Self-Realisation

Here I Am

2011-08-14T14:39:00.004+01:00

Enlightenment is not only possible, it is inevitable, if you are truly open... sincere... focused on living your deepest truth.
Enlightenment doesn't come through effort, it comes gracefully, through breathing in, breathing out... doing, resting... speaking, listening...
Enlightenment comes in balance, truth, openness, courage, faith... patience... Inspiration... and of course, Love.

Enlightenment ultimately is no big deal. It's what's left when all the confusion, fear, and struggle have gone.

Yes this is possible. It's your natural state.

2011-08-14T14:29:00.002+01:00

Peace comes not from 'knowing who you are', but from being open to discover who you are at every moment.
- Peter

Self-Realisation Coaching and Retreats with Peter

2011-04-02T03:03:00.006+01:00

See or save a pdf copy of the price list here

Note:
No one who is sincerely seeking health or peace is excluded from
participating in this work. Money is not an issue (it's just a means of exchange).

Visit Peter in Sintra (Portugal).
Personalised retreats available.
Contact:
Peter Littlejohn Cook
panmandala@gmail.com
(+ 351) 967 045 411 (mobile/ cellphone)

My prayer, my hope, my vision, my joy, is that you may come to know that life is naturally Joy-full, Grace-full, Bliss-full.

Life is Love, patiently waiting to be accepted, and shared.

What is Hatha Yoga?

2011-04-02T00:57:00.005+01:00

Physical exercise or spiritual practice?

Hatha Yoga is a particular system of Yoga described by Yogi Swatmarama, compiler of the Hatha Yoga Pradipika in 15th century India. Hatha Yoga differs substantially from the Raja Yoga of Patanjali in that it focuses on "shatkarma," the purification of the physical body as leading to the purification of the mind ("ha"), and "prana," or vital energy (tha). Compared to the seated asana, or sitting meditation posture, of Patanjali's Raja yoga, it marks the development of asanas (plural) into the full body 'postures' now in popular usage and, along with its many modern variations, is the style that many people associate with the word "Yoga" today.

Modern, Westernised Yoga

In the West, the term "yoga" is typically associated with Hatha Yoga and its asanas (postures) or as a form of exercise. According to Meera Nanda, modern Hatha yoga includes many Western style gymnastics and bodybuilding exercises which were adopted in India in the 19th and 20th centuries.

(from Wikipedia article on Yoga)

Ultimately, Hatha Yoga means Attaining or Cultivating Unity-Consciousness through harmonising all aspects of our energy - mind, body, etc.

Some say that Paramamsa Yogananda 're-introduced' Kriya Yoga...

2011-02-25T01:36:00.002Z

Yoganandaji was representing a lineage of teachers and was passing on a set of practices that had already been 'introduced' by them.

Being probably the most well-known Yogi in the West, it could be said that he introduced Kriya Yoga to the West.

Yogananda also made some adaptations to some of the Kriyas for Westerners as he felt that there was a difficulty for them to practice the original forms.

So, it would perhaps be more correct to say that Babaji reintroduced a specific set of Kriya Yoga practices through Lahiri Mahasaya (who was Yogananda's teacher's teacher).

Since then, there have been many Kriya teachers and schools that have come down from this lineage that began with Lahiri Mahasaya.

Paramahamsa Yogananda is perhaps still the most well-known representative of the Kriya teachings, due to his best-selling book 'Autobiography of a Yogi' and the organisation that he founded - the 'Self-Realization Fellowship' (or 'SRF').

Kriya Yoga practices are also taught by others teachers and lineages, although some of them may not call the practices 'Kriya Yoga'.

For example Sivananda's student Swami Satyananda Saraswati has taught and authored books that explain many Kriya techniques - these being in fact common to many Kundalini Yoga and Tantra practices.

Sexual Tantra and Ecstasy - Weaving the Essence of 'Masculine' and 'Feminine'

2010-11-21T11:21:00.002Z

A quote from Osho:

“If you look at animals you will never see that they are enjoying; in intercourse they are not enjoying. Look at baboons, monkeys, dogs or any animal – in their sex act you cannot observe that they are feeling blissful or enjoying it. You cannot! It seems just a mechanical act, a natural force pushing them towards it. If you have seen monkeys in intercourse, after the intercourse they will separate. Look at their faces. There is no ecstasy – is if nothing has happened. When the energy forces, when the energy is too much, they throw it.

The ordinary sex act is just like this, and moralists have been saying quite the contrary. They say, “Don’t indulge. Don’t enjoy.” They say, “This is like animals.” This in not! Animals never enjoy – only man can enjoy. And the deeper you can enjoy, a higher humanity is born to you. And if your sex act can become meditative, ecstatic, the highest is touched."

'Think again'

2010-11-17T22:18:00.003Z

It is fundamental to recognise that we have been taught not to trust ourselves...

We have been taught to create a split between 'me' and 'Life'... between 'me' and 'Source'...

The basis of this split is an idea. It is an idea that we picked up by observing all the 'separate-feeling' people around us - their actions, their words, their interests, their fears...

We have been taught to deny the peace that is right here in the Silence, between the thoughts, behind the thoughts, before, after and even during the thoughts... We have been taught to ignore this Witness that is Pure Consciousness... that is always Here.

