For more videos, guided meditations and instruction, access to our lecture library, and to support this work, visit me at:
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LIVE lectures happen every Monday at 7pm PST on Zoom. It is open to the public. Use this link and I will see you there:
https://www.zoom.us/j/7028380815

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

A lecture exploring the mythology, symbology and philosophy of Shiva, the Benign God of Yoga. 

The New Moon is a very significant time for yogis. Yoga is about diving deep into the essence of one's being and coming face to face with primordial fears like the fear of death, only to overcome them. The New Moon is the darkest night of the month and as such offers a profound opportunity to look fear in the face and smile. The New Moon is a time for introspection and spiritual practice and these nights are sacred to Shiva, the Formless Aspect of the Divine, personified as the Yogi Par Excellence! Every New Moon night then is called "Shiva Ratri", a Night of Shiva because it is an auspicious time to do what Shiva does best - spiritual practice!
But of all the New Moons in the year one is particularly important. And that is the New Moon of the Vedic month of Maaga: Maha Shivaratri, The Great Night of Shiva!
What makes it "Great"? Certain astrological considerations make this night the most auspicious night for spiritual practice of any kind!

And so:

The best way to celebrate Shiva Ratri is just to practice your practices. Whatever spiritual work you do is trebled in meaning because of the various astrological considerations of the day. But even better than this is to feed the homeless for the homeless are all Shiva incarnate and the wandering mendicants of the world are particularly dear to this benign God of Yoga.

Almost everything that we love about Yoga comes from the tradition of Shaiva Tantra. The mantras, the symbolic depictions of the various deities (which are all just patterns of Awareness, the Awareness-Bliss Absolute that you are!), the sacred hand gestures, the yoga postures, the initiation tradition of lineage based education etc...
all of this is what is being celebrated on this auspicious New Moon!

Support the show

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