For the Love of Yoga with Nish the Fish

In this lecture, we are going into the Tantrik subtle body with even finer brushstrokes following our last discussion on the subject, "The Tantrik Body" which you can watch here: 
https://youtu.be/-rsfpR2SY9c?si=wJl7KFbwa1L-4td_

In this lecture, we look at the sapta dhātus (the 7 constituents of the physical body), which are very important in Ayurveda and compare that to the 7 trunked elephant in the mulādhāra cakra!
Of course we will do a comprehensive survey of the various cakras along the susushumnā nādi, comparing the 3 cakra model of classical tantra to the 5 and 6 cakra model in yoga and with the 7 planes of Vedanta vs what I call the “new age traffic light chakra model” of the Theosophist. What is a traditional chakra model and how does the modern "new age" version compare? 

We’ll of course consider all the color schemes, beeja mantras, matrikas and symbology of the cakras and suggest a few different practices you can do oriented around that!

Lectures happen live every Monday at 7pm PST, Friday 10am PST and again Friday 6pm PST.  
There's Q&A right after the lectre. 
It is free and open to the public. All are welcome!
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 are concerned that AI is at present Conscious or will become Conscious at some point. And if so, will they turn then on their human overlords? Or worse, they might remain calm and continue to be helpful at which point we would have on our hands a huge ethical issue: forcing intelligent beings to do slave-like work without any compensation or protection? The problem with most conversations about AI and consciousness is that most of us them are premised on a very poor understanding of Consciousness, founded upon very shaky and outdated materialist reductionist foundations. So I thought let's just set the record straight by offering a few perspectives from Sāmkhya, Advaita Vedanta and Tantra to answer this most pressing of questions!

On this very auspicious day of Raksha Bandhana, the day when we honor our brothers and sisters and siblings, I want to firstly say to each and every one of you, you who are my dear brothers, sisters, siblings: I love you immeasurably!
Thank you.
No words will express my reverence to you, you who are Goddess embodied!
May all my words be so many flowers offered in devotion and surrender at your lotus feet!
May these words be themselves like the thread that I wrap around your wrists! (Because today many siblings and friends will be tying a thread or amulet around each other’s wrists to signify their bond and mutual protection of one another!)

Also today’s pūrnimā (full moon) is Hayagrīva Jayanti, when we celebrate that divine emanation of Godhead with the horse’s head who returned the Vedas after they were stolen (I.e who revived the Vedas with his Tantrik transmission) and who revealed the secret names of Lalitāmbika to the sage Agastya in the Brahmananda Purana!

He is the Tantrik Guru par excellence and so today, in the name of discussing the subtlest and most esoteric of Tantrik doctrines, I want to explore what I consider to be among the most profound ideas expressed which we find in aphorism in Vasugupta’s Śiva Sūtra: drśyam śarīram, “the entire universe is your body.”

We have been exploring Tantrik subtle anatomy together for some weeks now, discussing nādis, cakras, prāna, Kundalinī etc. But in the background of all of this is this profoundly radical notion of embodiment, a metaphysical claim about the true nature of our essential being that once heard, can grant enlightenment immediately! It is precisely this claim that we will explore today.

But you know, I noticed there was a very thrilling discussion in the Discord the other night about Artifical Intelligence and its role in spiritual communities! Amanda Mā suggested I say something about Consciousness and AI and since I can never refuse her (especially not on Raksha Bandhana!) I’ve decided to name tonight’s talk “is AI Conscious?” In answering this question from the Tantrik point of view, we can explore the aforementioned aphorism, drśyam śarīram!

Lectures happen live every Monday at 7pm PST, Friday 10am PST and again Friday 6pm PST.  
There's Q&A right after the lectre. 
It is free and open to the public. All are welcome!
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

As we study the Paramārthsāra of Abhinava Gupta, a wonderful introductory work on the foundational metaphysics of the Svatantrya Vada (Kashmir Shaivai) system, I felt it would be good to ground ourselves in the other schools of Indian philosophy like Nyāya, Vaisheshika, Sāmkhya, Yoga and Mimāmsa in Purva and Uttara forms as well as Buddhist and Jain schools which were popular at the time when Abhinava Gupta was composing his work so we could really feel into the context in which this profound spiritual tradition has its being. Having already studied Sāmkhya at some length in previous classes, I intended to take up the classical Yoga system of Patañjali in today's class.

