Understand Srichakra Puja
Understand Srichakra Puja
Understand Srichakra Puja
UNDERSTANDINGSRICHAKRAPUJA AMRITA,DEVIPURAM PROLOGUE Thisbookhadtobewrittentofillagap.Therearemillionsofpeoplein theworldwhoaredoingSriChakraPuja.Butveryfewunderstandthe meaningsofthemantrasandprocedures,whytheyarebeingdone,what isagoodwayofdoingthings.Andtherearesimplynobooksavailable onthissubject. SriDeviinspiredDeviParvatitoseekthisinformationforthebenefitof everydevoteeofSriVidyabyaskingquestionstoAmritaatDevipuram, India. She used to ask questions, and tape the answers. She took painstakingtroubletotranscribewhatwassaid,typeditoutandAmrita editeditagain.Conversationalstylewaspreservedtoalargeextentto preserve readability. Redundancies have not been totally removed becausetheyaresometimesneededasreminders;butanattempthas beenmadetoreducethem. Thisisthefirstattemptthatreallytriestogointothemysteriesofevery mantra, and every procedure in the Sri Chakra puja as described in Parashurama Kalpa Sutra to convey a deeper understanding of the ritual.Itistheauthor'sbeliefthatsuchanattempttoopenupthese mysterieshasnotbeenmadebeforeinabookwhichanyonecanread. Much of the matter presented here is being spoken from a direct personalrevelationalstandpoint,andsocarriesnoreferences.Itisalso thefirsttimethattheauthentictextshavebeenexplainedthewaythey areherecombiningthemodernandancientviews.Youmayormaynot agree with what is said here. But to hide the science of ritual from publiceyebecauseitmaynotbeintunewiththepresentnormsisnot correct.Afterall,thepurposeofthisbookistoinformaboutpractices that were followed in olden days.To practice ornot isyourpersonal decision. To say that a book on gynecology should not be published
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becauseitshowsthepicturesofgenitalsisridiculous.Whetheritworks for you, you have to discover. There is a good chance it will, if you approachthesubjectwithrespect.Itisnotacheapimitationorapruned downversionoftheritual.Itistheactualstuff. Itdoesnothavethe patriarchalbiastotheageoldtraditionswhenwomanwasGod.Ittalks openlyaboutsubjectssuchasuseofsexinritualandhencebrushed aside by many practitioners as being accessible only through surrenderingyourbody,mindandsoultoaGuru.Eachheadingcanbe interpretedasaquestionaboutatopic.Whatfollowsisanattemptto clarifytheconceptsinvolved. PUJA Parashurama isan Avatar of Vishnu.HehasdividedtheSri Chakra Pujaintofourclearlydefinedtimeslots: Puja to Lalita is to be done in the morning in the creative center, Rajashyamalaintheheartduringmidday,Varahiintheeveningatthe eyebrowcenter,andParaShaktiatmidnightinthecrown.Thisvolume dealsonlywiththefirstpart,LalitaPuja. Theyare: Puja 1 Lalita 2 Rajashyamala 3 Varahi 4 Para. Whentoperform Morning Midday Evening Midnight Regionbased Creativecenter Heart Eyebrowcenter Crown
Some people combine all these differnt pujas into one unmanageably longpuja.Neithertheparticipantsnorthepeoplewatchingthepujas understandwhatisgoingon.Theythinkthatthelongerthepuja,the betteritis.Theykeeponaddingtothepujafromthisbookandthat book,andtheyarethenafraidtoletgoofthisorthatbitofthepuja. Theyloosetheirbalanceandbecomeangrywithslightestdisturbances
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tothepujalikeachildcryingforfood.Foradevoteetobecomeangryis togodown. You find a famous example of this in the story of Ramayana. Vishwamitra was a great king who wanted to attain to the highest knowledgeofGod.Hewasdoingausteritiesforalongtime.ThenIndra, afraidthathewilllosehispositionastherulerofGods,sentacelestial seductress called Menaka to stop him from practicing celebacy in thought, word and deed. Vishwamitra got attracted to Menaka and spent10,000yearsenjoyingher.Thenhelostthepowerhehadobtained fromhisausterities.Herealizedhismistakeandhetoldher,NoIdon't wantyourchild,andIdon'twantyou,getlost".Hepushedherawayand thenstartedagainontheausteritiesgaininggreatmerit.Thenhewent toSageVashishta'sashram.Andhetoldhim,"LookIhavebecomegreat inausteritie.NowyouhavetoproclaimthatIamaBrahmaRishi=self realizedsoul". Vishishta says,"NoyouarenotaBrahmaRishi"totest him. Then Vishwamitra got angry and cursed Vishishta. With that singlecursehelostallthepower. Themoralofthestoryisthatsexualenjoymentismuchlessharmful thananger.Whereas lust hastaken 10,000years toremovehispower, hisangerremoveditinoneinstant.Thatisthedifference.Thatiswhy theysayifyouarepracticing sadhana=sinceredevotion andyouget angry you are not making headway. The signature of being on the properpathisthatyoumustremainunperturbedbyangerorfear.Itis thenthatyouarereallyontheway. THREESHAKTIS Puja isdoneto KriyaShakti, JnanaShakti and IcchaShakti.Whatis themeaningandimportanceoftheseShaktisintheMotherworship? They are the powers residing in the erotic jones of a woman. All Goddesses are powers of attention, awarenesses, residing in certain places or times. Pure unbounded awareness is considered to be the
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universalMother,Lalita.AllshaktisareHerbodyparts.Herbodyis spaceandtime. Gouri=Kriya,Lakshmi=Jnana,Saraswati=Iccha Theword"mother"bringstoourmindsusuallythe"onewhogivesbirth to".Iwasbornoutofherwombandthatismyplaceofbirth.Thebirth channel,the yoni=vagina istheonlyentitythatreallyqualifiestobe calledthe mother. Itisindeedatemplewherethe Goddesswhogives birthislocated.WecalltheGoddessthereasGouri=creatrix.Theyoni isalsotheplacewherebillionsofspermswhoaretryingtogetachance to live are destroyed. That is why she is known as Kali = destroyer. Gouri istheonewho accepts theseedand givesitlife,and Kali isone who accepts theseedbut destroying it. Thatiswhyitisimportantto worshipKaliduringmenstruation,whenconceptionisnotpossible.They aredifferent,yettheyarelocatedatthesameplace,calledbydifferent names at different times. They are both located in the Muladhara Chakra.SoastheMotherofall,whogivesbirthtousthroughheryoni, Gouri isworshippedinthe yoni.Sheisthebaseinwhichthe Linga= phallus of Siva stands. Lalita Sahasram speaks of Bhagaradhya = worshipped in yoni. There are so many names in the Lalita SahasranamathatrelatetosuchexplicitlysexualaspectsoftheMother Goddessworship. Atonetimetherewerefertilityriteswherethelovebetweenmanand woman was offered as an intimate service to the Goddess. Devi the universalmotherislocatedintheSwadhisthanachakra.Swabyself, adhisthana residing in. The place where Devi is residing in is the genitals. The seat of the Kundalini power, the energy which gives supremepleasureoforgasmislocatedinthegenitals.Thestartingpoint of Kundalini isknownas Kumara.HeisliketheyoungSiva.Thebig Sivaisthemalelinga=phallus.Kumara,hisson,thesmalllingainthe female is the clitoris. The female linga is the seat of happiness and pleasureandtheoriginofKundaliniShakti.
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Thefirstmovementofthe Kundalini istomakeyouloseyoursenseof bodyidentificatiion,andthatisexactlywhathappensin orgasm.You areflowingoutofyourselfastheseedandyouloseallyourtensions.The wordorgasmisusedinTantrainthebroadercontextaslosingallyour tensions.Ifyouareworried,losingyourworryisanorgasm.Therewas onefellowwhousedtowearshoesthreetimesundersize.Heusedto walkwiththoseshoesalldaylong.Andheusedtohaveexcruciating painthroughouttheday.Andpeopleaskedhim,"Whydoyouwearthose undersized shoes and bear the pain? He said, "There is only one happinessleftinmylifeandthatiswhenIremovethisshoefrommy foot, only then I feel extremely happy. We are all wearing this undersizeshoe,calledthisbody,andonceyoufindthereleasefromthis bodyyoufindhappiness,theonlyhappinessthatweknow,andthatis calledanorgasm.Wewantrepetionofthathappinessbecausewewant to be permanently in that state. The only way to achieve that is to recognize whenever there isstress developing,and tobeletgoof that stress.ThisisthemainpointofTantra.Trytobeinastateofconstant orgasm,tobeintheperpetualunionbetweenSivaandShakti. ThemotherwhogivesbirthiscalledGouri.Manisveryincidentaltothe processofcreation.Hejustdepositsaseedinthewombandthenwalks out.Andtherefinisheshisduty.Wethinkwearethemothersofour childrenthatwebeget.Butaretheyourchildren? Theyarenot;they arethechildrenofGouri.Doweknowhowtogiveformtothatformless seed?Howtomaketheface,theeyes,theears,howtomakethetongue, howtoputthetasteinthetongue?Howtocreatethelimbsthatcan growandwhereeachshouldbelocated,inwhatproportion,whatsize? Whatcoloreyes,whatlooks?Noneofthesethingsweknow.Allofthis happens automatically. There is a power of transformation which is coded in the genes which is doing this job. And that power Gouri is locatedinthewomb.Itistheseedthatweareworshipping.Youcannot saythattheseedismaleorfemale.Sobeforetheegg,whichcamefirst, theeggorthehen?Itwastheseedthatcamebeforeeitherofthem.And
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thatseedisinformation,knowledgeinformation.Itistheseedthatis Gouri,thebindu.Thatisthefirstmotherthatweknowof. Inthewomb,initiallyyouasthechildexperienceatremendousgrowth potential.Everymomentyouaremultiplyingyourselfintotwoandit appears as if there is an infinite possiblity of growth. And you are enjoying that happiness and richness available to you of the multiplication of yourself. But then after some time, the wombbeing limited in size offers resistance to your growth, and you are being confined.Andyoudon'tlikethatconfinement.Youwanttogrow.And aftersometimeyouarepushedoutforcibly.Atfirstyoudonotknow whattouchis,andyouwerenotevenbreathing.Youwerefloatinginthe wombforninemonths.Youwerebreathingthroughyournavelthrough thebloodofthemother.Atthetimeofbirthyouwerepushedout,and suddenlyacoldmetalcomesandgraspsyourheadandpullsyououtand before you have learned how to transfer from one system of life to anothersystem,yournavelthreadiscut.Atthetimeofbirthyouare fightingforlife.Thistraumaistremendous.Youcannotsaythatthis trauma is not present in ceasarean births because they also cut the navel cord. From navel breathing you have got to move to nasal breathing,andthattransitionisverytraumatic. After the birth process, then immediately protection has to be given, nourishment hastobegiven.Wheredoesitcomefrom?Itcomesfrom theMother'sbreastsashermilk.TheresheisknownasLakshmi.She istheoceanofmilkthatcomesfromthebreastsofthefemale. There thechildfeeds.Thefirstmilkthatcomesoutofthemother'sbreastshas immunizationproperties.Doyouknowhowtomakethatmilk?Youate foodanditbecamemilk.Thatpowertogivenourishmentiswhatwecall Lakshmi.The nipple throughwhichmilkcomesisthelocationofthe secondaspectoftheMotherweworship.Thenthechildgrowsandafter sometimeitleavesthemother'sbreastandlooksforoutsidefood.The child is not interested in receivingnourishmentfromthemotherany more.Neitheristhatmotherabletoprovideit.Itreceivesnourishment
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from knowledge. Then the thirdmother comesintoexistence.Thatis Saraswati.Sheisinthetongue.Whenyouaretalking,areyouawareof where the tongue has to go in order to create a certain sequence or sounds?No,youarenotaware.StillthatisthefunctionofSaraswati,to teach.Thislearningprocessstartsattheageofabouttwoandaquarter years.Thefirstpartisforninemonths;thesecondpartfortwentyseven monthsandinthethirdpartyouaretakencareoffromthento27x3= 81months=about7yearsofagebySaraswati,thethirdmother. GROWTHOFACHILDTILLITSSEVENTHYEAROFAGE: MOTHER Gauri Lakshmi Saraswati PERIODFORWHICHTAKENCAREOF FromConceptiontill9months(09months) Upto27monthsfrombirth(02years) Upto81monthsfrombirth(26years[7years approx.])
IntheDeviMahatmyam,inthefirstpartthereisonlyonechapter,the second part has three chapters and the third part has nine chapters, where you have to dance your way through life with happiness and pleasure. For that you have to overcome the obstructions to your progress.Inthispartyouwillfindagreatbattlebeingwagedagainstall thedemonsandhowtheDevisovercomethemonebyone.Theworstof these demons is Raktabija. Raktabija means the triggering of one thoughtfromanother. The Iccha Shakti is located as Saraswati at the tip of your tongue. Jnana Shakti is worshipped in the heart center, and Kriya Shakti is worshipped in the yoni. If you want to manifest or create a physical form,worshipoftheyonibringsthispowerintoyou.Allyourfearsand sexuality are located in the first two chakras. Worship = paying attentiontofeelingofrespect removesyournegativitiesandpavesthe waytopowerandlove.
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1. Worshipoftheheartcentergivesyoutheblessingsofknowledge, ofprotection,ofimmunity,ofwealth,ofprosperity. 2. Worship of the face gives you will power and emotional intelligencecalledIcchaShakti. 3. Especially when you concentrate on the eyebrow center = ajna chakra,itdevelopsyourpowertocontrolyourselfandothers. The Lalita Sahasranama talks in detail about these these various aspects. 1. There is a mantra appropriate toworshippingthe Devi inthe heartcenter,andthatisRajaShyamala. 2. ThereisamantrawhichcoorespondstotheAjnacenterwhichis calledVarahi. 3. There is a mantra cooresponding to the Brahmarandhra, the SahasrarachakraandthatisasinglelettermantracalledSouh. Itis Para. Itisthehissingsoundofthekundalinisnakeasit rises up the spinal chord. When it reaches the Sahasrara it opensitshoodupandimplodesthecosmosintoyou. Vishnu is sleepingunderthehoodoftheserpentSesha.Itmeansthatthe cosmosandcosmicconsciousness(Vishnu)isundertheprotection of this Kundalini force. It is both a creative and a destructive force.Itcreatesorderanddestroysdisorder. Thesymbolismofthesnakeisauniversalarchtypeovertheagesin variouscultures.Imagineasnakecrawlingoveryourbodyand thatyouareasmallchildandthatyouarenotawarethatitisa snake.Oryouhavenotlearnedtonameitasasnake.Whatdo you find? You find a supreme pleasure in its touch. It coils aroundyourlimbsandabeautifulmassageisbeinggiventoyou bythe snake.Inthissituationyouarenotnamingitandnot identifyingitwithasituationthatispotentiallydangerous.You justplaywiththat.ThisisthenatureofSiva.
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Themomentyouassociatethatsituationwiththenotionoffearthatit cankillyou,thenthe fear isrelatedtothe muladharachakra.Onthe onehandthereis pleasure andontheotherhandthereis fear.This combinationofthe pleasurefear complexiswhatissymbolizedbythe snake. Ifyoulookatthephilosophicalstructurebehindthis,youfindthatthe snakeissomethingthatmovesinawavycurvyfashion,notstraight. Theysaythatwhenyouaredrunkyoumoveinawavyfashion,youare not clear in what direction you are moving. But if a snake becomes drunk, what doesitdo?Itmovesstraight.Themindanditsthought patternsarelikethesnakes,goinghitherandditherinwavyfashions. But when the mind becomes steady and onepointed, when it flows relativelystraightthenitis"drunken".Thisisthedrinkthattheyrefer tointhetantra.Theydrinktheambrosiawhichmakesyourmindone pointedandstraight.TheKundaliniShaktiisflowingupthesushumna channelsinsteadofgoingroundthepetalsinwhateverwayitwants. Thisisthesymbolofthesnake. Youcanworshipthepancadasiinaparticularportionofyourbody.The usualportionassociatedwiththeDeviistheswadhisthanachakra.That iswheresheresides.WhentheKundaliniissleepingthenyouareaware oftheworldandyoufeelthatyouareseparatefromtheworld.Whenthe Kundaliniisawakening,yourseparatenessisgettingloststepbystep. What causes this separateness? You are interacting with the world through your five sensory modes of perception. They are all local magnifiers.Soyouarenotknowingtheworldasitexists,butthrough thefiltersofyoursenses. WhenKundaliniawakens,itenablesyouto transcendthesesensorylimitations.Forexample,youcansmelldistant odours,tasteremotejuices,seedistantforms,touchdistantobjects,and hearmusiccontinentsapart.Oneaftertheotherthesesensesarebeing transcended.
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Sothe ascent ofthe Kundalini,thisconsciousnessprovoking,dynamic poweristhelossofyourseparationfromcosmos,yoursource.Soitcan becalled worshipoftheyoni fromwhichyoucametobe. Kundalini is thussaidtobesleepinginthemuladharachakra,coilingitself3times around.Goingroundthewaist(manipura),chest(anahata),andneck (visuddhi)arethethreecoilsofthesnake.Andthentheheadofthe snakeisgoingintothevaginathroughthevulva(swadhisthana)tothe cervix(muladhara)andthatiswherethetipofthelingamisgoingtobe. Thatiswheretheheadofthesnakeissleeping. Whenthekundalinireversesitsflow,thenfromthemuladharacenterof the shakti itenters the muladharacenter ofthemaleandflowsina reverseactionandcomestotheswaddhisthana,whichisthebaseofthe lingamandthenmovesupthespinalchordbehindandcomesuptothe sahasrara.ThisisthetransferofenergyfromtheShaktitotheSivain the yogic posture of union. This posture is a reversal process. The exchange of energy can take place between the Siva and Shakti in union.Youoscillate.Andthisoscillationcanbuilduptothenavelcenter andthenfromthe heartcenter tothe heartcenter,andthenfromthe throatcentertothethroatcenterandthentotheajnacenter.Andthen the circle gets closed. When the circuit gets closed, then the cosmic consciousness issupposedtohappen.Thenthe Siva and Shakti donot experiencetheirseparateness.Theybecome oneanditisthusthatthe consummationbetweenSivaandShaktitakesplace.Thisisthepurpose ofthemarriagetoexperiencethiscosmiconenessofonesoulmovingin twobodies,betweenhusbandandwife.Thatiscalledmoksha. You have passed a lifelongterm of imprisonment on yourself stating thatyouaregoingtolivein thisbody, thismind,and livewiththese thoughts.Whenyouareabletoescapefrom thesethreesetsofnotions thenyouare Pasupati,youare Siva.Whenyouareconfinedbythese notions,youareapasu,abeast.Abeastistiedbystrings.Thesestrings that bind you are your fear, your seeking for sensations, your power
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addictions,andinalimitingfashiontheloveyouhaveforothers.These areallstrings. ORIGINOFSOUNDSTHEMAHESWARASOOTRA NrittaavasaaneNataRajaRajo NanaadaDhakkaamNavaPanchavaaram UddhartukaamahSanakadiSiddhaan EtadvimarseSivaSootraJaalam Thestanzameans,Attheendofthedance,thekingofdancers,Siva beat on his drum 14 times, (9+5) wanting to further enlighten great asceticsstartingwithSanaka." We shall discuss some of these important aphorisms, known as MaheswaraSootra. ThisMaheswaraSootraoccupiesaseminalplaceinthehistoryofHindu religion.Theyformthebasisof: 1. Bharata'sdanceform 2. Panini'sGrammarofSanskritliterature,and 3. Patanjali'sYoga. ThereisastorythattheCreatorbecametiredofcreatinghimself.Sohe created four children Sanaka, Sanandana, Sanatkumara and Santsujatha and requested them to continue the job of procreation. However,theyrefusedtodoso,thinkingthatthelowlysexualmodeof reproductionwasnotforthem,whichtheirfatherwasdoing.Sothey chosetoremaineternallyyoungattheageoffour,whensexhasnotyet knockedattheirdoor. Tohelpthemunderstandlifeanditspurposes better,thekingofdancers(dance=life),Siva,whoiseroticinthenine worldsbelowandanasceticinthefiveworldsabove,playedonhisdrum 9+5=14 times, representing the paths to be found in all the fouteen worlds.Asweshallseepresently,thesedrumbeatsarenoneotherthan theseedmantras(sounds)ofSanskritalphabets.
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Thedrumbeatsare: 1. 3. 5. 7. 9. AIUn EOng HaYaVaaRat NgaMaJnaNnaNam GhaDhaDhash 2. 4. 6. 8. ArAlUk AiOuch Lan JhaBhany
AIUn
A thefirstletterstandsfornegation.Awarenessexistsintwostates, awarenessthatisnotevenawareofitselfthatisthefirststate,"A", likeazero;andawarenessthatisawareofitself,likeazerothatisthe sum of opposites for ex. (1.5) +(1.5) =0.Asmalldeviation,asmall movementthatisthesecondstate.Awarenesshasthesetwoproperties ofonenessandmanyness. Iisthesecondletter.Itisthedesireoftheawarenesstoknowitselfby splittingintosubjectandobject. U to preserve the desire is called "u". That is Sthiti (preservation). Sristi, the creation has not occured in "A". Only when "A" desires to manifestitselfitbecomesanorgasmicallyelongated"Aa".Thisdesireis representedby"I".When"I"isfullyexpresseditbecomes"Ii"(long).The desiretopreservethatalteredstateofawarenessis"U"and"Uu".
2.
AruAluk
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Alu. These vowel sounds are considered to be of neutral gender, denotingobjectswhicharenotexperiencedthesamewayasthesubject experiencesitself.
3.
EOng
4.AiOuch
Thencreationproceedsfurtherthroughtheletters,E,ong;Ai,Auch. A+iisE.A+uisO.E+aisAi.E+uisAu.Amistheseedheld withinthesubject;Ahistheseedexpressedoutsideitselfasanobject. Socreation,preservationanddisolutionoftheobjectarebeingmapped by the vowel sounds of the Sanskrit alphabet. This completes the formationofthevowelsounds.
5.
HaYaVaRat
The desire to procreate comes down from the sky to earth as the consonants.Ha,Ya,Va,Ra.Hameansspace.Hamisthecenterof the Visshudhi, the throat chakra. Ya mean life, prana. Yam is the centeroftheAnahata,theheartchakra.Vameanswaters,thesource oflife.VamisthecenteroftheManipura,thenavelchakra.Rameans heat.Ramisattheswadhisthanachakra,thesexcenter. Inthe yogicparlance oftoday,water isdescribedtobeatthe genitals and fire atthe navel.Thisorderisreversedin Sivasootras,foragood reason. Lust istheheatintheloinswhichmeltstheseedwhichgoes intothemother'stummyandgrowsthereinthe watersoflife.So,in thesesootras,waterissupposedtobeatthe navelcenter.Thisisalso theviewofSankaraaspropoundedinhisSoundaryaLahari,ahymnto theMotherGoddess.
6.
Lan
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7.
NgaMaJnaNnaNam
Ngameansanyvibration.Spacehasonlyoneattribute:sound. Mameanstouch.Airhastwoattributes:sound,touch. Jnameansform.Firehasthreeattributes:sound,touch,form. Nnameanstaste.Liquidhasfourattributes:sound,touch,form,taste. Nameanssmell.Solidhasallfiveattributes:sound,touch,form,taste, smell. Thefivestatesofaggregation Space,Air,Fire,Water,and Solid have eachonemoreattributethantheirpredecessor.Sinceanentityisknown byitsattributes,wecansaytheseattributesaremakingtheseelements. So we observe that matter is in formation (= information) of the sensations;orarederivedfromthem. TheSutras8,9,10,11,12,13,14areelaborationsonthesamelines.We shallignorethem,aswehavecoveredthebasicstructuresneededfor ourdiscussionsonSriChakra. EachletteroftheSanskritalphabethasaveryprecisemeaning.Each letterhas cosmic,individual and microcosmic meanings.Ifyoulookat the Vedic language, you will see that the sentences rarely, if at all, repeat themselves. It is an irreducible representation. You cannot condenseitanyfurtherthanitalreadyis.Vedasarehighlycodedforms ofinformation,like,forexample,theRNAandDNAcodesofgenes.They codetheinformationoflifesotightlythatyoucannotreducethemany further.TheVediclanguageiscondensedintothesealphabetswhichare irreduciblerepresentationsoftheoriginalmeaningsconnectedwiththe soundsfromthedrumbeatsofSiva.
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THESRICHAKRA Wordsandsentencesareauditoryformsinformingusaboutcreation, maintainence and dissolution. Similarly, a highly coded visual gemetricalstructureexists.ItiscalledaSriChakra(thecircleofgrace). It isthe genetic code ofthe Cosmos,theindividualandmicrocosmos. Meditationonithasrevealedmanytruthstoseers;itisitselfrevealed in meditation. It is a symbol all of creation, including its unitive (subjective)anddiverse(objective)aspects.Theseerisalwaysone.The seenaremany.SriChakraistheabodeofthecosmicawareness. We now discuss substructures of Sri Chakra, starting from the center outwards. 9. TheSriChakrastartswithaCenter,theBindu,adimensionless point.Itistheseer;neverseen. 8. Surroundingthatisthefirsttriangle,theseen,whichincludesthe seer. 7. Surroundingthatthereare8triangles. 6,5.Surroundingthattherearetwosetsof10triangleseach. 4. Surroundingthatthereisthe14trianglefigure. 3. Surroundingthatthereisan8petalledlotus. 2. Surroundingthat,thereisa16petallotus. 1. Surrounding that thereare threecircles andasquare enclosure withthreelinesinit.Thesquareenclosurehasfourentrances. ThesearethemaincirclesorsubsetsoftheSriChakra.TheSriChakra iscomposedof3setsof3. Lookingfromoutwardsgoingin,thefirst3thesquare,the16petalled lotus, and the8petalledlotus,constitute Sristi,the creative aspectsof theAwareness. The14corneredfigure,the10corneredfigureandtheother10cornered figurerepresenttheSthiti,themaintenance.
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The 8corneredfigure,the triangle andthe centerpoint representthe Laya,thereabsorption. THEBINDU The center of every experience is yourself. That is Siva, called the invariantpoint,bindu.Thewordbindumeansthreethings:point,seed and mind.Allthatisexperiencedis Shakti.Thefunctionof Siva isto uniteyouintothecosmicbeingthatyouare.ThefunctionofShaktiisto separateyoufrombeingSivatobringanexperiencetothatawareness, that flowing and movement in time. Siva is the awareness full of experiencethatflowsnotintime.Itisafrozenexperiencethathasno evolution.Thefirstmovement(intimeandspace)isthecreationofan intervalanintervalbetweenthe knower and theknown,between the seerandtheseen,betweentheonewhichisawareandthatofwhichitis awareThechaitanyaandjada.Jadaiswhatyouareseeing,whichyou arenotpenetrating.Itissomethingthatsomehowseparatesitselffrom itself and this separation manifests itself as an interval between the seerandtheseen. Thisintervalcanbecomparedtothedistancebetween apoint and its imageinthemirror.Apointisdimensionless.Thepointisreflectedina mirroranditappearsasifitisanotherpointuntoitself.So thefirst point, thesecondpoint,andthedistancebetweenthesetwopointsexist, connectedbythespace(distance)andtime(requiredbylighttocoverthe distance) interval. Once the space time interval is formed, something hastohavethepropertyofmovement. Time istheonewhichhasthe characteristicofmovement.Thisstatementisnotabsolutelytrue,butis agoodfirstapproximation.(Itisequallypropertosaythatspace,not timehasthepropertyofmovement).However,ourexperiencetellsus thatitisthetimewhichismovingandspaceisnotmovingandthis experienceisvalidinasufficientlylargenumberofcasessothatwecan accept that it appears to be true. This law breaks down as you are
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approachingthevelocityoflight.Thatiswherethe relativistictheory takesover. Thespacetimeintervalisthefirstcreationandthatmanifestsitselfas interaction between space and time and out of the rotation of space aroundtimematterisformed.Thebindu,thecenterpointisunique,itis dimensionless,itis awareness,butitisnotevenawareofitself.Soit cannot be even called a creator. It is a linga, a characteristic of invariance.Itisawarenessandnonawarenesscombined.Whatyousee andwhatyouareiscombinedinthat. Knowledgeandignorancearecombinedinthat.Itisnotnegatible.Itis invarianttonegation.Ifyouhaveknowledgealoneandwhenyounegate ityouhaveignorance.Whenyouhaveignorancealoneandnegateit,it becomesknowledge.Butwhenyouhavethesumofthetwoandyoutry to negate the sum, knowledge moves over to ignorance and ignorance movesovertoknowledgeandsothesumtotalisnotchangedevenwhen you deny it. It cannot be denied. It is selfevident. It is your own knowledge that you exist. It does not have to be proved to you. The awarenesshasthispropertyofselfproving;Svaprakasha.Awarenessis selfenlightening;thatdoesnotanotherlighttoshowitsexistence,itis proofuntoitself.ThatpureawarenessisGod. Whatistobeenlightened?Ourownignorance.Whatisignorance?One seestheworldandwhatisseenappearsdifferentfromoneself.Butif illuminationistherethenthisdifferenceisnotthere. AbsorptionoftheintervalbackintothepointisthefunctionofSiva. CreationoftheintervalisthefunctionofShakti.Theyareoppositesof eachother.SivakillsyourindividualitytomakeyoutheCosmicBeing. Inbeingakiller,Sivaisgivingyoubirthintoyourcosmicconsciousness. Shaktiistryingtolimityourcosmicconsciousnessintoyourindividual consciousnessandthereforeShaktiappearstogivelife.Sivaappearsto givedeath.Whatweinterpretasdeathisthecosmicawareness.What weinterpretaslifeisthecosmicdeath.Thesearethefunctionsofthe
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twocreators,SivaandShakti.Theyarecocreatorsandtheyhaveequal potencyandequalpowers.ThisistheSivaShaktiidentity. THECENTRALTRIANGLE Fromthepoint(Bindu)youhavetwopointsandtheintervalbetween them.Fromoneyouaremovingintothreeandthistriadissymbolized bythecentraltriangleoftheSriChakra.Thetriangleisthecreationof theinterval. Sincespacetimeandmatter(createdbythecurvingspacearoundtime) areallwaysoflookingatthisinterval,weknowthatSristi,Sthitiand Laya the creation, sustenance and reabsorption areallthesame,but apperingtofunctiondifferentlyunderthepowerofthetriangle. Expansionofthe bindu intothe triangle isthe projection ofthe cosmic awareness into separateness,throughawavelikephenomenon.Itisa limitation.ItiscalledMaya.SymbolofMayaistheseedletter"Hrim". HrimmeansHara(Siva)+Hari(Vishnu)+andVirinci(Brahma).Hara isthesymboloftheunityandtime(intervalmeasuredintime),Hariis thesymbolofthe duality and space (intervalmeasuredinspace),and Virinciisthesymbolofcreationandmatter(intervalmeasuredinspace time). You can also think of them as the past, the present and the future. Futureisdyingtocreatethepresentmoment,andthePresentisdyingto createpast.TheFutureisbeingpushedintothepresentandthepresent is being pushed into the past. Thatis what time is doingwhen it is moving.Itismanifestingthefutureandpushingthepresentintothe past.Lookingatitanotherwayyoucansaythepresentisthecreationof thefutureandthepastisthecreationofthepresent.Soagainyousee theidentityoftwowaysoflookingatthesameprocess. Let us then say that there is somepower inherent in theawareness itselftoknowitselfandthatpowerismanifestingasifthereisamirror. Themirrorissopurethatyouarenotevenawarethatitisinfrontof
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you.Sowhatyouareseeingisareflectionofyourself.Thatmirroris called your mind, or the the cosmic mind. In the cosmic mind, God reflects his/her ownimage andreflectsonit. God isneither male nor female nor neuter. All genders are included. Everything, everyone is includedinthemanifestedstate.Thisistrue,notonlyinthecaseofthe cosmicintelligence,butalsooftheindividualintelligence.Yourmindisa mirror in which you are seeing yourself reflected. No matter how complicated the world seems to be, it is only yourself that you are seeing. No matter how varied it looks trees, birds, males, females, things,land,sea,sky,sun,moon,stars,galaxies,noneofthesethings existedifyoudidnotexist.Forbillionsofyearsyoudidnotexist.Where wasthisworldthen?Existenceisawareness.Denyexistenceitself.Then, cantherebeawareness?Thusexistenceimpliesawareness. Awareness implies existence too,selfevidently.Sincethesetwoimplyeachother, theycontaineachother.Sotheyarenottwoseparateentities,butthey areindeedoneandthesameentity. Existence iscalled Siva, Awareness iscalled Shakti. Siva istherefore calledSthanu(unmoving).Theirunitycreatestheflowofexperienceand theflowofexperienceiscalledBlissAnanda,orSatchitananda.You can say that the 3 points of the central triangle are Sat, Chit and Ananda. You can define it in terms of creation, sustenance and destruction,or,youcandefineitintermsoftheSeer,theSeenandthe actofSeeing,or,theMeasurer,theMeasuredandtheactofMeasuring allthesethingsarethemeanings,associations,ofthistriangle. Now it stands to reason that if there is a centrifugal power in the awareness which explodes this point into a triangle,theremustbea centripetalpowerthatimplodesthetrianglebackintothepoint. Wehavediscussedsofarthepointandthe triangle ofthe SriChakra. Thesearethemostfundamentalthings.Thisitselfisagreatyantraa point from which universe comes out spiralling and transforms itself into a triangle. It is one of the first seen diagrams, called Tripura
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Bhairavi.The triangle iscalledthe yoni,thesource,thegatethrough whicheveryonecomesintobeing.Itisthe"I",theKamaKala,thedesire forvariety,thedesireforlifetoexperienceexistence. "I" plus "A" the Shakti and Siva,the triangle andthe bindu isthe creative power behind the cosmos. This is the explosive, expansive poweroftheawareness.Toshiftitselfawayfromitspointoffocusis called"Hrim",andacallbacktothecenteriscalled"Srim".Bothare great powers. "Srim" undoes what Hrim does. The seed letter Hrim, creates individuation, limiting the cosmic awareness to individual awareness.TheseedletterSrimremoveslimitationsandtheindividual is exploded into cosmic awareness. So Hrim and Srim are inverse operators. "Om" (=A+U+m) is thenameof God.Wesay"OmHrimSrim"asa mantratoimplythattheworldcameoutofGodandisgoingbacktoit. HrimisthepowerthatmakesthepointintothetriangleandSrimisthe powerwhichcollapsesthetrianglebacktointothepoint. Interestingly, Om consists of the seed letters A+U+M. Just a cyclic permutationU+M+AreadsasUma.OmisthenameofSivaandUmais thenameofShakti.Itisjusttwowaysoflookingatthesameentity.If webeginwithexistenceA,itlookslikeSiva;ifwebeginwithawareness U,itlookslikeShakti. THE8TRIANGLEFIGURE Expansionof Hrim isexpressedintermsofthe8groupsoflettersin Sanskritstartingwitha..k..c..t..t..p..y..s.Thereisaverynicecorrelation betweenthenumbersofsuccessivetrianglesyoufindintheSriChakra withthenumbersfoundintheelectronshellsoftheatomicstructure.1, 3, 8, 10, 10, 14. Considering the importance of Sri Chakra and the atomic structure, we cannot dismiss this correspondence as a mere chance.
