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kami
USA
920 Posts |
 Posted - Mar 28 2014 : 09:55:58 AM
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Have been meaning to invite everyone interested into this particular sublime discussion of tantra..
The central theme of traditional tantra is the knowledge of the Self through adoration of Shakti, as discussed in a previous thread. The Sri Vidya Sadhana is one such path to the Self. Along this path of diving deeper into one's own self, Shakti manifests in several forms of knowledge/intuitive wisdom. On this path, these revelations are known as "Dasha Mahavidya", where ten primary forms/sources of knowledge are known deeply personally and experientially.
The Mahavidyas are: Kali, Tara, Tripurasundari, Bhuvaneshwari, Tripura Bhairavi, Chinnamasta, Dhumavati, Baglamukhi, Matangi and Kamalatmika.
They are called "maha" (great) because each is a complete path and destination, leading to all the others and into the Bindu of the Sri Yantra. It is said that devotion/worship and practice of any one of these will open up to our true nature and to the reality of all of creation.
There are volumes written about the Dasha Mahavidyas, encompassing all of the yogas, tantras and the Upanishadic points of view. Scholars spend their entire lifetimes dedicated to understanding and grokking the significance of each of these Mahavidyas. My somewhat hesitant writings here thus pale in comparison, and if there are indeed scholars of Sri Vidya Sadhana reading this, please feel free to correct my (ongoing and evolving) understanding. Everything expressed here is what has risen from my own practice of tantra, usually in times of intense clarity and insight that happen spontaneously. As with all of the paths of self-unfoldment, these insights will also evolve and refine. 
Welcome all discussions on this.
Few resources (countless others are available):
"The Ten Great Cosmic Powers" by S. Shankaranarayanan (my absolute favorite; drips with clarity and it is evident that personal insights form the basis of this fabulous book.)
"Tantric Yoga and the Wisdom Goddesses" by David Frawley (have not read it personally)
Several online resources exist including the following, but I've found them all to be superficial and literal descriptions:
http://hinduonline.co/Scriptures/Ta...haVidya.html, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahavidya
http://www.kamakotimandali.com/srividya/dasha.html
http://www.sanatansociety.org/hindu....UzV8YiSLmUc
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Omsat
Belgium
267 Posts |
Posted - Mar 28 2014 : 8:40:04 PM
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Dear kami,
I've only begun to learn some basics about the Mahavidyas two years ago, and very little since.
Very interested to take it deeper.
Thanks for the resources and looking foward to read about your explorations!
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kami
USA
920 Posts |
Posted - Apr 02 2014 : 12:45:45 PM
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Thank you dear Omsat. Would love to hear how you relate to these as well..
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kami
USA
920 Posts |
Posted - Apr 02 2014 : 1:43:25 PM
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Before delving into the Mahavidyas, wanted to narrate the appearance of Shakti and Shiva in my practice of Tattwa Shuddhi, yet another tantric practice and the basis for getting to know the Mahavidyas. In this practice, we go deeply into elements corresponding to various chakras (from the root to the throat), dissolving into the mahatattva (great element), Prakrithi (Shakti) and Purusha (Shiva), returning once more in the opposite direction.
A while ago, in the dissolution part of this practice, it was suddenly seen/known that Shakti/Prakrithi is the witness, the I-sense or the one that knows. Even when we become aware of "witnessing", there is a sense that it is not all, as in not "one without a second" (an Advaitic term for Brahman). With further inquiry, one is propelled to ask, "Who is aware of the witness?" and in time, we open up to the knowing of this awareness, that is Shiva and further "upstream" from Shakti. In inquiring deeply into this, Shakti is the "individual" witnessing principle, with a retained "I" in it. In knowing Shiva, the individuality of the witness collapses and there is only knowing awareness not fixed to this and that, I and not I. Experiences witnessed from the perspective of Shakti tend to take on the conditioning and meanings/labels of the person because of the retained sense of self, and an "in here" and "out there" with the body/self as the reference point. In witnessing, there remains an experience, and a knower of the experience.
However, with further openings and further delving into this knowing awareness (Shiva, in this analogy) to be one's true self/identity, we gradually come to see that every experience that arises is awareness itself, only seemingly separated from the knower. In every experience, when we look deeply, the "knower" is added ad hoc, in a swift play of illusion by the mind, the master magician. If we can stay with the experience, the knower is not seen to be separate, but known directly to have risen as the experience itself. Thus, Shakti is never separated from Shiva. Shakti is indeed Shiva, like the waves of the ocean being the ocean itself.
As in Tattwa Shuddhi, we then return to daily life stuff, elements aligned once again as before. However, there is a distinct difference in how these elements are "held" in experience; they are transparent and not as solid/real as they did on the way up. The borders between "in here" and "out there" become blurred and disappear, and the primary practice becomes of refraining from nothing ad hoc to experiences that arise.