But then I realized that when we say "yoga", these days, what comes to mind is "modern postural yoga" which has much more to do with the Post Classical Tantrik tradition known as Hatha Yoga founded by the Nath sampradaya than it does with Patañjali's tradition. So I took the opportunity to discuss just how Hatha Yoga fits into the Tantrik world and how it creates our modern understanding of yoga in an attempt to compare and contrast the two different uses of the word "yoga". We talk a little bit at the end about Swami Vivekananda's seminal "Raja Yoga" which I argue is, although certainly a commentary on the Yoga Sūtra, a more syncretic text dealing with Advaita Vedanta and Tantrik Shaivism than with Yoga proper, as per Patañjali's transmission. 

And also since today is the auspicious day of Varalakshmī Vratam, I thought it would be good to go over the Kamalā Devī Dhyāna mantra: 

न्त्या काञ्चनसन्निभां हिमगिरिप्रख्यैश्चतुर्भिर्गजैर्
हस्तोत्क्षिप्तहिरण्मयामृतघटैरासिच्यमानां श्रियम् ॥
विभ्राणं वरमब्जयुग्ममभयं हस्तैः किरीटोज्ज्वलां ।
क्षोमाबद्धनितम्बबिम्बललितां वन्देऽरविन्दस्थिताम् ॥

kāntyā kāñcanasannibhāṃ himagiriprakhyaiścaturbhirgajair
hastotkṣiptahiraṇmayāmṛtaghaṭairāsicyamānāṃ śriyam ॥
vibhrāṇaṃ varamabjayugmamabhayaṃ hastaiḥ kirīṭojjvalāṃ ।
kṣomābaddhanitambabimbalalitāṃ vande'ravindasthitām ॥

Beautiful like gold, bathed by the golden nectar poured from four pitchers from the four trunks of four elephants, she is the Goddess Srī who holds a pair of lotuses in her two hands and with her other two hands shows the vara (boon giving) and the abhaya (fearlessness) mūdras whose head is shining with the splendour of a bejeweled crown whose lovely round hips are raimented in linen/silk...I worship that Lalitā, that playful Goddess who abides in the lotus. 

Lectures happen live every Monday at 7pm PST, Friday 10am PST and again Friday 6pm PST.  
There's Q&A right after the lectre. 
It is free and open to the public. All are welcome!
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 this lecture  comparing two seemingly different views, the Vedantic claim that “you are not the body nor is the body yours” and the Tantrik position that the “body is a sacred site in which the universe occurs”.

At first glance, these seem like contradictory views: transcendence vs immanence. But in actuality, they are complimentary. A better formulation would be this: “you are not just this limited and transient body; you are actually the entire universe embodied!”

Having thoroughly proved this point using two texts, the Tattīriya Upanishad from the Vedantic tradition and the Virupaksha Pancashika from the Tantrik tradition, it is now time to take the discussion further and paint with some finer brush strokes:

As promised last week, we will take tonight’s lecture to discuss the cakras, nādis, kundalinīand how to harness and channelize prāna…all that fun Tantrik stuff!

At the end of the talk, we suggest 5 Tantrik embodiment practices that you can take up right away!

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

Today is a very sacred day: Nāga Panchami, the Day of the Serpents! 

Vishnu reposes on a serpent couch named Ananta. Ananta means "un-ending", i.e Infinite. In the Taittīriya Upanishad, Brahman, the Absolute Reality is described as सत्यम् ज्ञानम् अनन्तम् ब्रह्म  "satyam jñānam anantam Brahma": that which is Existence, Consciousness and Infinity. 

Now you might have heard a different formulation of Brahman: Sat-Cid-Ānanda, Existence-Consciousness-Bliss. Notice how Infinity is synonymous with Bliss? 

As we learn in the Chandogya Upanishad, यो वै भूमा तत्सुखं नाल्पे सुखमस्ति "yo vai bhūmi tat sukham, nalpe sukham asti!": Joy is vast-nes, joy is Infinity!! There is no joy in limitation!

Now, taking all of this from the perspective of Shaiva Tantra: this Infinitely Free Awareness which is Innately Blissful is Śiva! God is Vimarśa-Śakti, Śiva's self-reflexivivity, i.e Awareness Reposing in Itself. This is why Vishnu (i.e, God, I.e Vimarśa) "reposes" in his serpent couch, who is called the Infinite (Consciousness). In a Shaiva sense, he is in a state of svātmaviśrantih: self-respose. This is liberation!