No-thing is in the way of Understanding. No-thing needs to be removed or added. It's just that idea of separation that distracts us...

It's JUST an idea.

It's not important. It doesn't justify all that effort that we make to find wholeness again.

It's just an idea.

'Think again' ... or not.

It's just an idea.

2010-11-12T21:08:00.001Z

"The real does not die,

the unreal never lived."

- Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj

Spirituality is just about finding Peace...

2010-11-01T01:43:00.005Z

The goal of my spiritual work is true happiness... contentment... Peace.

But sometimes we may imagine that spirituality is in some way 'opposed' to involvement in the world. We may believe that if we were content then we would have no impulse towards any achievement.

However, do not confuse true happiness, contentment and Peace with apathy, ‘low-expectations’, indifference, lack of motivation, or stagnation.

In happiness and peace, we rediscover our natural talents, we rediscover our passion, and we find it perfectly natural to live a dynamic, adventurous life, full of discovery and achievement…

In happiness and peace we discover the best of ourselves, we discover the best we have to offer our loved ones and to this world. We discover that by being fully ourselves – just being at peace with ourselves – actually has a huge impact on our world, because it is a powerful ‘wake-up call’ to those around us. It reminds those who come into contact with us that they too can be in peace… and that peace is not just an idyllic concept. It can be embodied in any moment of our lives.

Ultimately spiritual self-realisation is recognising that this peace is our unconditioned nature… that it is still here, now as silent witness to all the highs and lows… it is unconditional and eternal.

It is the source of genuine unconditional love. Mystics have referred to it as the ‘Presence of God’… Hindus have referred to it as ‘Satchitananda’ (‘Truth-Consciousness-Bliss’), the Buddhists have referred to it as the ‘Buddha-nature’…

It is always present. We just tend to overlook it in our ‘disbelief’… We cover it up with our thoughts about the so-called ‘real world’, which really is the product of conditioning rather than direct experience.

Ultimately spirituality has nothing to do with belief – quite the contrary – it is what remains when we have the courage to drop our belief systems – both ‘secular’ and ‘religious’ – and experience the power of Life, animating us now… This is communion with the source.

It's too simple to be ‘grasped’, but the ‘cure’ for this strange condition is to recognise why we have been trying so hard to ‘grasp’ in the first place...

We have been afraid. We have developed an unquestioned and even unconscious belief, or attitude, of distrust towards life. This is all that stands in the way of our Realisation… and it has no strength to stand on its own… it is we who are keeping peace (‘God’) at a distance through this lack of trust in life. It is this lack of trust that holds together all our attachment, all our selfishness, all our ignore-ance.

My work – my gift to you – is to help you find that trust again... that innocence.

Spirituality is just about finding Peace.
In that Peace we recognise, and Realise, our very own Self.

Messages from Shibendu Lahiri

2010-10-31T21:26:00.001Z

Click here to read, or download, Shibendu Lahiri's inspired messages.

Who is Ramalinga Swami?

2010-10-30T21:51:00.005+01:00

Ramalinga Swami of Tamil Nadu, South India, also known as Ramalingaswami, Ramalingaswamigal, Ramalinga Adigal, or simply 'Vallalar' was, or is, in many ways a unique saint in the world's history of spirituality. Not only did he seek 'Enlightenment', or 'Self-Realisation' as a form of 'Supreme Understanding' through total transformation of the psyche, but also, quite literally he sought 'En-Lightenment' as a total transformation of all aspects of one's existence - including of one's physical body, by opening to the graceful power of the Divine, represented by 'Divine Light'.

It is believed that through his total surrender to the Divine Light of Grace, or 'Supreme Grace-Light' ('Arutperunjyothi', in Tamil) his body gradually lost its 'density' and he took on the vibration of Spirit - the Pure Light of Consciousness - and thus in 1874, he finally 'ascended' or 'expanded' his mind and body infinitely... and entered "all the bodies of His creation".

Ramalinga is considered to be a recent example of a Self-Realised Siddha, the likes of which have appeared in the region of Tamil Nadu over the centuries, and even over thousands of years, as related in the life-stories and teachings of the '18 Tamil Siddhas'.

For more information on the Tamil Siddhas, including material that is being translated and published in English for the first time, see the books of 'Babaji's Kriya Yoga Publications', such as:
- 'The Yoga of Siddha Avvai'
- 'The Yoga of the 18 Siddhas: An Anthology'
- 'The Yoga of Siddha Boganathar' - volumes 1 and 2
- 'The Yoga of Tirumular - Essays on the Tirumandiram'
- 'Thirumandiram - A Classic of Yoga and Tantra'
- 'Nine Tandirams on the Tirumandiram'
- 'The Poets of the Powers'
and the following book has a chapter dedicated to Ramalinga Swami:
- 'Babaji and the 18 Siddha Kriya Yoga Tradition', by M.G. Satchidananda (Marshall Govindan)

The following site gives some details of Ramalinga's life - his teachings on Union with Divine Love and Divine Intelligence and Divine Light through compassion and service to all beings, his miracles and his total merging with the Source:
http://www.arutperumjothi.com/

'Secrets of the 'Conscious Breath''

2010-10-27T23:20:00.003+01:00

There is a way of breathing that is a shame and a suffocation,
And there is another way;
A Love Breath
That lets you open Infinitely.
- Rumi

Regarding the first two limbs of classical Ashtanga: 'Yama' and 'Niyama' ('moral observance' and 'self-restraint')

2010-10-27T13:21:00.006+01:00

"The purpose of yama and niyama ... is to prepare the mind for spiritual enlightenment. Yama sabilizes the mind in the realm of social behaviour, and niyama purifies it by minimizing worldly, outer-direceted activity.
Although it may sound like conventional moralistic preaching to advocate good behaviour and abstention from evil conduct, yama and niyama are actually practical necessities for one who engages in spiritual practice."

