-to-worship-113360571?utm_medium=clipboard_copy&utm_source=copyLink&utm_campaign=postshare_creator&utm_content=join_link

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

For more videos, guided meditations and instruction and for access to our lecture library, visit me at:
https://www.patreon.com/yogawithnish

To get in on the discussion and access various spiritual materials, join our Discord here: https://discord.gg/U8zKP8yMrM

And if you feel moved to donate to support me and this work, you're welcome to here:
https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/jaimakali

Hit Me Up x

Support the show

Lectures 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/7028380815

For more videos, guided meditations and instruction and for access to our lecture library, visit me at:
https://www.patreon.com/yogawithnish

To get in on the discussion and access various spiritual materials, join our Discord here: https://discord.gg/U8zKP8yMrM

We have a big week coming up!

This Thursday, 31st of October, on the new moon of the Vedic month of Kartik, we are celebrating Śyāma Kālī Pūjā, my favorite day of the year! Here are a few thoughts on what this night represents along with a few suggestions as to how one might celebrate it!

Here is our pūjā vidhi (ritual manual).

The Secret Worship of Mā Kālī

A Complete Sādhanā, Spiritual Practice for Mā Kālī

How To Worship Mā Kālī

How To Perform Kālī Pūjā

The 15 Kālīs | & How To Worship Them

How To Worship The Kali Yantra

For more detailed instructions for how to perform Kālī pūjā, watch this playlist.

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

For more videos, guided meditations and instruction and for access to our lecture library, visit me at:
https://www.patreon.com/yogawithnish

To get in on the discussion and access various spiritual materials, join our Discord here: https://discord.gg/U8zKP8yMrM

And if you feel moved to donate to support me and this work, you're welcome to here:
https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/jaimakali

Hit Me Up x

Support the show

Lectures 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/7028380815

For more videos, guided meditations and instruction and for access to our lecture library, visit me at:
https://www.patreon.com/yogawithnish

To get in on the discussion and access various spiritual materials, join our Discord here: https://discord.gg/U8zKP8yMrM

On the 31st of October this year (2024), we will be celebrating Kālī Pūjā. But this Kartika new moon is also Diwali/Dīpāvalī and many will be worshipping Laxmī, who is light embodied! 

Last week, on this day, we celebrated the Sarat-Pūrnimā, the Autumn Full Moon which is considered to be the most auspicious, most beautiful and most charming of the full moons. Naturally, then, the full moon of autumn (which is in the month of Ashwin, following the Sharada Durgā Pūjā/Navarātri) is associated to the Goddess Laxmī.

As such, on the occasion of Laxmī Pūjā last week, and to set you up for the upcoming Dīpāvalī, we gave two lectures on the Goddess in her Tantrik aspect. This first lecture deals with some of the specifics in worshipping Laxmī in a Tantrik context which you can watch here: https://youtu.be/F0jwaTkWfdw and now in the second lecture, we make a few observations about the esoteric aspects of Mā Laxmī as per the Caṇḍi, Srī Vidyā and Daśamahāvidya traditions with a reference to Parā/Sarasvatī from the Trika tradition!

Jai Mā Laxmī! 

For more detailed puja instructions, watch this playlist:
https://www.patreon.com/collection/233799

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

For more videos, guided meditations and instruction and for access to our lecture library, visit me at:
https://www.patreon.com/yogawithnish

To get in on the discussion and access various spiritual materials, join our Discord here: https://discord.gg/U8zKP8yMrM

Hit Me Up x

Support the show

Lectures 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/7028380815

For more videos, guided meditations and instruction and for access to our lecture library, visit me at:
https://www.patreon.com/yogawithnish

To get in on the discussion and access various spiritual materials, join our Discord here: https://discord.gg/U8zKP8yMrM

Last week, on this day, we celebrated the Sarat-Pūrnimā, the Autumn Full Moon which is considered to be the most auspicious, most beautiful and most charming of the full moons. Naturally, then, the full moon of autumn (which is in the month of Ashwin, following the Sharada Durgā Pūjā/Navarātri) is associated to the Goddess Laxmī. As such, on the occasion of Laxmī Pūjā this year, we gave two lectures on the Goddess in her Tantrik aspect. 