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IndianPhilosophy Seer, Seen, Seeing thesoundsofcreation WordsofGod,life 5Elements, 5Properties 5Senses, 5Motors 14worldsofexperience
Thiscompletesthecreationoftheelements.TheSriChakrarepresents the microcosm of the atoms, the individual and also the cosmos. It representsthesourceofthecosmos,andthegatewaytoindividuallife. Itisasymbolatthreelevels.Thisexpansionprocesswhichbringsthe point tothe triangle doesnotendtherebecause spaceandtime start interactingcreatingmatterandtheexpansionprocessisthenshownas 8triangles,eachtrianglerepresentingaformofSaraswati. Each triangle isa Yoni. Yoni meansa source,a gate,fromwhich life comes.Youcanalsointerpretyoniasthe causefortimetoflow. Ina human metaphor, yoni is the vulva, the gate through which life's journey begins,causing time toflowforan individual. Death isalsoa yoni; it causes time to stop for an individual. Cosmos becomes an individual through a Yoni of birth; an individual becomes cosmos throughtheYoniofdeath. The flow of time is really a predecessor/successor relationship. This precedes that. This is the cause of that. This present moment is the
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causeof the futuremoment.This continuousrelationship of causes to effectsisthemovementoftime.MovementoftimeiscalledKarma.You sow the seed, you reap the fruit accordingly. It is very important to realisethatyourKarma,thewayyouexperiencelife,isnotdetermined byyoualone;alllifetogetherhasaverybigpartinit.Sorespectforlife ispartofgoodKarma. As time creates life, and time destroys life too. So she is Gouri the universalmother,thevulva.SheisalsoKalithedestroyer,thefuneral pyre.Boththeseaspectsarecombinedintoonetriangle. THE 10CORNERED
TRIANGLES FIGURES
THE
Thisprocessof explodingthecosmos throughtheinteraction of space and time goes on. The cosmos expresses itself in terms of the five elements orthe fivestatesofaggregation.Thewordelementisusedin Sanskrittomeanstatesofaggregationthesolidstate,theliquidstate, plasmastate,thegaseousstateandthevacuumstate.Thesearethefive elements andtheirpropertiesare sound, touch, form, taste and smell. This setoffiveelements andtheir fiveproperties constitutethesetof innertentrianglesoftheSriChakra.TheoutertentrianglesoftheSri Chakra constitutethe individuation fromthe cosmos.Theyarecalled thefivesensoryandfivemotororgans. Let me draw a small diagram here. Imagine this paper is a field of consciousness.Letusdrawapictureofapot.Onceyoudrawapotyou cansaythatthereissomethingoutsideitandsomethinginsideit,even thoughtheinsideisconnectedwiththeoutside.Letusnowdrawan arrowgoingintothepot.Yousay,ahathereisanarrowcomingfrom theoutsidetotheinside.Thisisourordinaryperceptionoftheworld. TheworldisoutsideandIaminside.WhatIthinkIamisinside.ButI amconnectedtotheworld.ButIforgotaboutthat.Iseethispieceof
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Figuredepictingtheconditionsforoneto attainsiddhi(Knowledge=Awareness) And if there is an arrow going from inside to outside? This is called action. You are acting in the world and the world knows about you throughyour actions.Supposingtheboundarywasnotthereandjust thearrowwasthere?Whereisthearrowgoing,insideoroutside?You cannotsay,becausethereisnoinsideandnooutsideifthepotisnot there.Inthatcaseitisboth.Whatthismeansthatwhatgoesinside, knowledge, is the same as that which goes outside, action. The fundamentalequationKnowledge=Action(K=A)isvalidonlywhenthe boundaryisabsent. Thismeansthatyoucancreate,youcanmanifestonlywhenyougetrid ofyourbodyawareness.Aslongasyourconsciousnessislimitedtoyour bodyawareness,thereisnomanifestation,andthisequationisinvalid, becauseyouareabletodistinguishKfromA.WhenKbecomesAyou ofnecessityhavetogetridofyourbodyawareness.Thatiscalledthe digambarastate.Thatiswherethesiddhismanifest. Aslongasyouareawareofyourbody,aslongasyouareawarethatyou areclothed,aslongasyouareawarethatyouhaveanindividualmind, aslongasyourindividualthoughtsareflowingthroughyourindividual mind,solongyoudonothavesiddhi.SiddhimeanstheequationK=A. Justbythinkingdeeplyyoumanifest.Thereisnodistinction,thereisno timegap,andthereisnointervalbetweenthethoughtanditscreation.
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That is what we call manifestation. The necessary and sufficient condition for obtaining any siddhi of any kind is the loss of body awareness.Thismeanswehavetostopourmindfrombeingagitatedby externalinfluences. Thisiswhyin Devi youfindthe fivesenses whicharethe fivearrows. Thesearethechannelsthroughwhichyourmindcanbedisturbed.She holdsthemseparatefromthemindwhichisthebow.Thebowandthe five arrows are indeed the mind andthe five senses. She holds them separately.Shedoesnotconnectthearrowtothebow,whichmeansthat Devi represents the yogic state where you decouple your mind from disturbing sensory inputs.Butevenwhenthismindisdecoupledfrom thesenses,thereisstillanotherpartofthemindwhichisthememory. Thememorycontainsinitallthesensesanditkeepsonbringingthese thingsup.Allthosethingsalsohavetobedecoupled.Theminditself hastogo.Itisthenthatyouareflowinginthecosmicawareness. The outer set of 10 triangles represents the five sensory and the five motororgansoftheindividual.AsyouaremovingoutfromtheBinduof theSriChakra,youaremovingfartherandfartherawayfromyourself, frombeingthecosmostobeinganindividual. You can describe the explosion process of creation in terms of three stages: 1. The explosion of the interface, the act of seeing which is connecting the inside with the outside manifesting the 8 triangles, 2. Theexplosionoftheouteruniversemanifestedintheinner10 triangles,and 3. The explosion of the inner self, the egowhich is the outer 10 trianglesoftheSriChakra.
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THEFOURTEENWORLDSOFEVOLUTION This explosion is completed in 14 different stages of your existence. Thereare7worldsbelowyou,youareinthe8thworldnow,andthere are6aboveyou.Youhavegonethroughthemineralphase,thewater, fire, etc. andyouhaveaggregatedyourselfand accumulated cellsand becometheanimals,andfinallyyouhavebecomeahumanbeing.Thisis the 8thworldyouarepassingthrough now.After youleaveyourbody yougothroughthefurther 6stages ofevolution.Thenwhenyouhave achievedthe14thchakrayouhavecompletedtheprocessofevolution.So this14corneredfigurerepresentsthe14phasesofevolution.Thereare 14 corresponding powers (goddesses) associated with these 14 worlds andtheyareshownintheSriChakra. THECIRCLESANDTHEEIGHTPETALLEDLOTUS The circle isdrawntoshowthatthis evolutioniscomplete.The inside has explodedcompletely andthe outside has explodedcompletely.Then youstart experiencingyourinteraction.Youhavestartedyourlifeasa separate entity, the world is formed and you are interacting with the world,andyouareexperiencingtheworld.Youstartexclaiming,thisis hard,thisistheearth.Thisisflowing.Itiswater.Thisfire,itburns. Thisisair; it iscool to thetouch.ThisisspaceinwhichIcanwalk around.Thesearethedifferentexperiences. ThenI realize thatIam separate from the other people. We say, we are humans, we are not animals.Thesedistinctionsarecreatedbyus.Thecosmicwealthofour experiences iscalledthe Anangadevatas. Anga meansa limb. Ananga meansnothavinganylimbs.AnangaKusuma,AnangaDevata,Ananga Rekha,etc.Theseeightaretheformofwealth,thewealthofexperience of God, the cosmos. The 8petalled lotus isthe wealth ofGod,the 8 formsofAiswarya.
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THE16PETALLEDLOTUS Younotonlyexperiencethesethingsstatically,butyouexperiencethem dynamically.Timeismeasuredintermsofthelunarcalendarbecauseit isthefastestmovingobjectintheskynextonlytotheSun.Thatisthe lunarclock.Andthelunarclockisdividedinto16digitsorphasesofthe moon.Thephasesofmoonareshownasthe16petalledlotus. Just as the woman menstruates every 28th day, of the cycle, so the cosmos has its cycles and periods. You know lunar is also associated with lunatic, because sometimes we go crazy, disorderely, irrational, sometimeswemaintainourbalance.Therearecosmiccycleswithwhich wesometimes resonateandsometimesnot,sometimeswearelunatic andsometimessane. Eachdayoftheweekisalsoassociatedwithoneoftheplanetsandthere aredifferentpujasdoneonthesedays.OnSundaywedopujatoallthe nine planets, including the sun. And Monday we worship Siva. And Tuesday isforthewarlike Durga. Wednesday isverysacredto Rama. ThursdayisforGuruandMahalakshmi.Fridayisfortheworshipofthe woman. Saturday is for worshipping Saturn or the couple. Kanyas (virgin girls) are worshipped on Tuesdays, married women are worshippedonFridays,andboththehusbandandwifeareworshipped on Saturdays,andthe man isworshippedon Mondays.Thesearethe daysforworship. THESQUAREENCLOSURESTHEEIGHTPASSIONS Whenyoucometothe square youaredowntothe earth,downtothe presentlevelwherewethinkwearedistinctfromeachother,wherewe arefighting,whereweareplayingouregoandpowergames,andall thesethings.Thisisrepresentedintheoutmostenclosures.Itishere thatsrstiiscompletelymanifested.
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LetustaketheexampleofthelittlepotthatIhavedrawnearlier.The pot is the concept of the self, the ego structure. The individual is created,thecosmosiscreatedandtheflowoftimeisbeingexperienced. You are experiencing your interactions with the world, and these interactions are sometimes pleasant and sometimes unpleasant. You experience fear, lust, anger, and all these things. These experiences which are generated by the five arrows that are coming in; the five senses thatareagitatingyourmind.Yousay,"Ilikethis,Iwantthis. WithoutthisIcannotlive." Lust iscalledthepassion Brahmi. When youaredeniedthatlust,yougetangry.AngerisMaheswari.Koumariis possessiveness, Vaisnavi is delusion, Varahi is pride. Mahendri is jealousy.MahalaksmiisviceofattachmentandChamundaisthevirtue oflettinggo.Whyis Mahalakshmi called vice?Becauses attachmentto wealth creates enmity between even the mother and her child. Such attachmentcanonlybeavice.ThesearetheEightpassions.Thereare waysofovercomingthesedisturbinginfluencesandthesearecalledthe "Mudra Shaktis." The attainments that you get by controlling these influencesarecalledthe"Attainments"orthe"Siddhis". The first mudra Shakti is Sarva Samkshobini. This means agitation. Youareagitatedbutyoutransferyouragitationoverontoeverything else.Youinteractwitheveryone.Skhobanaactuallymeansinteraction, intercourse also.Limited interaction within acircle ispossibleforany egoboundstructure.Butcanyouexpandittoincludethewholecosmos? Howcanyoubeinlovewithacockroach?abird?aswan?aflea?astar? athermonuclearfusion?ahydrogenbomb?Whenyouhavethenotion thatyouloveeverything,thisovercomesyourlimitations.Yourealize thatthenotionoflovedoesnotmeantryingtopossessthethingyouwant toholdontobutinlettinggooftheverything.Loveisnotimposingour willonothers.Itistrying tofind out whatotherswant and tryingto giveittothem tothe bestofyourability. SarvaSamkshobhiniMudra movesyoufrominitialfeelingsoflusttolove.
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This mudra is the act of expressing love. Love takes different forms accordingtothe object ofyourlove.Itisnotthesamemodeinevery case. You love fire by not touching it. Embracing a friend is an expressionoflove.Bothareexpressionsoflove.BecauseIlovemychildI don'twanttogiveittoomanychocolatesbecauseIknowitsbadforthe stomach.Chocolatestastenice,buttoomuchisbad.Iknowthisbutthe child does not know. So the parent's expression of love to the child includesdenyingsometimeswhatthechildwants,knowingthatitisnot goodforthechild. Love does not just mean sex alone. It means all types of interactions whereyouare tryingtogiveyourbesttoothers,where givingisgiving whatthepartnerneeds,notwhatyouwantto;wherelettinggoisletting goofthefruits ofyour action.Sometimes,yourgivingmayyieldyour expected result, sometimes not. Love means detachment to the expectationandresultboth,notdetachmenttoaction. Letmetellyouastory.Supposingthereisamaneatingtigerroaming aroundinavillage.Thereisawomanwhohearstheroarofthetiger andsheistryingtoprotectherselfbyrunningintoallthecloseddoors andsomehowfindsalittledoorwhereshecanentertohide.Thenext daysheiscarryingherchildandthesametigercomesalong.Allthe doorsareclosed.Thereisnowayshecanescape.Whatdoesshedo?She keepsthechildsomewhereelseandgoesandoffersherselfaspreytothe tiger.Thisisanexpressionofherlovetowardsherchild.Loveovercomes thefearofdeath.Soshegoesandoffersherselfandmakesthesupreme sacrificetoprotectherchild.Lovehasthepowerovercomefear. Fearistheworstpossibleenemythatyouhavegot.Yourworstenemies areallinsideofyou,notoutside.Theenemiesofanycountryarenotthe othercountries,butthefearsthatthegovernmentshaveaboutthem.If peoplecouldonlyunderstandthatourenemiesareallinsideourselves, wewouldnotneedalltheseweapons,guns,shootings.Sometimesthe wordswespeaktoeachotherareworsethanguns.ThustheSriChakra
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is an expression of the cosmos, of yourself, and it is also a means of connectingthesetwo.Itrepresentsaladderbywhichyoucancomeout ofyourlimitations. The fourgates arethefourbasictypesofknowledge; RgVeda,Yajur Veda,SamaVeda,AtharvanaVeda.VedaiscalledSruti.Whatyouhear inyourmeditationinthatdeepstateoftranquillityiscalledSruti. ORIGINSOFSRICHAKRA "Darsana" is any direct revelation from God which you see in your meditation.GeometricaldiagramscalledYantrasareseeninyourdeep stateoftranquillity.ThebestofYantrasistherenownedSriChakraor SriYantra.SuchYantrasarecalledapaurusheyanotcreatedbypeople. Themeditatorhasspentnoeffortatallincreatingthem. Howdoyoudistinguishwhetherwhatyouexperienceinyourmind'seye iscomingfromyourmindorfromoutside?Youcandistinguishinthe following way. How much effort did you spend trying to create that object?Ifyouhavespentnoeffortatall,thenitisacreationofGod.I openmyeyesandtheworldmiraculouslyappears.WhateffortdidIdo tocreateit?Nothing.ThatisGod'screationandIamjusthappeningto seeit. Don'tthinkthatrevelationissomethingthatyouseeonlywith youreyesclosed.Thewholeworldthatyouseeisyourrevelation.The world is God. The world is yourself. You must understand that your mindisamirrorinwhichyouareseeingyourself.Mindissuchapure mirror that we do not even suspect its existence. You are only seeing yourself,butyouarenotrealizingthatyouareseeingyourself.Thatis fromwhereyougetthenotionof"other". Outofthenotionofothercomesthefearandalltherestofthesethings kama,krodha,moha,etc.(lust,anger,delusion,etc.)whichflowoneout oftheother.
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WORSHIPOFTHESRICHAKRA Whatdowemeanby worshipoftheSriChakra?Itmeans worshipof yourself, loving yourself, understanding yourself, understanding the processbywhichyouhavebecomedifferentiatedfromothersandtrying toretracethestepsandthenmergingwithyourtrueself.Youdefinefor yourselfarolemodelandthenlivethat:thatiswhatyouare.Youhave tounderstandthatthislifeislikeadramainwhichyouhavetomakea role for yourself and learn how to play that role. You can take up a differentrole.Itisyourchoicewhatroleyouwanttoplay."Iwanttobe agoldsmith". Thatisfine."Iwanttobeamother".Thatisfine.But rememberthatyouareplayingthegameandthattheseareonlyrules for the game that you havedefinedforyourself.Onewhocan hirea personcanfiretheperson.Thosewhomaketherulescanalsobreakthe rules.Sodon'tbeafraidtobreakrulesifyoufeeltheneedtooutgrow them.Thewholetroublecomeswiththeteachingbecausewhenaperson comestoaguru,theguruisacceptedasaguru,aslongasthedisciple hearswhathewantstohearfromtheguru.Themomentthegurusays somethingnotlikedbythedisciple;the gurushipisdonefor,gone.The guruisnomoreaguru.Youmaygoandsaytotheguru,"Oh,Iwillgive mylifetoyou;youonlyhavetoaskforit,I'llgiveyouevenmylife".But ifthegurusaysafteralittlewhile"Ihavetogetmydaughtermarried, canyougivemealoanof10,000$"? Thenheisnomoreaguru.You werepreparedtogiveyourlife,notthe$.Moneyhasahighervaluethan life!Thatisanillusion,avalueacceptedbyyouastrue! TheSriChakrasymbolizesreality.Thecenterpointisreality,andsoare theouterenclosures,andsoisthepath.Theyareallaspectsofreality. Thesamerealityisseenfromdifferentperspectives.Therearedifferent hillsanddifferentviewsfromdifferentpeaksbutthesamesceneisthere below.Inthesameway,ifyouareseeingtheworldfromtheperspective oftheworld,beingtheworld,fromallpossibleperspectives,thenyouare
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God. If you see from the perspective of the individual, then you see individualpeoplewith somanylifeforms.Thatisjust yourviewpoint. Thethingtorealizeisthatyou don'tstopbeingGodwhenyouarean individual. ESSENCEOFTHERITUALOFTHESRICHAKRAPUJA The ritual is a process of training by which you try to understand yourself,bywhichyoutrytorelateyourselftotheworldaroundyou,by whichyoucansay,"yes,Ihavelivedarich,harmonious,empowering life for myself. For those around me, for whomever I have come in contactwith,IhavetriedtohelptheminwhateverwayIcan."Toenable youtohavethiskindoffeeling,theritualisuseful.Conductingyourlife withhappinessisaritual.Everythingisaritual.WhenItalkwithyouit isaritual.WhenIgesture,itisaritual.WhenItakeabathitisaritual. WhenItakefooditisaritual.WhenIgetupfromthebeditisaritual. Lifeitselfisaritual. Youcaninvokeanythingintoyourself.Youcaninvokealltheevilinthe world into yourself. You can invoke all the good in the world into yourself.Itis your choice.Howyouwanttoliveyourlifeandwhether youwanttomakeyourlifehappyforyourselforadisasterforyourself andothersisinyourmind.Whatkindsofthoughtsyouentertain;that's thekindofsituationsyou attracttoyourself.Thatistherealitywhich youmanifestforyourself. Thisiswherethepathsdiffer.Thosepathswhichmakeyouandothers happy arecalledthe rightpaths.Thosewhichmakeyou unhappy and thosearoundyouunhappy arecalledthe wrong paths.Thewiseones choosetherightpathsandtrytoavoidthewrongones.Thisiswhere wisdomlies.Youarewise ifyoucanlearnfromyourownexperiences. Youare wiserstillifyoucanlearnfromother'sexperiences.Youare a foolifyoudon'tlearnevenfromyourownexperience!
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Andmostofusneverlearnevenfromourownexperiences.Wedevelopa pattern of repeating the same mistakes again and again foolishly, compulsively. We continue foolishlywith ouroldpatterns of thinking andoldmouldsofbehavior,offindingfaultwithothers,asifwearefree of them! I am a repository of faults. But not a single fault of mine appearstome.Theslightestfaultofanotherappearstome. SaiBaba keepstellingpeople,"Don'tfindfaultwithothers.Ifthereis some little good that you can find in others, tell it to your friends." Forgiveandforgetthefaultsofothers.Thiswayyoucan increasethe areaofharmonyandcooperation,evenwiththosethatrestrictyou,you canincreaseyourheartspaceinwhichyouallowotherstocomeinto you.Dountoothersasyouwouldliketodoneuntoyou,Jesusoncesaid. Doyouliketobecriticized?Youdon't.Thenwhydoyoucriticizeothers? Doyouliketobeloved?Yes.Thenwhydon'tyouloveothers? Whatyougive,youreceive.Ifyoudon'tgive,youdon'treceive.Thebest thing to give is love, intimacy, affection, a kind word. We find it so difficulttodothis.Doyouliketoberejected?Youdon't.Thenwhydo you reject others? This is the kind of understanding you must have. What applies to you you must apply to others and see that you are always engaged in such actions which attract similar actions to you. Whatyouliketohappentoyouyoumustdotoothers.Youwishtoget wealth?Giveittoothers.Youwishtogainknowledge?Teachothers. Youwishtobepraised?Praiseothers. Praising others is praising God. If you praise God, God praises you. WhatbetterthanhavingGodonyourside? TheritualofSriChakraisdividedintofourparts. Theyare: 1. TheSreeKramam 2. LalithaKramam 3. NavavaranaPuja
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4. ShaktiPuja ThefirstpartiscalledSriKramam.Initnectarisinvokedintoyourlife. The second part is called the Lalita Kramam. In it the Goddess is adoredinmanymanyintimatewaysyouwouldliketobeadored.The thirdpartiscalledtheNavavaranaPuja.Initallaspectsofcrativity, nourisment,knowledgeoftheGoddessarealladored.Thefourthpartis calledShaktiPuja.Initalivingwomanisworshippedasasymbolofthe living Goddess and her wishes are fulfilled.This ritual is very empoweringbothtotheperformerandtherecipient.ThatiswhyShakti PujaisconsideredtothelifeandsoulofSriChakraPuja.Theadepts canperformallpartsofthepujatoShakti,alivingperson.Shakticould beanylovableperson,male,female,oryourownself.Shaktipujacanbe donebyagroupalso;thenitiscalledamandala. ABRIEFGLIMPSEATTHESRIKRAMAM FirstyouworshiptheGuru,andthenyoumakeyourbatharitualby invokingtheGoddessintoyouandworshippingHerinyourbody.When youaretakingabath,youareindeedgivingabathtoHer,withoutany senseofshame.Thesenseofshamecomesfromthenotionoftheother. Fear and shame go away when you realise that whom you are worshippingisyourownself.YoucanrecitetheSriSuktamandallthe suktams that you know when you are taking bath because you are indeedtheGoddess. NextyouworshipthefortyfourtrianglesoftheSriChakra.Thinkofthe centralpart of SriChakra asabeautifulpalaceofjewelsandthemost beautifulthingsintheworld,where SivaandShakti aremakinglove amongcelestialdancers,andnymphs,inavery erotic placefilledwith beautyandharmonyandgraceandlovingcouples. Yourealizethatyouarein averylimitedstateofbeingandyoutryto overcome this state by resetting yourself to the state of being the Goddess.Howdoyoudothat?Bythinkinglikethis:
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"OK,Iamsixtyyearsoldnow.Sowhat?Ageisjustaconcept.Iamalso a16yearoldgirlbubblingwithjoyandhappinessandnotcrippledby myage,orpulleddownbymyworries. IamfreeandIwanttolookateverymomentasanopportunitytogrow inwhateverwayIcanandtohelpothersinwhateverwayIcan. "Iwillsharemybeauty;sharemyjoyandmybubblingenthusiasmand powerwithothers.ThisiswhatIam;thisiswhatIwilldo." Sosaying,Iresetmyselftothisstatebygettingridofthisold,useless, stupid,worrisome,kindofexistencethatIamgoingthroughandIsay, "LetmeburnthisbodyandgetridofallthemuckthatIhaveacquired through social conditioning and programming. I will reconstitute my bodytobeforever16,beautiful,powerful" ThisaspectofthepujaiscalledtheVirajaHomam. Thenyouimaginethatyouhavejustbecomeabodyoflight.Andyou merge with the cosmos and become a ball of light. This ball of light condenses and turns into the most beautiful, most harmonious, most loving,mostwonderful,mostpowerful,mostenrichingkindofabeing thereis.Youarea16yearoldgirl,AnandaBhairavi.Sheisenjoying herselfnonstopwithherconsortAnandaBhairava,playfullyactingall the moods , and out of their enjoyment is coming this world full of beauty,ofharmonyofloving,ofcaring,ofcompassion.Itisnottheworld demarcated as Germany, Austria, Denmark, North America, South America,Canada,Brazil,India,Pakistan,andChina. Whenyoufly,yougotothesky,yougotothesatellites,anddoyousee anyboundariesthere?None.Itiswethatcreatedourboundaries.Ifthe world was governed by women who care for their children then they wouldcomeforwardandsay,let'sgetridofalltheseboundariesand makeoneworld.Itstoosmall,itsjustonevillageandwecan'taffordto destroyit.Wewon'tdestroyourchildren,wewillteachthemtobeloving andcaring.
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Thus you go through the process of creating an immortal body for yourself.Itisgoingtocontinuetoexistafteryourmortalcoilhasbeen shed.Anditwillcontinuetodogoodbecauseyouaregoingtoevolve through the fourteen different worlds.Thisyou do with thepower of your imagination, the power of your creativity, your visualization acuteness,theclaritywithwhichyoucanperceivethingswiththese thingsyoucreateanimage.Thisimagegoesanddoeswhatevergoodit does.Itisjustlikeachildbornoutofyouwhichcontinuesitsexistence independentofyou.Youcantrytocontrolit,Youcantrytomakea friend of it. You can create eight simultaneous existences which can work independently. Why eight? Because the properties of God are eightfold.Theyarespatiallydifferent.Actually,timewiseyoucanhave sixteendifferentforms. AfteryoudotheVirajahomam,youdoVajraPanjaraNyasam.Itmeans thatyouarecreatingforyourselfanindestructiblecage.Thiscagehas thepoweroftheSriChakra.AslongastheSriChakralives,aslongas cosmoslives,solongyouaregoingtoliveinthiscage.Oncetheworld itselfisdesolved,thenyoudesolve.YouarejustmergingwithSiva.That istheformatyouaretryingtocreateforyourself. INVOCATIONOFTHEKALAS Intothisformatyouwanttoinvokeallthecosmicintelligencethatthere is.Theintelligencethatisthereintheearth,inthefire,inthewater,in theoxygenthatwebreathe,inthespacethatweseeandwalkaround in, in the time that brings the past present and future into us, and immortal existence. All these kalas, aspects you try to invoke into yourself. SRISUDHADEVI Nowinthispujayousometimesneedasymbol.Thesymbolcanbean icon, a figure like the Sri Chakra, or a physical, living presence, a person. If you say thatGodiseverywhereandyouwanttoworship everything,itisnoteasy.ItisdifficulttofindGodinacockroach,orin
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anatomicexplosion,orinAK47guns,orinpoverty.Itisdifficulttofind God in the agonies that we go through. It is easier to find God in harmony. You would like to experience God as benevolent, not as a vengeful,judgmentalkindofabeing,whowillpunishyoutohellforan infinite amount of time, . You want to think of God as a nourishing Mother, as one who cares for you, who loves you unconditionally, so beautiful,soloving,sonourishing. "Iwanttodrinkthemilkofknowledgeandpower.Iwanttoenjoylifeto thefullest.IwanttobeprosperousandmaketonsofmoneysoIcan sharesomeofitwithotherswhoarelessfortunate.Iwanttohelppeople torealizethattheyarereallyGodsandangelsinhumanform." Thisisthekindofthoughtprocessthattheritualencourages.Ithelps youtothinkofGodasenjoyable,healthy,rich,harmonious,beautiful, loving, nourishing, caring person like you. These are the very same qualitiesthatwearetryingtoinvokeintoourselvesandothers. TheSamanyaArghyaandVisheshaArghya NextyouthinkofGodastheimmortaldrinkthatgivesyouhappiness, prosperity,andallpositivequalitiesthatyoucanthinkof.Thissection explains thepreparation of thatnectarwhich containsallthecosmic elementsthatdeliverthemtoyou. THEGURUMANDALA ThenyouthinkofGodasthelineoftheGurus,theguruswhospent theirlivesservingothers.ThisistheGuruMandala. THENITYADEVATAS In this section you think of God personified as benevolent Time, reminding you of the good times that you have experienced. So you worshipGodassomanyNityas,thedatesonwhichIwashappy. All these sections are touched briefly here. They will be described in enoughdetaillateron.
