For the Love of Yoga with Nish the Fish Nishanth Selvalingam

Today is Chinnamastā Jayanti and last week we had Bagalāmukhī Jayanti.Since both of these are fierce and very esoteric forms of Kālī, I thought I would take this occasion to discuss some of the "darker" aspects of our Tantrik heritage since both of these deities, as well as many of the other Daśamahāvidyās are associated with magical practices of um, let's say, a less than savory nature according to the views of some more right-leaning practitioners. And Bagalā Devī especially has a strong as...

The day that we gave this lecture was an exceedingly important day: Akshaya Tritiya! Because the sun and moon are in very exalted positions and because of the association of this day to a series of auspicious events in Puranic Hinduism (the day Mā Ganga came down into the earth from the heavens, the day Vyāsa began dictating the Mahābhārata to Ganesh, the day Yudishthira received his unlimited food bowl, the day that Parvati appeared as Annapurna to feed everyone among other things), today is...

Today is an exceedingly important day: Akshaya Tritiya! Because the sun and moon are in very exalted positions and because of the association of this day to a series of auspicious events in Puranic Hinduism (the day Mā Ganga came down into the earth from the heavens, the day Vyāsa began dictating the Mahābhārata to Ganesh, the day Yudishthira received his unlimited food bowl, the day that Parvati appeared as Annapurna to feed everyone among other things), today is typically regarded as a grea...

In this special satsangh, we host our mentor and dear friend Pujya Swami Bhajanananda Saraswati of the Kali Mandir, the foremost authority here on the West Coast and perhaps in the world on all things Kali, Tantra and Puja. Some years ago, I asked Pujya Swami Bhajanananda Saraswati at the Kali Mandir in Laguna a beach: “why is it that some people say worshipping Kālī is dangerous?” He said in his characteristic warmth and humor something to the effect of: “worshipping Kali is like mac an...

Today on this auspicious Friday (Fridays are very sacred to Tripura Devī) I'd like to offer you who are the embodiment of Devī these reflections on Lalitā and the Lalitā Sahasranāma. We gave this talk on a Friday on Lalitā Jayanti earlier this year as a sort of preamble before our Paramārthasāra lecture. May it inspire you to chant the thousand names of Beauty and Power Personified! Jai Tripura Devī Ki Jai! Lectures happen live on zoom every Monday at 7pm PST and Friday 10am PST and Friday at...

On the auspicious occasion of Hanuman Jayanti today, we say a few words about Tapasvī Rāja from a Tantrik point of view. Since Hanuman, the Son of the Wind, is Prāna embodied, we say a few words about the Five Faced Hanuman with regards to the five types of prāna. Then, we talk about siddhis, yogic powers and how Hanuman embodies the proper use and place of siddhis in genuine spiritual life. Most of all, we discuss our ideal of Bhakti: devotion from a place of strength and fullness and not fr...