- Hiroshi Motoyama (in 'Theories of the Chakras - Bridge to Higher Consciousness')

What is 'Ashtanga'?

2010-10-21T01:21:00.018+01:00

There is some confusion about the real meaning of 'Ashtanga' because of the recent popularity of Sri K. Prattabhi Jois' 'Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga'. For this reason, the classical Ashtanga is now sometimes referred to as 'Ashta-anga' to distinguish it from Sri K. Prattabhi Jois' Hatha Yoga practices.

'Ashtanga' means literally 'eight-limbed' ('ashta' = eight; 'anga' = limb).

The following information can be found at http://www.yoga-centers-directory.net/info/yoga_style_glossary.htm:

Ashta-anga Yoga is the Eight-Fold Path of Yoga taught by Patanjali in the 'Yoga Sutras'. On this path, Hatha Yoga is used to prepare for the higher spiritual practices of Raja Yoga.

The Eight-Fold Path / The Eight Limbs:
1. Yama (moral observance)
2. Niyama (self-restraint)
3. Asana (posture)
4. Pranayama (breath control)
5. Pratyahara (sensory inhibition)
6. Dharana (concentration)
7. Dhyana (meditation)
8. Samadhi (Union with God, ecstasy, nirvana).

Ashta-anga Yoga is also known as: 'Ashtanga Yoga', 'Astaunga Yoga', 'Classical Yoga', 'Patanjali Ashtanga', and 'Raja Yoga'.

Who Am I?

2010-10-15T21:24:00.005+01:00

Click on the photo to see my new central blog in Portuguese where you can find links to several aspects of my work: Articles, Workshop and Retreat dates, Concerts, Satsangs, Sexual Alchemy, Consultations, etc.

Workshops, Retreats, Consultations, etc.

2010-10-13T09:54:00.006+01:00

Click here for details of upcoming events with Peter

OM (AUM)

2010-06-10T17:52:00.006+01:00

How to chant OM (AUM) correctly.

Nicely explained.

"A multiplicity of paths to the one Truth."

2010-06-10T16:46:00.001+01:00

Shiva - One of the Trinity, or 'the Supreme'?

2010-06-10T16:17:00.006+01:00

'Shiva' - the 'auspicious' one

... to be continued .... :o)

2010-04-20T00:14:00.002+01:00

Spiritual Coaching with Peter:

http://spiritualcoachingwithpeter.blogspot.com/

Spiritual Coaching in Sintra

2010-04-16T02:56:00.008+01:00

Sintra is one of the most picturesque and magical places on this planet.

Walk and meditate in the forests, visit initiatic gardens and labyrinths, have a picnic on the cliffs looking over the Atlantic, savour the local foods and unique sweets, visit organic farms, or learn to surf, and each day receive an hour (or more) of coaching while soaking in the magic of Sintra.

Now is the time. What better place to unwind and to let yourSelf flower?

Coaching with Peter Littlejohn Cook

information:

Tel: +351 967 045 411

panmandala@gmail.com

Shibendu Lahiri in Portugal - April 2010

2010-04-16T02:33:00.008+01:00

Shibendu Lahiri at Quinta dos Milagres, Lagos.

Shibendu Lahiri is giving a lecture tomorrow night (16th April 2010) in Lisbon at 9pm, and Kriya Yoga initiations over the weekend and then a retreat in Fátima.

You can also find information about this and his upcoming events (UK, Germany, India, USA, etc.) at:

www.kriyayogalahiri.com/htmluk/program.htm

He is a true Advaita master - a voice for the Infinite.

His teaching is not 'comforting', it is profoundly disarming and dissolves the 'I'-centred illusion of separation...

If you meet him or 'his' teaching, prepare to be 'blasted'.

Retiro na Quinta da Enxara - 'Pára.... observa o Silêncio...' - com Atmananda e Peter Littlejohn Cook

2010-03-10T14:14:00.002Z

http://prematmananda.wordpress.com/retirosworkshops/

One and many... One as many... Many as One

2010-01-03T11:43:00.001Z

Every 'soul'
is a point of consciousness
in the kaleidoscopic hall of mirrors
that is the 'self-reflexive' universe –

The One Being
Meditating
upon its Infinite Nature.

Every 'self' is a story, contemplated by Divine Mind...
'ego' is a concept that makes all this 'separate' experience possible
'Maya' is also supreme Creativity and Play... ('Leela')
Without out it there is only the Deepest Silence

Many 'paths'... one realisation?