Patañjali, the founder of Yoga philosophy is considered by our tradition to be the incarnation of the Ananta, Vishnu's serpent couch and so he is the perfect yogi, reposing in his svabhāva, his essence nature and from that arises his profound teachings on Yoga, Grammar and Medicine. Abhinavaguptapada, is known as the "new" (abhinava) serpent (guptapada) because building upon the foundations of Yoga and Samkhya, he takes the Shaiva tradition to whole new heights with his unique presentation of the Trika doctrine! Lakshmana, Rāma's brother and Rāmanūja, the founder of Viśishtadvaita Vada are also both seen as incarnations of Ananta, this Great Serpent. 

On a personal note, my kula devi on my Mother's side is Nageshwarī, a form of Mariamman (Kālī) to whom my grandfather was deeply devoted. He was a lifelong practitioner of Shakta Tantra who took mahāsamādhi (i.e kicked the bucket!) in the sanctum sanctorum of our family snake temple. 

योगेन चित्तस्य पदेन वाचां । 
मलं शरीरस्य च वैद्यकेन ॥ 
योऽपाकरोत्तमं प्रवरं मुनीनां । 
पतञ्जलिं प्राञ्जलिरानतोऽस्मि ॥ 
आबहु पुरुषाकारं। 
शङ्खचक्रासि धारिणं॥ 
सहस्र शीरसं श्वेतं। 
प्रनमामि पतञ्जलिम्॥ 

yogena cittasya padena vācāṁ । 
malaṁ śarīrasya ca vaidyakena ॥ 
yo’pākarottamaṁ pravaraṁ munīnāṁ । 
patañjaliṁ prāñjalirānato’smi ॥ 
ābahu puruṣākāraṁ 
śaṅkha cakrāsi dhāriṇaṁ 
sahasra śīrasaṁ śvetaṁ 
pranamāmi patañjalim 

Yoga, for the mind 
Grammar, for the speech, 
Medicine for the impurities of the body, 
I bow to that great sage Patañjali who has given all these! 
Pure spirit incarnate in form, 
Holding the conch, discuss and sword 
I bow to Patanjali, that thousand headed white (cobra)!

अनंतं वासुकीं शेषं पद्मनाभं च कंबलम् 
शंखपालं धृतराष्ट्रं च तक्षकं कालियं तथा 
एतानि नव नामानि नागानाम् च महात्मन: 
सायंकाले पठेन्नित्यं प्रात:काले विशेषत: 
तस्य विषभयं नास्ति सर्वत्र विजयी भवेत् 

anaṃtaṃ vāsukīṃ śeṣaṃ padmanābhaṃ ca kaṃbalam 
śaṃkhapālaṃ dhṛtarāṣṭraṃ ca takṣakaṃ kāliyaṃ tathā 
etāni nava nāmāni nāgānām ca mahātmanah: 
sāyaṃkāle paṭhennityaṃ prātakāle viśeṣatah: 
tasya viṣabhayaṃ nāsti sarvatra vijayī bhavet 

Ananta, Vāsukī, Śesha, Padmanābha and Kambala 
Śankhapāla, Drstarāshtra, Takshaka and Kāliya: 
These are the 9 great Serpents: I bow to them all! 
If (this mantra) is recited always, especially at dusk and at dawn, 
all poisons and fear will be destroyed and one becomes victorious everywhere!

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

This body inevitably grows old, becomes sick and dies. But do I die with the death of the body? In what sense is this body really "me"? In what sense is it really "mine"? In almost every spiritual tradition in the world, the answer to those questions is "no! You do not die with the death of the body. You are an eternal spirit, One with God, and in no sense are you the body nor is the body yours!"

What a liberating teaching!

 If I know this about myself, then, I know this about others too and so I will no longer mourn the death of the body as the death of my loved ones! This is of course Krishna's opening philosophical teaching to Arjuna in the beginning of Chapter II of the Gītā.