This first lecture deals with some of the specifics in worshipping Laxmī in a Tantrik context. Inevitably, we also have to talk about wealth and how to attract it, which I imagine is a topic of particular interest to many haha

Enjoy!

Jai Mā Laxmī! 

For more detailed puja instructions, watch this playlist:
https://www.patreon.com/collection/233799

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

For more videos, guided meditations and instruction and for access to our lecture library, visit me at:
https://www.patreon.com/yogawithnish

To get in on the discussion and access various spiritual materials, join our Discord here: https://discord.gg/U8zKP8yMrM

Hit Me Up x

Support the show

Lectures 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/7028380815

For more videos, guided meditations and instruction and for access to our lecture library, visit me at:
https://www.patreon.com/yogawithnish

To get in on the discussion and access various spiritual materials, join our Discord here: https://discord.gg/U8zKP8yMrM

Many people all over the world are diligently chanting Tantrik mantras and hymns and yet are not getting any results whatsoever. In fact, many people are doing sādhanā, spiritual practice rather consistently and still they find no real progress! 

Why is that? 

In this lecture on "How To Succeed At Tantra", we take up this question and offer a few "troubleshooting" solutions to make sādhanā, especially of the Tantrik kind, more meaningful and effective. 

Naturally, then, we have to talk about what "effective" looks like! So we reflect a bit on the goals and aims of spiritual life. 

Because I was in a mood (what with Kālī pūjā coming up in 11 days and all) we went on a nice, long tangent on Swami Vivekananda's Bengali poem "And Let Śyāma Dance There", to make the case for Kālī worship as "the worship of the Terrible". 

For more detailed puja instructions, watch this playlist:
https://www.patreon.com/collection/233799

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

For more videos, guided meditations and instruction and for access to our lecture library, visit me at:
https://www.patreon.com/yogawithnish

To get in on the discussion and access various spiritual materials, join our Discord here: https://discord.gg/U8zKP8yMrM

Hit Me Up x

Support the show

Lectures 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/7028380815

For more videos, guided meditations and instruction and for access to our lecture library, visit me at:
https://www.patreon.com/yogawithnish

To get in on the discussion and access various spiritual materials, join our Discord here: https://discord.gg/U8zKP8yMrM

Navarātri is never quite complete until we all get together and chant the Mahiṣāsura-Mardinī Stotram! This hymn is sometimes attributed to Adi Shankarācharya (as many, many hymns in the Sanskrit tradition tend to be) but it is also sometimes attributed to Rāvana, the antagonist of the Ramāyana! I like the second account much better for reasons I get into in the beginning of this discussion! 

After discussing the "bhāva" of this song (and making a case for "rajas in the service of sattva" while we're at it), we discuss Rāga Bhairava and some music theory before taking a stab and singing the hymn together. 

I made many, many mistakes and my rendition: I hope you can forgive me! Also, I made a mistake in saying Raga Bhairavi is a "night time rāga". Actually it's considered the "queen of the morning rāgas" but since I worship Mā usually at night and since I hear it most around then and also since it is sometimes used to close out a musical performance (which for me usually ends at night), I somehow made the association between this Rāga and the nighttime. Whoops, pardon the misinformation!
All my mistakes are entirely mine and everything that I have said that is helpful is by the Grace of Guru! 

Jai Guru Kripa Ki Jai!

For more detailed Kali puja instructions, watch this playlist:
https://www.patreon.com/collection/233799

Here's the chanting document:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1N1pEDmWZWdJq5Q27dGiZb9DQFrr1Ouq2FC85jIwQ66c/edit?usp=sharing

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

For more videos, guided meditations and instruction and for access to our lecture library, visit me at:
https://www.patreon.com/yogawithnish

To get in on the discussion and access various spiritual materials, join our Discord here: https://discord.gg/U8zKP8yMrM

Hit Me Up x

Support the show

Lectures 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/7028380815

For more videos, guided meditations and instruction and for access to our lecture library, visit me at:
https://www.patreon.com/yogawithnish

To get in on the discussion and access various spiritual materials, join our Discord here: https://discord.gg/U8zKP8yMrM

Be forewarned: 

This is quite a powerful mantra so one's experience of it can be quite intense, especially after chanting it in such a sustained way like this. As always, it is better to receive it from a qualified guru in the context of Tantrik initiation, dīkshā and of course, it is always recommended that you practice out of simple devotion and sincerity with no desire to "get something out of the practice" besides knowledge, devotion, renunciation and a connection to Mā!