2009-09-14T23:13:00.000+01:00

It seems strange that different paths, each setting conditions which supposedly must be fulfilled in order for realisation to take place, could lead to the same 'place', the same realisation.

But that is exactly how it is. These 'paths' and the subsequent realisation that is described can be understood simply as different forms or manifestations of one phenomenon - the feeling of a separate 'self' - through one means or another - falls away, and a realisation is experienced that 'separateness' is an illusion.

Nothing is required to 'achieve' Liberation or to 'become' Liberated

2009-09-14T23:08:00.000+01:00

It is the divided and divisive mind that makes an effort. The best it can do is place one higher on an imaginary ladder of 'steps to realisation' – but this is just self-delusion – just a way to go on restricting the definition of one's self – and it is precisely this – the definition – the delineation of one's self – that is ignorance (ignore-ance) of one's Liberated nature – one's Liberated Being.

Realisation of the Self – Realisation of the True Nature of the Self arises by all else falling away – including the search for, or striving for, the attainment of our true nature.
The one who seeks (for his 'Self') is engaged in a futile activity as long as there is any striving. The seeker does not become a Liberated being. The seeker dissolves like a dream upon awakening, and what remains is not 'a Liberated Being' – but 'Liberated Beingness'.

"All paths lead to unreality."
- Nisargadatta Maharaj

Kriya Yoga and Tantra

2009-09-12T11:19:00.001+01:00

"Tantra consists of methods to expand consciousness to perceive trancendental states. Certain practices referred to as "kriyas" help initiate this expansion.
In literature, one will find the word kriya used in several different contexts. It is applied to yogic cleansing practices that maintain the health of the physical body as well as in reference to certain rituals, devotional attitude, and prayers. In the context of this on-going column, Tantric Kriya practices are techniques used to open up the chakras and purify the nadi system.
Direct experience of these aspects of esoteric physiology is not necessary to begin the practice of Tantric Kriya Yoga."

- Alan Verdegraal

'Babaji and the 18 Siddha Kriya Yoga Tradition' by Marshall Govindan - a review

2009-09-12T10:17:00.000+01:00

A fascinating look at the path of Self-Realisation (Enlightenment) which also goes far beyond purely historical and philosophical discussion.

The Siddhas are known as such because they manifest the Divine powers (Siddhis) which naturally arise through spirtualisation and Union (Yoga) with the Source.
The author is uniquely qualified to write on this subject, being himself a devotee and disciple of Babaji, the legendary Himalayan yogi who was made famous by Paramahamsa Yogananda's best-selling book: 'Autobiography of a Yogi'.

Govindan studied for years with Yogi Ramaiah before receiving a call to introduce people to the path of Babaji's Kriya Yoga. His book makes a serious attempt at de-mystifying the story of Babaji, the origins of Babaji's Kriya techniques, and introduces the Siddha gurus that Babaji apparently encountered as a young man almost two thousand years ago.

The book traces the links between these Siddha-gurus and the group of Siddhas known as the eighteen Siddhas in Tamil Nadu (South India), linking these also with Lao-Tse and the Taoist sages of China, and taking the reader even further back, into prehistory through the legends of the Lemurian continent in the Pacific, its links with South India and Sri Lanka, and its forgotten civilisation whose spiritual practises are preserved and embodied by these powerful yogis known as the Siddhas.

The book is not written only for those who are practising yoga, it is of interest to anyone who wishes to have a deeper insight into the nature of existence, consciousness, and our potentially and naturally blissful ever-present awareness of Spirit through Love.

It is believed that Babaji himself resides in an almost inaccessible region of the Himalayas, however, the path of Babaji's Kriya yoga and the Tamil Siddhas as described in the book is not a path of spiritual escapism, or renunciation through remoteness. It is a universal path of love and service to humanity and transformation of all aspects of our lives through action with spiritual awareness (kriya).

The chapters on other Siddhas that have lived in recent times, such as Ramalinga Swamigal and Sri Aurobindo can help to bring the fantastic stories of miracles and God-Consciousness into focus and root us in the awareness that spirituality is not so much about gurus and the authority of religious dogmas, but is really about our own present experience lived in full awareness.

Despite the historical information on Babaji which was mostly received directly by Yogi Ramaiah and V.T. Neelakantan in the 1950s, there is often a resistance to de-mystifying the story of Babaji's origins. Much of this information is therefore not generally known or agreed upon within the various lineages of Kriya Yoga.
However, there is also something to be said for considering the 'real' Babaji as being simply the form that the Divine mystery takes when appearing as a human being, and as not being in any way limited to this history of a single human form, even though it is certainly an instructive and inspiring story that sheds light on some very powerful insights and practices known as the Tamil Siddha Yoga tradition.

Some consider Babaji to be Shiva or Murugan...

"'Babaji' is not a 'person'... He is a Spiritual phenomenon."

Shibendu Lahiri (great-grandson of Lahiri Mayasaya)

2009-09-11T21:43:00.001+01:00

"A minha devoção é de uma espécie estranha.

Nesta, a água do Ganges não é necessária.

Nenhuns utensílios especiais são necessários.

Até as flores são redundantes.