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AFIRSTLOOKATTHELALITAKRAMAM IwouldliketobeintimatewithmyGod.IwouldliketoseeGodinfront ofme,notassomethingunknowntome,butjustlikeIamseeingyou.I want to talk to God, to that Higher Intelligence, and I want to experienceitasareality,notsomethingthatIimagine.Iwouldliketo gathersomeexperiencesinthislifethatwillgivemethattranquilstate andthenreplaythattapeandgetamoreperfectversionthanIhave beenabletoexperience.Thisistheessenceofsecondpartofthepuja, theofferingoftheSixtyFourIntimateServicestoGod. YoutrytoseealltheelementsofGoddessinanotherhumanbeing.You invoketheGoddessintoa,littlegirl,asinglewomanoracouple,and youworshipthemasembodimentsofGoddess.Goddessisalsoinyou, whether you are male or female. It is Goddess who is worshipping herself.ThisiswherethequestionofTantracomesin.Tantraspeaksof interaction with others. The question is as you relate yourself with others,areyoutryingtokeepyourseparatenessandrelatetothemas two separate entities, or are you trying to relate to others through mergingasyourelatetoyourself? JesusChristhasgivenabeautifulanswertothisquestion.Itisworth repeating.Lovethyneighborasthyself.Notassomebodyelse,becauseif youthinkofyourneighborassomebodyelsethenthequestionofdesire, of lust, of judgment can come in. If you are loving thy neighbor as thyself,isthereanydesireinthat?Ifthereisdesireitcanbefulfilled withoutanyrestrictionsorinhibitions.IfIwanttoenjoymyself,love myself,ormakelovetomyself,whocanstopme?Iamfree.Igointothe bathroom and take a soap to wash my body. Is the rest of my body ashamedthatmyrighthandistakingthesoapandrubbingmeallover? Itisnot.Therecannotbeasenseofshameinunity.Inthecontextof puja,notionofunityratherthanseparationistobeexperienced.The ideathatwhatIamseeingismyselfshouldneverbelostsightof.
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Forintimacytohappentherecanbenorestrictionsofanysort.Thatis wherethenuditycomesintotantra.Youcannotsurrenderyourselfto yourpartnerifyousay,Iamawoman.Imustnotremovemyclothes." Youandyourpartnerarenotdifferentpeople.Youaretryingtomerge intoone.Theworddigambaradoesnotmeanjusttheremovalofclothes. Itisamergingoftheminds,ofthoughts.Youarethinkingthesame thoughtsthatIamthinking.Youareexperiencingthesamethingsthat I am experiencing. There is transference into the other being, an expansionofyourconsciousnesstoincludetheotherbeingasyourself. Bothofyouareexperiencingthesamethoughtswithouttalking.Thatis digambara.Thatiswhenyouareunited.ThatistheintentofTantra. TouchaloneisnottheintentofTantra.Allthefivesensesareincluded. WhenIamabletoseeyou,whenIcantouchyou,tasteyou,talktoyou, experienceyouinallpossibleways,likeIamexperiencingmyself,thenI can say, okay, I have seen God. Otherwise it is only a partial manifestation.Idon'twantapartialexperience;Iwantatotality,the loveofGoddirectly. Inthe64intimateservicestotheMother,youaregivingHerabathand Sheisgivingyouabathatthesametime.Bothexperiencesarethere. You are not different from Her. What She is experiencing you are experiencing.Itisonlywhentheexperienceiscommonthatyoucansay thattheunionhastakenplace. SupposedIrubmyrighthandovermylefthandlikethis.Thefeelingof beingtouchedisinthelefthand.Thefeelingoftouchingisintheright hand.Boththesehandsbelongtome.Boththeseexperiencesbelongto me; they are occuring in me at the same time. But if I am touching someoneelse,theexperienceoftouchingisinme,buttheexperienceof beingtouchedisnotinme.Theseparatenesshascome.IfIambeing touchedbysomebodyelse,thentheactofbeingtouchedistherebutthe actoftouchingisnotinme.
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Whenyourconsciousnesspervadestheconsciousnessoftheother,then you are totally united. You havelostyourboundaries.When you are experiencingyourselfastheother,thesenseofshamehasnoplace.You arenotashamedofyourself.Thesenseofotherhasnorelevance.Itis onlyinthesenseofadvaita;inasenseofunitythatpujashouldbedone. AdvaitaintheoryisVeda.AdvaitainpracticeisTantra.Tantrameans practice, proving the ideas through experiment. Throughpractice you trytoproveandfixwhatthetheoryhassaid. Even in the Veda there arecertain aspects of tantra. There arefour Vedas. Rg Veda is what you have seen or heard in your meditation. YajurVedaisthethecompilationoftheseindividualpiecesofrevelation intoastructurethatcanbeusedasaritual.SamaVedaisthesinging anddancingritualsspontaneously.AtharvanaVedaishowtoapplyand share this knowledge, how to use it as a weapon to remove evil tendenciesinusortoattract,empowerandhelpsomebody. Sometimeyouhavegottohurt.Whatisitthatyouhavetohurt?Your fearyouhavegottohurt.Youhavegottogetridofit.Yourlustyou havegottohurt,togetridofit;yourinternalenemiesyouhavegotto kill.AndthatiswhatDevidoes.ShekillsMahishasura;abuffaloisto beofferedassacrificetoHer.WhatisthisMahisha?Mahishaisthebull which represents blind, hurtful lust. Lusthasto betransformed into somethinghigher.Lustmeansthatthenotionoftheotherispreserved andyouwantitbadly,nomatterwhatcost.Soyouwanttograband seekonlyforyourpleasure,ignoringtheother'ssentimentsorfeelings. Thatislust.Thishastobetransformedintolove.Inlustthereisno caringfortheother'spleasure,asyouwouldcareforyourownpleasure. Youareonlyinterestedinyourpleasure.Thathastobetransformed. Transformation means changing its nature. Transformation means killingitspresentnature,andgivingbirthtoanewnature. However,lovecannotsurvivewithoutlust.Letusunderstandthis.The lotusflowerisborninthemudthengrowsinthewater.Itsflowercomes
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outintotheopen,intoairandlookstothelightandbloomswhenthe suncomesout.Wearelikethelotus.Youareborninflesh.Youcansay, "Idon'twantthisflesh,Iwanttothrowitaway",andthenyoucutoff thelotusfromthestem.Itisthelotusitselfthatwilldie.Soitisthe fear, thelust, the greedandthejealousywhicharetransformed into love.Itisthedemonicthathavetobetransformedintothedivine.But youcannottotallydestroythedisorder.Orderanddisorderhavetobein balance. THENAVAVARANAPUJA Thistransformationofyourowncharacteriswhatisimportanttothe ritual. You start with your present situation, whatever that is; whateverfears,lusts,greeds,possessivenesses,hungerforpower,and allkindsoflimitations,whateveryourfeelingsofseparationimply.Itis fromthisstartingpointyouhavetomove,toshedyourinhibitionsone byoneandlearnwhatitmeanstohaveintercoursewiththeworld. Everyaspectofyourlifeismaithunaorintercourse,notjustsex.Sexis redefinedinTantraastheenjoymentofbeauty.Tantrateachesthatyou donothavetoownathinginordertoenjoyit.Doyouowntheground thatyouwalkupon?Doyouowntheairthatyoubreathe?Doyouhave toownthesun,thestars,themoonandthecloudsforyoutoseeand enjoy?Ownershipisnotthere,exceptinthebroadsenseof"Yes,Iown thewholeworld!" THESHAKTIPUJA Afterthesesixtyfourofferings(upacharas),youhavebroughtHerclose toyouandyouhaveembracedHer.Thisembracehasbeensodeepthat Shehaspenetratedyourbodyandisresidingthereinthelotusofyour heartasagoldengirl16yearsold.Thattransformationhashappened. Yourbodieshavenotremainedseparate.Theyhavemergedintoone. Thatistheyabyum,SivaandShakti.Theconceptofthisunionisthe finalstep.ItistheShaktiPuja.Intheritualthereisnounion.Thereis nounion,becauseyouareadoringthe Mother.Forthepurposeofyour
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pleasure, your happiness and enjoyment you are thinking of Devi as differentfromyouandsoyouareabletoadoreHer.Likeachildwemake believeintheseGodsandGoddessesinfrontofus.Andthemagickis thattheybecomereal.Weworshipthemandthenwebringthemback intoourselves.Thisisthenotionofthepuja,whichisatotalabsorption intotheother,thedivine. TheDevipujahastobedoneinAdvaita.Thatistheonlywayitcanbe done.BecauseSheisallpower,anditneedstobecontrolled.Otherwise itislikedrivingahighpoweredcarwiththeacceleratorbutnosteering wheel. You are bound to end up in a disaster. You have to have a steeringwheeltocontrolthewayyouaregoing,nomatterwhatspeed. Themorespeed,themorecontrolyoumusthave.Withoutdisciplineyou cannot achieve what you want. The more power you have, the more controlyoumusthaveoveryourtonguebecausewhatyouaregoingto sayisgoingtocometrue. Youcannotaffordtosaybadthingsevenindreams.Youhavetohave thatmuchcontroloveryourbehavior.Thesearethevariousaspectsof tantra,ataglance. The Meanings of the Channels which are called Mantras in the NavavaranaPuja With the grace of the Divine Mother I hope to be able to give some meaningstothechannelswhicharecalledthemantras.ReallyMantras cannot be assigned any meanings because they are channels of communication.Whatmeaningcanyougivetochannelno.4ofTVor thefrequency101.7Mhz?Whateverinformationcomesthroughthemis the meaning; if you like tto put it that way. What you can probably defineisthenatureoftheinformationthatcomesthrough.Forexample, youknowthatifyouswitchontheMTVyouarelikelytogetmusicand dance; on Discovery channel, you likely to develop environmental concerns,andthingslikethat.Wecanmakebroadcategorizationsbut notspecifics.
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Thereare2greatmantras,oneofwhichiscalledOmandtheotheris alsoOm.OmisthecombinationofAUM.Ifyoureversethesequencea littleandputtheAattheend,itbecomes"UMA".IfyouthinkofAUM asSiva,UMAisShakti.ThesearethetwoOms.Aretheydifferent?Yes andno.Itisjustthewayyoulookatit.ThesymbolismofGodheadis carriednotonlyintothesoundsymbolsbutalsointothevisualsymbols. Inthevisualsymbols,thetrianglewithitsapexdowniscalledayoni, theShaktifromwhichthechildcomes.Youtakethesametriangleand turnitupwardsitisSiva. Youcanthinkofitanotherway.Supposeyouscanthetrianglewitha horizontallinefrombottomup.InaSivatriangle(apexup)whatyousee is the width of the intersected line is gradually diminishing and becomingzero.InaShaktitrianglewhatisseeingisthatitisstartingat apointandgrowingintoaline.Sothegrowthoftheawarenessprocess istheShaktibutbotharethesame,thereisnorealdistinctionbetween thetwo.SomearecalledSivatrianglesandsomeShaktitriangles. WehavealreadyseenthechannelscalledHrimandSrim. Hrimisthegerminatingpoweroftheuniversewhichcreatestheworld andthedifferentiationsintheworld.Itlimitsthetotalityinsomeways sothatyoucanextractarayoraseedoutofit.Hrimyoucallmaya.It also means lajja or shyness. When you stare at astranger, theywill cover their body. It is trying to cover, protect or limit. Limitation is calledHrim. Srimistheoppositeofit,condensingit,collapsingtherayintothepoint. AndunlimitedexpansioniscalledSrim. Hrimisthepowertocreatethiscosmos.Itcontainsthreebasicpowers: aim,klimandsouh. Aimisthepowerthatcreates.Soallthatisrelatedtocreativityand procreation process, whether it is proving an intellectual theorem or whetheritisisthespontaneousnotesinaraga,orthelustthatisthe
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motiveforcebehindtheactofcopulation,allthesethingsarechannelled through this frequency called Aim. Aim is called Saraswati. Sexual enjoyments,curiosity,thesearchfordiversity,newwaysofsayingand doingandenjoyingthingsareallblessingsfromSaraswati. Klim is the act of preservation, nourishment, sustenence, wealth, prosperity,happiness,enjoyment.Thesearetheaishwaryas,thewealth thatiscalledLakshmi. KlimisthenourishingaspectoftheMother which is in the heart center. Milk coming from the two breasts of a female nourishes and protects the baby from disease. So Lakshmi is worshippedinthebreasts.Themotherenjoysgivingnourishmenttoher childwhenthechildissuckingthebreast. Souhisthesoundofthehissingsnake.Thatsnakeissupposedtobethe kundalinishakti,thepowerofyourenjoymentwhichwhentransformed, eliminatesyourbodyawarenessstepbystepandshootsyouoffintothe cosmos.ThisisthekriyaShakti.Itsoriginisinthemuladharachakra inmales,andintheswaddhisthanachakraforfemales. THEGURUMANTRAANDITSCONTENT AimHrimSrim|AimKlimSouh| HamsahSivahSoham|Hskhphrem| Hasakshamalavarayum|Hsaum| Sahakshamalavarayim|Shauh| SvaroopaNiroopanaHetave|SvaGurave| (SriAnnaPoornambaSahitaSriAmritanandaNatha)| SriGuruSriPadukam|PujayamitarpayamiNamah| Weshouldseparatethemantrasfromtheexplanatorystatements.The portioninsmallprintisanexplanationwhichsimplymeans: I worship the feet of the Guru andhisShakti whotaughtmewhoI reallyam(meaning,thatIamallthatIsee,notmerelywhatIthinkis mybody,mindorintellect).
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1.AimHrimSrim Aimisthechannelforknowledge.Soyouareinvokingthechannelfor knowledgeforyoutounderstand.Forwhatpurpose?Hrim,thenatureof thelimitationprocess,theindividuallifegiver.ToknowtheSrim,to receive the grace of God, sothatyou can merge back with God from which you came. You are experiencingseparatenessandlimitedness andthepainofseparatenessandlimitations. Youwanttoexperience the joy of union. That is the Srim. You want to gain knowledge to overcome this limitation process and get reabsorbed into the cosmic unity.SoAimHrimSrimisaprayerwhichprecedeseverymantrain the Sri Chakra puja which means, Oh Goddess, Please give me knowledge to understand my limitations to overcome them and to experiencemytruthasYou,theGoddess. 2.AimKlimSouh KnowledgeandthegraceofGodmanifestitselfthroughtheprocessof creation, the process of nouishment and action. In manifesting any thing,firstitisasanideainourthoughts.Wedwellonit,enhanceour knowledge,nourishtheknowledge,coupleittomaterialresources,act onit,tomaketheideacomealive.Thenweletgoofit. Aim=knowledge, Klim=nourishingandprotectingtheidea,and Souh=action,fulfilmentanddetachment. 3.Hamsah Haisthesoundoftheoutgoingbreath.Sahisthesoundoftheincoming breath.HamsahorSohamarethemantrasoflifeitself,thebreathitself. Everylivingbeingbreathesandthisbreathingprocessiscalledhamsah or soham. When you know thisit becomesmantra.It iscalledajapa gayatri.Itisoneoftheformsofthegayatri.Whenyouconcentrateand focusyourawarenessonthebreathhamsahthenacertainknowledge dawns on you. And it is knowledgethatseparatesthemilkfromthe
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water.ThelegendarybirdtheHamsahissupposedtohavethepowerof separatingthemilkfromthewater.Thatmeansseparatingthetruth fromfiction.ThefictionisthatIamdifferentfromtheworld.Thetruth isthatIamtheworld.Whenyourealizethatyouaretheworld,and thatanysmallthinghappeninganywheredoesnotandneednotupset you, then this knowledge is what is given by the breath. The Guru Mantraistellingyouthatyoumustfocusonyourbreath,hamsahto realiseyourtruthasGod. 4.SivahSoham The knowledge that you gain is Sivah Soham. I am Siva, the pure unboundedawareness,whichismytruenature.Thatisthemeaningof thispartofGuruMantra. 5.Hasakhaphrem HaisthesymbolofSiva.Thefirstbreaththatapersontakeswhenborn istheincomingbreath.Thelastbreathistheoutgoingbreath,which neverreturns.Thefirstbreathisthebreathofthemother,andthelast breathisthebreathofthefather.Youaremergingwiththecosmoswith thelastbreath.Thatiswhywesaythatapersonexpireswhenhedies. Youarenotcomingbackagainintothissamebody.SoHaisthesymbol of death, of annilation, of Siva. Ha is called Visarga in Sanskrit. It meansreleaseofseed,tocreatelife.Ha...aa..aa..aaisalsothesymbolof thesoundwemakeduringanorgasm,whenourlifejuiceisgoingoutof ourselves. Then weexperiencesomethinglikeadeath,alossoferos, whichislustforlife.Ourconnectiontoheavinessofearthreduces,we becomelight.SaisthesymbolofShakti.Khaisthesymbolofspace. Phremisthemovementinspace.AsSivaandShakti,asawarenessand itsmodifications,wemoveinspace.WhentherealizationthatIamSiva dawns on me I forget my body consciousness. I rise above my body consciousnessandmovefreelyinspaceastheunionofawarenessand its modifications, as Siva and Shakti. I experience a lightness, a
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levitating experience which is like flying in space. That infact is the deathexperience.Deathisanorgasm.
1.
Hasakshamalavarayumhsaum Sahaksamalavarayimshauh
To understand the next 2 phrases, Hasaksha malavarayum h saum.....Sahaksamalavarayim shauh we need to know a little bit aboutwhatiscalledtheMatrikaNyasa.Matrikasmeanthegarlandof lettersofSanskritalphabet.Nysameansplacementinthebody.Inthe matrikanyasa,thesixteenvowelsareplacedaroundtheneck.The12 consonants Ka to Tha around the chest, next 10 Da to Pha around waist, next 6 Bato La aroundthegenital,next4VatoSanearthe sacrum(cervix),Ha,Kshaintherightandlefteyesrespectively.Allthe 50lettershavespecificlocationsinthebody;theymaybecalledshort addressestorefertobodyparts. The Sanskrit alphabets are located in different petals on the lotuses which are linked to the stem of your spinal chord. Next you have to understand where Ha is located, where Sa is located, where Ksa is located,whereLaislocated,Va,Ra,andUarelocated.Whenyoulocate them all, you will discover a path traced by these seed letters. HasakshamalavarayumandSahaksamalavarayimarethetwopathsof lighttracedbylocatingwherethelettersareinyourbody.TheGuru mantra teaches you how to move awareness in specific parts of your body to move Kundalini in the Ida and Pingala Nadis. This is the MantraYogapathtoKundalini. HsaumandShauhwhichyouseeheremean:HsaumisformedbyH andSaandAum.ShauhisformedbySandHaandAuh.WhenHais thefirstletter,itmeansSivanaturedominantes,themaleisinYoga witholdingtheseed,notejaculatingit.Shaktihoweverneedstodraw theseedoutofmaleSivatogivebirthtoanewlife.ThatisHerpurpose. Sheisthecreatrix,theprocreativepowerlocatedinthevulva.Shehas to extract the seed and place it in her womb. When Shakti (Sa) is
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dominant, the first letter, She does extract the seed, and so aum becomesauh.ha=Visarga=creation.ThecreativityistheAum.Aumis holdingtheseedwithin.Itisvibratingwithinasvitalitybutitisnot being let out. When Siva in Yogic power is dominant the seed is contained within oneself. When Shaktiisdominant,Sheisasserting, Herpowertomanifest,SheextractstheseedorgasmicallyoutofHim andplacesitinHerwombandproceedswiththecreation. SoHsaum and Shouh are the male and female orgasms, holding the seed and ejaculatingtheseed.Whatwediscussedsofaristheinvariantpartsof themantra.Whatremainsis:
2.
Svarupanirupanahetave......
Svagurave
Svagurave to your own guru who has initiated you, who is all important.Youdon'thavetoworryaboutanyoneoranythingthingelse.
4.
SriAnnapurnambasahita
SriAnnapurnambasahitaistheShakti,thepowerbehindtheguru,
5.
AmritanandaNatha
Mrityu means death. "A" is negation. Negation of death is Amrita. ThereforeAmritameansnectar.YourSelfisnotborn.Howcanitdie? The amrita, nectar is aja unborn. Ananda means bliss, which is undying,unchanging.BlissofnectarisAmritananda. EveryoneofthesegurusaccordingtotheDattaSampradaya(lineage) are known as Nathas. There are nine Nathas. We follow that sampradaya.Nathaliterallymeanshusband/wife,marriedtoyou,with whomyouhavetobeintimateforyourprogress.Moreimportantlythe
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Guruiscommittedtotakecareofyou(justlikeahusband/wife)asa soulmate. The real Guru, Goddess/God speaks through the Guru, who can be eitherfemaleormale.Don'tconfusethetheGuruwithaphysicalform. TheGuruofeveryoneisoneandthesame.AndthatisGod/Goddess. Guruappearstodifferentpeopleindifferentforms,buttheformisonly asymbol.Youhavetolookbehindthesymboltothetruthandthattruth iscalledJagannatha. Jagatmeansworld,Nathameanshusband/wife, thehusband/wifeofthemanifestedworld.TheGuruisreferredtoasthe husband/wifehere,sothatyoucanopenupyourbody,mindandsoul without any inhibitions for deepest truths can be learned without inhibitions. 10.SriGuru:SriGuruistheguruwhoisthesourceofallpowers;Sri whoisthewealthoftheLordistheGuru.IntheBhavanaUpanishadit says,"TheGuruconfersthewealthoftheLordonyou". 11.SriPadukam SriPadukamisthebeneficial,auspiciouslotusfeetoftheGuruwhichhe hasplacedonthetopofyourhead.Youarenottothinkoftheformof theGurulikethis,butasArdhanishwarawhichishalfSiva,male,and halffemale,Shakti.Inthatformtherighthalfisthemalepartandthe leftpartisthefemalepart.Theyareeternallyunitedatallthechakra centersatthemuladharaandallthewayup.Andoutoftheirunion, theireternalunion,flowstheblissastheGangaflowsfromtheheadof Siva.ItoverflowsandfallsdowntoSiva'sfeetwhereitbecomesnectar flowingontothetopofyourhead.SoitisthatGuruwhoyoumustsee. 12.Pujayami Pujayamimeans,Iworshipthatguru.
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13.Tarpayami Whatistarpanam?Thatwhichgivesyousatisfaction.Whatmakesyou say,"Yes,Ihavehadenough,Idon'tneedanymore"?Havingreached thatstateiscalledtarpanam.Itmeansyoumustbeabletomakethe guru feel totally satisfied, that you have rendered all that you are possibleorcapableofdoing.Youhavegivenhimthesupremehappiness ofwhateverhedesires,thatistarpanam.SoIworshiphim(theGuru canbemaleorfemale),Iadorethefeet,ImaketheLordandHispower totallysatisfied. What is the desire of the God or the Goddess? They are both self fullfilled.Whatdesirescouldtheyhave?AlthoughyouaresayingIam satisfying the Guru, what it really means is that you are satisfying yourself. It is you who are not having the fullfilled state. You are identifyingwiththeGuru.Itisyouwhoaretryingtoreachthestateof the Guru, the Lord and his infinite Power. You are trying to fulfill yourself.SopujayamimeansyouareworshippingtheGuruasyourown manifestationoutsideandsatisyingher/himmeanssatisfyingyourself. Themeaningofthegurumantratellsyouthepurposeforwhichyouare doingthepuja,andwhatitisyouwanttounderstand,andwhatisthe resultgainedbythat(hamsahsivasoham)andwhattheresultisgoing to do for you hasaka phrem. And the path through the different chakraswhichyoumusttakethekundaliniandyourawareness;then youadorethefeetoftheguruwhohasgivenyouinitiation. PANCADASIMANTRA Panchadasi mantra is the most secret mantra of the Goddess Lalita MahaTripuraSundari. Kaeilahrim:Hasakahalahrim:Sakalahrim The pancadasi mantra cannot be translated. It is a very powerful mantra,achannelforinfinitepower,wealth,health,fame,enjoyment andgrace.EveninVedas,itisgivenincodedformonly.Itisnotusually
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written down in the mantra form because it is supposed to be transmittedfromGurutosishya(disciple)directly,orally.Evenifitis written in books, it cannot be taken from there, as it will not yield results.Likeawomanofquality,Shecanbehadonlythroughproper marriage,meaning,initiationfromaGuru;notevenanyGuru,butone whohasattaineditsfruits.Itisaunthinkableasset,blessing.Itislike anuncutjewel.Themoreyoupolishitthemorebeautifulitbecomes. Themoreyoupracticeitthemoreyougetoutofit. ThebestcommentaryIcangiveaboutthismantraistobefoundinthe Soundaryalahari, written by Shankaracharya. The stanza starts with SivahShaktihKamah...Themeaningsaregivenhere. Ka: SivaascreatorBrahma. e: Shakti as pure awareness, the cosmic yoni, the word of God, Saraswati i :Kama,thedesiretocreatethecosmos.Sinceitcannotbesaidthat cosmosexistsordoesnotexistifthereisnoawarenesstoknowit,itis thepowerofexistenceto createawarenesscalledherethedesire,the procreativedrive,libido. la:Kshitih,meaningcondensationtodensesolidstate(through asuccessionofstates:time,space,air,plasma,liquid,solid) Hrim : Brahma and Saraswati enjoying the dance and music of of creation;existenceand awareness together creating an interval whichexpandsthroughinteractionofspaceandtimetoformmatterand furtherevolution. Thisfirstgroupoffiveseedlettersiscalled VagBhavaKuta meaning, relatingtothesourceofspeech. ha: Ravi = the Sun, Passion, Pingala Nadi, the sustainer of life, aggressivemaleaspects, intellect,actionorientedmotororgans.
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sa: Seetha Kiranah = Moon, Ida Nadi, feelings of ecstasy and depressionalternatingincycles, female aspects, receptive organs of knowledge,languageofgestures. ka:Smarah=Manmatha,agitationsofheartandmindduetothinking aboutworld. Ha: Hamsahis Swan=Discriminationbetweenlove,power,lustand fear,lifesustainingbreath. la: Shakrah=Indra,theGodofheavenlypleasures,enjoymentsand controllerofalldeitiesguardingthe8directions. Theeightdirectionsandthedeitiesguardingtheeightdirections Direction East SouthEast South SouthWest West NorthWest North NorthEast world. This second group of the mantra is called Kamaraja Kuta, which protects and gives all desires of material and spiritual power while directingitwisely. Deity Indra Agni=fire Yama=death Nirruti=chaoticforces Varuna=watersoflifeandseeds Vayu=air Kubera=unlimitedwealth Isana=Controllerofworlds.
hrim:VishnuandLakshmiinembrace,protectingandnourishingthis
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Sa:Para=transcententGoddess,whoalsomanifestshereinthisworld, thesourceofcosmos andyoni,thesourceofanindividual. ka:Mara=Eroticdesire,whobringsforththisworldoutofSivawith thehelpofParaShakti. La: Har = Siva, existence without awreness, like a corpse, no movement.Sivaisthephallicsymbolwhichjumpstolifeoninteracting withtheParaShakti,theYoni. hrim: Siva Shakti = Copulation of Male and female, fulfilment of desires,liberationfromdesires. Thisthirdgroupofthegreatmantraiscalled ShaktiKuta.Weshould rememberthattheseseedlettersareallchannelsofcommunication.It shouldbereiteratedherethatwithoutinitiationfromaproperGuru, thisgreatmantrawillnotyieldfruit,sinceithastobecoupledwitha Shaktipat,anenergyflowfromtheGurutothedisciple.Volumeshave beenwrittenonthismantra.Sowewillstophereandmoveontothe nextpartoftheritual. PRAYERTOLORDGANESHA OmGanaanaamtvaaGanapatigumHavaamahe KavimKavinaamUpamasravastamam JyesthaRaajamBrahmanaamBrahmanaspata AanahSrinvanOotibhihSeedaSaadanam SriMahaGanapatayeNamah Ganameansagroup.Weofferourhomageintheformofgheeoblations toyou.Youaretheleaderofthegroups,allthegroupsthatformthis world.Therearedifferentsetsofobjectsandknowledgeaboutthem.All thesegroupsarecontrolledbyGanapati.Amongthesegroupsarethose whichformourlimitations.Theyarerelatedtooursecuritycenter,the Muladharachakra.Toallthosegroupsofentitieswhichtendtolimitus, weofferouroblationstoyouourfears,anxieties,neuroses,lust,greed, allthesethings.Oblationsmeanthepouringofthegheeintothefire.
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Whenyouofferyourhomagetothelordofthesegroupsallnegativities whichcontrolyourdaytodayinteractionsandbehaviorpatternsand programming,thenwhatyougetistobeakavi,apoet.Youbecomea poet.Poetryismoreoftheheartthanintellect.Ittranscendsrationality. That is its beauty and goodness. It can transcend the limitations of rational,thoughtandthusexpressthetranscendent,whichcannotbe confinedtorationalexplanations. There is a saying in Telegu "If the poet cannot see, can the sun see then?"Itmeansthepoet'spenetrationintothetruthisfarsuperiorto thepenetrationoftheearthbythesun'slight. Youbecomeapoetby understandingyourtruenature.Thenicethingaboutthisisthatthe poetisabletolookatthegoodandthebad,andfindthehumorinthe situationinadispassionateway.Hedoesnotdecryorpraiseonething ortheother.Heseesthethingsastheyareintheirtrueperspective. Ganeshaisthejyestharajathefirstonetobeworshipped,becauseheis theonewhocreatestheobstaclesforyouandyourgrowth,intheformof fear, sensations, etc. That isthestartingpoint.You havegottofirst offer your oblations and be with him andunderstand hisnatureand becomehumorousaboutit.Whenyoufindyoucannotchangetheworld becauseitiscorrupt,youhavetolaughitoffandthatisit.Oherwiseyou willbeweigheddownbytheworriesandtheanxietiesoftheworldwith yourgoodintentions.Thehumoristhelastresortofcompassion. Supposeyougotoafaroffplace.Busafterbushascomeandeverything isfullandyouhavenotbeenabletogetaplaceonanybusandthelast bushascomeandyouhavestruggledtogetinandyoudidnotgetin. Your last hope is extinguished. And then what happens? You start singingandthenwalkingthe20milesbackhome!Youareabletoget thesecondbreathoflifewhichcomestoyoufromthedepthsofyour deepestfrustrationsandanxieties.Thecompassionatehumorcomesto you from accepting the inevitability of thingsas they are. You are invokingLordGanapati.Anahsrnvanpleasecomeandlistentous. Andpleasegiveusyourgraceseedasaadanam.
