For the Love of Yoga with Nish the Fish

What is the most important spiritual resource? Since spirituality is the process of going inward, of checking the natural inclination towards externalization, naturally, the most important thing we can learn how to do is to take responsibility for our inner world! This is essentially what spirituality is. When our inner world is taken care of, when our mental state is cultivated and established in the highest frequency, the outer world (which is really nothing more than an experience arising in the mind) will follow suit. The moment we sort our mind out, it seems that the whole picture changes, the outer world transforms and suddenly we understand what it means to "be the change we want to see in the world" since the world in nothing but a reflection of my own mind and to change the mind is to change the world-image that appears! But having understood this, the next question must be: how do I take responsibility for my inner state? What tools can I use for creating an oasis of peace, joy and blessedness within which is not at all conditioned by "external" events? Of course there is a whole slew of practices and techniques for achieving this end since is the most important thing we can do I spiritual life. However, one particular practice that I wanted to highlight that is so good for just this sort of thing is mānasa pūjā, the Inner Worship of the Deity.As such, here is another class in our How To Do Tantrik Ritual series exploring the sacred science of inner/mental worship. Here's the mantra we used:hṛtpadmamāsanaṁ dadyāt sahasrāracyutāmṛtaiḥ।pādyaṁ caraṇayordadyāt manastvarghyaṁ nivedayet॥tenāmṛtenācamanīyaṁ snānīyaṁ tena ca smṛtam।ākāśatattvaṁ vastraṁ syāt gandhaḥ syāt gandhatattvakam॥cittaṁ prakalpayet puṣpaṁ dhūpaṁ prāṇān prakalpayet।tejastattvaṁ ca dīpārthaṁ naivedyaṁ syāt sudhāmbudhiḥ॥anāhatadhvanirghaṇṭā vāyutattvaṁ ca cāmaram।sahasrāraṁ bhavecchatraṁ śabdatattvaṁ ca gītakam॥nṛtyamindriyakarmāṇi cāñcalyaṁ manasastathā।sumekhalāṁ padmamālāṁ puṣpaṁ nānāvidhaṁ tathā॥amāyādyairbhāvapuṣpairarcayet bhāvagocaram।amāyamanahaṅkāramarāgamamadaṁ tathā॥amohakamadambhaṁ ca adveṣākṣobhakau tathā।amātsaryamalobhaṁ ca daśapuṣpaṁ vidurbudhāḥ॥ahiṁsā paramaṁ puṣpaṁ puṣpamindriyanigrahaḥ।dayāpuṣpaṁ kṣamāpuṣpaṁ jñānapuṣpaṁ ca pañcamam॥iti pañcadaśairbhāvapuṣpaiḥ sampūjayet śivām॥Support the showLectures 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/7028380815For more videos, guided meditations and instruction and for access to our lecture library, visit me at:https://www.patreon.com/yogawithnishTo get in on the discussion and access various spiritual materials, join our Discord here: https://discord.gg/U8zKP8yMrM

In this talk, we continue to unpack the Somānanda's Radical Non-Dual Revelation to show how Consciousness, the Absolute Reality which you yourself are is endowed desire, innately creative and always active. Also, we discover the profound implications of such a view on our spiritual lives and on our day to day interactions with the world!You'll recall that in  our last conversation we compared a few different approach to non-duality to show how many non-dual traditions prefer a more quietistic approach where the Absolute is conceived of as perfectly silent and perfectly still without any desire or dynamism whatsoever. And that's perfectly valid! Notice however that this idealistic, world-negating approach might work for some people (especially monastics) but not necessarily for everyone and certainly not for those who desire to engage with the world and act on their inspirations and desires for creative expression! As such, as an alternative to the more popular and mainstream non-dual presentations of Classical Advaita Vedanta and Classical Buddhism, we present the Tāntrik approach which argues for the innate dynamism of the Absolute such that the world is re-affirmed, desires are divinized and life is given a positive spin! On this view, the world is no longer seen as an illusion to be dispelled or as an error to be corrected; life is no longer seen as suffering but rather as innately blissful since all this is verily the shining forth of ever-free, ever-blissful Consciousness! PS: much of this conversation is also in dialogue with some of the observations we were making here in our What is the Sound of Absolute Silence? | Bagalā Jayanti talk where I argued that speech is always inherent even in silence! Support the showLectures 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/7028380815For more videos, guided meditations and instruction and for access to our lecture library, visit me at:https://www.patreon.com/yogawithnishTo get in on the discussion and access various spiritual materials, join our Discord here: https://discord.gg/U8zKP8yMrM

