Giving in to our desires (which is to say: following them into externalized action) can sometimes be just as repressive as avoiding them altogether. In either case, the energy of desire is not fully experienced:; it is instead dissipated through repression or expression. One wonders: what would it be like to simply sit with the energy of agitation or inspiration, breathing into it and following it back into its point of origin?

In the Vijñāna-Bhairava Tantra, there is a very subtle technique that falls into the category of "Śambhavopaya", the Way of Śīva because it is a practice centered on icchā, the creative desire of Non-Dual Consciousness to bloom outward into expression. The source of all expression is Consciousness and it is back into Consciousness that all expressions dissolve.

As such, any urge, inspiration or desire that we experience has its origin point and resting point in Awareness. By experiencing fully the blooming of any icchā, creative outpouring we can "guide it" to a still point and thereby experience enlivened Awareness!

We took a first pass at this practice here but because we didn't have as much time as I would have liked to discuss it, we decided to revisit it in this short discussion before we took up a Hatha Yoga practice, which you can watch here.

Our Vijñāna-Bhairava Tantra series:
https://www.patreon.com/collection/143200
Classes meet live every Thursday at 6:30pm PST. You can sign up to attend the zoom meetings here:
https://yogaworldheart.com/schedule

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

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On this auspicious Mrgaśīrsha Pūrnimā (full moon) to which is ascribed Bhairavi Jayanti, Annapurna Jayanti and also Dattatreya Jayanti, we decide to say a few words about just who Mā Bhairavi might be. She is one of the most mysterious of the mahāvidyās (the ten terrifying forms of Mā). In this video, referring to the meditation mantra below, I make the case that Bhairavi is a euhemerized Tantrik adept! We of course discuss Bhairavi Brāhmani, Sri Ramakrishna's Tantrik guru and we spend the first half of the talk discussing what makes Tantra, Tantra in order to clearly indicate the path upon which we ourselves must trod to become a Bhairavi/Bhairava!

उद्यद्भानुसहस्रकान्तिमरुणक्षौमां शिरोमालिकां
रक्तालिप्तपयोधरां जपवटीं विद्यामभीतिं वरम् ।
हस्ताब्जैदधतीं त्रिनेत्रविलसद्रक्तारविन्दश्रियं
देवीं बद्धहिमांशुरक्तमुकुटां वन्दे समन्दस्मिताम् ॥

udyad-bhānu-sahasra-kāntim-aruṇa-kṣaumāṃ śiro-mālikāṃ
raktā-lipta-payodharāṃ japa-vaṭīṃ vidyām-abhītiṃ varam .
hastābjaidadhatīṃ trinetra-vilasad-raktāravinda-śriyaṃ
devīṃ baddha-himāṃśu-rakta-mukuṭāṃ vande samandasmitām

Radiant like the splendour of a thousand suns, clad in red garments, garlanded in heads
Breasts smeared with blood, holding a rosary and a book, assuring fearlessness and granting boons
With her lotus like hands, Her third eye shining with the beauty of blood-red lotus flowers,
She is the Goddess who wears a red crown in which is tucked the moon- I worship Her who is smiling gently!

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

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Today we are celebrating the feast day for a very important Marian apparition that occurred on the site of a former Tonantzin temple: The Lady of Guadalupe!

This is among my favorite occurrences in Catholic history and it gives us a nice opportunity to talk about Mā beyond any one cultural context (i.e the Universal "Mā" as opposed to the particular).

As such, in this class we discuss the distinctions between the sthāna-devatā (deities of the region), grāma-devatā (village deities), kula-devatā (family deities) and Ishta-devatā (ones chosen ideal).

These are exceedingly important categories of thought in the Tantrik ritual worship context, the "pūjā world" and these are distinctions I would have done well to discuss sooner in our series. In any case, we will take up the topic in the first of two lectures tonight with a special reference to how the Lady Guadalupe, the patron deity of Mexico, fits into all of this! We'll draw a bit from the material in this lecture on Mā Kālī in Other Cultures.

Since I'm back home in Kuala Lumpur, this will give me an opportunity to discuss some unique regional deities also like Pechy-Amman, Muniswaran, Karappan etc.

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

Support the show