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SURYAMANTRA WorshippingyourbodyandinvokingthelightofSunwithinyouwhen bathing. HraamHrimHrumSah MaartaandaBhairavaayaPrakaasa ShaktiSahitaayaSvaaha. Whenyouaretakingbathimaginethatbetweenyournavelchakraand theheartchakraisthesun.Whenyouaretakingbathyouofferthree spoonsofwatertoyourownnavelsayingthisprayertothesun,Surya. Maartanda bhairavaaya means the fierce Sun with his illuminating power. Light by itself does not illuminate. It is knowledge which illuminates.Lightcanbeseen.Butaseeingawarenessisahigherform oflight.Thatiswhyitiscalledaparamjyoti.Jyotiisthelightwhich enablesthedarknesstoberemovedandthingstobeseen.Butwithout awarenessthelightordarknesscannotbeseen.Sothelightoflightis the awareness.Consciousnessisthetruelightbywhichthesun,the moon, the stars and the fires shine. Everything is known by your awareness. If you are unconscious this world does not exist for you. Awarenessisthehighestformoflightwhichitselfisneverseen.The lightissomethingwhichcanbeseen. Once you are able to see anything, even light, then the separation betweentheseerandtheseenismanifest.Whenyoudon'tsee,thenyou areinunionwiththatwhichisseen.Thenyouknowitbybeingit,not seeingit.Prakasameansillumination.Thatisthepower. Thishram,hrim,hrumarethebijamantrasforthesun.Hrimisthe maya,thepowerthatbringslifetoyou.Itislifegivingpowerthatcomes fromthesun.Thatiswhywhenthesuncomesupintheskywegetup andgoaboutdoingourdailychores.Thelifeforcecomesfromthesun. ThatistheMahakundaliniShaktiwakesusup.Thereforeweofferto thelightwhichisvisible,(thesymbolofthelightwhichisvisible)three
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spoonsofwater.Whywater?becausethatalsorepresentslife,theseed, thesemen. NextthinkofSun:HramHrimHrumSahisthemantra.Thatcannotbe replacedbyEnglishtext.Youmaytreatthenextpartasmantra,oryou mayusetheEnglishtranslationofit."Totheorbofthesunalongwith itspowertoilluminate,residingbetweenmyheartandnavel,Iofferthis waterasasymbolofmylife.Sosaying,sprinklesomewaterthere. Next,yousprinklewateronthethreepartsofyourownbodywitherotic partsofDevimantra: Yourface,withkaeilahrim Yourbreastsandnavelwithhasakahalahrim Yourgenitalssakalahrim Theidentificationgoeslikethis. Kaeiarethethreeeyes, lahrimisthemouthandtongue; hasaandkahaarethetwobreastswiththenipples, lahrimisthenavelandlineofhairsbelow; sakaarethetwosidesofvulvaand lahrimistheclitoralshaftandthetip. ThisisthemantranyasarevealedtoAmritanandabyHlaadiniShakti (lovepowerofKrishna). TripuraSundariVidmahe:Tripurameansthreecities.Thethreecities arethewakingstate,thedreamingstateandthesleepingstate. Inallthesethreestatesofyourbeing,themostbeautifulisSundari. Vidmahe:vidknowingintuitively.FromthisvidcomesVeda.Welearn about MahaVidya throughintuition.Thebeautyofthisuniversethat
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existsinthesethreestatesofbeing,Icometoknowbymeditatingonthe threeprocreativepowersoftheGoddess. Pithakaminidhimahi:shehasthedesiretobeonthatplace,pitha,in thelotusofyourheart.SriLaksmiandNarayanaarethe nourishing andpreservingpowerswhichcomefromthemilkfromyourtwobreasts. Thatiswheresheisresiding. Dhi:Andwhenyoumeditateonthispowerintheheartcenteritgives youDhitheabilitytodiscriminate;todiscriminatebetweengoodand badandtoacceptthegoodandthebadwithloveandaffection. Sakalahrim:SakalahrimistheactiveShakti,whichmovesSivato createanewawareness.Whenyouworshipthat,then tannahklinnepracodayat:tannahthatmayitpropelustowardklinne wetness.Wearenormallylocatedinourmuladharachakraassuming the rigidity of our bodies. Thefirsttransformation isfromrigidity to flow.Likeliquidyoutrytocreateaflow.Thatmeansthestartingofthe movement of the kundalini Shakti from the rigidity of solid (earth chakra)totheliquidstate(thesecondchakra)andthentolightness. Thisreferstotheorgasmicreleasefromallofyourtensionsincluding sexualtensions.Withthismantrayoudoprokshana(sprinkling)tothe threepartsofyourbody. LIGHTINGTHELAMP OmHrimRaktaDwaadashaSakti YuktaayaDeepaNaathaayaNamah Thenwhenweenterthetemple,thefirstthingwedoistolightupthe lamp. The lamp is the symbol of the guru. The guru, like the lamp removesyourignorance,thedarkness. raktadvadasaraktameansthebloodanddvadasameanstwelve. saktiyuktaya associatedwiththe twelvepowers.Thetwelvepowers are located in the heart center. The heart center has the 12petalled
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lotusthere.Theguruislocatedintheheartcenter.Ratkaalsomeans therajaguna,thedesireformovement,thedesiretomovetheheart. Thatisthekindofknowledgethatthegurugives. Deepanathayanamahdeepaisthelight,thelamp.Youlightthelamp and say the guru is not here, so this is my guru. So you see the invocationofyourspiritualguideimmediately.Youdonotthinkofthe guruastheindividual,butasthelight. Whataboutthewhiteandtheredwicksonthetwolampskeptontwo sides?Whiteandredarethecolorsofthesemenandblood.Thesemenis white and the blood is red. Both are sticky things which are very objectionable to the priests. So the ritual prescribed by priests uses symbolsforthem.ButboththesesubstancescontaintheDNAandRNA codesessentialforforcreatinglife.Soononesideyouhavethewhite wickwhichsymbolizesthesemenandontheothersidetheredwick whichsymbolizestheblood. Oilisthesymbolofthefemaleorgasmicfluidandgheeisthesymbolof semen.That iswhywe offergheeintothehomam,afireritual.The homakundaissupposedtobethefemalegenital.Intothatyouofferthe seed.Everyoffering,everyactofpujainritualissuggestiveofarelease of every tension, an orgasm, called Brahmananda, the Ananda of Brahma,ofcreation.Thewordorgasmisnotbeingusedinanylimited sense.Anyreleaseoftensionisorgasm.Whenyouarefacingasituation where tension is developed, the moment you resolve or release the tension,resolutionofaconflictthatiscalledanorgasminTantra. 44MEDITATIONSOFTHESRICHAKRA Inthenext44visualizationswiththemantrasthebeginningAimHrim Srim can't be replaced. The remaining part of the mantras can be translationforeaseofpeoplewhodonotknowSanskrit. Wherethemeaningcanbeclearlyestablished,wedonotconsiderthata mantra.Wherethemeaningcannotbedivulged,wherethewordsarea
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channel of communication we recognize it as a mantra. That is the criterionweareusingtodistinguishtheuntranslatablemantrafromthe translatableparts.Kaeilahrim,Hasakahalahrim,Sakalahrimis allamantra.Itcan'tbetranslated. Now, what are these meditations about? These meditations are something like a guided imagery. It creates an environment in your mindseye.Itchallengesyoutoexploreypurcreativevisualization. Meruissupposedtobethetallestmountainintheworld.Itspansthe14 worlds.Andthe14worldsarelocatedfromthebottomofthefeettothe topofthehead.Thespinalchordistherealmeru.Thespinalchordis theabodeoftheGoddesswhotravelsupanddownplayingthemusicof lifeinthesevencenters. What do you do as you recite each mantra and visualize the correspondingimage,mappingthemintothefortyfourtrianglesofthe SriChakra?Youplaceadotofsandalwoodpasteandkumkumonthe center of the Sri Chakra. On that you place sandalwood (symbol for semen)whichisgandhaperfume.OntopofGandhayouplaceKumkum whichrepresentsblood.Soagaintheunionofthemaleandthefemale fluidscreatinglifeissymbolicallyplacedonthetopoftheSriChakra with each of the mantras, or at the end of the entire visualization process. Aim Hrim Srim is repeated with each phrase. This phrase means: I requestSaraswatitoteachmeaboutMayaandtorecievethegraceof GoddessSri. When we meditate, we first prepare ourselves for meditation by preparing a beautiful location and and sitting there in a calm state. Creationofthissacredspaceistheintentofthese44meditations. amrtambhonidhayenamah nidhiisaanocean; ambhaiswater;
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amritaisnectar,ortheoceanofnectar; namahmeansIamthat Thusamrtambhonidhaye namah meansIamtheoceanofnectarine waterswhichgiveandsupportlife. NAMAH:AWORDABOUTNAMAH Ifyoulookatthesivasutram,Naisshabda,Maistouch.Nameansno. Notouch.Whatcoulditmean,notouch?Areyounottouchingleftand righthandswithnamah?Aha,thatisthemeaning,thetoucherandthe touchedarethesame. Whendoyouhaveatouch?Whenthereisadifference.Canafinger touchitself?Afingercantouchanythingelse,butitcannottouchitself, yetitcanbeawareofitself.Sowhenyouaretheobjectofyourvision, thetouchdisappears,butawarenessdoesnot.Thetouchisthereaslong as the interval is there. When you say namah there is no touch, no contact.ItmeansthatwhatIammeditatingonhasbecomemyself.SoI havebecometheoceanofnectar. Also;yousaynamahbyjoiningyourlefthandandrighthand.Ifyou knowthatyourlefthandbelongstothefemalepartofyouandtheright handtothemalepart(arthanariiswara),youjointhemaleandthe female in Namah. Left is Vama what you see (Vama = what you vomitted,whatcameoutofyou).Therightiswhatyouare.Joiningof whatyouseewith,thewhatyouare,isthemeaningimpliedbyjoining the left and right hands. When you say namah you are gesturing in effectthat"Iamseeingyouasaseparatebeing,butIknowyouandme areone". Youareimposingthequalitiesoftheobjectonwhichyouaremeditating uponontoyourselfbythegestureofNamah.Thatiscalledmeditation. Inmeditation,youdon'tstopseeing;youdon'tstopknowing;butyouare becomingwhatyousee,whatyouknow.Thisstateofbeinginwhichyou are merged with, in yoga with the object of perception, is called
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Samadhi.ThewordSamadhiiscomposedoftwoterms:Sama=Equal, Adhi = Regarding. In this first meditation of Sri Chakra, you are thinking of it as an ocean of nectar first as an object; then you are becomingtheoceanofnectar. Letmetellyouaboutanicecustom.HindusmakethechildwriteOm NamahSivaayaSiddhamNamahatthetimeofstartingtolearnletters. Whatdoesthismean?OmisthenameofGod.NamahIamnotseeing anythingdifferentfromme.ThisknowledgethatIamwhatIamseeing is Sivaya for the good of everyone. And how you attain this state? Siddham Namah you go to a person who is a Siddha, one who is enlightenedandgestureNamah"Youareme".Thusyouareinvoking theSiddhaintoyourself.Thenthesiddha'sknowledgebecomesyours and therefore you can become enlightened. The transfer of power or grace occurs through identification, which happens through paying attention. Namahisconstantlybeingusedasanendingherewitheverymantra. Therearefiveendingswhichcanbeusednormallytoanypuja.These arejaya,namah,svaha,tarpanaandshuddha. TheKhadgamalaStotramistheDevi'spraisewhichliststhepowersof Devi.Itcanberecitedinfivedifferentways. 1. ShuddhaShaktiMala:meansyouarenotaddinganyending,you arejustbeingthepoweryourself(notseeinganydifference) 2. Namo antha Mala: you are adding namah at the end (seeing a difference,butknowingthatyouarenotdifferentfromthepower) 3. JayaanthaMala:meansyouaresayingJaya(victoryto)attheend 4. SwahaanthaMala:meansyouaresayingSvahaandofferingghee intothefire 5. TarpanthaMala:meansyousaytarpayamiandofferingwaterof yourlifeinthecauseofthepower.
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YoucanthinkofDeviasamale,asafemale,oryoucanthinkofDevias alovingcoupleinunion.Thesethreewaysofthinkingcanbecombined withtheabovefivewaysofendingstomake5x3=15waysofworship. SuchwaysofworshipareindeedanintegralpartofworshipofDevi. TheyarethemeaningsoflettersinthePancadasiMantra. Ineachofthe15daysofthelunarcalendaryouaresupposedtoworship inthese15differentwaysassociatedwiththatday.ThisiscalledTithi NityaPujaVidhi.TherearefifteenwaysinwhichtheKhadgaMalacan beworshipped.OnwhatdaysDeviisworshippedinamale(lingam)and whatdaysDeviisworshippedinafemale(yoni)andonwhatdaysDevi isworshippedastheunionofthemale(seer)andfemale(seen)istobe foundinthePancadasiMantra,asgivenbelow. In the Panchadasi Mantra of Devi called the Kadi Vidya, there are three"Ka"sandthetwo"Ha"swhichrepresentthemale.Themantrais alsothesequenceofthedaysoflunarcalendar;thefirstletteristhe firstday,thesecondlettertheseconddayandsoon.Sivaissupposedto bethedestroyer;sothedaysonwhichweworshipDeviasmaleSivais considered inauspicious for materialistic gains (but auspicious for spiritualgains).Theseedletters"E,I,oneLa,twoSa"arethedayson whichweworshipDeviasafemale(yoni=mother=source).Thesedays areobviouslyauspicious,forsheistakingcareofourmaterialneeds. However,theverybestdaysarethoseinwhichDeviintheformofa coupleinunion;ThesedayscorrespondtothesecondandthirdLa,and thethreeHrims. So on lunar days 1,6,8,9,13 Devi is worshipped in a Male; on days 2,3,4,7,12Deviisworshippedinafemale,andondays5,7,10,11,14,15in acouple.ItisournormalunderstandingthatDeviisthemotherwho thegivesuslife,nourishesusthroughhermilkandgivesusknowledge. Hrimistheunionofthemaleandfemalewhichgivesuslife.Sofirstly, itthebesttoworshipHerasmaleandfemaleinunion,togetallforms of creativity invoked into us. Worship of genitals therefore gives us
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KriyaSakti(calledParvatiorDurgaorsimplyMa),tomanifestallkinds of creative powers in real life. Second best is to worship Her as the femaleonlythatgivesusnourishment(meditationonbreastsgivesthat) and the last is to worship Her as a male which helps us to detach ourselvesfromthisworld.Allthisinformationiscodedintothemantra thePancadasiMantra. These notes given here are designed to help the reader to clearly visualizethemeaningsofthemeditations. RatnaDvipayaNamahIntheAmritaoceanwehavetheRatnadvipa theislandofjewels. Nanavrksamahodyanaya(Namah)abeautifulgardenofflowersmany bigtrees. KalpavrksavatikayaHerearetrees,thatwhenyousitbeneaththem, whateveryouwishisgrantedtoyou.(Thereisatroublewiththat.If you,withoutthinking,thinkofsomethingbad,thatalsowillhappenfor you.Sothekalpavrksaisadoubleedgedsword.) SantanavatikayanamahWeknowwearegoingtodieoneday.So,to prolong our life we enter into relationships and we beget children. Begettingchildrenisanattempttogainimmortality.However,wewill not gain immortality this way; but it is one of the aspirations of humanity, to have children and grandchildren, and so on and to perpetuatetherace. Hari chandana vatikaya namah Chandana means the sandalwood paste,italsoasymbolforsemen.HarichandanaisalsocalledRakta Chandana. (Rakta = blood) Hari is Visnu. The three fundamental entitiesarespace,timeandmatter.SpaceconsciousnessiscalledVisnu, time consciousness is called Siva, and the union between space and time, Siva and Visnu creates matter, Brahma. Harichandana is the vasana,rajogunaofHari,whichisthedesiretomanifesttheworldin hiswombofspace.OneoftheformsofVishnuisMohini,whoentices
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Siva to emit his seed. That is why Harichandana is called Rakta chandana,theseedofthewoman,themenstrualflow.Justasawoman exhibits flow between her monthly cycles, the woman called mind exhibitstheflowofdesiretomanifestthoughtformsbetweensilences. Thisnamemeansthatthereisacontainer(vati)fullofharichandana. You realize when you go through all these meditations, that you are reallyvisualizingtheformoftheyoni.Theyarealldifferentaspectsof the yoni, the mother of all, which can be properly called the female genital,orthecosmos,oreventhemind.Youvisualizethegarbhalaya, thewomb,asabeautifulgardenandabeautifultemple.Actuallythe wordGarbhaalayameansthewombwhichisthatempleinwhichthe Mother Goddess of fertilityand creativity resides.In olden times yoni wasnotconsideredasasinfulthing;itwasindeedworshippedasthe seatoftheGoddess.Phallicandfemalegenitalworshipwastheoldestof allformsofworshipcommontoallreligions. MandaravatikayainamahAgroveofhybiscusflowers,whicharered incolorwitharedpestilinitscenter. Parijata vatikayai namah intheforestofhybiscustrees,thereisa grove with white, very delicate and fragrant flowers with red stems whicharecalledareparijata. Kadamba vatikayai kadamba is a garland of red flowers. All these thingsarerelatingtothedifferentcolorsofred.Yourealizethatthey areallthedifferentshadesofredintheyoni. Pushyaragaratnaprakarayanamahpushyaragaiscoral.Thisisthe enclosuremadeofcoral. padmaragaprakarayaThisisaredjewelenclosure. gomedharatnaprakarayaThisisabrownenclosure. vajraratnaprakarayaThisisadiamondenclosurewhichissparkling white in color. Again that represents the seed. Vajra also means a thunderboltandtheabilitytokeeptheseedwithinasyogisdo.
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vaiduryaratnaprakarayaThisisagainaredjewel. indranilaratnaprakarayaThisisadeepblue.IndraalsoistheGod ofpleasure. muktaratnaprakarayaThisisanenclosureofpearls. marakataratnaprakarayaThisisagainaredstoneenclosure. vidrumaratnaprakarayaCoral.Againallofthesearedifferentcolored enclosuresoneinsidetheother. manikyamandapayaAhallwhichismadeofrubies. sahasra sthambhamandapaya A thousandpillared hall. Also the thousandpetallotusatthecrownofthehead(ofthebabyinsidethe womb.) amrtavapikayaiThewellcontainingnectar. anandavapikayaiThewellofhappiness. vimarsavapikayai Vimarsaisanalysis.PrakarshaandVimarsaare the two feet of the guru. Prakarsha is enlightenment (Siva) and Vimarsha is analysis (the foot of Devi). Your ability to discriminate betweendifferntpathstoreachthegoalyousetforyourselfiscalled vimarsa. balatapaudgarayaBalameansyoung;atapaisthesunlight;udgarais theprofusion.Sothismeanstheprofusionoftherisingsun'slight.(Sun representspassion,andmoondispassion) candrikodgaraya Candraisthemoonlight.Sothisistheprofusionof themoonlight. mahsringaraparighayaiparighaisabarrageofthegreatsentimentof eros. mahapadmatavyaiMahaPadmarepresentsahugenumber,10tothe poweroftwenty.Thesizeofthecosmosis10tothepowerof20timesthe sizeofthehumanbeing.Therearetwogreatnidhis:thecosmositself,
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and the awareness in the cosmos. The cosmos nidhi is Siva and the awarenessofthecosmoscalledShaktiisthepadmanidhi.Atavimeans aforest.Aforestofislanduniversesismeant. cintamanigriharajayawithinthepadmanidhiisthejewelofthoughts andahousebuiltoutofyourimaginations.Cintamaniisalsoamantra "arkshmiryaum".ItisfoundintheclassictextonworshipofDevibyAdi SankaracalledSoundaryalahari.Thereitstatesthatyouencapsulate thepancadasimantrawithcintamani;whichisthenofferredinthefire ofyourimaginationandyoukeepthefireglowing.Thismeansoffering gheewiththemantra"arkshmiryaumkaeilahrimhasakalahrimsa kalahrimarkshmiryaum)tothefiresglowinyourmind.Ifyouareable tovisualisethefire,offeringtheseedalongwiththemantra,thenallthe attainments manifest. Lalita Sahasram talks of Cidagnikunda sambutayainamahCitmeansconsciousness.Inyourawarenessthe fireismadeandthefireissustainedbythemantra.Theseedofthe cintamanimantraisbeingplacedinsidethelight,andthiscintamani flowerisbornandinsideityouwillseeDevi,whowillgiveyouwhatever youaskHer,ifitbeHerwishtograntyouthat. ThehouseofcintamaniistheSriChakraitself;TheSriChakraisfirst seeninmeditationbySageAgastya;worshipofSriChakragivesDevito Sadhaka.. purvamnayamayapurvadvarayanextyouseetheoutsidedoorsofSri Chakradescribed.TheRgVedaistheEasternentrance.TheRigveda istherevelationoftruthinmeditation.Thisisonewaytoreachthe Goddess. dakshinamnayamayadaksinadvarayatheYajurVedaisthesouthern entrance.YajurvedaistheuseofRiksinrituals.Ritualsarethesecond waytoreachtheGoddess. pascimamnaya maya pascimadvaraya the western entrance is the SamaVeda.SamaVedaissingingtheRiks. Songanddancearethe thirdwaytoreachtheGoddess.
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uttarmnayamayauttardvaryathenorthernentranceistheAtharvana Veda. Atharvana Veda is the practical use of the Vedic Hymns to achieveendsmagically.HelpingothersandyourselfthroughHergrace isthefourthwayofreachingtheGoddess. ratna dvipa valayaya A circle of islands made of jewels are surroundingthisisland. manimayamahasimhasanayaThegreatthroneguardedbyLions,is madeoutofjewels,sittingonfourlivingpillars. brahmamaya eka manca padaya Brahma is one of the legs. It representstheMuladharaChakra(therootchakraatthecervix). visnumayaekamancapadayaThesecondlegisVisnu. Visnuisthe Swadhisthanachakra(2ndchakraattheentrancetobirthchannel). rudramayaekamancapadayaThenextlegismadeofRudra.Rudra representstheManipurachakra(3rdchakraatthenavel). isvaramaya eka manca padaya The next leg is Iswara which is the Anahatachakra(the4th,Heartchakra). sadasivaekamancaphalakayaSadasivaistheVisshudhichakra(the Throatchakra). hamsatoolatalpayanamahAbovetheVisshudhichakraisaverysoft swandownbed.Italsomeansthesoftyogicbreathcalledthekevala kumbhaka.SheissittingsoftlyontheingoingbreathSoandonthe outgoingbreathHam. hamsatoolamahopadhanayanamahasoftswansdowncover.Thisis alsothelifefloatingonthebreath.Toolameansafeatherfloatingfreely inthewind. kausumbhastaranayatheredsatinsheetiscoveringthisbed. maha vitanakaya the enclosure which prevents others from seeing whatishappeninginside.Itisallinsidethemindofthedevotee.Noone
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else can come inside your cosmic mind and understand what is happeningthere. mahamayayavanikayai thecoveringmayawhichseparatesyoufrom thatwhichyouareseeing.Onlywhenthatseparationisremovedare youjoinedwithDevi. This completes the 44 meditations on the 44 triangles in the central partsoftheSriChakra. WORSHIPPINGTHEBINDUANDTHETRIKONA NextyouworshipthecentralpointoftheSriChakra(bindu)bysaying AimhrimsrimKaeilahrimHasakalahrimSakalahrim.Thenyou worshipthecentraltriangle.Kaeilahrimisthecornerfacingyou.You areworshippingSaraswati,thefaceofDevithere.ThenHasakahala hrimisLakshmi.Sheisvisualizedtobeonthecornertoyourright,and SakalahrimisParvationtheleft.TheyarecalledMahaKameshwari, MahaVajeshwari,andMahaBhagamalini. VIRAJAHOMA Nowweareataplaceintheritualwherewewanttocreateanastral body that is going to continue after our existence,which is going to continuedoing good.ThatisdonethroughtheVirajaHoma.Whether wearemalesorfemales,whetherweareyoungorold,whetherweare fat of thin, whether we are depressed or elated, no matter what our initialstateis,weresetourselvestothestateof"Iam15goingon16". Forthatthiswholeprocesscanbedoneinyourownlanguage,whatever thatis.Sitcomfortably,andimaginethefollowingtothebestofyour ability. You imagine that your body issubject to decayand it is goingto be burnt upsome day. It has to become old, it has to merge with the elements,ithashappenednow.Imaginethewindiscominganddrying upyourdeadbody.Itsjustlikebarebones.Itisplacedonthefuneral pyreandlitup.Theseareallvisualizations.Themorepowerfully,the
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more clearly you can visualize seeing the flames in your mind's eye, hearing the crakling of the fire, and the sparks fly, the better your experiencewillbe.Watervaporsrisefromthebody,andpartsofthe bodyarestickingoutandsomeonetakesastickandpushesthemback into the fire. All these things are associated with a smashana (a cremationground).Idon'tknowifyouhavebeentoarealfuneralpyre and watched a body burning. It is worth watching because that is exactly what is going to happen to you. Its all a drama and brings realityofimpermanenceoflifesopowerfullytoyourmind.Yourealize thatallthesethingswedoinlife arejustgamesthatweareplaying. Youseethewholebodygoingupinsmoke. You visualize this scene. After the body is gone, all those things associatedwiththebodyaregonetoo.Thereisnolust,nothingtobe possessiveof.Sivaissupposedtohaveburnedthewholecosmosandput theashesofthecosmosonhishead.Thosearethethreelinesyousee peoplewearingassociatedwithLordSiva.Hehasburntallthegross forms, allthesubtleforms,allthecausalformsandalltheashesare being worn on his head. He is in yoga. Nothing disturbs him. He continuesaspureawareness.Thelingaishischaracteristic. Afteryourbodyisreducedtoashes,stayinthatstateforareasonably goodtimeenjoyingacalmmindundisturbedbythoughtslikeyounever enjoyedbefore.Nextyouimaginethatdarkcloudsaregathering,that therearethundershowers,andlightening,andarainofnectarfallson theashes.Theashestakeanewshape.Thenewshapeisaballoflight, brilliant like a thousand suns and cool like a thousand moons and emiting billions of coloured rays of all the colors of the rainbow in differentdirections. ThisballoflightcondensesintotheformofSiva andShaktiinembrace,dancingwithjoy.Outoftheirdance,outoftheir union,outoftheirhappinesscomesthisworld."Forthesakeofpleasure thisuniversewasborn.Forthesakeofpleasureyougrow.Whenyou become old and your body is taken over by disease, for the sake of releasefrompain,youdie.Theonlymedicine,theonlydoctorisHari,
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theLord.HarialsoknownasVasudevawhoresidesintheheartcenter, hecarriesyoulikeachildthroughthecaveofdeathandattheendof this there is a light. At the end of your life if you say the name of Vasudeva,hewillmanifestandcarryyouintothelight. ImaginethatyouhavecreatedtheballoflightandyouarelikeSivaand Shakti. Siva is fifteen, Shakti is sixteen. They have merged into a brilliant ball of light again. Then, imaginethat this ball of light has entered into your heart center and that you are emiting this light outside also. Whatever comes into contact with this light is getting purified and healed. There are different colors of light corresponding with different frequencies and they have different powers associated withthem. Youdopranayamathreetimes.Alongwithexhalationandrecitationof Panchadasi,thistheballoflightisgoingoutandformingballoutside, and when you inhale with Panchadasi, this light is dissolving and cominginsideandformingaballinside.Aninsideandoutsideexchange istakingplacewiththebreath.Youareexistinginsideyourbodyand outsideyourbody.Andthebreathistheconnectinglinkbetweenthe two. Thewaytodopranayamaisasfollows.RecitePanchadasioncewhile inhaling, twice holding the breath inside, once while exhaling, onceholdingthebreathoutside.ThisconstitutesonecycleofPranayama. Also,theballoflightgoeswherethebreathgoes.Duringinhalation,itis goingin,withexhalationitisgoingout.Likethis,youstartwiththree roundsandgraduallyincreasetofifteenrounds. DEALINGWITHTHEOBSTACLESTOPUJA ApasarpantuteBhutahYebhutah SamsthitahYebhuta VighnakartarahteNasyantuSivajnaya
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Onceyouhavebecometheballoflight,youhavebecomeSiva,capableof projectingalaserbeamthroughyourthirdeye,and youhavebecome Shaktiwhocangive nourishmentbyamerelookofcompassion.You have the power to command the elements.As Sivayou say that "All thoseelementsApasarpantumaytheygoawaytebhutayebhuta whichelementsbhuvisamsthitahareresidingonthegroundnear me, ye bhuta and those elements vighna kartarah which are obstructingtheprogressofmysadhanatenasyantusivajnayamay theybedestroyedbySiva'sorder.Sosaying,youburnthemupfromthe fireofyourthirdeye whichshootsoutlikeadestructivelaserbeam. Visualizethemascrookedbeings,seethemburnup.Thefeelingsthat bindyousuchaslust,anger,greed,jealousy,preocupationwithsecurity, allthesearecalledbhutaswhichcreateobstaclesforyou.Theyresidein the security center, the muladhara chakra( bhuvi samsthitah). So havingbecomeSivayoumakesurethattheyareburntup. VAJRAPANJARANYASAMTHEDIAMONDCAGE Thewholeconceptofthepujaisbaseduponsuccessivetransformations. Transformationsofyourphysicalbodyintoayantra,intoanexternal astralbody,intothelight.Yourbodyiscalledyoursthulasarira.The susksmasariraistheyantra,andkaranasariraistheballoflight..You havetheabilitytomovethroughthesedifferentlevelsfreely.Theability todosoisattainedbytheentireprocedurewhichfollows. The first of these things is the identification of your body asthe Sri Chakra.TheSriChakrasymbolizesthecosmosasyourselfidentity.It isalsotheconnectinglinktothosethingswhichpreservetheideaof yourseparateidentity.Itconnectsallthree:yourtrueself,theselfyou haveassumed,andthenatureoftheconnectinglinkbetweenthesetwo. Youhavetoreestablishtheconnectionbetweenyourselfandthislost identity,yourrealidentitywhichiscosmicawareness. Thisidentification:yourphysicalform=thephysicalformoftheDevi, themantra=yantra(SriChakra),andGuru =Siva. Allthesethree
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pairsaretobemerged.Thissixfoldidentityhastobeestablished.This istheconceptofthepuja.Youmergeallthesesixintoone.TheGuru mergesintoyou,theDevimergesintoyou,themantramergesintoyou and the yantra merges into you. This process of merging is called Tantra. WhatareMantra,yantraandtantra?Mantraisthesoundform,yantra isthevisualformandtantraisthetechniquewhichconnectsthesetwo. Howdoweconnectthemantratotheyantra? ItisusualasthepartofyourmeditativeexercisetodrawfirsttheSri Yantra(=SriChakra).Whileyouaredrawingityourecitethemantra. That is how the identity between these two is established. However, drawingaSriYantraiscomplicatedbusiness,andisitselfameditation, likeaBuddhistmandala.Wewillgointothisatalaterstage.Andfora properSriChakrapujatheSriYantrathatyoudrawistheonetowhich youdopuja. LetuslookatthemappingofbodypartstoSriYantra.NowifIsaythat Iamidenticalwiththeyantra,thenImustknowwhereallmylimbsare located in the yantra. There are nine nyasas which give us this information.Nyasameanspayingattentiontoanyparticularregion.It canbedonethroughtouchingapartofthebody,ormerelyfocussing awarenessthere. In each mantra that defines step by step this identification process, therearethreebijaksharasorseedletters(apartfromtheAimHrim Srim). Thefirstof thethreelettersistobeplacedinsideofyou,the second seed letter is to be placed at the connecting point of the Sri Chakra,andthethirdseedletterisplacedintheIconortheDeviora livingpersonwhomyouareworshipping. ThefirstmantraisAmAamSauhnamah.Amisyourfeet,Aamisthe square enclosure of the Sri Chakra and Sauh is the feet of the Icon/Devi/Person."A"isnegation.ItistheSubjectlostinObject,and doesnotexistseparatelyfromit."Aa"isthatintentiontoknowitself.It
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istheconnectinglinkbetweenmeandnotme.Andthatmanifestsas souhthepowerofthekundaliniwhichresidesintheearth.Thefeet arecontactingtheearth.Soyousay,AmAamSouh=Iamconnectingto earthatmyfeet(ifstanding)orseat(ifsitting). LetusrememberthatifyouhavedonetheVirajaHomamvisualizations properly, you are almost floatinginspace,you havelostyourbody consciousnessalready,butnowyouhavetoproceedwiththepuja.So youhavetoforceyourconsciousnesstocomebacktothebody.Therefore there is a little twist here from the normal sequence to Kara nyasa (placingpowersinfingers). Now,usuallyinthesenyasas,youstartwiththe1.thumb2. forefinger3.middlefinger,4.ringfinger,5.littlefingerand6.front andbackofhands. However,inthisparticularnyasawithAmAamSauhyoustartwith yourmiddlefinger.Thisistoforceyourattentionbacktoyourlimited bodyidentityandthentoexpanditbacklater,learningtoattachand detachfrombodyatwill.Thisislikeamusicalscaleoflife.Youreset yourselftoathunderboltinthecrownchakra,theSahasrara,thenyou bringyourselfdowntothemuladharatobecomethebody,andthenyou startmovingupagain.So, 1. Ammadhyamabhyamnamah(thumbtouchingmiddlefingers) 2. Aamanamikabhyamnamah(ringfingers) 3. Souhkanisthikabhyamnamah(littlefingers) 4. Amangusthabhyamnamah(forefingerstouchingthumbs) 5. Aamtarjanibhyamnamah(thumbstouchingforefingers) 6. Souhkaratalakaraprsthabhyamnamah(frontandbackofpalms). Thisthinglookstough,butalittledemofromaguruwillclearupthe matterseasily.