Non-duality is the profound view that only one Reality exists and that you are essentially That! This unitive vision of one-ness, this harmony of all things resonates so deeply in the human psyche, perhaps because we all of us sense the underlying unity beneath and beyond all seeming diversity! But as you know, there are many different kinds of Non-Dual traditions all around the world, each articulating this revelation of one-ness in different ways owing to the unique experiences of the sages to whom such revelations occurred. And because we are all different and because we all respond to different things at different times of our spiritual journey, its nice to compare some of the different non-dual traditions that have emerged in the Indian subcontinent so see what they each have to offer. We have something to learn from every tradition, after all! In this talk, after comparing a few different schools of Advaita, I make a case for Somānanda's vision: an Advaita of radical agency, a kind of theistic monism that seeks to be as inclusive as possible of everything without reducing anything to void or illusion! This kind of Tāntrik non-duality, which we will unpack together over the course of the next few lectures, uniquely offers a world-affirming, life-affirming, action-oriented one-ness! This talk is part of a series on Somānanda and includes talks like Somānanda's Radical Non-Dual RevelationRace, Gender, Environment & Ethics in Non-Duality | Vijñāna-Bhairava Tantra, Verse 105 Is My Coffee Mug Conscious? | Paramārthasāra, Verse 37 andPanpsychism in Tantra | Vijñāna-Bhairava Tantra, Verse 105Support the showLectures 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/7028380815For more videos, guided meditations and instruction and for access to our lecture library, visit me at:https://www.patreon.com/yogawithnishTo get in on the discussion and access various spiritual materials, join our Discord here: https://discord.gg/U8zKP8yMrM

And now, our main project is to study Somānanda's radical non-dual philosophy, which is the foundation for Shākta non-duality. Somānanda might be one of the most radical and God-intoxicated of the Shaiva Non-Dual masters. He is Abhinava Gupta's guru's guru's guru. Essentially, the idea here is that nothing is insentient: every thing, even seemingly inanimate objects, are actually none other than Shiva, who is pure non-dual Consciousness reposing blissfully in His own fullness endowed with unceasing powers of Willing, Knowing and Doing. Somānanda argues that every pot, every wall, every chair wills to be what it is and knows that it is that thing and acts as that thing all as an expression of Shiva's desire to play! And what's more? You are none other than this one Shiva who is playfully manifesting a world and embodied Himself in that world as everyone and everything, just for fun. What a beautiful and stunning conception and realization! This talk Race, Gender, Environment & Ethics in Non-Duality | Vijñāna-Bhairava Tantra, Verse 105 was our first swipe at study Somānanda and Is My Coffee Mug Conscious? | Paramārthasāra, Verse 37 was our second. In fact, we're now at that verse in our Vijñāna-Bhairava Tantra (verse 105) which might have inspired Somānanda or at least captures the heart of what Somānanda is teaching and we're also studying a verse in Paramārthasāra (verse 37) which is more or less about the same thing. So brace yourself! The barrage of content that is now about to come your way, from Monday night discussions, Thursday night Vijñāna-Bhairava study and Friday morning Paramārthasāra commentary will all be oriented around this theme of "everything, including my coffee mug, cat and AI, is Consciousness AND also Conscious as the infinite expansion of Lord Shiva's playful being! Support the showLectures 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/7028380815For more videos, guided meditations and instruction and for access to our lecture library, visit me at:https://www.patreon.com/yogawithnishTo get in on the discussion and access various spiritual materials, join our Discord here: https://discord.gg/U8zKP8yMrM

Naturally, naturalists and physicalists (i.e materialists) are exceedingly challenged by the "hard problem of Consciousness" as David Chalmers put it which is the challenge to explain, in physical terms, this somewhat transcendent reality called Consciousness which cannot at all be said to be caused by any brain activity. One solution then is to posit "panpsychism", which is more or less the idea that Consciousness is as real as matter and energy and actually inheres in all matter and energy. At any rate, we are currently studying a verse in the Paramārthasāra of Abhinava Gupta exploring the distinction between a "conscious" and seemingly "unconscious" or "inert" entities. After all, this is one of the most radical claims of the Shaiva non dual tradition: all things are verily Śiva but Śiva, as you will recall, is not a mere principle of Existence with no sense of self; Śiva is self-reflexive Awareness, the kind of Reality that knows Itself (i.e God) and as such, everything must be Conscious as Śiva is conscious!How then can we drive at a distinction between "cid" vs "jada", "conscious" vs "inert"? We take a first swipe at this idea in this talk and we will slowly unpack the view in the course of the next few videos through a close study of Somānanda, the great Tantrik master in whose work, Śivadrshti is present in full force this idea that all things, even pots, pieces of cloth, coffee mugs and Artificial Intelligence, are conscious, willing, knowing, doing things! TLDR: The world is God. Let's start to explore how! Support the showLectures 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/7028380815For more videos, guided meditations and instruction and for access to our lecture library, visit me at:https://www.patreon.com/yogawithnishTo get in on the discussion and access various spiritual materials, join our Discord here: https://discord.gg/U8zKP8yMrM

