For the Love of Yoga with Nish the Fish

Nishanth Selvalingam
  • 4.9 (63)
  • ALTERNATIVE HEALTH
  • UPDATED WEEKLY

The world of Yoga is wide and varied. In this podcast, yogi Nish the Fish shares the deeper dimensions of Yoga, Vedanta and Tantra, asking the big questions: why do we practice? What is meditation? What is the purpose of a human life? What is Beauty? What is Death? Nishanth Selvalingam studied various South Asian philosophies with his Shaivite grandfather in an ashram in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and moved to Los Angeles to study philosophy, teach yoga and play guitar in a rock band. Join him and special guests as they explore Yoga, in all its splendours. For more episodes and instruction, and to support this humble offering of the heart, visit me on Patreon: patreon.com/yogawithnish

  1. Offering Meat & Alcohol to Hindu Deities | Vāmācara & Pañca-Makāras, The Left Hand Path of Tantra

    4D AGO

    Offering Meat & Alcohol to Hindu Deities | Vāmācara & Pañca-Makāras, The Left Hand Path of Tantra

    We start by explaining the pañca-makāras, the transgressive offerings in the context of Kālī pūjā in the Vāmācāra, the so-called "left-hand path" of Tantra, mainly to point out the "curse" that is on alcohol & meat with reference to King Parsokhit in the Bhāgavātam, and to Pauranic stories of Brahmā & Śukra who all have cursed alcohol. We explain also how meat is cursed also before offering some modern day examples to show how that curse plays out.  These remarks act as a sort of disclaimer for anyone who wants to experiment with Kaulācāra or Vāmācāra!  Mainly, we present he Vāmācāra strategy of mitigating the curse, with a reference to the Brahma-śāpa-vimocana stotram which is used to remove the curse on the Devī Māhātmyam. We explain also the logic of using the pañca-makāra to demonstrate how this approach could be spiritually nourishing for a certain kind of person. We also offer a short digression about the esoteric deities  of Vāmācāra: Ānanda-Bhairava & Ānanda-Bhairavī in sexual union, i.e ārdhanarīśvara.  But very quickly we digress into a subtle discussion about the Big "I", pūrnahantā, my essential nature as the Self, Consciousness reflecting upon Herself through all beings sentient and insentient. This is the highest non-dual teaching of our tradition! As such, we present the pañca-makāras as a modality, an approach to co-opt intensely disturbing as well as intensely pleasurable experiences to "touch down" on my essential nature as blissful, ever-full consciousness!  You'll find all of our lectures on Vāmācara & the more transgressive aspects of our tradition here.  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

    1h 53m
  2. Why is Śiva So Weird? | & Śaivism So Unique?

    4D AGO

    Why is Śiva So Weird? | & Śaivism So Unique?

    Śiva is often described as "vicitra", strange and wonderful! Having touched upon this idea off Śiva's weirdness a little bit in our Shiva, Paradox Personified lecture, we go in with some finer brush strokes to make a point about how all the various depictions of Śiva in Pauranic literature might be pointing to a very unique, mind-boggling kind of theology that is wholly unlike anything else you might have heard in the world of comparative religion!  We gave this talk as part of our Śiva rātri celebrations up in our new retreat space in Oxnard. We paused the recording after the first section to go and do our Ganesh puja and then we recorded the second session, picking up where we left off later in the evening before the first prahara puja! Forgive me for the little discontinuity in the middle!  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

    5h 23m
  3. Shiva, Paradox Personified

    FEB 19

    Shiva, Paradox Personified

    Just a little riffing on the Puranic depictions of Shiva, as per or Shiva Ratri festivities this year! There's something very weird and wonderful (vicitra, in Sanskrit) about our Mahadeva, is there not?  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

    44 min
  4. How To Shiva Ratri | Fasting, Vigil & Rituals of Hinduism

    FEB 19

    How To Shiva Ratri | Fasting, Vigil & Rituals of Hinduism

    I'm a little late on this video (I had meant to get it out before the festivities this year) but hey, maybe this is for next year and if you're particularly hardcore, for next month (since there's a śiva rātri every month the night before the new moon)! In this talk, we go over some rituals and practices for observing śiva rātri for people asking questions like, "when/what is śiva rātri?", "what should I do all night?", "what is fasting and how to do it?" etc. Here is a playlist of all our talks for śiva rātri. 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

    1h 37m
  5. How To Worship the Non-Dual Shiva

    FEB 12

    How To Worship the Non-Dual Shiva

    Leading up to Śiva Rātri (which is coming up for us this Sunday on February 15th, 2026), I'm releasing a bunch of videos on different aspects of our tradition, as part of the celebration! Having already put out Secret Kālī Teachings in Śaiva Texts which featured a (śaktra reading) of sample from the Paramārthasāra, a profound non-dual transmission from the master, Abhinava Gupta, we now turn to something even more esoteric (guhya) and essential (sāra): a teaching from the Vijñāna-Bhairava Tantra on worshipping Śiva as the pure, non-dual consciousness which you, yourself, right now are! This is the 2nd of 4 or 5 videos for Śiva Rātri this year! Here is a playlist of all our Śiva Rātri content over the years! 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

    2h 24m
  6. Which Deity Should I Worship? | & Does It Matter?