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Except the am aam souh which are the seed letters, the rest of the Sanskritcanbetranslatedintoyourownlanguage,whateverthatis. Theseedlettersarethepartwhichcannotbetranslated. Then you invoke the sixteen petal lotusin theSriChakrawithaim klimsouhMahaTripuraSundariAtmanamRakshaRaksha.Thislotus represents the flow of time through the lunar calendar. Raksha = protection.Itmeansyouhavetobeprotectedeverydayatalltimes.So yousay,aimklimsouhthroughthecreative,protectiveandphasesyou have to be protected. Mahatripurasundari : maha means the great, belonging tothe cosmos. If youtakemahaandreversetheletters,it becomesaham=I.Ahamrelatestotheinsideandmaharelatestothe outsideofourbodies,mindandintellect.Tripuraisthethreecitiesthe waking,dreamingandsleepingstates.Sundari=themostbeautifulin allthesestates,relatingtotothecosmos.atma,thenotionoftheego confinedtothisbody,raksha,raksha(maySundari)protectme,protect methroughoutallthesixteendays.Thesixteenpetallotusisidentified withprotection. Thenyoumovetotheeightpetallotuswhereyourexperiencesbegin. You have already moved beyond the seven locas (worlds) below. You havemovedintotheeighthworld.ThatistheMuladharachakra.That istheeightpetallotus(intheSriYantra). Hrim Klim Souh. Previously we usedAim Klim Souh. Here we are sayingHrim.Hrimcanexistinthreedifferentforms.Thefirstrelatesto creation, the second relates to nourishment, the third relates to the annihilation.HereallthethreeformsareincludedintheEarth.Youare bornoutoftheearth;youarefedbythethingsthatgrowoutofthe earth;andyouarereabsorbedintotheearth.Hrimisyourmotherthe earth. Klim is the nourishment, coming from Her and Souh is the reabsorptionintothat. ThisisthenatureofHrimKlimSouhandtheMuladharaChakra.The fear comes when you think you are separate from the earth. Your
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nourishment , your life relies on seeking things from the earth. The earthdoesgiveyouthatnourishment. Yourfearsareassociatedwith yourseparationfromyourmother.Youhavelostyourconnectionwith your mother, with the earth, and you have to reestablish your connectionwiththeearthfromwhichyouareborn. When you say Hrim, Klim Sauh, Hrim is placed in your muladhara chakra.Youmustknowverywellthesechakraswherethesechakras arelocatedinyourbody.Whenthemaleandthefemaleareincoitusin thedrama ofcreation, thentheglanspenistouchesthecervixofthe female.Thecervixisthemuladharachakrainthefemale,andinthe manitisglanspenis.Buttheejaculationthatmakescreationpossibleis energizedbythesphinctermusclesinmale.Sothecausefortheseed's emissionliesintheejaculatorysphinctermuscles,(evenmoresointhe head). That is why in the male, people generally associate the muladharachakrawiththeejaculatorysphinctermuscleslyingbetween thebaseofthepenisandtheperineum,ratherthanintheglanspenis. Thusmuladharaisinthesamelocationforbothmaleandfemale.That iswhywhenthereisasexchangeoperation,theytakethecervixand pullitouttomakeitthemalepenis.Thusinsidesurfaceofthevaginais thesameasthe outsidesurface ofthe penis,andthesensationsthere arealsoidentical. Theswadhisthanachakraisthebaseinthepenisandthevulvainthe female. Again they are at the same place; the sensations are also similar.HereyouseeAimKlimSouhistherepeatingpattern,andyou areaddingletterstoit."h","s",and"r". Inthe swadhisthana chakra theenergizationisthroughthefire.The fireissymbolizedbylust,thedrivebehindprocreativity,desire.Thatis whatcausestheerectionofthe penis inthe male,the clitoris andthe nipplesinthefemale.Desireissymbolizedby"Ha".Thedesireforthe cosmicunion,calledthelingaofSiva."Ha"coupledwith"aim,klimand souh".Thatiswhyyousay Haim,Hklim,Hsouh forthe swadhisthana
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chakra.DesireisthepowercalledKundalini,thedesireforcreativity, throughanorgasmicreleasefromthebondagetoearth.Itdoeshappen inSex,butitisshortlived.Thatisitsproblem.Tohaveapermanent releasefromalltensions,thatistherealaspirationofKundalini. The swadhisthana chakra in the Sri Yantra is the fourteencornered figure."Haim"isplacedinsideyouatyourswadhisthana),"hklim"on thefourteencorneredfigureand"hsauh"ontheDevi'sswaddhisthana chakra(vulva/baseofpenis}.Thischakracanbethatofapersonbeing worshipped, or of the cosmos. (Lalita Sahasram says Devi is Bhagaradhya=worshippedinthevulvaastheuniversalmother).The Svadhisthanachakraofthecosmosiswaters:forexample,lakes,rivers, oceans,riversoflife. Inthe manipurachakra thesounds"ha"and"sa"arejoinedtogether. Hsaim, hsklim, hssouh. Here in the union between the Siva and Shakti,Sivaisinyoga.Heisnotemittingtheseed,andthedesireisso powerfultomakethelingaissoerectthatitbecomesverticaltouching thenavel.Thatiswheretheseatofthefireissupposedtobe.Theseatof fireistheoutertencornersthatrelatestotheindividual.Theinner tencorners relate to the cosmos. So Hsaim, hsklim, hssouh are relatedtotheindividual.Beforeyougoontothecosmicfigureyouhave togothroughthislink.Thesefourcenters,muladhara,swaddhisthana, manipura and anahata are known as the placement of Four Seats, Chaturasana Nyasa. To remind ourselves, nyasa means paying attentiontoyourbody. Holdingthemindinaplaceorkeepingyourawarenessfixediscalled nyasa.Thefirstseatiscalled: DeviAtmaAsanayanamah Devi is residing in the muladhara chakra, and I am residing in the muladharachakra. Thesecondseatisthe:
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SriChakrasanayanamah. IaminthesecuritycenterandsoisDeviinthesecuritycenter.WhenI amintheswaddhisthanachakra,Deviisintheswaddhisthanachakra. WhenIamlookingforsensations,soisDevilookingforsensations. Thethirdseatistheseatofpower,calledManipuraChakra.Whenyou standbyyourvalueswithdisciplineandyouarepreparedtosacrifice yourlifetodothat,thenyougainpowerandyouareinthe Manipura chakra.Theballoffireislocatedinthemanipurachakra. Thefireexistsasdesire,lust,digestivefire,externalfire,whereeveryou findfire.Itisnotjustatthenavel.Itisthereatthecookinggasflame, inthethermalpowerplants,inthevolcanoes,inthebowelsoftheearth. Itisallover.Sointhecosmicaspect,whereverfireisfound,itispart oftheManipurachakra.Thatisrelatedtopower. Themantrais: sarvamantrasanayanamah Thismeansthatwhichbringsallthemantrastoyou.Withthemantras wesay"swaha"andofferthemintothefire.Theseatofallthemantras isfire.Thisisaveryinterestingstatement.Whyisitthatpeoplehave lostcontactwiththespiritualworldtoday?Becausetheyarenotdoing thefireritualsdaily.Fireisabeautifulthing.Thewayitcandance,you cannotdance.Itisabeautifulsight.Whenyouareconstantlylookingat itsdance,itinvokesthatdanceinyou,theKundalini,thepowertoknow beyond, in you. And that brings all the mantras to you in to your memory.Thatiswhyfireiscalledsarvamantraasana. The heart center is the inner tencorners, and it is surrounded by a twelvepetallotus. Themantrais: HrimKlimBlemSadhyaSiddhaasanayanamah
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Sadhya iswhatistobeattained. Siddha iswhatisattainedalready. Thisistheseatwhereyouhavepartlyattainedandpartlyyouhavegot toattain. The part you have attained already is the control over yourself. You havecontrolledallyourpassions,andyoubegintobenonjudgemental, loveothersunconditionally,thatisthepartyouhaveattained.Thepart to be attained is the fulfilment in cosmicization of this unconditional love and nonjudgement. You have to attain these attributes in an unlimitedsense.Thustheheartcenterisamixtureofattainmentand attempting to attain love of all nature, good and bad included (non judgingwitness). Now we have gone over six chakras of the Sri Chakra already. The othersthreearetheeightcorners,thetriangleandthepoint.Theyall relate to the laya, the loss of your individuality totally and youre mergingintothecosmos. Mergingwiththecosmosbeginswithyourexpansionofconsciousness beyondyourbody,beyondyourlove,beyondyourattachments.Thatis why once you have reached the Visshudhi chakra, you will not come back.Butifyouareintheheartcenterandthenyoudie,youarelikely toreturnbecauseofyourattachmenttothepeopleandthegooddeeds thatareyettobedone. Howevermuchwesayweareunattached,weareattachedtogoodness. Thisislove,butitisstillabondage.Youmusttranscendthislovetoget totheuniversalself. ThisiswheretheVairagya(detachment)starts manifesting when your attachment for the universal manifests, your attachmentforthelocalbecomesinsignificant. Thisexpansionprocessistobeattainedthroughyourunderstandingof the nature of Saraswati. It is through knowledge alone that we can attaintomoksha.ItisSaraswatiwhotakesyouoverfromtheVisshudhi andAjnachakras.
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TheeightformsofSaraswatiarenoneotherthentheeightgroupsofthe Sanskritletters amamimimumuuumarumaroom, alumaloomemaimomoumahahm. IntheSriChakratheseareshortenedintotheunmanifestformsa,i, u,aru,alu,e,o,ah.Youcanmapthemalsointotheeightgroupsof letterscomprisingofbothvowelsandconsonants.Youcanalsothinkof themascosmicresourcesformatterformingoutofinteractingtimeand space. IntheVisuddhichakra,theseedsyllablesareHrimSrimSauh.Hrimis beinglookedatasLaya,annihilationnow.Srimisistheeightcorners wheretheeightformsofSaraswatiarelocatedandSouhisthesoundof ahissingsnakeKundalinipowerwhichistakingyouthroughallthese things. Once you come to visshudhiyouareworkingwiththecosmic formandyournyasatakesondifferentmeanings,movingawayfrom individuation to connectedness. Visuddhi chakra is called the communiccationcenterforthisreason. Aimhrdayayanamah.Yourhrdaya(heart)isthewind,lifebreathitself. Klimsirasesvaha(thehead)isnowtheoutreachofspace.Yourbrainis mapped into the cosmos. Then Sauh sikhayai vasat, sauh kavacaya hum, klim netratrayaya vausat, aim astraya phat. Really all these things are untranslatable. (which means I don't know yet their meanings!) VAGDEVATANYASA NextcomestheVagdevataNyasa,theeightformsofSaraswati.They are called Vasini, Kamesvari, Modini, Vimala, Aruna, Jayini, Sarvesvari,andKaulini.ThisistheVisshudhichakrawiththesixteen petallotusintheneck.Thesixteenpetallotus(thesecondchakraofSri Chakra) was associated with time earlier. But now in Visuddhi, associationiswithspacecommunications.
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THEAJNACHAKRA AimHrimSrim...hsraimhsrklimhsrsauh.Herewearehaving"ha, sa,andra"coupledwithaimklimandsauh.Herewhenyousaythat SivaandShaktiareunitedandthepassionisunitedandmaintained, thenthatmanifestsitselfasthecreatingpower,thenourishingpower and the reabsorbing power . This manifests as the flow of time. The agni,thetipofthefirestartsatthemuladharachakraandgoestothe thirdeye.Thereitmanifestsitselfaspast,presentandfuture,asthe movementoftime.Hsraimisplacedin therighteye,hsrkliminthe left,andhsrsauhinthemiddlethirdeye. SAHASRARA,THECROWNCENTER IntheSahasrara,thecrowncenter,allthechakrasarecollapsedtothe singlecentralpoint,thecentralpointoftheSriChakra.Initarefeet, thighs, then on to the Muladhara, Swadisthana, Manipura, Anahata, Visshudhi,Ajna,Sahasraraatotalofninechakras. YouridentitywiththeSriChakraisnowcomplete.Youhaveshedyour ignorance that you are your body. Your body is a temple where God lives. Clean the temple and worship the God within. Cleaning, decoratingandservingthebodyiscalledpooja=worship.Theworship is through the Mantras. Mantras are related to the causal form; the cleaningisrelatedtothefivesensescalledpancamritas,thefivenectars associatedwiththefiveelements. THEPANCADASINYASA KaEILaHrimHaSaKaLaHrimSaKaLaHrim Therearemanyhundredsofwaysinwhichyoucandonyasas. There are whole chapters devoted to these various kinds of nyasas. Parasurama,anAvatarofVishnuhasclearlystatedthattheseeightor ninenyasasthathavebeengiveninthispujaareenough.Theothers arefineandgoodifyoudo,butifyoudon'titdoesnotmatter.Some peoplelookatvariousbooksandsay,"Ah,it'snicehere",andpickup
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thisthingandputitintotheirpujas.Theykeeponadding,makingthe procedure intractable and unmanagable. Some people think more complicatedthepuja,thebetteritis.Therealskillandclevernessliesin simplifyingyourpujaandretainingitsessentialsandnotoverdoingit andnotunderdoingit. ThenyasaofthePancadasicanbedoneinmanymanyways.Wewill describe a few important ones now. Latter on we give the most importantwaycalledtheMulamantranyasa. TheformwhichismostuniversallyfollowedisastheMotherwhogives birthtoyouintheSwaddishthanaandMuladharachakras.Thereisa famous statement which translated says, "You can think of Devi as male.YoucanthinkofDeviasfemale.Oryoucanthinkofherasthe flowwhichcomesoutoftheunionbetweenmaleandfemale,thebindu. SowhenyouthinkofLalitaDeviasthefemale,youthinkofherasthe yoni(thebirthchannel),thesourceofcreation. TraverseonesideoftheyonibysayingKaEILaHrim.Thentraverse themiddlelinefrombottomup,sayingHaSaKaHaLaHrim,andthen traversetheothersideoftheyonisayingSaKaLaHrim.Theyoniis alwaysinfrontofyourmind'seyeandyouareworshippingthatallthe time. This gives creative manifestations of all sorts. And it is this worshipwhichisdescribedinthe44meditationsinthebeginning.Itisa poeticdescriptionofhowtheyonilookstoyou. The other modes of nyasa which give totally different fruits are as follows.YoucanworshiptheDeviintheheartcenterbyconcentrating on therightnipple (Ka..) andthen themiddle of theheart(Ha..) and then the left nipple (Sa..). This gives you Jnana = knowledge about nourishingyourideas,musicalanddance. YoucanworshipDeviinthelips(Ka...)andthetwoeyes(Ha...Sa...)or you can worship theDevi withthePancadasiattheajnacenter; the righteye,(Ka...)lefteye(Ha...)andthethirdeye(Sa...).Thisgivesyou commandoverallyouseeorimagine
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YoucanworshiptheDeviwiththetwoearsandthethirdeyeasthe thirdpoint.OryoucanworshiptheDeviwiththetwoeyesandtheback ofyourheadasthepointofthetriangle.Ifyouarelookingstraightup outofyourbodyandyouarelookingdownoveryourheaditisthenyou willfindthatthereisahexagonbeingformedbythebackofyourhead andthetwoeyesformingonekindoftriangle,andthethirdeyeandthe twoearsformingtheothertriangle.ThisistheSwadhisthanachakra, locatedintheSahasraraandasyouarelookingdownfromaboveyour head. Allsuch meditations activate differentkindsof powerssuch as clairvoyance,clairaudienceetc. Each of these chakras that are in your body are all mapped in the Sahasraraaswell.Youmustrealizethatitislikeelectricalcircuitry. Theswitchisatoneplace,thelightisatanotherplace.Theswitchesare locatedatthechakras,butthelightisallinthebrain.Sowhereveryou applytheswitchwhenyoutouchthatpartofthebody,thereisacertain partofthebrainthatisenergizedandbringsyouaacertaintypeof illumination. You cannot operate the light without turning on the switch. Your consciousness has to move to the switch in order to enlightenthatparticularpartofthebrain.Thatiswhythearousalof thekundalinihastotakeplacethroughvariousexercisesinthemind. Andtheseexercisesarecallednyasas.AsIsaidtherearevarioustypes ofnyasas. Thesebasicsetofnyasasfoundinthepujaareenoughifyoudothem withtheproperawarenessandconcentration.
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THEMOOLAMANTRANYASA This most important moola mantra nyasatakes you over your entire body.Theideaisthatyouaretryingtomapyourentirebodyintothe brain.Yourentirebrainisenergizedinthisprocess. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. Kaisthesahasrara, eistheyoni; iistheheart; LaandHrimarethetwoeyes. Haisthethirdeye; SaandKaarethetwoears; Haisthetongueand LaandHrimarethearms. Saisthebackand
10. KaandLaareyourrightandleftthighs,and 11. Hrimisyournavel. Sowhenyoumoveyourawarenesstoallthesedifferentpartsofyour bodyplacingtheseedlettersthere,thenthataccessesyourentirebody andthereforeyourentirebrain.ThisiscalledtheMoolaMantraNyasa. Thisisthemostimportantwayofdoingthenyasa. The other ways as I have explained before for gaining iccha shakti, jnanashaktiandkriyashaktiisbyfocusingyourawarenessintheface, the breasts or in the yoni. It is the adoration of these aspects, of creativity,ofnourishmentandofknowledge.
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MAHASHODHANYASA Thenextstepinthepujaistherecitationofthemantra Ganesagrahanaksatra, yoginirasirupinim, devimmantramayim naumimatrkapitharupinim AllformsofGanesha,grahaarethenineplanets;naksatrathestars, theconsellations;yoginisthereare64croresofyoginis,divinebeings; rasithezodiacalsigns;rupinishehasalltheseformsbecausesheis cosmicawareness.DevimthisDevi,whoisintheformofthesounds, the mantras, the vibrations of the world; naumi I worship; matrka pitha thelettersofthe Sanskrit alphabetwhichhaveseatsallover yourbody;inalltheseplacessheresides.Sheresidesinthebrainandin every part of your body. Not only does she reside in your body, she residesinallthegeographicalareaswherethepartsofherbodyhave fallen(the51shaktipithas).Theawarenessesflowinginthecosmos,in yourselfinthemicrocosmosarerepresented.Thisstanzasummarizesall thenyasascoorespondingtotheGaneshanyasa,thegrahanyasa,the nakshatra nyasa, the yogini nyasa, rasi nyasa, devi nyasa, mantra nyasa,matrkanyasaallthesenyasasarecombinedinthisstanza.And Parasuramahasplacedallthesethingsintoonecompletestanza.Now peopleexpandthesethingsintoaninfinitenumberofnyasas.Theysay thatthroughthenyasasaloneyoucanfindrealization. THESRIKRAMAM Meditationcanbecomparedtoaflow.Infact,thewordnadis"which theyusearereallymispellingoftheword"nadi"orriver.Itisaconduit, aflowofawarenessalongadirection.Forthisflowofdirectionthereare twobanks.Onebankisthemaleaspectandtheotherbankisthefemale aspect. WhenyouarethinkingofthepowerasMother,thenyouare thinkingofthefemalegenital.Whenyouarethinkingofthepoweras
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theFather,asSiva,youarethinkingofthemalegenital.Whenyouare thinkingoftheflowitself,oftheriveritself,whenthetwobanksmerge, theflowbecomesthin,thereisathinlineofseparationbetweenthese two.Theyareincontact,ininteraction.Theflowiscomingoutofthe union between Siva and Shakti. The orgasm itself is the kundalini Shakti. The male is the undisturbed aspect and the female is the disturbingaspect. InTantra,thefemaleisconsideredtobetheGuru.Sheistheonewho directstheflowofthepujaworship.Sheistheonewhodecideswhatis tobedoneandatwhatstage.Shecontrolstheentireprocedure.Without her approval, not one step can be taken forward. Constantly the awareness is kept on the femaleaspect orthemaleaspect oronthe unionaspect.Thereareonlythreemodesofworshipatthemuladhara chakra. The mind tends to onlyget absorbed in happiness.It cannot focusitselfonsomethingitdoesnotlike.Evenonthingsthatitlikes,it cannotstaythere,ittriestomoveaway.Thereforeyouchooseforyour meditation something which is very pleasurable and lovable. That is whysheiscalledBhagaradhya. PREPARATIONOFTHENECTAR The SriKramam isthepreparationofthenectar,invokingtheentire cosmicaspectsintothenourishingdrinkthatwearepreparinghere,by the taking of which you become the Devi Herself. This means throughoutyourentiredaywhateveryousaywillcometrue.Thosewho take the visesharyam remembering the Guru and offering it first to theirheadsandthentakingitinsidebecometheDeviandthistakes effectuntilthenextday.Alltheirprevioussinsandwhateverkarmas theyhavedonearecompletelywashedout.Thatisthefunctionofthe visheshargyamsthapana.Itplaysaveryimportantrole. The Sri Vidya upasana means that you realize the truth of the statementthatwhatyouseeisyourself.Youareseeingyourself,your body,yourmind,yourthoughtsalltheseareyours.Notonlythat,you
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arealsoseeingallthearticlesofworship,theyantraandtheDeviall thesearealsoyourself. Toestablishtherealityandthetruthofthisinanintegralway,imagine thatyouarehoveringlikeanangeloveryourselfandyouarelooking downwhereyouaresitting.Thisisyouurnose.Deviissittinghere.The articles of puja are there here is the Sri Chakra which is the link betweenthetwoofyou.Ontheleftsideandontherighthandsideyou aregoingtokeepwhatiscalledSamanargyaandVisheshargya.Thereis goingtobeamandalafortheordinarypot(samanargya)andoneforthe visheshargya,thenectarinwhichallthekalasareinvoked. Youhavetobecomeapartoftheentirestructure.ThisisHerface,you areHerbreastsandthisisHerfootandthisisHeryoniandthisisHer navel.YouaresittingonHeryoni,theAdharashaktiHermuladhara chakra. You are yourself the swaddhisthana. The samanargya and visheshargyaaretherightandleftbreastsofDevi.Thiswholestructure isArdhanaishwara,therightbreastcoorespondswithSivaandthatis flat,andtheleftbreastisfull,itisthevisheshargyam,theDevi.The Devi is the iccha shakti, the Sri chakra and the Samanargya and Visheshargya are in the jnana shakti sthana and you and the muladharaarethekriyashaktisthana.Aswementioned,intheVajra Pancanyasa,weareplacingthethreebijas,oneinyourself,oneinthe connecting link of the Sri Chakra and one in the Devi, in the kriya, jnanaandicchashaktisthanas.Youareexchangingtheicchaandkriya shaktisandtheconnectionisthejnana.Itislikeapointwhichisapin holecamera,wherewhatyouseeisbeingreflected.Yourrightsideis HerleftsideandyourleftisHerrightside.Youaremakingyourself, the puja articles, the nectar and the Devi one integrated structure throughthisprocessofritual.
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SAMANARGYA Thenext step in thepreparation isthepurificationofthewater.We makeamandalalikethis. 1. Drawasquare 2. Drawacircle,thepointofwhichtouchesthesquare 3. Thenformahexagoninsidethat 4. Andthenformthetrianglesinsidethat.
SIVA KONA
ANJA CHAKRA
SAKTHI KONA
FiguredepictingHowtodrawtheMandala forpreparingSamanargya Firstyoudrawtheinsidetriangles.Thenyoudrawthehexagon.Yougo clockwise. You draw the circle starting at the upper left and going aroundclockwise.Startingwiththeisanakona,thenortheastcorner, you draw the square. Whenyoudoitthiswayyou arefollowingthe vastu, the rules for architecture. The central triangle represents the ajna chakra. Theupper trianglerepresentstheSivatrikona,andthe triangle with the point down represents the shakti kona. They are interpenetratingandtheyareinunionwitheachother.Thistherefore representstheswaddhisthanachakra,thesixpetalledlotus.Thecircle
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representsthethreecirclesgoingaroundthewaist,thechestandthe throat chakras. Muladhara is the square, swaddhisthana is the six petalled lotus, the circle represents manipura, anahata and visshudi grantis and the central triangle is the ajna. Up to the ajna the differentiation between Siva and Shakti exists. The Samanargya preserves this difference. You say "trikona" and draw the triangle, "satkona"thesixpetalledlotus,"vrta"thecircle,and"caturasra"the square.Whendonesay"mandalavilikya". Thedirectionsofthepujaareselfexplanatory. 1. Firstofferaflower. 2. Putaconchorapotontopofdiagram. 3. Fill it with water. Into the water add one drop of milk, the specialherbs,saffron,tumeric,etc. 4. Imaginethediagramistransferredupintothewater. 5. Worshiptheangadevataswithkumkumorsandalpaste. 6. ImagineyouarealsoworshippingyoursandDevi'sbodiesas youdothisnyasam. 7. Ontopofthisisabaseandapotwithwater. 8. IntothiswaterinvokethelimbsoftheGoddess. 9. Thendotheangadevatanyasaandsay, 10. "Ka...hrdayayanamah"(theheart)andtouchtheagnikona thenortheasterncornerofthesquare; 11. "Ha...sirasesvaha"(thehead)andtouchthe isanakona the northwesterncornerofthesquare; 12. "Sa...sikhayaivasat"(thecrownofhead)andtouchthe asura konathesoutheasterncorner; 13. "Ka...kavachayahum"(thearms)andtouchthevayukonathe southwesterncornerofsquare;
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16. Say"Bhubhuvasuvahom".Thatishowitgoes. 17. Then worship the central part of the triangle saying, "Aim hrimsrimKa..Ha..Sa...namah". 18. Youtouchfirstthetipofthetriangleatthebottom, 19. Thentouchtherightsidecorner, 20. Thentheleft,goinganticlockwise. 21. Thiscompletesthepreparationofthesamanargya. PREPARATIONOFTHEVISESHARGYAM Nowcomesthecomplicatedprocedure,theinvocationofallthekalas into the mother's milk. We have identified the viseshargya with the Mother'sleftbreast.Themilkofkindness,ofcompassion,ofknowledge ofgrace,ofprotection,ofallthesegoodqualitiesresidentintheMother arepresenthere. Likebefore,wearedrawingthemandalaforviseshargya.Firstyouput thebindu,takingthewaterfromthesamanargya,drawthemandala withyourringfinger.TheringfingerrepresentstheSiva,theringisthe yoni.SowiththeSivalingayouareputtingtheyonithere.Againdipthe fingeranddrawthecentraltriangleandsurroundingthatyoudrawthe satkonalikebefore.Thendrawthecircleandthesquare.Hereyoustart frominsideandgototheoutside.Firstworshipthemandalathatyou havedrawnontheground.Totheleftofthesamanargyaisyournormal
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potofwaterandtothesideofthevisheshargyayoukeepthemilk.The articlesorworshipareonyourrightside. Youworshipthemandalafromthecenter.Thenyouworshipthethree konasofthecentraltriangletheajnachakra,lookingintotheeyesofthe Devi and remembering your own eyes. Ka..namah, Ha...namah, Sa...namah.Thenyoudotheangadevatanyasa.Yougoaroungthesat konaclockwise,startingwiththesouthernkona.Thenyourepeatthe nyasainthesamewaythatyoudoitforthesamanargya. Allthe chakrasareincludedinthisnyasa.Thebindurepresentsthesahasrara chakra.Butinsamanargyaonlyuptotheajnachakraisincluded.This establishesthefemalesupremacy. Thenyouplacethebijasforeachofthechakras.Youstartwiththefire whichyouaregoingtoinvokeinthebaseonwhichyouaregoingto placetheviseshargyapotwhichgoesontopofthemandalamyouhave drawn.Thepotrepresentsthesunandtheliquid,themilkisgoingto representthemoon.TheAgniisessentiallytheearth.Hereisthesun andhereisthemoon.Whenthesethreearealignedthenthereisasun eqlipse.Ifyouthinkofthemoonhere,thenthereisamooneqlipse.Why do we say that the earth represents the fire? Because except for the outercrust,outofthe6000milesabout5995isfireandfivemilesisthe earth.Theentireearthinsideismoltenlava.Thatiswhywecallthe earththefire. The graha kala, the eqlipse time issupposed tobeapunyakala,an auspicioustime.Itisnecessarythatyoudonotmovetheviseshargya patraorthisalignmentuntilthepujaiscompletelydone.Ifyoumoveit, thenthepowerthatyouhaveinvestedinthat,theeqlipseisover,soit doesnothavethesameeffect.Thatiswhyitissaidthataslongasthe puja is not completed, you should not move the visesargya or the samanargya.
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THEAGNIKALAS Weinvokethetenkalasofthefire.ThekalasareallaspectsofDevi. Thefirstthreeareintheswaddisthanachakra. Yamdhumracisenamah(smoke) ramusmayainamah(heat) lamjvalinyainamah(glow) TheSanskritletterslistedinthebeginningarepointerstotheplaces whereyouputyourimaginationinyourself,inDevi'sbodyandinthe yantra. The yantra we are talking about is the viseshargya yantra. These bijaksharas are located in the Swaddhisthana chakra: Bam, Bham,Mam,Yam,Ram,Lam.Boththebijaksharasandtheirnames couldbesubstitutedhereforalocalidiom.Thesearenotthemantras, theyaretheaspectsofthefireandyouaretryingtoseewheretheyare comingfrom.Thepartsthatcannotbechangedarethemantrasofthe earth,thesunandthemoon.Iamnotgoingtoaffectanychangeshere, but you may do so if you so desire. The Sanskrit alphabet has the advantagethatitusesasingleletter.Itsdisadvantageisthatyoudonot knowit.Workingwiththemeaningsofthesethingsismoreimportant thenjustworkingwiththewords. Theagnikalasresideasthedigestivefireinthestomachandalsoasthe lustinthehumanbeingjustasthelightresidesinthefire.Agnialso existsastime. Yamdhumracisenamah Youarelookingatthelefttopportionoftheyoni.Ifyousuperimposethe yonionthebijas,youwillseethatyamistheleftsideoftheclitoris,ram is the middle of the labia and lam is the bottom of the labia. This invokesthelust,thekama.Youarenotinvokingtherightsidehere.In other versions of tantra, asyou walkintotheyajnasala,thedooris there.Onthelefthandsideyouworshipbhairavabhairavayanamah. You worship lambodaraya namah on top and on right hand side you
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worshipbhadrakalyainamah.Sosayingyouenterthesala.Thedooris likethegatethroughwhichyouarebornandthroughwhichyouenter theyoni. Thenextfouragnikalabijasaretakenfromthemuladharachakra. Vamjvalinyainamah(flame) Samvisphulinginyainamah(sparksissuing) Sam(samsusriyainamah(blessing) Samsurupayainamah(beautiful) Thelastthreebijascomefromtheajnachakra, Ham,kapilayainamah(yellow)righteye Lamhavyavahayainamah(consumingghee)thirdeye Ksam(kavyavahayainamah)(consuingfoodofferings)lefteye Sofromthemuladharaandswaddhisthana,thefirewhichstartsaslust andgoesuptotheajna.Atthispointitmanifestsasflowingtime,past, presentandfuture.Thepastistherighteye,thepresentisthe3rdeye andthefutureisthelefteye.TherighteyeistheeyeofSiva;heiscalled bhutanathathelordofthepast.ThelefteyeistheeyeoftheDevi.Devi isthecreatrix,themother;shebringsthefutureintothepresent. ThemantrafortheAgniKalasis: Aimaginmandalayadharmaprada dasakalatmanesrimahatripurasundaryah visesharghyapatraadharayanamah. Agnimdutamvrinimahehotaramvisvavedasam Asyayagnyasyasukratum. Ramrimrumraimraumrah, ramalavarayum,agnimandalayanamah. Aimis sristi,creation.Therealsrististartswithanideainthebrain. Creation actually starts with SaraswatiintheSahasrarachakraand movesdownandtakesthekriyaaspect(action).
