For the Love of Yoga with Nish the Fish

Nishanth Selvalingam
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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. What is Śākta Tantra?

    5D AGO

    What is Śākta Tantra?

    Here is a particularly inspired and lively discussion from our Atlanta retreat in which we sketch out the Sāmkhya, Yoga & Śaiva Siddhānta traditions & thus, prepare the foundations for understanding Non-Dual Śaiva/Śākta tantra, in both theory and practice, in a much deeper way. By Ma's grace, this talk turned out to be all at once a good introduction for absolute beginners, a helpful review for intermediate practitioners/students and a subtle, direct path teaching on the higher dimensions of Śrī Vidyā for the seasoned!  You can watch the video version here on the Vedanta Atlanta YouTube page, along with the other talks from this retreat! 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. Scientific Materialism as a Spiritual Path | Tāntrik Cārvāka

    6D AGO

    Scientific Materialism as a Spiritual Path | Tāntrik Cārvāka

    Some years back, we gave a talk called "Can Atheist Be Spiritual?" (alas its gone now since the YouTube ban of 2025!) Anyway, there, I presented some non-theistic traditions like Advaita Vedanta, Buddhism, Jainism and of course, Sāmkhya to show how Indian spirituality is inclusive to all spiritual dispositions. i.e: you don't have to believe in "God" to make spiritual progress!  In that talk, we also pointed out how the atheistic position is important for theists too since we must first reject the God of dogma, i.e the God of Religion, before we can move towards the God of Realization, the Living God.  Now, a few years later, in this talk, we take a slightly different approach: understanding that the bhūpura is as much the cakra as the Bindu, I try to construct a non-dual, spiritually edifying view using the basic premises of scientific materialism. My claim here is that if we are to be honest materialists, we would be fully realized actually since this too, is a valid way like any other for realizing Mā! 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 33m
  3. The Best Tāntrik Philosophy | & How Pūjā Works

    6D AGO

    The Best Tāntrik Philosophy | & How Pūjā Works

    After our second day of talks at the Atlanta retreat, I was feeling particularly charged and inspired and so I insisted on hosting the Monday night zoom satsangh and this is the discussion we happened to have! In this talk, I first sketch out some foundational metaphysical principles of pūjā, Tāntrik ritual worship which is at the heart of the tradition. Then, I compare various schools of thought within the wider tradition to make a case, like Abhinava Gupta and Ramakrishna, that the broadest, most capacious and most inclusive philosophy is the "best" because it afford the fullest & deepest realization! As such, I argue why our somewhat Śrī Vidyā coded reading of Kālī, which is unique to our lineage, is just such a philosophy! Giving this talk in the Swami's room at the Vedanta Center, where my Guru and many great spiritual beings stayed I think lent the discussion a special fire. This was to me, one of our finest and most inspired discussions yet! If any good comes of this talk, it is by the grace of the Guru alone! May it be an offering! You can watch all the videos from the retreat 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 31m
  4. How To Be Blissful & In Love | My Reading on Ramakrishna

    6D AGO

    How To Be Blissful & In Love | My Reading on Ramakrishna

    From our opening talk at the December 2025 Vedanta Society of Atlanta retreat, which I felt was especially inspired and rather foundational for almost everything we discuss here in this corner of the internet. May it be an offering to the lineage and to you, God incarnate!  |You can watch all the videos from the retreat 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 32m
  5. 3 Single-Syllable Kālī Mantras | Eka-Varna Śakti Vidyā