Neste Puja todos os Deuses desapareceram

E o vazio surgiu com euforia."

Lahiri Mahasaya

KRIYA HATHA YOGA

2009-09-11T18:58:00.003+01:00

sessões com Peter Littlejohn Cook

uma forma símples de promover a sua saúde

e descobrir a paz de espírito

A vida consiste no desabrochar da energia...
No entanto, os hábitos modernos nos levam normalmente a uma falta de movimento adequado para a nossa saúde tanto ao nível físico como ao nível emocional e mental/intelectual/criativo.

O Yoga nos dá uma oportunidade de restaurar um fluxo energético além do nível físico, actuando ao nível mental e emocional (e talvez até em níveis para quais nem sequer temos nomes), permitindo-nos viver com paz de espírito, apesar das necessidades e demandas do dia-a-dia.

Apesar da popularidade do Yoga o ter levado agora até aos ginásios, é útil lembrar que o Yoga não é só uma forma de ginástica.

As práticas do Kriya Hatha Yoga actuam holisticamente, manifestando resultados à vários níveis – aumentando a nossa mobilidade, estímulando o sistema endócrino (associado ao funcionamento dos ‘chakras’ ou ‘centros energéticos’), melhorando a circulação sanguínea e aumentando a nossa capacidade de absorção de oxigénio.

Além do nome ‘Yoga’ se referir às práticas, seu significado (‘união’/‘ligação’) também indica o efeito das mesmas – a dissolução das barreiras psico-energéticas e a união com a fonte da vida.

‘Yoga’ é ‘união’/‘ligação’

‘Hatha’ é a harmonização entre polaridades (‘Ha’ e ‘Tha’ significam ‘Sol’ e ‘Lua’, em sânscrito)

‘Kriya’ é ‘acção Inspirada’ ou ‘acção purificadora’

Ao longo dos anos Peter recebeu orientação em vários aspectos do Yoga (os oito 'ramos' do 'Ashtanga' original, que incluem a meditação) do Siddha Tantra e do Advaita Vedanta através de contacto com várias linhagens e vários 'mestres', incluindo o Paramahamsa Hariharananda e o Paramahamsa Prajnanananda em 1995, o Guru Dharam Singh em 1997, o Marshall Govindan ao longo dos anos desde 1998, a Amritanandamayi Ma (Amma) desde 2001 o Mantak Chia em 2003, o Dattatreya Siva Baba em 2002 e 2004 o Yogiraj Gurunath Siddhanath em 2006 e 2007, o Stephen Wolinsky (discípulo do Nisargadatta Maharaj) em 2008 e o Shibendu Lahiri em 2009.

Apesar de ter estudado com várias linhagens e recebido bênçãos para partilhar certas práticas (mudras, mantras, kriya hatha yoga, e kundalini shaktipat), a sua abordagem é essencialmente independente. Mais do que qualquer técnica, o que partilha é a Presença do Ser... a Consciência. Seu foco é a meditação - não como 'prática' mas como Vivência do Ser - algo que partilha através de 'concertos', 'satsangs', 'sessões de meditação' e 'sessões individuais de Coaching para Autoconhecimento Radical'.

Neste momento a única prática 'formal' que partilha através de aulas é o 'Kriya Hatha Yoga' e 'os 5 Tibetanos'.

Em breve haverá sessões de Yoga e Meditação na Casa Semente em Alvalade, e na Dançarte em Sintra.

Para mais informações por favor contactar Peter Littlejohn Cook pelo mail: panmandala@gmail.com ou pelo número de telemóvel: 967 045 411.

Inscrições podem ser feitas directamente através do Espaço Maaiana, a Dançarte ou contactando o Peter:

panmandala@gmail.com

Tm: 967 045 411

Kali Yuga... or not?

2009-09-11T01:16:00.001+01:00

According to Sri Yukteswar, the Vedic astrologers have been basing their calculations on annotations made by misguided sanskrit scholars of the Kali Yuga and so have miscalculated the actual length of the Kali Yuga...

Which means that we may not be in the Kali Yuga anymore after all...
Which could mean it's time to wake up now... not in 426,891 years!

If we believe we're in the Kali Yuga we can look around us and interpret everything as being precisely because of this... and if we believe that we're in the Dwapara Yuga we can look around and interpret things as being precisely because of that.

What does that tell us about the nature of the mind?

2009-07-27T22:55:00.000+01:00

Another opportunity to see the whole series

about Self-realisation and the non-dual (Advaita)

teachings of Nisargadatta Maharaj.

First film at 18h30:

Second film at 21h:

Nisargadatta Maharaj and Ramana Maharshi are considered to be the two greatest representatives of Self-realisation and Advaita (non-dualist understanding).

Contribution: €3

Bring your dinner :o)

2009-07-19T15:19:00.001+01:00

"Love is not selective, desire is selective. In love there are no strangers. When the centre of selfishness is no longer, all desires for pleasure and fear of pain cease; one is no longer interested in being happy; beyond happiness there is pure intensity, inexhaustible energy, the ecstasy of giving from a perennial source."