    FEB 6

    Which Deity Should I Worship? | & Does It Matter?

    In this talk, we ask the question "which deity should I worship?"  & "does it even matter?" going off last week’s reflection on how Tantra works and our conjectures about Swami Brahmananda’s Ishta (chosen deity).  Naturally, we end up discussing some of the nuances and complexities around the central claim of our lineage: "all religions are true" which for Tāntrikas shopping for an Ishta, comes across as "all deities are different forms of the One Absolute Reality" pointing to the tension between the broadness invited by this view versus the focus (ishta-nishta) & depth that is typically insisted upon in our view particularly with regards to choosing one path/deity and sticking to it!  Mainly though, we talk about faith & renunciation, "īśvara-anurāg-vishāya-virāg" the most essential things in spiritual life. This was quite an inspiring and meaningful talk for me. Thank you for all who came live!  May it be an offering!  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

    3h 10m
  7. Karma Yoga = Haṭha-Yoga

    FEB 4

    Karma Yoga = Haṭha-Yoga

    Recently, we've started giving some classes on the हठप्रदीपिकां haṭha-pradīpikāṁ, the central text on the post-classical tradition in the Nāth sampradāya as part of our weekly Wednesday postural yoga class on zoom. The other day, I was looking at some of the letters Swami Premeshanandaji sent to Swami Svahanandaji in the book "Go Forward" and I was struck by this elegant and beautiful idea that the former was expressing to the latter: Swami Vivekananda is subtly reinterpreting Hatha Yoga in his conception of Karma Yoga, engaging relentless with the world in a spirit of self-sacrificing, enthusiastic and unattached service (i.e pūjā) to God embodied as beings, sentient and insentient. So before we started doing some postures, I thought I'd just reflect upon this for a little bit. Enjoy! Jai Swamiji! śrī guru arpanam astu!  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

    1h 38m
  8. How To Practice Śākta Tantra | Performing Puraścaraṇa

    JAN 30

    How To Practice Śākta Tantra | Performing Puraścaraṇa

    Since we are in the lineage of Sri Ramakrishna and since you will be interacting with his life and teachings quite a bit in our community, it’s important at this point to say that no one interpretation of Sri Ramakrishna and of his lineage can ever be absolute or definitive. A lot of what you will hear us say about Sri Ramakrishna might be markedly different from what some other places that represent Sri Ramakrishna are saying and that’s just fine and as it should be to show the many colors of the infinitely rich and illimitable Reality called God!  But if we don’t point out now how our take on Thakur (which is what we lovingly and affectionately call Sri Ramakrishna) differs from others’, you’re likely going to feel a little confused when you visit some of the other lineage holders and centers associated to him, which I always encourage you to do to get a more well-rounded take! Here is a series of talks on a few central themes worth revisiting from time to time to marinate your mind in the View (darśana) and orient yourself to the tradition (sampradāya), lineage (paramparā) and practice (sādhanā). They are presented here in an order that made sense to me, but you can watch whichever talks whenever and it whatever order, as you like! Just click the links to be redirected to the talk: i. What is Śākta Tantra? ii. ​​How To Be Blissful & In Love | My Reading on Ramakrishna iii. Śrī Rāmakrishna & The Whole Spectrum of Tantra iv. The Best Tāntrik Philosophy | & How Pūjā Works v.  And now here is this talk walking us through how to dive in and get started! You'll find all of these in order + a bunch of other resources in our How To Practice Tantra playlist here. And here's our playlist of classes on How To Perform Tāntrik Pūjā 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

    2h 58m
See All (372)

4.9
out of 5
63 Ratings

About

The world of Yoga is wide and varied. In this podcast, yogi Nish the Fish shares the deeper dimensions of Yoga, Vedanta and Tantra, asking the big questions: why do we practice? What is meditation? What is the purpose of a human life? What is Beauty? What is Death? Nishanth Selvalingam studied various South Asian philosophies with his Shaivite grandfather in an ashram in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and moved to Los Angeles to study philosophy, teach yoga and play guitar in a rock band. Join him and special guests as they explore Yoga, in all its splendours. For more episodes and instruction, and to support this humble offering of the heart, visit me on Patreon: patreon.com/yogawithnish

Information

You Might Also Like