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Omsat
Belgium
267 Posts |
Posted - Apr 03 2014 : 05:35:07 AM
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Hi kami,
quote:
Originally posted by kami
Would love to hear how you relate to these as well..
You already related some main reason for interest and practice:
quote:
It is said that devotion/worship and practice of any one of these will open up to our true nature and to the reality of all of creation.
I was also taught and have experienced for myself upon (limited) practicing that the seeing of the personal or impersonal aspects of the Mahavidyas fosters one's relationships (human or other) in daily living.
Beneficial effects in daily living were also experienced before upon learning other esoteric systems of wise understanding of life. One of the ways it seems to work for me is that these systems tend to help perceive our experiences in a way that seems closer to Reality (unity).
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Omsat
Belgium
267 Posts |
Posted - Apr 03 2014 : 05:39:16 AM
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quote:
Originally posted by kami
Before delving into the Mahavidyas, wanted to narrate the appearance of Shakti and Shiva in my practice of Tattwa Shuddhi, yet another tantric practice and the basis for getting to know the Mahavidyas. In this practice, we go deeply into elements corresponding to various chakras (from the root to the throat), dissolving into the mahatattva (great element), Prakrithi (Shakti) and Purusha (Shiva), returning once more in the opposite direction.
A while ago, in the dissolution part of this practice, it was suddenly seen/known that Shakti/Prakrithi is the witness, the I-sense or the one that knows. Even when we become aware of "witnessing", there is a sense that it is not all, as in not "one without a second" (an Advaitic term for Brahman). With further inquiry, one is propelled to ask, "Who is aware of the witness?" and in time, we open up to the knowing of this awareness, that is Shiva and further "upstream" from Shakti. In inquiring deeply into this, Shakti is the "individual" witnessing principle, with a retained "I" in it. In knowing Shiva, the individuality of the witness collapses and there is only knowing awareness not fixed to this and that, I and not I. Experiences witnessed from the perspective of Shakti tend to take on the conditioning and meanings/labels of the person because of the retained sense of self, and an "in here" and "out there" with the body/self as the reference point. In witnessing, there remains an experience, and a knower of the experience.
However, with further openings and further delving into this knowing awareness (Shiva, in this analogy) to be one's true self/identity, we gradually come to see that every experience that arises is awareness itself, only seemingly separated from the knower. In every experience, when we look deeply, the "knower" is added ad hoc, in a swift play of illusion by the mind, the master magician. If we can stay with the experience, the knower is not seen to be separate, but known directly to have risen as the experience itself. Thus, Shakti is never separated from Shiva. Shakti is indeed Shiva, like the waves of the ocean being the ocean itself.
As in Tattwa Shuddhi, we then return to daily life stuff, elements aligned once again as before. However, there is a distinct difference in how these elements are "held" in experience; they are transparent and not as solid/real as they did on the way up. The borders between "in here" and "out there" become blurred and disappear, and the primary practice becomes of refraining from nothing ad hoc to experiences that arise.
Very perceptive and lucid |
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bewell
1275 Posts |
Posted - Apr 03 2014 : 7:05:19 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by kami
With further inquiry, one is propelled to ask, "Who is aware of the witness?"
Namaste Kami,
What a beautiful inquiry. While I do not at this time feel drawn to delve into Dasha Mahavidya (Ten great sources of knowledge), I'm honored to know someone who has done so, and I'm glad you are starting this thread. May your practice and teaching grow. I remember you sharing some time back in regard to the inquiry I quoted above. I am glad now to know some of the larger context of your inquiry.
With Gratitude,
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Edited by - bewell on Apr 03 2014 7:13:00 PM |
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Radharani
USA
843 Posts |
Posted - Apr 14 2014 : 5:36:30 PM
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Dear Kami,
Thank you so much for posting this! It is exactly the sort of material that will be very beneficial to the tone of this thread. |
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kami
USA
920 Posts |
Posted - Apr 24 2014 : 4:14:16 PM
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Thank you, dear Bewell and Radharani.
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kami
USA
920 Posts |
Posted - Apr 24 2014 : 4:19:40 PM
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Kali
Kali is the first of the ten Mahavidyas, representing time (kal/kaal = time).
She is depicted as a dark goddess, ferocious and terrifying in appearance. She wears a garland of human arms for a skirt and human skulls as a necklace. She lives in cemeteries and graveyards - wherever there is death and decay. She has piercing eyes and her tongue lolls out of her great mouth. She carries several weapons in seven of her ten arms (the sickle being the one of her choice) and a freshly severed human head in the eighth. The lower two hands form the mudras of protection and boon-giving. She is intoxicated from the continuous consumption of blood and dances wildly upon corpses and her own beloved Shiva, who lies completely still and seemingly powerless under her forceful steps.