- Nisargadatta Maharaj

2009-07-18T19:59:00.001+01:00

"The Heart is another name for the Reality, and it is neither inside nor outside the body. There can be no in and out for it, since It alone is."
- Ramana Maharshi

Tantra and Maithuna

2009-07-13T02:04:00.001+01:00

Tantra has been popularly associated in the west with sexual practices, although this is an over-simplification, to say the least.

One aspect of Tantra is Maithuna (sexual union, in a ritual context). Tantra, in this context also refers to paired polarity.

The couple become for the time being divine: she is shakti and he is shakta (or Shiva). The scriptures warn that unless this spiritual transformation occurs the union is 'carnal' and 'sinful'.

(source: Wikipedia)

Matsyendranath

2009-07-13T01:53:00.000+01:00

Matsyendranath (or Macchindranath), from the 9th-10th century, was one of the eighty-four Mahasiddhas, and is the patron deity of Nepal. He was guru of Gorakshanath, with whom he founded the school of Hatha yoga, one of the branches of Yogic practices. He is revered by both Hindus and Buddhists.

Matsyendranath is considered by many to be the founder of the Nath Sampradaya of sadhus. While the Naths had actually been known much earlier, from the time of Dattatreya, Macchinndranath did initiate a revival by combining the three viewpoints of Siddha, Tantra, and Nath philosophy.

Scholarship has tentatively associated Macchindranath with Luipa who is venerated as a Mahasiddha in the Vajrayana Buddhist tradition.

(source: Wikipedia)

Nath Sampradaya

2009-07-13T00:59:00.000+01:00

The Natha Sampradaya is a development of the earlier Siddha or Avadhuta Sampradaya, an ancient lineage of spiritual masters. Its founding is traditionally ascribed as an ideal reflected by the life and spiritual attainments of the guru Dattatreya, who was considered by many to have been a human incarnation of Lord Shiva. The establishment of the Naths as a distinct historical sect purportedly began around the 8th or 9th century with a simple fisherman, Matsyendranath (sometimes called Minanath, who may be identified with or called the father of Matsyendranath in some sources).

One story of the origin of the Nath teachings is that Matsyendranath was swallowed by a fish and while inside the fish overheard the teachings given by Shiva to his wife Parvati. According to legend, the reason behind Shiva imparting a teaching at the bottom of the ocean was in order to avoid being overheard by others. In the form of a fish, Matsyendranath exerted his hearing in the manner required to overhear and absorb the teachings of Shiva. After being rescued from the fish by another fisherman, Matsyendranath took initiation as a sannyasin from Siddha Carpati. It was Matsyendranath who became known as the founder of the specific stream of yogis known as the Nath Sampradaya.

Matysendranath's two most important disciples were Caurangi and Gorakshanath. The latter came to eclipse his Master in importance in many of the branches and sub-sects of the Nath Sampradaya. Even today, Gorakshanath is considered by many to have been the most influential of the ancient Naths. He is also reputed to have written the first books dealing with Laya yoga and the raising of the kundalini-shakti.

There are several sites, ashrams and temples in India dedicated to Gorakshanatha. Many of them have been built at sites where he lived and engaged in meditation and other sadhanas. According to tradition, his samadhi shrine and gaddi (seat) reside at the Goraknath Temple in Gorakhpur. However, Baghavan Nityananda stated that the samadhi shrines (tombs) of both Matsyendranath and Gorakshanath reside at Nath Mandir near the Vajreshwari Temple about a kilometer from Ganeshpuri.

The Natha Sampradaya does not recognize caste barriers, and their teachings were adopted by outcasts and kings alike. The heterodox Nath tradition has many sub-sects, but all honor Matsyendranath and Gorakshanath as the founders of the tradition.

(source: Wikipedia)

Tantra - Western concepts and 'pop tantra'

2009-07-13T00:53:00.001+01:00

The first Western scholar to take the study of Tantra seriously was Sir John Woodroffe (1865–1936), who wrote about Tantra under the pen name Arthur Avalon. He is generally held as the "founding father of Tantric studies." Unlike previous Western scholars, Woodroffe was an apologist for Tantra, defending Tantra against its many critics and presenting Tantra as an ethical philosophical system greatly in accord with the Vedas and Vedanta.

Following Sir John Woodroffe, a number of scholars began to actively investigate the Tantric teachings. These included a number of scholars of comparative religion and Indology, such as: Agehananda Bharati, Mircea Eliade, Julius Evola, Carl Jung, Giuseppe Tucci and Heinrich Zimmer.

Following these first presentations of Tantra, other more popular authors such as Joseph Campbell helped to bring Tantra into the imagination of the peoples of the West. Tantra came to be viewed by some as a "cult of ecstasy", combining sexuality and spirituality in such a way as to act as a corrective force to Western repressive attitudes about sex.

As Tantra has become more popular in the West it has undergone a major transformation. For many modern readers, "Tantra" has become a synonym for "spiritual sex" or "sacred sexuality", a belief that sex in itself ought to be recognized as a sacred act which is capable of elevating its participants to a more sublime spiritual plane. Though pop-tantra may adopt many of the concepts and terminology of Indian Tantra, it often omits one or more of the following: the traditional reliance on guruparampara (the guidance of a guru), extensive meditative practice, and traditional rules of conduct - both moral and ritualistic.