    JAN 4

    3 Single-Syllable Kālī Mantras | Eka-Varna Śakti Vidyā

    Spiritual life is unbelievably simple. It is essentially all about single-pointed, sincere, intense love for God, by whatever name you want to call Her! It's about obsessions and absorption, about losing yourself in love for that which is most love-able, Love Itself. It's all about just choosing one Ideal and like a moth into flame, plunging recklessly into it! It should be fun! It should always be fun. It's the most fun! But, part of the fun is that we tend to make things very complicated for ourselves! Especially given how maximalist the Tāntrik tradition can be with all of its concepts, tools and techniques, we tend to ask somewhat unimportant questions and focus on peripheral, non-essential, and often unhelpful priorities. There is a great temptation and proclivity in Tantra to overcomplicate. As such, the so-called left hand path of Tantra (Kaulamārga, Vāmācāra etc.) has always emphasized intensity and sincerity over rules and purity, force and feeling over form and finesse ecstasy of feeling over technicality and thought! Let's f*****g lose our heads and go crazy for Mā already!  What the f**k are you waiting for? The world is mad! Let the dead bury their dead.  F**k 'em.  Lets go dance mad with joy in the smaśāna with our friends, the ghosts and drink deep the liquor of devotion!  Here are the 3 simple, direct, no-nonsense, single-syllable mantras to do just that! ^ Jai fucking Mā!  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 28m
  6. The Universe = A Blissful Mass of Consciousness | & The Bīja Mantra For It

    JAN 4

    The Universe = A Blissful Mass of Consciousness | & The Bīja Mantra For It

    These past few weeks, we've been discussing some slightly more esoteric ideas including the ethos and strategy around Vāmācāra, the often misunderstood and misrepresented "left-hand path" of Tantra. Since it's the Gregorian new year, and since we're just about to roll out some Vāmācāra stuff in both practice and theory, in the light of Śrī Ramakrishna I thought it'd be good to start with this discussion from the Kāmakalā Vilāsa, an important Sri Vidya text in which we learn the bīja mantra which is, arguably, the foundational bīja for all śakti vidyās. We both present the bija as well as some exegesis on how it represents the entire universe, which is entirely reflected non-differently in the mirror of Consciousness, which is my very own Self, all for the sake of play. You'll find all of our other lectures on Vāmācāra here, in this rapidly growing playlist! Happy Gregorian New Year! May every moment be new for you! 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

    54 min
  7. Holy Mother & Vāmācāra, The Left Hand Path

    12/19/2025

    Holy Mother & Vāmācāra, The Left Hand Path

    Recently, we've been having some fascinating discussions around Sārada Devī = Jaggadhātri = Ṣoḍaśī in order to understand the deep mystery of the pūjā that Śrī Rāmakrsna performed to Her on the Phalahārinī Kālī Pūjā new moon! Because the worship of the woman's body is considered to be the culminating practice in the Kaula mārga (as per its characterization in Abhinavagupta's Chapter 29 from Tantrāloka), we reflected a little bit on the Kaula (I.e left hand path) elements in Thakur and Holy Mother, especially with reference to elements in Her dhyāna mantra from last week's How To Meditate on the Tāntrik Goddess | Śrī Sāradā Devī Dhyāna Mantra lecture. In this class, we explore Holy Mother's avatarahood (to make the exciting claim that we have our female Avatāra in Her) and also the significance of this Shodaśī-pūjā, aforementioned. We continue to point out some Kaula or Vāmā mārga elements in Holy Mother's life and teaching! You'll find all our talks on Holy Mother over the years in this playlist.  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

    4h 55m
  8. What is Vāmācāra, the Left Hand Path of Tantra?

    12/18/2025

    What is Vāmācāra, the Left Hand Path of Tantra?

    When we don't have honest and open discussions, with close scriptural and lineage citation when it comes to the more esoteric dimensions of our tradition and heritage as śaivas, it allows for so much superstition! Now, many are under the impression that Vāmāchāra is nothing more than hedonism masquerading as spiritual practice! What Vāmāchāra is or isn't is surely not up to any one lineage to define but at the very least we can say: it is surely a lot more than just offering transgressive items like meat and wine! In this video, I argue that Vāmācāra/Kaulācāra is about bhāva, an inner disposition of fearlessness and intensity of devotion! While its true that almost all of our talks are given from a Kaula point of view anyway such that a playlist would be superfluous here, I thought it might still be helpful to have some of the more specific, focused and directed lectures on the more left leaning ideas and practices of our tradition all in one place for you! So here is a playlist for all our Vāmāchāracontent !  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 44m
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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

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