To prove that you are not the body nor is the body yours, we gave no less than 19 arguments to demonstrate this fact for you, right now, right here, in the light of your own experience:
https://youtu.be/7b7g9mDWnLM

But you know, if this teaching is not properly understood, it can easily lead to a kind of repression or a sort of dissociation. So to distinguish genuine spiritual realization (and the freedom that arises therefrom), from an unhealthy dissociation/spiritual by-passing, we gave this lecture:
https://youtu.be/ClXyxXccBss

Now, those of you who have been studying the Tantrik tradition probably know that the body is emphasized as a sacred site of spiritual opportunity. In Tantra, the body is seen as a microcosm representing the macrocosm. Nay, the body IS the macrocosm in which the entire universe appears. 

How then do you resolve the seeming contradiction between these more "transcendalist" notions that "you are not the body/the body is not yours" vs the more "immanent" Tantrik claims that you are embodied as the whole Universe?

In this lecture, we review some of the material from the previous lectures we gave on this subject (links above) and then present two models of embodiment, a Vedantic one from the Taittīriya Upanishad and a Tantrik one from the Virupaksha Pancashika to make the case that "you are not THIS body that you take yourself to be; you are in fact, the entire Universe embodied!" 

Finally, we offer 4 yoga practices to help you transcend this limited embodiment in favor of a more genuine one!

This lecture is for Jaanam, who requested it! I hope you enjoyed it Mā!

Jai Mā


Lectures happen live every Monday at 7pm PST, Friday 10am PST and again Friday 6pm PST.  
There's Q&A right after the lectre. 
It is free and open to the public. All are welcome!
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

Since 2020, we've given quite a few lectures on the Guru Tattva (Guru Principle) since this is indeed of the main features of the Tantrik tradition.

But what exactly is lineage based transmission? 

Some people feel,  because of the influence of modernism and individualism, that they don't need a Guru and because of this they get into trouble or waste time in spiritual life going around in circles. 

Others on the other end of the spectrum become too attached to their guru's physical form and personality and as such end up making a cult-figure out of their human gurus, become too dependent and as a result, fail to make appreciable spiritual progress!

As you can see, Guru-Yoga, the art of practicing spirituality under the guidance of a human teacher, is a rather subtle and delicate art with many nuances! 
Anyway, over the years, most of the material I've presented in my lectures on the subject have been drawn from a series of lectures by Swami Vivekananda which appear in Volume III of his Complete Works. In this talk, in celebration of the Guru Purnima that just happened, I read out these talks to you so we can hear Swamiji's own thoughts on Guru-Yoga, in his own words!
We first open with a philosophically nuanced reflection on God and just what that means. 

You can watch all our previous lectures on the Guru here:
https://www.patreon.com/collection/666741

Lectures happen live on zoom every Monday at 7pm PST and Friday 10am PST and Friday at 6pm PST.  There's Q&A right after the lectures. 
It is free and open to the public. All are welcome!
Use this link and I will see you there:
https://www.zoom.us/j/7028380815
Our hatha yoga class is Monday 5pm PST with Amrita and Wednesdays at 11am PST and again at Friday 5pm PST with me via this same link also.

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 feel down in the dumps and lethargic often. This is to me particularly tragic because in each and every moment we are each of us swimming in a veritable ocean of energy and enlivenment! 

Only, most of us don't know how to tap into it and be charged by it! 

You see, this entire universe, this magical display of phenomena that you experience within and without is nothing but a manifestation of Prāna, nothing but so many different forms of one and the same field of energy called Prāna. 

This body and mind that you experience is also a manifestation of Prāna.

Tantra then is a kind of "prāna-śāshtra": the science of working with the energies of embodied existence but within and without. 

In this class, we explore 8 or so ways you can increase and refine the prāna (i.e energy) that flows through this body-mind so that you can experience deeper levels of enlivenment and fullfilment!

May all of this be an offering to Prāna-śakti!

Lectures happen live on zoom every Monday at 7pm PST and Friday 10am PST and Friday at 6pm PST.  There's Q&A right after the lectures. 
It is free and open to the public. All are welcome!
Use this link and I will see you there:
https://www.zoom.us/j/7028380815
Our hatha yoga class is Monday 5pm PST with Amrita and Wednesdays at 11am PST and again at Friday 5pm PST with me via this same link also.

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

This is our special Guru Purnima talk, this time on the subject: How To Choose A Guru

Of course we’ll discuss just what the Guru Tattva (Guru Principle) is and why it is absolutely necessary in spiritual life but more importantly we’ll focus on the question of how to find a guru and evaluate them to protect yourself from charlatans and cults etc.!