According to one author and critic on religion and politics, Hugh Urban:

Since at least the time of Agehananda Bharati, most Western scholars have been severely critical of these new forms of pop Tantra. This "California Tantra" as Georg Feuerstein calls it, is "based on a profound misunderstanding of the Tantric path. Their main error is to confuse Tantric bliss ... with ordinary orgasmic pleasure.

(Source: Wikipedia)

Origins of Tantra

2009-07-12T23:17:00.000+01:00

"In the Nath Tradition, legend ascribes the origin of Tantra to Dattatreya, a semi-mythological yogi and the assumed author of the Jivanmukta Gita ("Song of the liberated soul"). Matsyendranath is credited with authorship of the Kaulajnana-nirnaya, a voluminous ninth-century tantra dealing with a host of mystical and magical subjects, and occupies an important position in the Hindu tantric lineage, as well as in Tibetan Vajrayana Buddhism."

(source: Wikipedia)

Tantra - definitions

2009-07-12T23:07:00.000+01:00

"Tantra is that Asian body of beliefs and practices which, working from the principle that the universe we experience is nothing other than the concrete manifestation of the divine energy of the Godhead that creates and maintains that universe, seeks to ritually appropriate and channel that energy, within the human microcosm, in creative and emancipatory ways."

- David Gordon White, 'Tantra in Practice'

Tantras as 'scriptures' and 'Tantra' as 'technique':

Tantras ("Looms" or "Weavings") refers to numerous and varied scriptures pertaining to any of several esoteric traditions rooted in Hindu and Buddhist philosophy.

The Hindu Tantras total ninety-two scriptures.

The word 'Tantra' means literally 'weave', but it has also come to mean 'technique' or 'method'. Hence the Hindu Tantra scriptures refer to techniques for achieving a result, which in most cases is Self-realisation.

Mudras - their origin and function (from 'The Yoga Tradition')

2009-07-12T20:10:00.000+01:00

"The origin of these hand gestures is not known. On one level, they are the invention of artists trying to express inner states iconographically. On another level, they undoubtedly are the products of intensive meditation practice during the course of which it is not uncommon that the body spontaneously assumes certain static as well as dynamic poses, which are known as kriyas ("actions")."

Siva - Vasi - VaSiVaSiVaSiVaSiVaSi

2009-07-12T17:19:00.001+01:00

In an 'esoteric' understanding of Saiva Siddhanta Yoga practice, 'Siva' (or 'Shiva') is not 'a god'...

Siva is energy and is the breath of life. 'Siva' is both life itself (as breath/'spirit') and the means to attune to the flow of life (through bringing attention to one's breath).

(Being representative of 'Spirit' or 'Source', Siva is also associated specifically with the Crown Chakra, or 'Sahasrara' Chakra.)

From the Sutra Jnanam by Valmiki Siddhar:

"What we are now in this eternal moment is the sacred Divine Breath, Vasi!"

What leads us to the infinite mind of the universe, through Ida and Pingala (the twin energy of Mother Kundalini), the left and right breath is this sacred Divine Breath, Vasi!

The One who posses this infinite universal mind is the Perfected Being, the Siddhar

Realizing all the living in the Universe as Sacred- as Siva, the Absolute is the Siddhar."

Guiding Light - The Teacher (quoted from Feuerstein's 'The Yoga Tradition')

2009-07-12T15:14:00.001+01:00

As Mircea Eliade pointed out in his well-known study on Yoga, "What characterizes Yoga is not only its practical side, but also its initiatory structure."

Yoga, like all forms of esotericism, presupposes the guidance of an initiate, a master who has firsthand experience of the phenomena and realizations of the yogic path. Ideally, he or she should have reached the ultimate spiritual destination of all yogic endeavor - enlightenment (bodha, bodhi), or liberation (moksha).

Thus, contrary to the "pop" Yoga espoused by a large number of Westerners, authentic Yoga is never a do-it-yourself enterprise. "One does not learn Yoga by oneself," observed Eliade. Rather, Yoga involves, as do all other traditional Indian systems, an actual pupilage during which a master imparts his or her secrets to the worthy disciple or devotee. And those secrets are not exhausted by the kind of knowledge that can be expressed in words or printed in books.

Much of what the teacher (guru) imparts to the disciple falls under the category of spiritual transmission (sancara). Such transmission, in which the guru literally empowers the student through a transference of "energy" or "consciousness" (corresponding to the "Holy Spirit" of Christian baptism), is the fulcrum of the initiatory process of Yoga. By means of it, the practitioner is blessed in his or her struggle for transcendental realization. As a result, the initiated yogin or yogini experiences the necessary conversion or "turn-about" that is crucial to the spiritual process: He or she begins to find the Real, or the Self beyond the ego, more attractive than the numerous possibilities of worldly experience. The basis for that attraction is a tacit intuition of the Self, which grows stronger in the course of practice."

The 'guru' and self-realisation (from 'The Yoga Tradition', by Feuerstein, PhD.)

2009-07-12T14:14:00.000+01:00

"The God-realized teacher grants "divine knowledge" (divya-jnana), as the Yoga-Shikha-Upanishad puts it. It is knowldedge that springs from enlightenment and attracts to enlightenment.