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aimAgnimandalayaDharmaprada: dharmaisconsideredtobeyour duty.Whatisyourduty?Itisdefinedintheupanishadsasfollows: "Acharyayapriyamdhanamahrtya prajatantummavyavacchetsih....." Youworshipyourteacherandseetoitthatthisrarelifewhichisagift inthisworldispreserved.Donotcutthethreadoflife.Soprocreate. Thatistheinjuctionofthevedas.Youoweadebtoflifetoyourparents. Yourepaythatdebtbygivinglifethroughyouractions.Procreationis yourdharma. Nandi, the bull, which is carrier of Siva, is supposed to be the personificationofdharma.ThetestesofNandiyoutouchbeforeyoulook atSiva.YouenergizethelingamthatwayandthenlookatSiva.Itis onlytheenergizedlingamwhichhasthedesiretoprocreatewhichisto beSiva.OtherwiseitisShava(corpse).Ifyoutakeawaytheletteri ShivabecomeShava. Whatisthepurposeoflust?Itistodoyourdutytoyourparentsby procreating.Thereisadutytoyourparentsandadutytoyourself. Whatisthedutytoyourself?Itistodeliveryourselffromtheshacklesof bondage. This same agni which is instrumental for creating your children,isalsoinstrumentalforcreatingyourspiritualuplift. Inthefourgoalsoflife(Dharma,Artha,Kama,Moksha)statedinthe Hindu philosophy, there is a connection between Dharma and Artha (duty and wealth). You must acquire your wealth without hurting or cheatingothers.AndKamaandMokshaarealsocombined.Kamamust betransformedintoLove,andLovemustbetransformedintoliberation. BothBhogaandYogaareincludedinthegamitofone'slife. Agnialsoexistsinthefirewhichcooksyourfood.TheGitasays, Ahamvaishvanarobhutvapraninamdehaasritah. pran'apanasamayuktah,pacamyannamcaturvidham
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IexistasthefireandIcookthefoodinyourstomachwiththehelpof thepranaandapana,theingoingandoutgoingbreaths". dasakalatmanedasameansten,kalaisanaspectoftime.Anaspectof anythingiscalledkala.Sothetenaspectsofthefire; srimahatripurasundaryahoftheMotherMahaTripurasundari; visesarghyapatraadharayanamahvisesarghyameansnotordinary.It isthemilkmixturetobeoffered; patraisthevessel; adharaisthebase;thebaseofthevesselinwhichwearegoingtoput thespecialliquidwhichisimmortalnectar,thatbaseisagni. Inthe muladhara chakra iswherethebaseislocatedandthatisthe fire.Wehumanbeingsaredrivenbylustanditsmodifications.Thatis whereweare. THESURYAKALAVAHANATHESUN TheSunisthesourceoflifeonearth.Ifthesunisnotthere,theearth wouldbeadeadplanet.Theearthkeepsacertaindistancefromthesun. Of the nine planets circlingaroundthesunthereisonlylifeon this planetbecauseitisthecorrectdistancefromthesun.Thesunisourlife force.Assoonasthesuncomesupinthesky,yougoaboutdoingyour duties.Thislifegivingenergyissupposedtocomefromtheembraceof SivaandShakti.Thatiswhatisbeingdescribedinthetwelvekalasof thesun. ThemantraoftheSun: Klimsuryamandalayakamapradadwadasa kalatmanesrimahatripurasundaryah visesharghyapatrayanamah. Aasatyenarajasavartamano Nivesayanamritammartyamca. Hiranmayenarathenadevo
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yatibhuvanavipasyan. Hramhrimhrumhraim hraumhrahsuryamandalayanamah. suryamandalayathecircleororbeofthesun; dwadasatwelve; kalatmanehavingtheformoftwelveaspects; visesarghyawineormilkthatwearegoingtoinvokenectarinto; patrayanamahintothevesselwhichissupposedtobethesun. Thesuniscalledthepingalanadi.Themooniscalledtheidanadi.We aregoingtocombinethesetwo. Wearegoingtobringinthecoolnessofthemoonwiththeheatofthe sun.Theheatrepresentsextremepassion,thepassionforlifeandthe coolnessrepresentsdetachment.Sopassionwithdetatchment.Weare combiningthetwo. Inthecombinationliesthesushumnachannel.Itislikeapendulum.If youbringthependulumallthewaytotherighttothesun,itdoesnot staythere.Itmovestothemiddleandthenswingstotheleft,tothe moon.Ifyoutrytomovethemindtovairagya(detachment)itwon'tstay there,butitshootsbackinto kama.Sofrom vairaghya and kama the mindkeepsoccillating.Thestablepositioniswhenyoubringitexactly intothecenterandleaveitthere.Itdoesnotmove.Ithasnoaversionto passion,ithasnolikingforvairaghya;ithasnolikingforpassion,ithas noaversiontovairagya.Itisabsolutedetachment.Thisisthechannelof thesushumna.Thesushumnaiswarm;itisneithertheheatofthesun northecoolnessofthemoon.Youarepassionateanddispassionateat the same time. In Buddhismthisiscalledthemiddle way. Madhya Marga.ThisprocedurecomesveryclosetotheBuddhistmandalasalso. asatyenafrombeginningtoendwithtruth; rajasatheemissionofthistruth;
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vartamanoinvolvedintheemissionofthetruthfrombeginningtoend; nivesayanamrtammartyamcaplacingyourselfinimmortalityaswell asmortality,intotheyogaandthebhogaboth; hiranmayenagolden; savitathelifegiver.SavitriisthegoddessoftheGayatrimantra; rathenachariot.Ridingonagoldenchariot; devoyatithesunmovesinthesky; bhuvanavipasyanlookingatalltheworlds. Hramhrimhrumhraimhroumhrahhrim; isthecreative,explosive force which takes the point to the triangle; these bijas are the modificationsofhrimfromthecoolnessofamtothepassionofah.So fromthecenteryouaremovingtowardstherightandtowardstheleft. hrmalavarayum the pathway in your body where these letters are located. Thelocation of theletters showshowtightlyfixedtheconceptofthe lettersareinSanskrit.LordYamaistheGodofDeath.Yaislocatedon the lefthand sideofthe swaddhisthanachakra.Ma islocatedonthe righthandside.Whenyousayyamayouaremovingfromthefemaleto the male. That represents moving your consciousness which is like death. Nowiftheselettersarereversedyouhavemaya.Youaremovingfrom Siva to Shakti. Maya isillusionbutitalsomeans pleasure,theflowof experience.SowhenyoumovefromSivatoShaktiyouareexperiencing yourbeinglimitedinyourawarenessbythematerialworld.Andwhen youaremovingfromShaktitoSivayouareexpandingyourawareness, youareunlimited.TheflowistheShaktiandthestaticistheSiva.The potential energy is the Siva; the kinetic energy is the Shakti. Kinetic energyiscomparedtothesnakethekundalinishaktiwhichmovesina snakelikemotion.
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ThetwelvekalasofthesunarecomingfromtheembraceoftheSivaand theShakti.Rememberthatitisthelightofthesunwhichisreflectedby themoonandthentous.Theyarenotseparate.Theflowofkundaliniis maximumwhenthesun,moonandearthareinalignment.Whenthe gravitationalpullisverystrongorveryweakthenthekundaliniisvery active.Onearthduringtheeqlipsetimethetidalwavesrise.Theoceans aretryingtomoveawayfromtheearthwhichrepresentsonthecosmic scaletheliquidstatetryingtomoveawayfromthesolidstate,whichis theupwardmotionofthekundalini.Inrelationtothecosmicforceyou should align your rituals also. That is why purnima (full moon) and amavasya (new moon) when the three orbs are approximately in alignmentaresupposedtobeveryidealforpuja.Thatiswhythemoon's cyclesaresocloselyrelatedtotheritualcyclesalso.Thereisafullmoon ritual,anewmoonritual,etc.Whenyouareintunewiththecosmic forcesthenyourownforcesworkmuchbetter. IntheembraceofSivaandShaktiyoufindapairofletters.kambham, khambam,etc.Youusethiskeytolocatethemonyourbody.Thereisa rayoflightgoingfromonepointtotheotherpoint.Thefirsttwocome from the right portion of the swaddhisthana chakra.From thispoint onwardsthepointsmoveuptothemanipurachakraandgoaroundthe waist,whiletheotherpointsmovearoundtheanahatachakraandthe heartcenter.Thisisthe embrace.Outofthisembracecomesthelife giving force of the world, the sun. The nuclear reactor that is there comesfromthisembrace.Youcanseethe lefthandgoingaroundthe waistandtherighthandgoingaroundthechestlikethis.Weinvokethe kalas of the sun from this embrace. The Sanskrit letters can all be replaced with any language alphabets. It is the meanings that are importantwhicharegiventhereinthepujaforthesun'srays. Thekalasforthesunare:aimhrimsrimnamahiscommon
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THEKALASOFTHEMOONSIXTEENDIGITSOFTHEMOON Whenweinvokethekalasofthemoon,themoon'smantraisrecitedat the top of the head. Devi's faceissupposedto belike themoon,full round,andthemoonrepresentstheflowoftimearoundthe visshudhi chakra.Yougoaroundthevisshudhiclockwise.Youbeginthemantraby saying, somamandalayasodasakalatmane visesarghyaamrtayanamah "Ipaymyrespectstothatspecialfluidwhichisthenectar".Themantra fortheMoonandtheamritis: Apyayasvasametutevisvatah somavrsniyambhavavajasyasangadhe, samsimsumsaimsaumsah samalavarayumsomamandalayanamah. "Please come and drench me all over the world; raining nectar; the samsara of this world; vaja is the horse, the symbol of our limbs of action;sangadhefortheirfulfillmentpleasecomeandrainthisnectar onmefulfillingallmydesiresandthereforeannihilatingmydesires". Soweinvokethemoonforactionsfulfillingallourdesires.Samsahis fromoneextremetotheotherextremeoftheseed. Whenyoumoveyourawarenessthroughthelettersyoutraceapath.In thegurumantraandinthesebijasyouhavetotracethepathofthe kundalini through your body. You must be very familiar with the matrkanyasa,theSanskritlettersandwheretheyareonyourbody.It isaveryconcentratedflowofawarenesswithastorybehindit.Itis calledPratyahara. What you are trying to do is withdrawal of the senses and to be concentratedonwhatyouaredoing.Wetheninvokethesixteendigitsof themoon.Wepourthemilkandimaginethatintothemilkthepattern ofthe visshudhi isthere.Andwegoaroundthemilkandinvokethe
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digits of the moon, four in each quadrant of the cup. You go in a clockwisefashion.Thefirstoneisconsideredasamavasya. Itisverysacred.Thatiswhenallthekalasofthemoonhavegoneback tothesun.Theunionofthesunandmooniscompleteinamavasya.That is when the sushumna channel is active. Passion and vairaghya are completelyunited.Thatiswhenthekundaliniflowsthroughthecentral channel.TheDeviiscompletelyinunionwithSivaonamavasya.Sheis calledKali.DuringPurnima,fullmoon,Deviiscompletelyseparate.She isLalitathen. HAGMSAHANDANGADEVATAPUJASOFSRISUDHADEVI Wehaveinvokedthekalasofthesun,thefire,andthemoonandwe have createdthislunareqlipsetimeartificallyhere.Nowwehaveto invokeintheviseshargyathe51lettersoftheSanskritalphabet.We drawatriangleimaginingthatithasbeenwrittenwiththeseletters. Fromthebottompointyougoupwardwiththevowels. amamimimumumarumarum alumalumemaimomaumamahm(16) Thentherearethreegroupsoffiveandoneconsonants: ka,kha,ga,gha,na,ca,cha,ja, jha,na,ta,tha,da,dha,na,ta.(16) Thenstartingwith thamdamdhamnampamphambambham mamyamramlamvamsamsamsam(16) Thencomes ham,lam,ksam(3) thethreeeyesinthethreecornersofthetriangle. Youaregoinganticlockwiseintheajnachakra.Havingdonethatyou invokethekamakalaintothemilk.
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Thefaceisrepresentedbyacircle,theheartcenterbytwocircles,and theyonibyatriangle. ThisiscalledtheKamaKala.Thishasseveralmeanings. The face is a circle which represents shunya nothing. Negation of everything. This is am. Ha is the visarga. Sarga means creation; visargameansextremecreativity.Thisisrepresentedbythetwocircles, thetwobreasts.Intheagnikalavahanawehaveomittedoneletter.We omitted"m".Itstandsforcontact.ContactissoimportantforDevithat itisincorporatedinallthesebijaletters. Wedon'tsay"a";wesay"am".Wedon'thavetosaythe"m"separately. The ma is represented by the yoni, the contact between Siva and Shakti.Aham.Whenyouarecomingdownfromtheheadtothebottom yousayahamIam.Whenyougoupyousaymaha.Iamthecosmos. SotheahammeansIamtheDevi.Ahamsah.IamtheDevi,theentire cosmos.Sowhenyousayahamsah,IamtheDeviintheKamaKalayou are equating the process of coming down and going up. There is no distinction. With the incoming breaths you are working with the I. With the outgoing breaths you can go through different surfaces, different individuals or objects. The breath goes in a circular process, never repeatingthesamecycle.Sowiththeincomingbreathyouare"Iamthe Devi,theuniverse";withtheoutgoingbreathsyougothroughallofthe livingbeingsonebyone. Itistheindividualexperienceandthecosmicexperience.Whatisthe difference? Individualexperienceistheserializationofthecosmicexperience. The cosmic experience is the unitive experiences of the individual experience.
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That means whereas in the individual experience you have to go throughseriallyonebyoneallthelifeformsinthisworldatalltimesin theworld;butinthecosmicexperienceyouexperiencethelifeformsof all the living beings at the same time and in one lifetime you have finished the whole thing. Between thesetwo thetime factor ismuch moreintheindividualexperience. Inthe cosmicexperience youcanexperience mokshamuchfaster.Itis theviswarupadarshanamoftheBhagavadGita.KrishnashowsArjuna his cosmic form but still time is flowing. You see through the ajna chakra,sotimeisstillthereanddistinctionsarestilltherethemouths, theeyes,ofeachlivingbeingflowingfromthemouthofKrishna.Itis notacompleteexperience.Itisapartialexperience.Itisclosetothe Sahasra,butitisnotthesahasrara.TheSahasraracannotbedescribed. Youdrawthekamakalaintothemilkofthevisesharghya; Thefacesaying"A" Thebreastssaying"Ham" Theyonisaying"Sah". ThefaceisKaEILaHrim ThebreastsareHaSaKaHaLaHrim TheyoniisSaKaLaHrim The ajnacentertriangle thatwehavedrawnwithallthelettersalso includes all the other chakras as well. Then we draw a hexagon surroundingthistriangleandacircleinsideitwhilesayingtheAmrita Jayamantra: "OmHaumjumsah" The hexagon represents the union between Siva and Shakti and the circle inside it is the bindu which comes out of this union. Then we worshiptheDevihereintheviseshargyawiththeAngadevataNyasa.
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We invoke the different chakras into the milk. We identify that the Devi'smuladharachakrarepresentingalltheearthandthesolidstate isinvokedintotheviseshargyamandala.Thesolidstateisthesquare. Weinvokealltheoceansandliquidsintotheswaddhisthanachakra,the sixsided star. We invoke the fire in the manipura, the air in the anahata, the prana and space into the visshudhi into the mandala's circle. INVOCATION OF THE JIVA KALAS THE 99KALAS OF THE CELESTIAL LIGHTS Onceagainweinvokethetenkalasoffire,thetwelvekalasofthesun andthesixteenkalasofthemoonasbefore,butthistimeintheiconor thefemale. THEBRAHMAKALAS Then we invoke the kalas of Brahma, the creator in the Muladhara chakra.ThetenkalasofBrahmaare: 1. srstyai(creation), 2. rdhyai(growth), 3. smrtyai(memory), 4. medhayai(intelligence), 5. kantyai(glow), 6. laksmyai(prosperity), 7. dyutyai(sparkling), 8. sthirayai(fixity), 9. sthityai(firmplacement), 10. siddhyai(transcendent). Thefirst8kalasgoaroundthemuladharainaclockwisedirection.The ninth kala (sthityai) goes inside the muladhara, the tenth kala
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(siddhyai)goesuptothetipofthelingamortotheoutwardedgeofthe cervix. THEVISNUKALAS ThetenkalasofVisnuaredistributedsixintheSvadhisthanachakra jarayai(oldage),palinyai(protective),santyai(peace),isvaryai(control), ratyai(enjoyment),kamikayai(lust);threeattheAjnaChakraandeyes varadayai(blessing),hladinyai(happiness),prityai(loving);andoneat theSahasrarachakradirghayai(long). THERUDRAKALAS ThetenkalasofRudraaretheSunlocatedintheManipuraChakra. Thatisthethermonuclearfusionreactionwhichisthebrightnessitself. Thatiswhythechakraiscalledmanipurafilledwithjewels.Uptothis point,youcannotseeanylights.Butwhenyoucometomanipurachakra youbegintoseelightsinyourmeditation. ThemantraforRudrais Tryambakamyajamahe sugandhimpustivardhanam urvarukamivabandhanan mrtyormuksiyamamrtatnamah Tryambakam the lord of the three mothers, Gauri, Laksmi and of Saraswati.ParameswaraisthelordofMahatripurasundari,atallthe threelevels.Theyareallthesame.Yousay,"Thisismyhandandthisis myeye".Theyareallyourbody.Parvatiisknownasthe"Sahodari"of Rama.IfyouidentifyRamawith"Purusha"the"Prakriti"istheyoni,it istheSahodari.Itisthesameplace.
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TheRudrakalasare: 1. tiksnayainamah(sharp), 2. raudryai(anger), 3. bhayayai(fear), 4. nidrayai(sleep), 5. tandriyai(coma), 6. ksudhayai(hunger), 7. krodhinyai(flamesofanger), 8. kriyayai(active), 9. udgaryai(uplifting), 10. mrtyave(death). ISVARAKALAS(ANAHATACHAKRA) There are four kalas for Isvara at the anahata chakra. In the body, imaginethattheleftportionisthefemale;therightportionisthemale. ThisistheArdhanareeswaraform. 1. Thefemalebreastisyellowincolor(pitayainamah); 2. Themalebreastiswhiteincolor(svetayai). 3. Thenippleonthefemalesideisred(arunayai); 4. Thenippleonthemalesideisblue(asitayai). Thatiswhatisbeingdescribedherewiththekalas. Inthemantrayousay: "Tadvisnohparamampadam, sadapasyantisurayahdiviva caksuratatamtadvipraso vipanyavojagrvamsahsamindhate visnoryatparamampadamnamah".
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DeathistheultimateabodeofVisnu.Visnuissupposedtobesittingon hisvehiclegarudaalongwithLakshmi.Ifyoulookatthebreastslike this,theylookalittlelikeabirdinflight. Visnuissittinginthemiddleinbetweenthetwobreasts. Heisthe heartofthemother.SinceVisnuisfemale,therightbreastiscalledSri andtheleftbreastiscalledBhu.SriDeviandBhuDevi. Sri Devi gives protection and Bhu Devi gives nourishment. And protectionultimatelytakestheformofprotectingyourtruenatureto yourself.Srimeansanugraha.Anugrahaislikelaya,dissolution.Thatis why some people think of Lalita asvery "ugra" (fierce).It is not the individuallayabuttheMahaPralaya,thedissolutionoftheworldsat theend.Shankaracharyasays,"Whenthewholeworldisburning,you alonewithyourhusbandaredancing.Andthisburningoftheworldis showinganirajanam,alightedcamphorlamptoyou." SADASIVAKALAS(VISSUDDHICHAKRA) Uptothispoint,attachmenttotheworldisthere.Themuladharaand swaddhisthana chakras are connected to Srusti creation. Stiti preservation is connected with manipura and anahata, and laya annilation is connected with the Visshudhi and Ajna chakras. The dominantpointinlayaisthevairaghya,thedetachment.Onceyoucome tothe Visshudhi chakrathewithdrawalstarts.Ifyouarefunctioning mainlyfromhere,thenyouwillnotcomebackintoaphysicalformon theearth.IfyouarefunctioningfromtheAnahatachakrayouwillcome backbecauseofyourloveandattachmenttotheworld,orforhelping others in the world. But fromthe Visshudhi you arenotboundany moretotheworld.Ifyoulookatthemeaningsofthekalasyouwillsee that they do not deal with individuality but the actions speak of internalizationofknowledge,ofvidyaandrealization.
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ThekalasofSadasivaare: 1. Nivrtyainamah(withdrawal), 2. Pratisthanamah(fame), 3. Vidyayainamah(internalknowledge), 4. Santyainamah(peace), 5. Indhikayainamah(fuel), 6. Dipikayainamah(light), 7. Recikayainamah(exhaustive), 8. Mocikayainamah(liberating), 9. Parayainamah(transcendental), 10. Suksmayainamah(light), 11. Suksmamrtayainamah(pervasive), 12. Jnanayainamah(knowledgeoftheimmanent,whatyousee), 13. Janamrtayainamah(intuitiveknowlegeofthetranscendental), 14. Apyayinyainamah(filling), 15. Vyapinyainamah(expansion), 16. Vyomarupayainamah(space). THEPANCABRAHMAMANTRAS When you do the puja it is easier to do all thekalas first, and then repeatthe PancaBrahmamantras foreach Brahma,Visnu,Rdura, MahaVishnu,andSadasiva.Italsogivesyouanopportunitytoreally emphasizeeachchakraagain. ThesemantrasaretakenfromthemostancientportionoftheVedas.I cannotreallygiveyouameaningforthesemantrasentirely.Icangive onlyafewportionsthatIknow.
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BRAHMAMANTRA: Hgumsahsucisadvasuhantariksasad hotavedisadatithirduronasat nrasadvarasadrtsadvyomasad abjagojarajaadrjartambrhatnamah. Hgumsahisanancientarchaicform; Sucimeansthesun; Vasuhmeanstheearth; Antariksahmeansspace; Satmeansthetruth; Hotaistheonewhooffersthegheeintothefire; Vediisthehomakunda; Atithiistheguestwhocomeswithoutanappointment; DuronasatnrasadIdonotknowwhatthismeans; Varasadistheonewhogivesblessings;rtsadistheflowingtruth; Vyomasadisthetruthestablishedinthesky; Abjaistoonewhoisbornoutofthewaters; Gojaisbornoutoftheindriyasthecognitiveandactivesenses; Rtajaistheonewhoisbornoutofthenonflowingtruth; Adrjaisthemountain,thestability; Rtamisthetruth. Theindividualwordshaveameaningbutwhytheyareplacedinthis contextorwhattheirtruemeaningisIdonotknow.Theyareexplaining in some sense the creation process itself. Probably if one uses this mantraandkeepsrepeatingitonemaygettheperceptionsaboutthe creativeprocessitself.Itmayhaveinitthegeneticcodes.Thatiswhyit issodifficulttoexplain.
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VISHNUMANTRA Pratadvisnustavateviryaya, mrgonobhimahakucarogirsthah, yasyorusutrisuvikramesu, adhiksiyantibhuvananivisvanamah. "Foryourpower,strength,eventhelioncannotbeferociousenough.Of Visnu,whenthethreeeyesareexpanded,theygobeyondallthatwesee orhaveseen". Visvaisatechnicalterm.Whatyouareabletoseeinthewakingstateis calledVisva."Virat","hiranyagarbha"and"iswara"arethethreeterms andthecoorespondingthreetermsare"visva","taijesva"and"pragna. Theserelatetoexperiencesofanindividualinthewakingstate,dream stateandsleepingstate.Virat,hiranyagarbhaandiswararelatethe cosmic experiences of the cosmic being in the waking, dream and sleepingstates. Whenwesayvisvawemeanalltheworldsseenbyanindividualthat gobeyondthoseseen.Theycanonlybeperceivedinthe unitedvision, notthe individual vision. Whatisthedistinction betweenthe united visionandtheindividualvision? Forinstance,Iamseeingyouassomanypeoplethatis individual vision.ButwhenIseemyselfalsothroughyoureyesatthesametime, and see what you are seeing at thesame time, that istheuniversal vision. Thisadhiksiyantibhuvananivisvanamahisalltheworldsthroughthe individualperceptions,itgoesbeyondthat.Visnuisthewatersoflife. Theyexistthroughoutthecosmos.Hischaracteristicispervasiveness, expanding all over, growing beyond. Thatis why the yasyorusu trisu vikramesuthethreedimensionsinspace.Astheyexpand,whateveris seen in the three dimensions by all the individuals, your knowledge exceedsallthesethings.ThatiswhatthemantraofVisnuissaying.
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RUDRAMANTRA Tryambakamyajamahe sugandhimpustivardhanam, urvarukamivabandhanan mrtyormuksiyamamrtatnamah. "Urvaruka"isasnakegourd.Asitbecomesripeitfallsoffbyitself.So when one understands the tryambaka aspect of Siva, not confining oneselftothelowercentersthenHe,Sivanourishesyouinallaspects, andlikethesnakegourdthatfallsoffthevinewhenitisripe,Hetakes youawayfromthe"mrtyu",thedeathandgivesyou"amrita"thenectar. This is actually the worship of the sun. The entire Rudram is the worshipofthesun,theonewhoattractsandgiveslight,thelifegiving force.Itgoesbeyondlifeitself. MAHAVISNUMANTRA Tadvisnohparamampadam sadpasyantisurayah divivacaksuratatam tadviprasovipanyavo jagrivamsahsamindhate visnoryatparamampadamnamah. "TheultimateabodeofVishnu,theknowledgeable,thealwaysseen,like sky,theeyeiswide."Whatitmeansiswhereasourindividualeyesare limitedtoseeingwhatisnearasbigandwhatisfarawayassmall,for theeyeasbigastheuniverse,everythingappearswiththesameclarity ofvision.ThenextpartIdonotknowwhatitmeans.Visnoryat..."That istheultimateabodeofVisnu.TothatIpaymyrespects."
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SADSIVAMANTRA: VisnuryonimkalpayatuTvastarupanipigumsatu AsincatuprajapatiDhatagarbhamdadatute GarbhamdhehisinivaliGarbhamdhehisarasvati Garbhanteasvinaudevauaddhattampuskaras rajahnamah Thisisthemantrabywhichthecosmosiscreated.Spaceandtimeare beingunited.ThisiscalledtheGarbhadhanaMantra,whichmeansthe actofconsumation. VisnuryonimkalpayatumayVisnucreatetheyoni,thesourceoflife. Tvastarupanipigumsatu MayTvasta,oneoftheaswinigods,create theformsoutofwhatisavailable Prajapatiisatipicalnamefortheerectmalemember.Itisalsoaname fortheunitoftimewhichtheearthtakestoorbitthesun. AsincatuprajapatiMaythatprajapatifillyouwithhisseed DhatagarbhamdadatuteMayDhatafertilizetheegginsideofyou. Garbhamdhehisinivali SinivaliandSaraswatiarethetwogodsour awarenessisassociatedwiththeejaculatorysphinctermusclesandthe receptiveforcescontrollingthemovementofthespermtowardstheseed. Garbham dhehi sarasvati Sarasvati is the force which controls propellingtherightspermtowardstheseed. GarbhanteasvinaudevaumaytheAswinidevataswhoarethecreators oflife, Addhattam puskaras rajah namah may they put the life into the femaleegg. Kunti was the mother of the pandavas. She recited this Garbhadana mantrakeepingtheideasofthevariousGodsofthechakrasandofthe anjachakraandshehadsixsons.Firstsheworshippedanjachakraand
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shehadKarna.Thensheworshipped Yama inthe Muladhara chakra andgotDharmaraja;thensheworshippedtheAshwiniDevatasandgot Nakula and Sahadeva; she worshipped Vayu with this mantra and obtainedBhima.SheworshippedtheSunintheManipurachakraand gotArjuna. THEDEVIKALA ThenweinvokeDeviinthethreeeyesofthepast,presentandfuture with; KaEIlahrim;Hasakahalahrim;Sakalahrim AMRITAKALAVAHANA Nowimaginethatontopofyourheadisthe ardhanarishwara formof Siva.TherightfootcorrespondstoSivaandtheleftfootcorrespondsto Shakti.ThisformistheformoftheGuruandhisfeetareonthetopof yourhead.Outofthatthenectarflows.Onestreamcomesfromtheleft foot,fromDevi,onestreamfromtherightfoot,Sivaandonefromthe middle. This is Hsaum and Sahouh. Hsaum is the yoga aspect. And SahouhistheStitiandSiddhiaspects. Weinvokethemwiththemantra: Akhandaikarasananda,kare parasudhatmani,svacchanda sphuranamatra,nidhehi akulanayikenamah. Akhandameansunbroken. EkarasaistheoneflowofAnanda. SotheunbrokenflowofAnanda(bliss). Pleasegivemethisunbroken flowofbliss. Parasudhatmanithetranscendentalnectar.
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Svacchandameansindependence. Mayitinvokeindependenceinme. atranidhehipleaseplace. Therearetwolotuses,onecalledthe kulapadma andtheotheristhe akulapadma.Thekulapadmaisthesahasrarachakraofthelowerseven worldsandtheakulapadmaisthesahasrarachakraoftheupperseven worlds. Our muladhara chakra is the sahasrara chakra of the lower sevenworlds.The akulapadma whichisour sahasrara chakraonthe top of our head is where Siva resides. So from Siva's foot this transcendenceflowsdown. Thenextverseis: akulasthamrtaakaresuddhajnana karepareamrtatvamnidhehi asminvastuniklinnarupininamah WhentheDevihasbeentakenuptothesahasrarachakraandthereshe isunitedwithSivashealsostaysintheakulapadma. AkulasthamrtaakareAndwhatisitsnature? Suddhajnanakareonewhogivespureknowledge. Paretranscendence Amrtatvamimmortality Nidhehipleaseplace; AsminvastuniinthismaterialwhichIamhavinghere Klinnarupininamahthenatureofwetness. ThenfromtheflowoftheunionbetweenSivaandShakticomes: tadrupiniekarasyatvamkrtvahi etatsvarupinibhutvaparamrta karamayichitsphuranamkurunamah.