Here's the mantra:

ōṃ aiṃ hrīṃ klīṃ chāmuṇḍāyai vichchē ।
ōṃ glauṃ huṃ klīṃ jūṃ saḥ jvālaya jvālaya jvala jvala prajvala prajvala
aiṃ hrīṃ klīṃ chāmuṇḍāyai vichchē jvala haṃ saṃ laṃ kṣaṃ phaṭ svāhā ॥ 5 ॥

Now you might be familiar with this whole mantra or just a part of it, which is sometimes called the "navarna mantra", the 9-syllable mantra which is very secret and held to be very, very powerful. But you might not be familiar with where this mantra is from! As such, to explain the origins of this much beloved mantra in the Śākta tradition, we reverently go to the Siddha Kuñjika Stotram to explain the context in which this mantra lives. The recitation of the whole Stotram daily is a powerful practice that conveys all the benefits of the daily recitation of the Devī Māhātmyam, the 700 verses devoted to Mā! 

Jai Mā!

Hit Me Up x

Support the show

Lectures 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/7028380815

For more videos, guided meditations and instruction and for access to our lecture library, visit me at:
https://www.patreon.com/yogawithnish

To get in on the discussion and access various spiritual materials, join our Discord here: https://discord.gg/U8zKP8yMrM

On Navami last week, for our final online Navarātri celebration, we chanted one māla of the siddha-kunjika mantra together, which as it says in the Rudra-Yāmala Tantra is itself equivalent to chanting the whole Caṇḍi! Be forewarned: this is quite a powerful mantra so one's experience of it can be quite intense, especially after chanting it in such a sustained way like this. Here's the mantra:

ōṃ aiṃ hrīṃ klīṃ chāmuṇḍāyai vichchē ।
ōṃ glauṃ huṃ klīṃ jūṃ saḥ jvālaya jvālaya jvala jvala prajvala prajvala
aiṃ hrīṃ klīṃ chāmuṇḍāyai vichchē jvala haṃ saṃ laṃ kṣaṃ phaṭ svāhā ॥ 5 ॥

Then, of course, we plunge into some kirtan! To sing and clap and celebrate God is Sri Ramakrishna's preferred prescription for worldliness! Kirtan begins at 00:48:45 with the first and third hymns of the Caṇḍi, Shiva kirtan begins around 1:08:30 and at 1:17:10 Eliotji leads us in the Kāmākhya Ārati centered around the daśa-mahāvidyas:

Namo Kāmākhya Namo Kāmākhya Jaya Jaya Māta Namo Kāmākhya

Śakti-pīṭha Namo Namah, Ādi Śakti Namo Namah

Māta Kālika Namo Namah, Tāra Mā Namo Namah

Tripura-Sundarī Namo Namah, Bhūvaneśvarī Namo Namah

Chinnamastaka Namo Namah, Māta Bhairavī Namo Namah

Dhūmavatī Mā Namo Namah, Bagalāmukhī Mā Namo Namah

Mātangī Mā Namo Namah, Kāmalātmika Namo Namah

Also, forgive me for the very sludgy and distorted sound of the guitar . When I was playing in punk bands, that was exactly the kind of tone I wanted but for this video, it sounds very muddy! I think the gain is on too high on the microphone! I'll do a soundcheck next time :'( 

And also, the video quality is kind of wonky so if you'd prefer just an audio version of all of this to chant along to, I've attached the audio-file with this post! 

Special thanks to Danielji and Eliotji for the percussions and thank you to all who came online and in person to celebrate Mā on Navami! 

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

For more videos, guided meditations and instruction and for access to our lecture library, visit me at:
https://www.patreon.com/yogawithnish

To get in on the discussion and access various spiritual materials, join our Discord here: https://discord.gg/U8zKP8yMrM

Hit Me Up x

Support the show

Lectures 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/7028380815

For more videos, guided meditations and instruction and for access to our lecture library, visit me at:
https://www.patreon.com/yogawithnish

To get in on the discussion and access various spiritual materials, join our Discord here: https://discord.gg/U8zKP8yMrM