The Advaya-Taraka-Upanishad gives an esoteric explanation of the word guru, deriving it from the syllable gu (indicating "darkness") and ru (indicating "dispeller").

Of all the teachers, God-realized adepts are even today given a special place in Hindu society, for they alone are capable of initiating the spiritual seeker into the supreme "knowledge of the Absolute" (brahma-vidya). They alone are sad-gurus (sat-gurus) - "teachers of the Real" or "true teachers." Here, the Sanskrit word sat connotes both "real" and "true". These teachers are celebrated as potent agents of grace. As the Shiva-Samhita states: "By the teacher's grace, everything auspicious for oneself is obtained." And the Hatha-Yoga-Pradipika affirms that without a true teacher's compassion, the state of transcendental spontaneity (sahaja) is difficult to attain.

Because of his or her spiritual realization, the guru is considered to be an embodiment of the Divine itself. [...]

The teacher is not a specific deity but the all-encompassing Divine. This "deification" of the God-realized master must not be misunderstood. He or she is not God in any exclusive sense, but rather is coessential with the transcendental Reality. That is to say, he or she has abrogated the ordinary person's misidentification with a particular body-mind and abides purely as the transcendental Identity of all beings and things.

There is no trace of egoity in the truly enlightened being, for the ego has been replaced by the Self. The body-mind and personality continue for their alloted time, but the enlightened being is no longer implicated by his or her automaticities.

The unenlightened individual, by contrast, believes himself or herself to be a particular "entity", or individuated consciousness, somehow lodged within a body and associated with, possibly even driven by, a particular personality complex. This fatal illusion is gracefully shattered at the moment of enlightenment."

What is a true 'Guru'? (from the Kula-Arnava-Tantra)

2009-07-12T13:56:00.000+01:00

"There are many gurus, like lamps in house after house,

but hard to find, O Devi,

is the guru who lights up all like the sun.

There are many gurus who are proficient in the Vedas and the Shastras,

but hard to find, O Devi,

is the guru who has attained to the supreme Truth.

There are many gurus on Earth who give what is other than the Self,

but hard to find in all the worlds, O Devi,

is the guru who reveals the Self.

Many are the gurus who rob the disciple of his wealth,

but rare is the guru who removes the afflictions of the disciple.

He is a [true] guru by whose very contact there flows the supreme Bliss.

The intelligent person should choose such a one as his guru and none other."

(Translation from Feuerstein's 'The Yoga Tradition')

On Yoga and Tantra - 'transcendence' and 'integration' - from 'The Yoga Tradition' by Georg Feuerstein, PhD.

2009-07-12T13:35:00.001+01:00

"India's Psychospiritual technology has been subject to a ruling paradigm, which can be described as verticalism: Reality is thought to be realizable by inverting attention and then manipulating the inwardly focused consciousness to ascend into ever-higher states in the inner hierarchy of experience until everything is transcended...

This vertical model of spirituality is founded in archaic mythical imagery, which pictures Reality in polar opposition to conditional existence: Heaven above, Earth below. As the contemporary adept Da Free John (Adi Da) has shown, this model is a conceptual representation of the human nervous system. As he put it succinctly:

The key to mystical language and religious metaphor is not

theology or cosmology but anatomy. All the religious and cosmological language of mysticism is metaphorical. And the metaphors are symbols for anatomical features of the higher functional structures of the human individual.

Those who enter deeply into the mystical dimension of experience soon discover that the cosmic design they expected to find in their inward path of ascent to God is in fact simply the design of their own anatomical or psychophysical structures. Indeed, this is the secret divulged to initiates of mystical schools."

More recently, Joe Nigro Sansonese explored the somatic origins of myth in his [...] work The Body of Myth. He defined myths succinctly as "culture-laden descriptions of samadhi."As he explained, each meditation takes the yogin or yogini deep into the body [...]. This somatic journey is then externalised in mythic utterances. There is much truth to Sansonese's statement, but it is not the entire truth. Some states of consciousness go beyond proprioception, beyond the body, and it is precisely these states that the Yoga adepts seek to cultivate. Enlightenment or liberation itself is definitely a body-transcending condition. Here the entire universe becomes a "body" for the liberated being.

The most severe limitation of the verticalist paradigm is that it involves an understanding of spiritual life as a progressive inward journey from unenlightenment to enlightenment. This gives rise to the misconception that Reality is to be found within, away from the world, and that, consequently, to renounce the world means to abandon it.

It is to the credit of India's adepts that this paradigm did not remain unchalleged. For instance, in Tantra, which straddles both Hinduism and Buddhism, a different understanding of spirituality is present. [...] Tantra is founded in the radical assumption that if Reality is anywhere, it must be everywhere and not merely inside the human psyche. The great dictum of Tantrism is that the transcendental Reality and the conditional world are coessential - nirvana equals samsara. In other words, transcendental ecstasy and sensory pleasure are not finally incompatible. Upon enlightenment, pleasure reveals itself to be ecstasy. In the unenlightened state, pleasure is simply a substitute for the ecstasy that is its abiding ground. This insight has led to a philosophy of integration between spiritual concerns and material existence, which is particularly relevant today."