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Thereisamahavakhyaagreatsayingwhichstates,"tattvamasi".Tat meansthat,tvamisyou,asiare.Youareallthatyousee.Allthatyou seeiscalledthat. Tadrupiniallthatyouseethatishavingforms;` Thisisrelatingtotheflowfromtheakulapadma.Theothertwoverses relatedtothekulapadma.Eventhoughtheseformsalllookdifferent, letmebeabletoseethemasonesingleflow. etatsvarupinithatshouldbecomeme; bhutvahavingbecome; paramrtakara althoughIamseeingdifferences,letthesedifferences disappear; mayiinme; citsphuranamtheabilitytoseewithmyclosedeyes; kurunamahmayyoucreatewithmyclosedeyestheabilitytoseefrom myintuition,myinnerknowledge. ThesearetheflowscomingfromtheunionbetweenSivaandShaktion thetopoftheheadandfromtheShaktibelow. THEINVOCATIONOFTHEAMRTAKALAS ThecompassionofDevimovingthroughtheeyes; Aimblumjhmroumjumsah amrteamrtodbhaveamrtesvari amrtavarsiniamrtamsravayasravayasvaha. Youalternategentlytouchingtheleftandrighteyes.Itdoesnotmatter whereyoustart. Thereare5senses:Dram,Drim,Klim,BlumandSaha dramisshabdasound. drimissparshavision;
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klimisrupaform; blumisrasataste. aimisknowledge. jhmroum and jum are related to the vibratory aspects. They are phonetic mantras. When you add the letter ra to oum and you say jhmroumthenitcreatesaflashinyourmind'seye; jumcreatesasenseofvibrationinyourbody. SahaistheShakti.Thetastethevision,andtheformofShakti. amrteamrtodbhavebornoutofthenectar; amrtesvarithecontrolofthenectar; amrtavarsinitheonewhorainsnectar; amrtamsravayasravaya mayyouletthenectarflowdownintothis viseshargyam. Yousay svaha because youareconsideringthe viseshargya tobethe agnimandalambelow,thesacrificalfirepit. Thiscoolnectarofvairagyaflowsdownandcoolsdownthefirehereand the fire goes and heats up the nectar. It keeps liquifying the frozen nectarandallowingittoflow.Itisbalancingthekundalinichannelsand allowsittomoveastheflashingofthelightning.Jhroumandjumare themantrasthatcreatethoselightninglikeflashesinyourmind'seye. Nextweinvokeiccha,jnanaandkriyaShakti.Icchaisthepowerofyour sankalpawhatyoudesirebecomestrue.Jnanaisknowledgeandkriya istherelatedactofknowledge.FromthetongueweinvokeSaraswati whichrepresentsicchashakti aimvadavadavagvadiniaim vagvadini is the name of saraswati. This is a mantra of Saraswati. Please say what is supposed to be said, coming from the Mother's tongue.
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Then; klimklinnekledinikledaya klimislakshmi; klinneistheonewhoiswetwithcompassionforherchildrenthemilk fromthemother'sbreasts; kledinitheonewhomakesyouwet; kledaya make me wet; give me the milk of knowledge from your breasts. mahaksobhamkurukuruklim ksobham means intercourse. Maha ksobham is intercourse with the entireworld; Pleasemakemehaveintercoursewiththeentireworld.Allaspectsare tobecovered. Souhmokshamkurukurusouhhsoumshauh Mokshamistobeobtainedfromthetwofeetoftheguruonthetopof thehead.Weinvokeiccha,jnanaandkriyashaktisfromtheappropriate placesfromthebodyofDevi. TAKINGTHEVISESHARGYAM The first mantram is the Guru Mantram that was explained at the beginningofthepuja.Thenyouhavetoremembertheguruatthisstage and you invoke the names of your Gurus; Sahasrakshi amba rajarajeshwariparabhatharikasahita.Weworshipthefeetoftheguru KalyanandaBharatiwhoisourguru'sguru'sguru. We worship the feet of dattaguru Svaprakasanandanathaourguru's guru.WeworshipthefeetofSriAmritanandanathaSaraswatiourguru andhiswife. Untilnowwehaveinvokedthe99kalas.Forthelastkala,thetakingof thenectar,youhavetotakepermissionofthegurustotakethisnectar.
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Themantrafortakingthenectaris: adramjvalatithewetnesswhichisoozingfromthesvaddhisthanaand muladharachakras,thatshinesandbecomesthefire. jyotirahamasmiIbecomethelight.Whenyouareabletocontroland disciplineyoursexualdrivesyouareabletobecomethelight. jyotirjvalatiwhenthatlightburnsthenitbecomesthetranscendental lightandyouareabletosay brahmahamasmithatIamtheUltimateparamatman; yohamasmiwhateverIam,whetherIaminthatimpermanentstateor that transcendental state, yes brahmahamasami yes I am that Ultimatebeing. ahamasmiIamthat; brahmahamasmiyouarerepeatingthestatementagainforemphasis. ahamevaIamindeedmyself ahammamIamtakingme juhomiinside. The nectar contained in me is also me. That is Brahma. I am also Brahma. I am taking Brahma inside. The identity is realized that everythingthatyouseeisyou.Sosaying,yougivethenectartoDevi, becauseyouarenodifferentthanDeviandyoutakeitinsideofyouand youputitonthesrichakra.Youridentityisallthosethings. Atthispointitisalsousualforyoutosaythepurposeforyourtaking thisdrink. itahpurvamitahparampranabuddhi dehadharmaadhikaratah jagratsvapnasusuptiavastasu manasavacakarmana hastabhyampadbhyamudarena
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sisnayonya yatsmrtam,yatuktamyatkrtam yatsmaramiyatvacmiyatkaromi tatsarvambrahmarpanambhavatusvaha itahpurvambeforenow, itah param prana buddhi deha dharma adhikaratah because I am living, because I have a body, because I have a duty, because I am entitledtodothepuja; jagrat svapna susupti avastasu in my wakingstate, dreamingstate andsleepingstate; manasavacakarmanawithmymind,withmyspeechwithmyaction; hastabhyampadbhyamudarenawithmyhands,withmyfeet,withmy body; sisnayonyawithmypenisoryoni; yat smrtam, yat uktam yat krtam whatever I have remembered, whateverIhavespoken,whateverIhavedone; yatsmaramiyatvacmiyatkaromi whateverIwillremember,sayor do; tatsarvambrahmarpanambhavatusvahamayitbeofferedtoLord. SowhateveryoudoisofferedtoGodandwhateverisofferedtoGoddoes not have the ability to bind you anymore. The way to overcome the bondageofyouractionsistoofferthemtoGodnomatterwhattheyare. Notjustinourmiserybutalsoinourpleasurethesethingsshouldbe offered.Thenouractionbecomesinaction. LALITAKRAMAM Thisisthe2ndpartofthepuja.Havingpreparedthenectarwithallthe jivakalasandalltheelementsoftheindividualandthecosmosintothe nectar we are now going to invoke the Lalita Devi with all her
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attendants, with all the celestial beings with all the life forces in the worldintowhateveritisthatweareworshipping.Initiallysheresides inout hearts.Weinvokethecosmosthatisalreadyinourheartsinto whateveritisweworship,forthesakeofworship,andattheendofthe worshipwetakeitbackintoourselves.Thatisimportanthere. Themantraofinvocationis: Hrccakrastamtheonewhoisresidingintheheartchakra; antahinside; susumna padmatavi bhedana kusalam the susumna is the central channelofthekundalini; padmataviforestoflotuses; bhedanapiercingthrough; kusalamwhoisveryadept. "The one who is residing he the heart chakra who is very adept in piercing through the lotus stems which are the muladhara, swaddhisthanaandallthechakras". mohandhakarailllusionanddarkness; paripandhinithespacesurroundingtheillusionanddarkness; samvidtoknowintuitively; agnim thefirewhichknowsintuitivelyhowtodispelthedarknessof delusion; sivadipajyotimthelightimmanatingfromthelampcalledSiva; cidrupinimcidmeanschaitanyaawareness,theformofawareness; adiparasamvidamintuitiveknowledgeoftheHighest; pranarupinimwhosenatureislifeforce; paradevatamthetranscendentalgoddess; dhyatvahavingthoughtofherlikethis.
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Thisiswhatthekalpasutrasays,justthismuch.SometimesIaddthat Iwouldliketoinvitetheentirecosmostocome.SomehowwhenIthink ofthatTranscendentBeingthecosmosdoesnotentermyhead.Soto appreciatethefullnessandgrandeurofthisbeingthatweareinvoking considerthefollowingstatements: Sricakragattasarvaavaranadevatasvarupinim sarvatobhadramandalagatta sarvaayatanadevatasvarupinim chaturayatadevatasvarupinim divyasiddhamanavaaughagurumandalasvarupinim Sricakragattasarvaavaranadevatasvarupinim allthedeitiesthat areenclosedorpervadingtheentiretyofthesrichakra; sarvatobhadramandalagattathereisonemandalathatiscomposedof 16squaresby16squaresor64squares. Inthatallthegodsandgoddessesintheuniverseareinvoked.Thatis called sarvatobhadra.Thisisdrawnduring SaradaNavratri ontopof whichweplacethecoconutandkalasawhereweinvoketheDevi. Weinvokeallthedeities; sarvaayatanadevatasvarupinimallthosedeities;aroundDevireside Ganesha,Surya,VisnuandSivaallthesegodsandtheirattendantsare tobeincluded; divyasiddhamanavaaughagurumandalasvarupinimalltheflowsof thegurusaretobeinvokedaswell; samastadesakalavastugattajivachaitanyasvarupinim, samastadevagandharvayaksakinaraapasara sadyasiddhamanusastripurusasvarupinim, sriparadevatamanandabhairavimananda bhairavenaparamasivenasaharavantim ramayantimsvatmaabhinamparachittimdhyayami
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trikhandamudragarbhitakusumanjalau ???????whichneedstranslation; Trikhanda mudra garbhita kusumanjalau: you make the trikandha mudra with your hands which are the yoni mudra with the fingers openedout.Thenweinvokeallthelightbeings: Saraswatiwhoissymbolizedbyholdingawhiteflowerintwofingers; Laksmiwhoissymbolizedbyayellowflower,and Shaktiwhoissymbolizedbyaredflower. Thenyouputalldifferentcoloredflowersinthemiddle. Thenyousaythepancadasimantraandaimhrimsrim,hrimsrimsouh. Rememberhrimsrimsouhisthemantraforthevisshuddhichakra. LalitayahofLalita; amrtathenectar; caitanyamurtimtheawarenesswhichhastakenform; kalpayaminamah Imaginetheimmortalawarenesswhichhastaken theformofLalita. Thenyouholdthebreath,exhaleand Sayaimhrimsrimhasraimandputthewhitefloweryouareholdingon theDevi; Inthesameway SayhasrklimyouleavetheredfloweronDevi SayhasrsouhyouleavetheyellowfloweronDevi Saythefollowingmantrabeforereleasingtherestoftheflowers. Mahapadmavanantasthekarananandavigrahe Mahapadma vanantasthe The one who resides in the great cosmic lotus;
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karananandavigrahekaranameansthecause.Italsohasatantric meaning:itrepresentsthevisesargya. Andforthosewhousetherajasicformofworship,karanameansthe wine,orintoxicationoftheDivineBeing.ThatisthestatethatSheis alwaysin.Sheisblissitselfwhichhastakentheformofintoxication; sarvabhutahitematahehyehiparamesvari avahitabhavasamsthapitabhavasannidhapitabhava sannidhibhavasummukhibhavaavakunthitabhava suprithabhavaDevivaradabhavasuprasannabhava sarvabhutaallthelivingbeings; hiteonewhodoesgood; matahwhoisofthenatureofthemother; ehyehicome,come; paramesvaritheonewhocontrolsthecontroller,theGoddess. Avahitabhavayouareinvitedhere; samsthapitabhavacomeandsitontopofSivaandbeestablishedhere; sannidhapitabhavayouvisualizeherintheactofsitting; sannidhibhavashehasenteredontopofSiva; summukhibhavayouarefacingme; avakunthitabhavaremovetheveilofignorancesoIcanseeyourfull form; suprithabhavapleasebepleased; suprasannabhavabeofamediumstatebetweencalmandexcited; varadabhavagrantmywishes. Devithewordcomesfrom"divyateprakashate"whichmeansbyHeris lightedupthisworld,Theworldisenlightened.
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Devisarvajaganmatahyavatpujavasanakam, tavattvampritibhavenayantresminsannidhimkuru ThisistheinvocationtoDevi. "OhDevi,youwhoaretheonemotheroftheuniverse,tiltheendofthe puja,tillthenwillyoupleasewithpleasurebepresentinthisyantra"(in the sri chakra, the idol, the suvasini or woman in front of you or yourself.) Now,havinginvokedallthecosmosandallthebeings,wemustpacify themandgivethemsomethingtomakethemhappy.Thebestthingto pacifythemisthenectarwehavepreparedalready.Wetrytonourish the whole world with the nectar which has all the celestial lights includedinit. Thenyouaddthissentence: avahitebyahsarvebhyahsarvapujartham samarpayamiidamamrtam avahitebyahthosewhoareinvited; sarvebhyahallofthem; sarvapujarthaminviewoftheentirepuja; idamamrtamthisnectar; samarpayami Iofferthisnectarinviewoftheentirepujatoallthe beingsassembledhere. Eventhoughyouaresittingalonedoingthispuja,youaregivingthe nectartotheentirecosmosandthebeingsthatareassembledthere.
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Webelongtothefirstthreemodesofworship. Samayacharameansaninternalmodeofworshipandworshipwiththe fireritual.Wedothehomas,wedotheinternalvisualizations,whether theexternalpujaarticlesarepresentornotwecanvisualizethemand do the entire puja. The samayachara traditions come to us from the DivyaParamparathatisthroughBalajiBalatripurasundariwhoisour guru. From the Siddha Parampara, from Saraswati I have been given the MedhaDakshinamurthi.Sothe Dakshinacharasampradaya hasbeen giventousthroughtheSaraswatiOrder.Iameligibleforthatandthose whohavetaken diksha (initiation)frommearealsoeligibleforthat. Here you worship the Sri Chakra. It is a bahia puja. You are worshippingsomethingoutsideofyou,usuallya vigraham (anidolor yantra).However,the suvasinipuja isalsodone. Suvasini isawoman whorepresentstheShakti,butthepujaisdoneonlytoherfeet. IntheKaulacharatraditiontheidolisreplacedbyalivingwomanora manoracouple.YoucanalsothinkofHerasthe unionofSivaand Shakti.YoucanworshipHerasawoman,asamanorasboth.Thereis norestriction. WhenwegiveHerabathwenotonlychantthe Durga and Lakshmisuktams,butwealsochantthe Purushasuktam andthe SriRudram.Theword"she"containstheword"he".Soyoudonothave toworrythatyouareonlyworshippingthemothergoddessandyouare ignoringthefathergod.Youareworshippingboth.ThereisaSanskrit
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saying that says when ever you worship all the gods you worship Keshava. Ka+isha+va is Keshava. Ka isBrahma, Isha isSivaand theiruniongeneratesthevamwhichistheamritam. BIJAM: That is the nature of Visnu, the yoni. "Sarvadevam Namaskaram"goestoallthethreegods,Brahma,VisnuandSiva. The Kaulachara traditions also come to us from the Siddha Yoga Parampara.FromBalajiIhavebeengivenDikshaandfromSaraswati I have been given the Dakshinamurti tradition. But the Kaulcahra traditions also come to us through the Dattatreya Sampradaya. Dattatreya isthecombinationof Brahma,VishnuandRudra.Hehas givenhisinstructionstohisdisciples: Prahlada,hisfirstdisciple,and Parasurama his second disciple. Parasurama had codified his instructions into a Kalpa Sutra. The Parasurama Kalpasutra divides theSriVidyaUpasanaintofiveparts: 1. GanapatiUpasanaViddhiattheMuladharachakra 2. LalitaUpasanaViddhiattheSvaddhisthanaChakra 3. RajyashyamalaUpasanaViddhiattheAnahataChakra 4. VarahiUpasanaViddhiattheVisshudhiChakra 5. ParaUpasanaVidhi 1. GanapatiUpasanaViddhiattheMuladharachakra ThefirstpartistheGanapatiUpasanaViddhi.Itstartswiththe Maha Ganapati mantra Om Srim Hrim Klim Glaum Gam GanapatayeVaravaradaSarvajananmeVasamanayaSvaha.Howto worshipGanapatiattheMuladharachakraisgiven. 2. LalitaUpasanaViddhiattheSvaddhisthanaChakra InthesecondparttheParasuramaKalpaSutragoesontodescribe theSriKramamtheLalitaKramamandNavavaranaPujaswhichis worshippingLalitaattheSvaddhisthanaChakra.
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3. RajyashyamalaUpasanaViddhiattheAnahataChakra InthethirdparttheParasuramaKalpaSutragoesontodescribethe Rajyashyamala Upasana Viddhi. She is called Mantrini. As Rajyashyamala she plays the veena and worshipped at the heart center,themusicoflife. 4. VarahiUpasanaViddhiattheVisshudhiandAnjaChakras InthefourthparttheParasuramaKalpasutradescribes Varahi at the Visshudhi chakra.SheisVarahiattheVisshudhi.As Dandini, theonewhocanmanifest,change,multiplysheislocatedattheAjna Center. 5. ParaUpasanaVidhi InthefifthpartParasuramahasgiventhesinglelettermantraSouh. ThatiscalledPara. Sothesefivemantras, Ganapati,Lalitha,Rajyashyamala,Varahi and Souh (Para) complete the Dattatreya Upasana Pathati codified by Parasurama. Parasurama has given Mala Mantras which are a series of rays emminating from the feet of the Divine Mother which can be recited everyday.Wearetoldwhichmantraislocatedinwhichcenter.Thenhe talksabouthowtodothe Homas,the FireRituals toattainwhatyou wantinlife. Thesearethesubjectscoveredinthe ParasuramaKalpa Sutra. We follow these procedures. This Sanskrit version is a wordbyword translationoftheSanskrittextgivenbyParasurama.Butifyouseethe KalpaSutras youwillseeitinanencodedform.Theyneverwritethe mantrasinadirectform.Everymantrahastobedecipheredbeforeyou canunderstandit.Thathasbeendonehere.Inthisdecipheringprocess thereisanUmanandanathawhohasgivenacommentaryonthis.But he has added so many other things as well. And then every other
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upasakawhohaswrittenacommentaryhasalsoaddedontoit.They keeponcomplicatingit. IntheKaulacharatradition,thenotionofselfiscompletelyabsent.You see everyone as yourself. You invoke the Goddess into your wife, or suvasinioranyone.Youbecomethegoddessinthevirajahomaandyou are worshipping the goddess. Therecanbe nosenseofshame inthat process. That is why Dattatreya is known as Digambara (naked). DattatreyaDigambaraisoneofthegreatmantrasofDattatreya.Shridi Sai Baba, Satya Sai Baba, Paramahamsa Yogananda, Ganapati Sacchidananda,alltheseteacherscomefromtheDattatreyatradition. ThelastacharaiscalledtheVamacharatradition.Sofartheseacharas arebasedonthe worship ofthe protective,nourishing,healingkindof aspectsoftheDivine.Thentherearethe terribleaspectsoftheDivine which is the laya pradhana. That is the worship in the Vamachara tradition. ThereyouthinkofGodasthe terrible aspects. Yougotothe cremationgrounds.Thereyouhavevairagya,completedetachment.Your energygoesfromthevisshudichakraandgoesup.Itnevercomesdown. Youarealwaysworkingwiththecommandcenter.Itisdifficulttoarrive atthosecenterswithoutpassingthroughthelowercenters.Untilyou have experienced the heart center, to come to the ajna center is very dangerous because you will experience an inordinate amount of fears andyoucannotgetridofthem.Youcannotbegiventheastravidyas,the atombombs.Youdon'twanttoputtheatombombsinthehandsofcrazy people.Sothevamacharapathisverydangerouswithoutaproperguru. Theaghorisarevamachara.Somevamacharasdousetheirenergiesfor healing.OneweknowinBenaresuseshishealingenergytocurethe lepersandtheuntouchables.NormallyweliketothinkofGodinthe beautiful. But with the vamacharas,theyliketo thinkof God in the ugly.
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THE64INTIMATEACTSOFWORSHIP The64intimateofferingsarethengiven.Theonlymantragiveninthe offeringsisAimHrimSrim.Thismustremain.Butyoucanchangethe Sanskritwordsexplainingtheofferingsintoanylanguage. FirstyouwashtheDevi'sfeet. Thenyouremoveher ornamentsandclothes,becauseyouaregoingto give her a bath. Here is wherethedifficulty of the Kaulachara path begins. Allofourthreeformsofworshiparebenign.Theywillharmnoone.You can worship anidol.Whenyougivetheidolabath,somanypeoplesit aroundandwatchthat.Noonefeelsanysenseofshame.Butwhenyou put alivingperson thereandgiveherabath,orgiveanoilbathand massage the whole body, then people can take objection to that. Our societyisnot used to theidea.WehaveembibedtheforeignEnglish cultureandtakenontheirrepressedattitudes. Thenyouapplyperfumedoilalloverthebodyandapplyturmeric.Next ShegoesintothebathroomforHerbath.Shesitsinajewelledchair.In the olden days the beauty cremes weusedwere organicones milk, curds,honeyghee,etc.YoupreparetheseforDevi'sbathandmassage. Wealsousegramflourandwaterandmassageitalloverthebody.Each of these ingredients have light rays and colors associated with them. YouarealsobathingDeviwiththeselights.SoitiscalledaDivineBath. Then you give Her a hot waterbath.With thebath you reciteVedic mantras. Thesepancamritasareusedfordifferentpartsofthebodyandforthe differentchakras. 1. Milkisusedforthemuladharachakra; 2. Curd(yogurt)isusedfortheswaddhisthanachakra; 3. Ghee(butter)isusedforthenavelchakra,themanipura;
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4. Honeyisusedfortheanahatachakra; 5. Fruitjuiceisusedforthevisshudhiorcoconutwaterisoffered. Youcanusecoconutwaterinlewofanyoftheseofferings.Thecoconut isthesymbolofourhead.Whenyoubreakthehead,thejuicewhich comes out is the life force. So your outofthebody experience is the coconutwaterthatyouareofferingtotheDevi.Thecoconutisavery importantoffering.Alsothebananasareoffered.Theyrepresentphallic formofSivaandthereforeofferedtoDevi(yoni)toeat(i.e.,sex). The Durga Suktam is recited when you worship the svaddhisthana chakra,theyoni. Thisisforobtainingallthatyouwanttoachievethroughaction.They saythatifyouwanttogetchildren,yougotoananthillandpourmilk therebecausetheSnakewhichgiveschildrenlivesthere.Actually,the snaketheyrefertoisthekundalini;sheresidesintheyoni. The SriSuktam isusedtoworshipatthe Anahata chakra,the heart center.YouworshipthebreastsoftheDevi.PurushaSuktamalsoisused forworshippingattheheartcenter,thenipples. TheRudramischantedfortheworshipoftheSivaLinga,theclitorisor thephallus. SofarinthepujayouhavebeenworshippingtheDevi.Nowatthispoint the Devi is doing worship to the male. If you are a female it doesn't matter,becausethemaleandfemaleaspectsofeachindividualarewhat arebeingworshipped. Whereverthecharacteristicofhappinessis,thereyoufindSiva.Inthe tonguethereisalingam;thenipplesonthebreastsarethelingams;the clitorisisthelingam;thesightcomingfromtheeyesisthelingam;the soundofmusicthatenterstheearsisfemale.Allthesensorymodesare female.Alltheactivemodesaremale.Thetoesofyourfeetarelingams.
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The different parts of the body to be worshipped as lingams by the chantingofRudramarethus: 1. Thetongue 2. Thenipplesonthebreasts 3. Thephallus 4. Theclitoris 5. Thesightcomingfromtheeyes 6. Thetoesofthefeet To all of these places, these lingams you can use the Rudram and worshipthere. TheSriRudramreferstothepurificationoftheelevencharacteristicsof themind.The 5karmendriyas,the 5jnanendriyas and the1mind are theelevenrudras.Theyarecalled rudras becausetheymakeyoucry. Themindremembersthepastthingsthatmakeyoucry.Sometimesthe knowledge you receive is helpful, sometimes not helpful. You actions bringforthreactionsfromtheworldandtheymakeyoucry.Sowhen youractionsarepure,youchoosetoacceptthedivineaspectsofnature around you and to ignore the other aspects then you have truely purifiedyourself. Purification really means invoking the divine into your life. It is a commitmenttobeauty,toharmony,tograce,tohealing,tonourishment, toempowerment,toprotection.Itisthesethingsthatareconcernedwith theworship.Allofthispurificationhastheseconnotationstoit. Theabhishekamisdonebothtothepersonwhoisreceivingthepujaand totheone who is doingthepuja.Itisnotaonewayaffair.Youare experiencinghavingthepujadonetoyouanddoingthepujaandboth conditionsarecombinedinyourimagination. After you have given the baths, then you wash Devi with the Samanargyam.
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ThenyoudryHerwithawhitetowel. Thenyoudon'twantadrafttocreateachillsoyougiveHeraredshawl tocoverherbody. YouofferHeraredgarmentjusttocoverHerbreasts. ThenyoubringHertothemakeuproomandseatHerthere. YouapplydifferentperfumestoHerbodyindifferentplaces.Thereare eighttypes. ThenyoudryHerhairandthenyouperfumeitwithdhupam,incense, frombehind. Youofferallkindsofflowers. Youthentake Her totheroomwhereyouofferHerdifferentkindsof jewelry.Herhair;thekumkumyouapplytothehairpart; Herthirdeyeisnormallyclosedsoyouputajewelontopofittocoverit. SheneveropensHerthirdeyebecausewhenShedoes,thewholeworld getsdestroyed; Youapplykohltotheeyes. If you look at the Bharata Natyam dancers you will find that the ornamentsthatShewearsalloverHerbodyareexactlythosedescribed hereinthepuja.Alsothevarioussymbolsthatyouseeinmeditation coorespondtowhatyouseehere. Therearetwelveofthesesymbolsthatflashinyourmind'seye.Allthis jewelryyouadornHerwith. ThenyouofferHer redjewelledsandals,whicharekeptonthetopof yourhead.Herfeetarerestingonyourheadallthetime. Thenofferingno.49says, svasamanavesabhihavaranadevata abhissahamahacakradhirohanam
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Svasamanavesabhihhavingsimilarlyadorned; avaranadevatathedeitiesoftheenclosuresofthesrichakra; abhissahamahacakradhirohanam youmakeHertoclimbuptothe bindusthanamoftheSriChakraandsitthere. Thenofferingno.50says: kamesvaraankaparyankaupavesanam LordParameshwara's,LordSivas,thighyoumakehersit. Ifyouareamaleandaredoingpujatoawomanortoagirl,itisatthis pointthatyouaskthemtocomeandsitonyourleftthigh.Ifyouareboth femaleitdoesn'tmatter.Thepolarityneednotbethere.Youareboth SivaandShakti. Thenyouas Siva andthe Devi aregiventheamritam(viseshargyam) andthewater(samanargyam). YougiveDevi,panandtambulamasamouthfreshener. ItisthenthatDevigivesalittlesmileanditisforthissmilethatyou havebeenwaitingallthistime. Thenyouofferthelightofferingofmangalaarati. ThenyouofferHertheumbrellawhichisaroyalinsignia. ThenoneithersideLakshmiandSaraswatiarefanningHerwithyaks tailfans. Your mind is offered as a mirror in which to see Her as yourself reflected. A palmleaf fanisoffered.Thenagainyouoffer sandalpaste,flowers, incense,lightandafoodoffering. Theseofferingscorrespondtothedifferentchakrasaswell. Sandalisofferedtothemuladharachakra;
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flowers are offered to the ajna chakra; they represent the "indriya nigraham",thecontrolofthefivesenses; incenseisofferedattheheartcenter; lightisofferedatthenavelcenter; naivedyam is offered at the Svaddhisthana chakra because they say that Kali the Mother Goddess likes to have "nada mamsam" as naivedyam. Ifyouunderstandthisproperly,thehumanfleshthatisofferedtoHeris themalelingam.Itisthepleasurablenaivedyamthatisofferedtoher. Itistheintercoursethatisofferedtoherasnaivedyam. In Devi upasana madya, matsya, mamsa, mudra, maithuna (the five M's)thesearethefiveingredientsthatareHernaivedyam. 1. Madya meansliquororintoxication.Likeyouareconstantlytaking liquor,whenyouthinkoftheMotherGoddessyouareinastateof ecstacy.Thewordecstasymeansstanding outofyourbody;youare having an outofthebody experience. There is the feeling of lightness,likeyouarefloatingonacloudthatyougetwhenyouare drunk.TheTantraSastrastates"Drink,drinkanddrinkagainuntil youfallontheground.Thenyougetupanddrinkagain.Thenyou obtain moksha or liberation." What it means is as the kundalini chakrarisesfromthe muladharachakra,youarehavingan outof thebodyexperience.Butthatdoesnotstayforlong.Youagainhave toassumeyourbodyconsciousness.Thenyouhavetodrinkagainto reachthatstateagain.Youhavetomovetheenergyupthechakras asittriestocomedown.Thisisthemusicyouplayinsideyourself andyoutrytomaintainthatstate.Thatisthewaytoliberation.This statementisamisleadingstatement.Tantricshaveawayofwriting things that is called "Sandhya Bhasha", in coded language. Those whodonothaveaccesstoaproperguruwillfollowdownthewrong
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pathandgetdegraded.Somadyaistheconstantenergizingthethe chakrasonebyonefromthelowertothehigher. 2. Matsya likeafishthatmovesintheoceaninanydirectionofits choice,sointheblissofGodyouaremovingwherevertheflowtakes you,flowingwithyourbody,mind,andintellectknowingallthetime thatwhatyouaredoingisdivine.Thatismatsyabhava.Somepeople interpretittomeanthatyouofferfishtotheDevi. 3. Mamsaistheknowledge.Itcomesfromthestatement"Yomamati samamatni",meaningwhatyoueatisgoingtoeatyoutomorrow.I ameatingfood.Iamgoingtodie.WhenIdieIbecomefoodforthe wormsandtheplants. Foodwhichiseatingitselfisthatknowledge calledmamsa.Itisalsohumanflesh,thelingamofferedintotheyoni oftheDevi. 4. Mudrasarethehandgestures.Dramdrimklimblum,etc. 5. Maithuna istheintercourse.Intercourseisnotlimitedtoacertain timewhenthemaleandthefemalearetogether.Itisinabroader context. We are always in intercourse. You are having continuous intercoursewiththeentireworld.Yourseeingisunion;yourhearing is union; your every action becomes union. So whether the actual maithunahappensornotitisnotreallyrelevent.Butsheacceptsthe unionasnaivedyamtoher. THEFIVEOFFERINGSTODEVI (ThePancaUpacaraPuja) IfyoulookattheFiveOfferingsforDeviyouwillsee: LamLalitayaisatsangam gandhamkalpayaminamah Lam is the bija associated with the muladhara chakra. And there is offered satsangam association with the truth, association with the light,harmony,grace.Thesepositiveaspectsarethegandham.Youoffer
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her the perfumed scents. The muladhara is concerned with security. Yoursecurityhastobepurifiedsothatitcanexpandtosecurityforthe entireplanet.Whereveryoufindaflow,admirationofnature'sbeauty,a dance,asong,somemusic,discussionsontruth,thatissatsangam. Thenextofferingis Hamakashatmikayaiindriya nigrahampuspamkalpayami. Puspammeansflowers.ThereareeightkindsofflowersofferedtoDevi, likeamalaaroundherneck. Thenincenseisoffered. Punyapapavisarjanamdhupamkalpayami The elimination of kama krodha lobha moha mada matsarya (lust, anger,,delusion,pride,jealousyandallnegativetraits)Thesmokethat comesoutfromtheincensesymbolizesallthesethingscomingoutofthe heartcenter. Youofferdipamlight. Chitkaladarsanamdipamkalpayami Whenyoucloseyoueyesinmeditation,thelightsthatyouseearethe lightsthatyouaregivingastheofferingtoDevi. Youofferfood,naivedyam. vasudhadisivasanamsivasakti samarasyamnaivedyamkalpayami The nectar that is offered is the nectar from the union of Siva and Shakti.Thesamarasyaisthestateofequality,outofwhichouridentity isobtained.Herebothyogaandbhogaaspectsarebeingcombined.Yoga iswherethecontroloftheseedispracticed.Intheentirepujatheman andwomanarethere,SivaandShaktiarethereanditisinthecontext of ritual and it is a very controlled environment. There is no loss of control atanypoint.Thereisanelevationofexpressionofyourloveto
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theotherperson.Itgoesmoreintoadorationthaninto physicalunion. Therecanbeunion,buteventherethepurposeisnottheextractionof theseed.Thepurposeistocontroltheseedandtotransformitintothe cosmicenergy. Thereisanoscillationofenergybetween Siva and Shakti. Theysay that unless 32 minutes of union is there, this energy tranformation cannottakeplace.Butinanormalhumaninteraction,hardly 5or10 minutes is all that you have. That is why for the Maithuna Rite the couplehastopracticedifferentasanas,mudrasandbandhas.Gaining controloveryoursensesiswhatisoffered.ThisistheMaithunaRitual. Inthe SriKramam youlearntotakethe energyuptotheSahasrara chakra intoacosmicstate.Inthe LalitaKramam youmovebackinto the dualityofpujaandritual.Butactuallyboththe Bhoga (physical enjoyment and worldly pleasures) and the Yoga (union with the Supreme)arethereallthetime.Therealityisthere,oneendofwhichis Bhoga andtheotherendwhichisYoga.Youtakeallthistroubletogo uptotheSahasrarachakraandwhatyoufindisthattheBhogaisgoing onatthesametime.Theyareallshortcircuitedhere.Theswitchesfor the energy in the body are located all over the body, but they are controlledbythebrain.AndtheentirebrainistheSahasrarachakra.So you are always in the Sahasrara chakra, no matter if you are in Muladharaoratthetopofthehead.So Bhoga and Yoga areunited. Theyareneverseparated. IntheTantraSastrathereisnorejectionofyourfamilylife,beinginthe samsara andalsolearningtobeabovethat.Youare supposedtoenjoy yourselfbutatthesametimelearntobeawitnesstoyourself,tobea littledetached.LikeMrRao#1watchingMr.Rao#2doingthepujato Mr.Rao#3.