Kali is the first among the Mahavidyas because the process of creation begins with time. From a macrocosmic perspective, in the beginning there is only Purusha - undifferentiated, timeless potential. The cosmos begins with the "Big Bang", and simultaneously, linear time and with it emerges all duality. Light and dark, good and evil, high and low, truth and untruth - each is made possible only because of its counterpart. For creation to be sustained, death is necessary - life is only possible through death. What is born must necessarily die in time. Time and death are thus synonymous. The linear sequence of time is maintained only with dissolution of one moment to give rise to the next. Maya thrives thus, as a sequence of time-related phenomena, each event dependent upon all the other events, nothing occurring independently and everything influencing everything else and the whole. The cemetery is a representation of this process.
Similarly, at the level of the individual, the separate "I" or ego is born and sustained through events in time. The ego is born in early childhood prior to which an infant has no concept of itself as an individual. With unfolding of life events, influences from society and development of memory and imagination, the identification as this "I" becomes stronger. As the separate self, the individual is propagated through thoughts and memories of the past and projections into the future, both of which are illusory and nonexistent. Attaching the "I-ness" (and it's related emotional signature) to an event creates a vasana, and through the Maya of Kali as time, the ego becomes enmeshed within this web of vasanas. Such a separate self is dragged helplessly through time, circling again and again from life to death and back to life. Kali dances in this cemetery of one's being where the separate self that is born (in every moment from the actions and impressions from the last moment) dies and is reborn again. Every desire arising from a vasana gives birth to the "I-thought", which then dies temporarily with the fulfillment of the desire, only to be born again with the next vasana-driven thought/desire. And on it goes, with Kali dancing merrily, cutting off the head of the I-thought and feeding upon the lifeblood of the separate self again and again, nudging Shiva to wake up from this identification as the ego. She severs the hands that represent such vasana-driven selfish actions, repeatedly pointing the way for action arising from wholeness. The compassion of the Divine Mother is so infinite that she provides the opportunity to step out of her illusion and the quagmire of samsara in every single moment. With every step of her dance, she destroys the moment before and holds the future in darkness, allowing one to be reborn forever into the eternal now. She remains willing to continue the dance, happy to keep severing of the heads and arms as long as identification with the "I-thought" continues, patiently waiting for the sadhaka to wake up to his/her true (Shiva) nature.
The sadhana of the Mahavidyas is not for the weak of heart. Each of these forms of Shakti represents an aspect of creation at both the macrocosmic and individual (ego) levels. While some worship the Mahavidyas for power, dark magic and siddhis, they get further enmeshed in Maya and succumb eventually to her insurmountable power. It is not possible to win her grace through force or cunning. Only the willingness to give up the "I-ness" enables her grace to shine forth. This is the secret of tantra - one's spiritual progress is in direct proportion to the degree of surrender. Moreover, it is not necessary to worship all ten Mahavidyas - each is a gateway to liberation, opening to the grace of all the others. After all, she is one manifesting as all.
Kali is known for cutting through the ego's ties quickly and efficiently. However, she does not concern herself with the comfort of the ego. She is therefore not particularly interested in granting boons of wealth, relationships and other superficial matters pertaining to the separate self. In fact, these matters can frequently take a turn for the worse when her sadhana is taken up. Her only interest lies in liberating her devotee from her own snare. To such a devotee that desires nothing else, she reveals her softer side as Bhadra Kali (Bhadra = auspicious) - calm, serene and radiant. Kali's bija (seed) mantra is "klim". When thus invoked, she withdraws the maya of time and liberates one from linear time-related phenomena. Free from incessant thoughts of the past and anxieties about the future, the sadhaka blessed thus by Kali is open to experience the primordial vibration represented by Tara, the second Mahavidya.
A great Kali mantra is this - Om klim Kalikayai namah.
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Edited by - kami on Apr 29 2014 9:08:42 PM |
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Govinda
USA
176 Posts |
Posted - Apr 30 2014 : 10:43:49 AM
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Omsat
Belgium
267 Posts |
Posted - Apr 30 2014 : 7:54:55 PM
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Thank you Kami for this interesting post on Kali..
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chintan_oza2000@yahoo.com
India
4 Posts |
Posted - Jun 04 2014 : 10:38:53 AM
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Hello Kami ,
My name is chintan oza, i practice kundalini meditation with guidance of my guru, i have taken shaktipat initiation from him. Kami i am new to Trantra vidya, i dont know where to start, infact people have scared me that its bad, and always ends badly on sadhak. my aim is to achieve a siddhi i dont want to target any specific nor i am aware of all.
can you guide me where to start, dos and donts of this, my aim is to help animals, god has given me enough to live descent life..i dont know how will you help. but give me some time where i can chat with you online. i am available on skype its chintan.oza5 my cell no is +919920454532 i am there on wassup and facebook. let me know when you are available.
Regards,
Chintan Oza
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Dasha Mahavidya (Ten great sources of knowledge)