As you know, over the past few months we've been trying to articulate our ideals and values as a community so that we can maintain the highest degree of integrity as possible, according to the ideals of our lineage, as exemplified by our Parameshti Guru, Paramahansa Sri Ramakrishna. As such, we've been using Swami Vivekananda's 1896 "My Master" (a compilation of two lectures Swamiji gave on Sri Ramakrishna, published in Volume IV of the Complete Works) as a sort of charter or mission statement for our community! We've given about 4 talks based on Swamiji's "My Master": Advice to Spiritual Teachers & AspirantsSex, Drugs & Choosing A Guru | Q&AOur Mission | A ManifestoThe Most Important Spiritual Idea &Guru as Transmission of PowerAnd now this is the 6th, completing the sequence. In this short talk, we simply read out the rest of the speech, which we've been reading and reflecting upon together in the course of the past 4 talks listed above. This acts as a kind of finale or overture to this profound and moving piece about the highest spirituality exemplified in a human life! May all aspire to that very highest ideal! Jai Sri Ramakrishna!Support the showLectures 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/7028380815For more videos, guided meditations and instruction and for access to our lecture library, visit me at:https://www.patreon.com/yogawithnishTo get in on the discussion and access various spiritual materials, join our Discord here: https://discord.gg/U8zKP8yMrM

On the very auspicious day for Guru Purnima this year, we reflected on the role of the Guru and the process of approaching one in humility and surrender. We reflect upon the opening scene of the Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna and we offer a running commentary on these profound and moving verses of the Guru Gītā, the Song of the Teacher:oṁ brahmānandaṁ paramasukhadaṁ kevalaṁ jñānamūrtiṁ dvandvātītaṁ gaganadadṛśaṁ tattvamasyādilakṣyamekaṁ nityaṁ vimalamacalaṁ sarvadhīsākṣibhūtaṁbhāvātītaṁ triguṇarahitaṁ sadguruṁ taṁ namāmi"I bow to that true guru, who alone is the bliss of Brahman and the giver of supreme happiness, the very embodiment of knowledge, beyond all duality, as vast the sky, the very definition of Reality (i.e that which is indicated by the mahāvākyas of the Upanishads), non-dual, eternal, stainless, the Indwelling Witness in all beings beyond the mind, untouched by the three guṇas (sattva, rajas and tamas)." This lecture is part of our series on the role Guru in the Tāntrik tradition, which you can watch here. Support the showLectures 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/7028380815For more videos, guided meditations and instruction and for access to our lecture library, visit me at:https://www.patreon.com/yogawithnishTo get in on the discussion and access various spiritual materials, join our Discord here: https://discord.gg/U8zKP8yMrM

We suggest about 5 different practices you can do to celebrate Śrāvaṇa, the month of Śiva:1. Vratam. Many people will observing vows like abstaining from a particular kind of food (salt, sugar, pickles etc.) or observing sunrise-sunset fasts or keeping vigils etc. Generally, these vows are observed on all the Mondays of this śrāvana period and so it is often called the Śrāvaṇa Somavara Vrātam (The Monday Observance of Śrāvaṇa) since Mondays are sacred to Lord Śiva. You can decide just what kind of thing to offer or to abstain from as part of your vrāta, vow, just whatever that is do-able and reasonable and makes spiritual sense and is spiritually nourishing to you. This is a bit like the Christian concept of lent, I suppose. 2. Japa (Puraścarana). You can pledge to chant a certain number of repetitions of your dīkshā mantra or any śiva mantra that you like (we often suggest the pancakshara mantra) every day during this period or just on the Mondays. When we systematically chant a certain number of mantras daily for a fixed period of time, we call that "puraścarana". Generally, we recommend that we sit in the same place, at the same time when we do our chanting and generally we suggests that you chant on a rudrāksha-mālā since those beads are sacred to Śiva. You get to decide what number you'd like to pledge, whatever number that is do-able and reasonable and spiritually nourishing for you. 3. Pūjā. Every Monday (or if you want, every day) during this period you can perform a pañcāmrita pūjā and/or a pañcopacāra-pūjā to your Shiva lingam or murti. We demonstrate this simple and elegant pūjā towards the end of this video but you can find all the mantras in Sanskrit with transliteration and translation as well as the ritual procedure in the description of this video. 4. Kirtana/Bhajana. A chanting practice is very beautiful and nourishing since it is essentially, like pūjā, a celebration! Perhaps you might decide to chant some hymns to Shiva on the Mondays or every day; you might simply commit to learning (and memorizing) a specific hymn that you like. (l) Nirvāna-śatakam 5. Karma Yoga. And our favorite practice of all as part of the Ramakrishna-Vivekananda lineage: worshipping Shiva in the form of the jīva, the embodied soul. As Christ said "that which you do unto the least of ye, you do unto me", the best possible pūjā is to actually serve everyone (including plants & animals & spirits & what not) in a spirit of worship. Never think you are helping anyone. Instead, feel that everyone is giving you an opportunity to worship God by coming to you for help. Don't feel that they owe you any gratitude for your having helped them. Rather, you be grateful to them for giving you the opportunity to worship God through them. In this way, your work, your daily tasks, all become transformed into Śiva-pūjā. This is the acme of non-duality, to recognize each movement of life as an encounter with the divine!May all beings, who are none other than Shiva, worship Shiva! Hara Hara Mahadeva! Support the showLectures 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/7028380815For more videos, guided meditations and instruction and for access to our lecture library, visit me at:https://www.patreon.com/yogawithnishTo get in on the discussion and access various spiritual materials, join our Discord here: https://discord.gg/U8zKP8yMrM