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THETENHANDGESTURESTHEDASAMUDRAS Itisatthispointthatyoushowthe tenhandmudras. Eachofthese gesturesisassociatedwithoneofthechakrasintheSriChakra. Thereareninemudras: 1. dram(shubdaCanItalktoyou?) 2. drim(sparshaCanItouchyou?) 3. klim(rupaCanIseeyounude?) 4. blum(rasaCanIkissyou?) 5. saha(gandhaCanIapplyperfumestoyourbody?) Thesearethefivesensorymodesofperception,plus 6. krom(ankushamStopmewhereyouwishto) 7. hasakhaphrem(Let'sforgetthatweareseparateindividualsand flytogetherinspaceoutofthebody.), 8. hsaum (May I place my seed in you? The seed is the seed of knowledge) 9. aim(representstheyoni). In the Lalita Sahasranama it says she is to be worshipped by ten mudras"Dasamudrasamaradhya". The krom (ankusham)issaying,"IfIamoversteppingtheboundaries laiddownbyyou,pleasestopme.InTantrathewomanistheteacher. Sheistheguru,theleaderofthewholeflow.Shehastodecidewhereto drawthatlineandthesadhakashouldnevertransgressthatline.Ifshe says,youworshipmyfeet,thenhehasnorighttoworshipanyother partofherbody.Thatisthegoldenrule.Ifyouviolatetheentityyouare worshipping, then it is no longer worship. That is the beauty of the sastrahere.
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Hasakhaphremiswhereyoucrossyourarmsandmaketheyonimudra. Crossingyourarms,exchangingtherightandleftmeansifyouareSiva youarebecomingShakti,andifyouareShaktiyouarebecomingSiva. Yourawarenessextendsintoherandhersintoyou.Youbecomeherand shebecomesyou.YouarebothSivaandShakti.Imaginethatthereisa tubebetweenyouandyouareshuttlingbackandforthbetweenSiva andShakti.ThatistheexperienceoftheSivaShaktisamarasyastate. Yourlingamisprojectingintoherandherlingamisprojectinginto you. It is a twoway union. Thisiscalledthe Samarasya Swarupam. This projection of alternating energy of bliss goes back and forth. It comes up to the navel center, then it comes up to the heart to heart center,thentothenecktoneckcenter,thentotheeyebrowcentersand thenthetwomergeintoone.Insteadofbeinganoscillationitbecomesa closedcircle.Thisiswherethe Bhoga becomes Yoga. Inthe Yoga the Bhogaisstillexperienced. Byshowingthesemudrasyouareaskingherwheretodrawthelimits. Hasakhaphremissaying,"Let'sforgetthatwearetwoentities.Let'sget outofourbodyconsciousnessandmovefreelyinspace". Whenyoumaketheyonimudrayouhavethreesetsoflingasandyonis. Thefourpetallotuscreatedbythelongfingersformingatrianglewith thefourfingersprojectingintothemisthemainyoniandlingams.It represents the muladhara and swaddhisthana chakras, the srusti aspects of creation. One set of yonilingas represents the manipura/anahatachakra where Lakshmi and Visnu reside,the stiti aspect. One set of yonilingas represents the visshudi/ajna chakras which are the laya aspects. Andbeyondthatisthe Sahasrara which mergeswiththecosmosandhasnoform.Soallsevenchakrasarefound intheYonimudra.ThatiswhyitisreallycalledtheSarvaYoniMudra.
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Youshowallthesemudrasandthenifsheagreesanddecidestobeyour guru, she shows thetrikandamudra,whichisthetenthmudra.Itis madeliketheyonimudrawiththelittlefingersextendedoutwards. Padukam pujayami tarpayami namah (I worship and offer water libationstoyourFeet) From this point onwards at the end of each mantra you say Sri Padukam pujayami tarpayami namah. If you look at the two feet standingtogether, you will seethatthey alsoform ayoni.Whenyou worshipthefeetyouworshipthemasyoudotheyoni.Wereceivethe energyfromthefeetofourguru,ourShakti. Whenyouareveryyoung,beforetheageofpuberty,youcanstillhavean orgasm.Thatorgasmis notatthegenitals butitisshownas ajerkin thebigtoe.TheShaktiflowsfromtheleftfoot'sbigtoe.Wereceivethe energyfromtheundersideofthebigtoe.Evenbeforepubertyattheage offiveonwardschildrenfeelthisorgasmicsensation. THEANGADEVATAS YouoffertheanganyasamtothedifferentpartsofDevi'sbodyandyour body.Youcanactuallytouchthoseportionsorshecandothemwithyou. Thisisthemeaningofseeingthefourhandsofthepicturesandmurtis oftheDeities.Twohandsbelongtoyouandtwohandsbelongtoher. You are not separate, you are one. The order of touching the points around the Sri Chakra is the same as you have done for the samanargyam. NITYADEVATASPUJA IntheSriCakraPujawealsoworshipthe NityaDevatas aroundthe centraltriangle,alongwithalltheSanskritvowels.Theword Nitya in Sanskritmeansaunitoftime.The nityas arethe differentaspectsof space,thedifferentphasesofthemoon,thetithis.ThewordtimeisKala. Apartoftimeisthenityas,thedigitsofthemoon.Theyarevisualized beingaroundtheDevi'sneck.Youstartwithamavasya,thenewmoon
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andgotopournami,thefullmoon.Youmovearoundthecentraltriangle inananticlockwisedirection.ButifyoudotheworshiptotheDevi,you movearoundherneckinaclockwisedirection. IntheSriCakraPuja theworshipisusuallyconfinedtotherecitationofthe mulamantra of thenityadevataandsometimesashortpujatoeachofthem. Themulamantrasareallchannelsofenergyandnotverytranslatable. Witheachmantrayoufirstreciteonevowel.Thesearetohelpyouto memorize the whole thing to beable to do it internally. You tend to forgetwhereyouare.Thelettersprovidecontinuitytothenextmantra. Yourememberthebeginningandthelastvowelandtheylinktothe nextone.Theyarealsopointerstowhereyourawarenessistobelocated aroundthevisshudhichakra. The nityadevatas arealsoidentifiedwiththefifteensyllabledmantra, the Pancadasi.EachsyllableofthePancadasimantraisrecitedonits associateddayornitya.Thesyllablesofthemantrarefertotheeternal, formlessaspectsofthecosmos(Siva)orthematerialuniverseandits maya(Sakti).ItisconsideredappropriatetodotheworshipoftheDevi onthedaysassociatatedwiththeSaktiandnotondaysassociatedwith Siva. THETITHISORNITYAS 1stday Ka associatedwithSivanotgoodforpuja 2ndday E 3rdday I 4thday La Saktigood Saktigood Saktigood
8thday Ka Sivanotgood
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9thday Ha Sivanotgood 10thday 11thday 12thday 13thday 14thday 15thday La Saktigood HrimwithSiva&Saktiexcellent(ekadasi) Sa "Saktigood Ka Sivanotgood La "Saktigood Hrim"withSivaandSaktiexcellent(Purnima)
ThesamethingrelatestothewaningofthemoonuntilyoureachNew MoonorAmavasyawhichisconsideredverygoodforpuja. InadditiontothisassociationoftheNityastothePancadasimantra,in atantricpuja,eachoftheNityaDevatasisassociatedtoapointonthe body of the Devi where you aretoworshiphereverydayinorderto exciteherandbringaboutorgasm.Thereferencetothisformofworship isgivenintheKamaSutras. THEGURUMANDALAPUJA The divyaughaguru (our heavenlygurus,theDivineFlow)comesfrom Balatripurasundari, (or Lord Venkateshwara, Balaji they are the same),and SanatKumara. Balatripurasundari isdepictedasa young girl,fromaroundthreeyearsolduptonineyearsold. SanatKumara was a famous sage who was an ascetic. The mantra of Balatripurasundaricanbesaidinthreeways: 1. AimKlimSouhBalajiisthreeyearsold; 2. AimKlimSouh,Souh,KlimAimsheissixyearsold; 3. AimKlimSouh,Souh,KlimAim,AimKlimSouhsheisnine yearsold. Sheismyguru.ItwasShewhodemandedthattheSriMerutemplebe builtandgotitdone.
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ThenextguruworshippedistheSiddhaughaguru,Dattatreya.Myguru comes from the Dattatreya Avadhuta tradition, Sri Avadhuta SvaprakashanandaofAnakapalli.HefollowstheDattatreyatradition.I getwhattraditionhehasgot.DattatreyaisSiddhaugha.Heissupposed tobelivingtoday.HisfeetareintheVindhyamountainsatGinnath.If yougothereitispossiblethatyoumayhavehisdarshan.Youhavegot toclimbabout 10,000steps.Allthatyoufindthereisonelittleblock withtwofeettherewhichareworshippedeveryday. The Manaugha guru, the human form is Svaprakasananda tirtha paramahamsaavaduta.Andmynameisalsoincludedinthere,Idon't knowforwhatreason. THECATURYATANAPUJA (WORSHIPOFTHEFOURCORNERSOFTHESRICHAKRA) NextweworshipthefourcornersoftheSriChakra. 1. IntheSWcornerLordGanapatiisworshipped 2. IntheNWcorner,Suryaisworshipped 3. IntheNEcornerVishnuisworshippedand 4. IntheSEcorner,Sivaisworshipped. Shaktiisinthecenter.Rememberthatthesearedifferentexpressionsof thesameentity.Wecouldhaveanyoneoftheminthecenter.Thenthe otheraspectsofGodwouldtakeadifferentformataroundthem.Butwe followtheShakteyatradition,soDeviisinthecenter. TheGaneshaMantrais OmSrimhrimklimglaumgam ganapatayevaravaradasarajanam mevasamanayasvaha. Thereissomethingelseadded,butitisnotintheKalpaSutra.
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Theaddedmantrais: srimhrimklimglaumgam namobhagavatimahalaksmi varavaradesrimvibhutyaisvaha srisripatyadisiddhalaksmi samethasrivallalabha srimahaganapatayenamah The yantra for Ganapati is there and you worship Ganapati at the Muladhara chakra. Starting with "sri patyadi" until "siddha laksmi" thereisagroupofdeitiesarrangedinthemandalaliketheSriChakra mandala that we have here. For each aspect of God there is a correspondingmandalaassociatedwithit.SriVallabhaheisdearto theGoddessSri. Inthismanneryouworshipallthedeities; Ganapati,Surya,Vishnu, SivaandLalita.Theworshipcanbeaslongorasabbreviatedasyou like. THENAVAVARANAPUJA The most important thing that you have to remember here is the sequence in which these deities are located. When you do the circumambulation to the Sri Chakra you have to visit each of these deitiesinthisorder.Thismakesitaprettycomplicatedaffairandyou havetokeepyourwitsaboutyou. The Khadga Mala Stotra defines the sequence and you have to rememberwhichGoddessiswhere.Youhavetobesofamiliarwiththe process that you can close your eyes and visualize the form of the goddess in your mind. It is a very powerful meditative technique for visualizingthedifferentformsoftheGoddesses.Onceyouarefamiliar withthenameandareabletoassociatewiththeformoftheGoddess,it isthenthatthepujaiscomplete.Theyshouldbeasiftheywereliving rightinfrontofyou,wavingtheirvariousweaponsaround.
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THEFIRSTAVARANA Inthefirstavarana,wemovefromtheoutsideenclosuretotheinside. Webeginourjourneytoenlightenment.YouworshiptheDevi'sFeet. Thefirstenclosure: ItbeginswiththeTenAttainments(Siddhis).Youattainonesiddhiby applyingeachofthemudrastoeachofthepassions. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. Animasiddhiisthefirstsiddhitobeattained Laghima/garima siddhi are considered one siddhi lightness/heaviness Mahimasiddhigreatness; Isitvasiddhicontroloveryourself; Vasitvasiddhibringingothersunderyourcontrol; Prakamyasiddhibeingabletodesirelargethings; Bhuktisiddhienjoyment; Icchasiddhidesire; Praptisiddhiattainmentofdesire;
10. Sarvakamasiddhifulfillmentofalldesires. TheSecondenclosure: InthesecondsquareenclosurewehavegottheEightpassions.Theyare thepotentialdistractionstooursadhana.Thepassionsarelocatedon the lefthand side the the entrances. They are Brahmi, Mahesvari, Koumari,VaisnaviVarahi,Mahendri,Camunda,Mahalaksmi. 1. Brahmiislust; 2. Mahesvariisanger; 3. Koumariispossessiveness; 4. VaisnaviisDelusion;
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5. Varahiispride; 6. Mahendriisjealousy; 7. Camunda is virtue. She lives in the cremation grounds. She bringsvairagya,detachmentwhichissupposedtobeauspicious 8. Mahalaksmiissin.SheisthegiverofGold.Whenyouthinkof Her,youthinkofallthemundanethingsthatdistractyoutoo muchandkeepyouattached. TheThirdenclosureTheMudraShaktis InthethirdenclosurewehavetheMudraShaktis.Theyrepresentthe procedures to control the passions above and obtain the powers mentionedinthefirstenclosure. 1. SarvasamksobiniKsobinimeansintercourse.SarvaSamksobini means having intercourse with everyone and everything, or agitatingeverything; 2. SarvaVidravinimakingthingsflow,liquifyingall; 3. Sarvakarsiniattractingall; 4. SarvaVasamkarikeepingthingsunderyourcontrol; 5. SarvaUnmadinimakingallcrazy; 6. SarvaMahankusetrickingallandgoadingintoaction; 7. SarvaKhecariabletomoveinallspace; 8. SarvaBijaallknowledge; 9. SarvaYonithesource,thewombofall; 10. SarvaTrikanda allformsandstatesofawareness,beingthe knower,theknowingandtheknown. TheSarva adjectivemakesthesepowershavepotencywhenappliedto theShaktisofpassion.Theyenableyoutogetoverthepassions,andthey createthetenSiddhis,orattainments.
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Then,attheendofeachAvaranathereisaparagraphwhichstartswith themantraforthatavarana.Thesemantrasarelistedatthebeginning ofthepujaalso. ThefirstavaranamantraisAmAmSouh. Theparagraghtranslatedforthe1stAvaranafollows. ItwillbethesameforalltheAvaranasexceptforthenameoftheyogini (PrakataYogini)andthechakra(TrailokyaMohanaChakra)andthe controllerofthechakra(TripuraCakresvari). "These explicit yoginis, whose nature is expressly visible, not suppressed; whose chakra rules and deludes all the three worlds of waking, sleeping, dreaming; along with their mudras, hand gestures; alongwiththeirattainments;alongwiththeirweapons;alongwiththeir powers; along with their vehicles; along with their retenues of attendents;byalltheintimateservices;wellworshipped;wellsatified; veryhappyorpleased;mayallthesegodsbeso. Again Am Am Souh comes. Tripura Cakresvari is the name of the controllerofthischakra. IntheKhadgamalaStotraallthenamesofTripuracometogetheratthe end. Here in the Navavarana Puja each of Her names comes at this placeattheendoftheavarana. In the 2nd avarana her name is Tripuresi; in the 3rd it is Tripurasundari,etc. ThenyousaySripadukampujayamitarpayaminamahToyourlotus feetIofferpujaandtarpanam(wateroffering). I also offer gandham sandal, puspam flowers, dhupam incense, dipamlights,andnaivedyamfoodofferings. YoushowthefirsthandmudraofSarvasamksobiniDram.
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SARVASAMSHOBINIMUDRA(DRAM) Aftereachavaranayoushowoneofthetenhand mudras.Theygoin orderfromDramtoYonimudras. THE2NDAVARANA ThesearetheSixteenAttractingPowerswhicharealsoassociatedwith theNityaDevis,the16DigitsorPhasesoftheMoon.Youworshipthe Devi'shipsandgirdle. ThenamesoftheDevisgivenare: 1. kamakarsinitheattractionoflust; 2. buddhyakarsiniofdiscrimination; 3. ahamkarakarsiniofego; 4. sabdhakarsiniofsound(music); 5. sparsakarsinioftouch(eros); 6. rupakarsiniofform(beauty); 7. rasakarsinioftaste(sweetness); 8. gandhakarsiniorodor(perfume); 9. cittakarsiniofmind;
1.
dhairyakarsiniofvalor;
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2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7.
anangakusumadevithefloweringdevi;
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2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.
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Thenamesofthefourteenworldsthatfollowarenotlistedinthepuja, butrepresentedbytheavarana.Thereare Six worldsaboveourworld Bhu;Sevenarebelowourworld. The fourteen worlds sequentiallyfromthehighertothelowerworlds are:
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7.
ThenamesoftheDevisofthe4thavaranaare:
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9.
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13. SarvaMantraMayyiallmantras 14. SarvadvandvaKsayamkarieliminatingalldualities
SARVAVASAMKARIMUDRA(BLUM) THE5THAVARANA(THEPANCABHUTAS) TheoutertentrianglesoftheSriChakra.YouworshiptheDeviatthe ManipuraChakra. ThenamesoftheDevisare: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Sarvasiddhipradagiverofallachievements; Sarvasampatpradagiverofallwealth; Sarvapriyamkarigiveofallthatonelikestohave; Sarvamangalakarinibringerofallauspiciousness; Sarvakamapradafulfillerofalldesires;
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6. 7. 8. 9.
10. Sarvasoubhagyadayiniproviderofallunions. ThemantraisHsaimHsklimHsauh She is Kulottirna Yoginyah the yogini who goes beyond all classifications. The chakra is Sarvartha sadhakacakre thewheelthatpropels you ontotherightpath,givesyouallwealth,fulfillsalldesiresandmakes liberationpossible. TheControllerisTripurasricakresvaritheonewhoistherichesofthe threestates. YouofferSarvonmadinimudraSaha.
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SarvaJnaomniscient; SarvaSaktiomnipotent; SarvaAisvaryaPradaomniexpressive; SarvaJnanamayiprovidingtheblissofomniscience; SarvaVyadhiVinasinieliminatingallmaladies; SarvaAdharaSvarupathesupportofall; SarvaPapaharaeliminatorofsin; SarvaAnandaMayiallhappiness; SarvaRaksaSvarupiniallprotecting; SarvepsitaPhalaPradatheproviderofallfruits ThemantraisHrimKlimBlem TheyoginiisNigarbhaYoginyahtheyoginiprotectingthechildinthe womb. ThechakraisSarvaRaksakaraCakrethewheelofallprotection. TheControllerofthechakraisTripuraMalinithesequencesofthese statesexperiencedbyallpeople. YouofferSarvaMahankusamudraKrom
SARVAMAHANGUSHAMUDRA(KROM) THE7THAVARANA(THEEIGHTFORMSOFSARASWATI)
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YouworshiptheDeviattheVisshudhichakra. Theeightforms ofSaraswatiaretheeightgroupsofSanskritletters describingtheexplosionofthecosmosfromthepoint(bindu) amamimimumumarumarumalum alumemaimomoumahahamarblum VasiniVagdevatayainamahControl kamkhamgamghamjnamklahrim KamesvarivagdevatayainamahExpressive camchamjamjhaminamjnblim ModinivagdevatayainamahPleasure tamthamdamdhamnam VimalavagdevatayainamahPurity tamthamdamdhamnamjmrim ArunavagdevatayainamahPassion pamphambambhammamhslvyum JayinivagdevatayainamahVictory yamramlamvamjhmryumSarvesvarivagdevatayainamah Controllingall samsamsamhamlamksamksmrim KaulinivagdevatayainamahEnjoyingall Themantraforthe7thavaranaisHrimSrimSouh TheyoginiisRahasyayoginyahthesecretyogini The chakra is Sarva Rogahara cakre the wheel which eliminates disease The Controller of the chakra is Tripura Siddha Chakresvari the achievementspossibleinallthesethreestates YouoffertheSarvaKhecarimudraHsakaphrem
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SARVAKHECHARIMUDRA(HSKAPHREM) THEEIGHTHAVARANA The Weapons of the Divine Mother and the Goddesses of the Inner Triangle.YouworshiptheDevi's armsandhands andthenherthird eye,theAjnaChakra. DramDrimKlimBlumSah,sarvajrmbhanebhyobanebhyonamah,sri BanasaktithefivefloweryarrowsofManmathacallthefivesenses; 1. sound(music) 2. touch(eros) 3. form(beauty) 4. taste(sweetness) 5. smell(fragrance). Dhamthamsarvasammohanayadhanushenamah sriDhanusaktithesugarcanebowrepresentingthemindwhichlikes sweetthingsinlife. Amhrimsarvavashikaranayapasayanamah sriPasusaktitheattractivepowersoflove. Kromkromsarvastambhanayaankushayanamah Ankusasaktitherepulsivepowertocontrolevil.
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kaeilahrimvamarajogunaicchasaktiKamesvaryainamah,sriiccha saktidesire,thethrustofGod,desiringtoseehimselfinmanyforms. HasakalahrimjyestasattvagunajnanasaktiVajresvaryainamah,sri jnanasaktiknowledgetheabilitytoobtainthecosmosinaseedform. SakalahrimraudritamogunakriyasaktiBhagamalinyainamah,sri kriyasaktiactiontheabilitytoexpressthecosmosoutoftheseed. Kaeilahrim,Hasakahalahrim,Sakalahrim icchajnanakriya saktiMahadevialloftheabove. ThemantraisHsraimHsrklimHrsrsouh TheyoginiisAtirahasyayoginyahthemostsecretyogini ThechakraisSarvaSiddiPradacakrethewheelofrealizations. TheControllerofthechakraisTripurambacakresvaritheexperience ofthecosmosinHerthreestatesunifyingalltheexperiencesofalllife YouoffertheSarvabijamudraHsaum
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SARVAYONIMUDRA(AIM) THEPANCAUPACARAPUJA AftertheNavavaranaPujaisfinishedtheLalitaSahasranamaistobe recited and then we offer the Panca Upacaras (the Five Offerings) to Devi. Thefiveofferingsare: 1. Gandham 2. Flowers 3. Dhupam 4. Dipam,Naivedyam,Karpura,Tambulam 5. Offeringourselves ThefirstofferingisGandhamsandalwoodpaste.TheSanskritis: Lalitayaisatsangamgandhamkalpayaminamah"
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Satsangammeansassociationwiththetruth.Whatyouaresayingis Let the sweet perfume smell of our association with the truth be as sandalwoodofferedinmymindtoyourlotusfeet. Thesecondofferingisofflowers.Whataretheflowersthatareoffered? Lalitayaiindriyanigrahampuspamkalpayaminamah Indriyanigrahammeanscontrolofthefivesenses.Theyaretheflowers thatweoffer. Thethirdofferingisdhupam,incense. Lalitayai kama krodha lobha moha mada matsarya punya papa visarjanamdhupamkalpayaminamah Theincenseisleavingthepassionsforlust,greed,etc.andthenotionsof punyavirtueandpapasinbehind,lettingthembeburntupasthe incensestickisburntup. Thenextofferingisdipamthelight.Whatisthelightweareoffering? Lalitayaichitkaladarsanam dipamkalpayaminamah Chitmeansawarenesskalaisthelightsintheawarenessinthemind's eye;whenyoucloseyoureyesandyouareseeingthelightswithin,itis thoselightswhichyouoffertotheDevi. Naivedyamisfoodanditisthenextoffering: Lalitayaivasudhadisivavasanamsivasakti samarasyamnaivedyamkalpayaminamah ToLalita,vasudhadistartingfromtheearth,sivavasanaminallthe elements,inallthechakras,SivaistheseerandShaktiistheknown, themodifiedandunmodifiedawarenesses,theirunion(samarasyam)is tobeofferedasafoodoffering.Theunionbetweentheseerandtheseen isthefoodoffering. Karpuracamphoristhenextoffering:
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Lalitayaimanolayasvarupaananda karpuranirajanamkalpayaminamah Manolayaistheeliminationofthemind;thatisthestateofbliss.Like thecamphorthatburnsandeliminatesitself,soweoffertheelimination ofallthoughtsfromthemindtotheDevi. Tambulampanistheofferingthatfollows: Lalitayaiupanisadvakyasurabhilam tambulamkalpayaminamah TheupanisadsarethepartsoftheVedasthatdealwithknowledge.Vak meansthesentences.Surabhilamisperfumed.Theperfumedspeechat theendoftheVedasrelatingtoknowledgethatisofferedasthemouth freshingpantoDevi. ThelastofferingisofferingourselvestoDevi SivohamSivaham IamSiva.YouareSiva. KAMAKALADHYANAM Wemeditateonthe faceofDeviasSaraswati,Her breastsasGoddess Laksmi, and Her genitals as Goddess Durga, Kali or Lalita. In this meditation,youvisualizeyourselfas Devi,and Devi ineverything.All thatyouseeisyourself.Takesometimetoabideinthisopenoneness withDevi. BALIDANAM Inthislastpartofthepuja,yougiveafoodofferingtotheKsetrapalaka theDeitiesthatprotectthefield,thelocationwherethepujaisbeing held.Youarealsogivingtotheevilmongeringspiritsorforcesthatexist allaroundussothattheydonottroublethedevoteeswhoaredoingthe puja.
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You draw the diagram on the floor in front of the Devi using the samanargyam water the triangle surrounded by the circle and a square.Whiledrawingyourecite "Aimvyapakamandalayanamah". Ontopofthediagramyouplaceasmallplateorvessel,preferablyof copper.YouputasamplingofeachofthefoodofferingsgiventotheDevi ontheplate,andpourwaterontopofit.Thenyousaythefollowing mantra: Omhrimsarvavighnakridbhyah Sarvabhutebhyohumsvaha Sarvavighnakridbhyaallthosewhoarecreatingobstacles; sarvabhutebhyoalltheelementswhicharecreatingthetrouble; humsvahaIsayhumandofferthemtothefire. ThewordHumhasaspecialmeaning.Itiscalledakurchabija.When youholdyourbreathandpushitdownasifyouweregoingtoeliminate yourbowels,thenyoufeelafteralittlewhiletherushofbloodcomingup totheface.Thefacewillflushwiththeblood.Thatisthehum.When yousayHumPhatsvaha,anddoesitlongenough,thephatisthesound ofexplosionwhenthebloodrushestoyourheadandyouloseyourbody, youpassout.Youaredead.Thisisthewaytheyogisdie.Theyjusthold theirbreath,pushitdownandthenthebloodrushesup.Theheadis fullyenergizedinasuperconsciousstateanditblowsuplikeacoconut and the waters flow out to Siva.Thisisthesecretofthe HumPhat Swahamantra. Swaha iswhatyouoffertothefire.Phatistheexplosivesound.When you offer thebody to thefire,youaredead.Soinasense, Phat and Swahaarethesamething.Whenyousayone,youdon'thavetosaythe other.
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Thenyouclapthreetimesforthoserelatingtothebody,thoserelating the elements and those relating to the astral entities. Adiatmika, adibhutikaandadidaivikaarethethreedisturbingelementsyoutryto eliminate. TOFINISHTHEPUJA ToofferanythingtoGod,a puja,a karma,howdoweoffer?Weoffer withtheseedandwater.Akshatas,thericegrainsrepresenttheseed. These,alongwithwateryoupourovertheMeruSriChakra. Etatpujaphalamsarvamsriparadevatarpanamastu paramesvaraparnamastuGurudevatarpanamastu svatmarpanamastu EtatpujaphalamThefruitofthispuja; sarvamsriparadevatarpanamastualongwithwatermayitbeoffered tothetranscendentalGoddess; paramesvaraparnamastutothefatherGod,Siva; GurudevatarpanamastutotheGuruwhoisthelivingGod,weoffer; svatmarpanamastuIoffertomyself. At the end of the puja you pick up the vessel containing the viseshargyam,putitontopofyourheadandthenshowitthreetimesto Devi.Afterthisyoudistributethenectartothedevotees.Donotdisturb itduringthepuja. PARASURAMAKALPASUTRA The KalpaSutra isadigestof SriVidya,asystemofDivineMother's worshipcompiledbyParasuramafromseveralsystemswhichprevailed inhisday.ThisisoneofthemanyformsofSriVidyanowinvogue.Itis theshortestandbestarrangedoneofthemall. APASSAGEFROMTRIPURARAHASYAUPANISHATQUOTES
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Inthe UpasanaKandaoftheVeda,the Upasana orthecontemplative worshipistreatedinallitsdetails.ThesedetailswerecompiledbySiva in sixclassesofworks knownas Agama,Rahasya,Samhita,Yamala, Arnava and Tantra, each class being devoted to a distinct Devata or formoftheSupreme. Bhargava Rama, son of Jamadagni, saw them too vast ad asked his revered master, Blessed Dattatreya who combined the Trinity of Brahma, Vishnu and Siva in Himself, to abridge the system. Accordingly,seeingthattheUpasanaofTripura wasthehighestofall formsofworshipandthatitseffectincludedtheeffectsofallotherforms of worship composed DattaSamhita comprising eighteen thousand verses,inwhichtheworshipofTripurawaslaiddowninallitsdetails inasuccinctform. FromhimBhargavaRamalearnttheSamhita.But,findingthatitwas stilltoovastinextentandthatitsmeaningwasstilltoodeepforthe averagedevoteetounderstand,Ramaabridgedthesystemstillfurther andpresenteditinanintelligibleform.Thisabridgmentcontained six thousandsutrasinfiftyKhandasorsections. Rama's pupil, again, Sumedha of the Harita family who studied this sutrafromhismaster,foundtheworkalmostasvastasDattaSamhita, andsomadeanabridgmentoftheSamhitaandtheSutra,intheshape ofanotherworkofSutras,takingtheformofadialoguebetweenDatta nd Rama. It is this abridgment that has come down to us as the ParasuramaKalpaSutra comprisingtenKhandas.Thoughtheworkis notapparentlyintheformofadialogue,still,itmaybeinferredfrom the concluding passage of theworkthatitisadialoguebetween the masterandhispupil. Finding this Sutra too deep in its meaning for ordinary students to understand, Umanandanatha,adiscipleoftheblessed Bhaskararaya, composed in 1775 the work "Nityotsava" laying down clearly and methodically thesystemofworshiptaughtintheSutra.Ihavetaken
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the Lalita Upasana from the Kalpa Sutra and tried to expalin the meaningsinscientificidiomsuitedtothe20thcentury. AmritaofDevipuram,India,531001,1998
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