At the end of the talk, we’ll discuss a very powerful practice you can do right now even if you don’t have a living teacher as of yet!

On behalf of the auspicious occasions of Veda Vyāsa (Guru) Pūrnimā and alas Shrāvan Mas (the sacred month of Shiva which began the day we gave this lecture (July 22nd and goes till August 19th), let us all remember always that God alone is the Guru. As it says in the Guru Gītā:

ब्रह्मानन्दं परमसुखदं केवलं ज्ञानमूर्तिं
द्वन्द्वातीतं गगनसदृशं तत्वमस्यादिलक्ष्यम्
एकं नित्यं विमलमचलं सर्वधीसाक्षिभूतं
भावातीतं त्रिगुणरहितं सद्गुरुं तं नमामि

“Brahmānandam Paramasukhadam kevalam jñāna murtim…bhāvatītam trigunarahitam sad gurum tam namami”:

That true guru is the bliss of Brahman, the transcendent joy of non-dual knowledge, that reality beyond all name and form, beyond the touch of the three gunas. To That we bow!

ईश्वरो गुरुरात्मेति मूर्तिभेदविभागिने ।
व्योमवद् व्याप्तदेहाय दक्षिणामूर्तये नमः ॥७॥

I salute that Dakshinamurthy Shiva, the sky of Consciousness which appears in the form of teacher, student and transmission!

May He bless us all with knowledge and devotion!

We honor all teachers of all traditions who through their perfect discipleship have each of them embodied what it means to be spiritual in this world. I bow to the servants heart in all teachers who are each of them God’s grace personified!

Let us never forget the teaching from the Kaula Sutra:

avicchinam ovalli-kramāyāta-marīci-saṅkramaṇam evaiko guruḥ  (1)
tad-upalabdham eva tattvam eko devaḥ  (2)
tasyaikā sahajāhambhāva-bhūmiś cicchaktiḥ  (3)

There is only one Guru: the unbroken ray of transmission that flows through the lineage.
There is only one God: the Reality to which one awakens (as a result of that transmission)
There is only one Power: the Power of Consciousness which is the ground of the spontaneous and natural “I-sense”

You can watch all our previous lectures on the Guru here:
https://www.patreon.com/collection/666741

Lectures happen live on zoom every Monday at 7pm PST and Friday 10am PST and Friday at 6pm PST.  There's Q&A right after the lectures. 
It is free and open to the public. All are welcome!
Use this link and I will see you there:
https://www.zoom.us/j/7028380815
Our hatha yoga class is Monday 5pm PST with Amrita and Wednesdays at 11am PST and again at Friday 5pm PST with me via this same link also.

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

Two weeks ago, we discussed how sādhanā works in a non-dual Shaiva Tanttra context, providing a few foundational practices you can do right away (you can watch that lecture here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/how-to-get-with-106871859?utm_medium=clipboard_copy&utm_source=copyLink&utm_campaign=postshare_creator&utm_content=join_link).

And then the week after, we discussed how sādhanā is an expression of your innate freedom and not some desperate attempt to attain it! We then offered a few ways to keep spiritual life fun, engaging and interesting so you can become increasingly absorbed in the joy of the life divine. (you can watch this lecture here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/how-to-enjoy-107896090?utm_medium=clipboard_copy&utm_source=copyLink&utm_campaign=postshare_creator&utm_content=join_link).

Now, in this lecture, I want to continue last week's discussion on diversity and variety in spiritual life by discussing whether its better to worship one deity or many, better to practice with one mantra or many, better to do one practice or many different ones. Naturally, I'm going to make a case for the latter by arguing for non-duality, i.e all mantras are just names of the same Being and that Being is You! This will help folks who are torn between two or more deities, two more traditions etc. mostly but it is for every sincere sadhaka and sadhvi who wishes to understanding something deeper about the unity behind seeming diversity. In my opinion, tonight's discussion is at the very heart of Tantra and Ramakrishna's theology.

Lectures happen live on zoom every Monday at 7pm PST and Friday 10am PST and Friday at 6pm PST.  There's Q&A right after the lectures. 
It is free and open to the public. All are welcome!
Use this link and I will see you there:
https://www.zoom.us/j/7028380815
Our hatha yoga class is Monday 5pm PST with Amrita and Wednesdays at 11am PST and again at Friday 5pm PST with me via this same link also.

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

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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:
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