Back in the day, the guru was very necessary because without one, we could not access the Tantras at all (that is, the ritual manuals in which we encounter the practices and philosophies of the tradition) because they were all physical manuscripts that were actually kept in the Guru's abode or even as part of the Guru's memory. As such, without dīkshā (spiritual initiation), it would be nearly impossible to get access to the tradition! Now, many of these texts are available online, in many different translations. One can encounter them and study them and practice out of them without ever having contacted a living teacher. And as such, a very important question comes up: is a living guru even needed anymore? Couldn't one just study from books and from videos on the internet? Perhaps! However, the role of the guru is far more than just one who gives us access to concepts, theories & techniques. The guru is far more than a role model who demonstrates with their lives the proof of the practice and the path. The guru is far more than a personal mentor in whom we can confide and find solace, which are very important things for a real life human who is attempting to practice spirituality intensely! Although these things are all very important and are included in the role of the guru, the main function of the guru is the transmission of spiritual power, what Swami Vivekananda called the "quickening impulse" in his talk called "The Need of a Guru" (Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda, Volume III). But what exactly is this "quickening impulse"? Because this is the most mysterious dimension of Guru-Yoga, we explore it in this lecture by referring to some events in the life of Sri Ramakrishna and Swami Vivekananda. This is one of the lectures in our series on Swami Vivekananda's "My Master" along with Advice to Spiritual Teachers & Aspirants Sex, Drugs & Choosing A Guru | Q&A Our Mission | A Manifesto & Guru as Transmission of Power! Support the showLectures 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/7028380815For more videos, guided meditations and instruction and for access to our lecture library, visit me at:https://www.patreon.com/yogawithnishTo get in on the discussion and access various spiritual materials, join our Discord here: https://discord.gg/U8zKP8yMrM

Because last week's Capricorn Full Moon was the celebration of the Guru (it was actually the birthday of Veda Vyāsa, the OG Guru), in our Friday evening restorative yoga class (which you can watch here), we explored the idea of "Guru as Consciousness", as a principle rather than a person which seems to be the emphasis of so many texts and verses describing the Guru! This conception identifies the Guru with Śiva or rather, Brahman which is Pure Existence-Consciousness-Bliss, the One Reality and the Ground of All Being. It is a quietistic sort of expression. Then, we explored the concept of the "Guru as Transmitter of Power" (which I will upload next) right after this class, and here we see a more dynamic conception, that of the Guru as guru-śakti, "spiritualizing force" or "the quickening impulse", as Swami Vivekananda called it. Together, these conceptions of Guru as quietistic Consciousness and as transforming Power taken together form the idea of Śiva AND Śakti as the Guru, with the third aspect in the triad being the human teacher, the body in which the above two conceptions are harmonized and actualized. The Guru as such is the trika, the resolved trinity of God-Power-Individual, i.e Śiva-Śakti-Nara. Enjoy!Support the showLectures 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/7028380815For more videos, guided meditations and instruction and for access to our lecture library, visit me at:https://www.patreon.com/yogawithnishTo get in on the discussion and access various spiritual materials, join our Discord here: https://discord.gg/U8zKP8yMrM