Hari OM, Lalita, Blessed Self

I have heard this question before. I can only share with you what I have been taught by my teachers.

In my lineage, during our first diksa, we are given two mantras: the Gayatri mantra and the Mahamrtyunjaya mantra. The Gayatri celebrates the power of manifestation and the light of consciousness manifesting as the world. The Mahamrtyunjaya is the Siva mantra par excellence and is renowned for its healing properties.

As I am sure you know, during their coming-of-age rituals, brahmin boys are invested with the sacred thread and are given the Gayatri mantra which they then must chant every day for the rest of their lives. Despite the fact that the Gayatri celebrates the power of creation, in the modern era, girls have been denied access to the Gayatri through this particular transmission ritual.

This began to change when Sri Anandamayi Ma wanted to invest some of her female sannyasins with the sacred thread. She consulted the most learned and respected pandits in Varanasi. Exhaustive research was conducted, and the conclusion was that that up until the turn of the first millenium, girls were awarded the sacred thread, accepted as priests, and were permitted to conduct yajna or fire ceremony and recite the Gayatri mantra.

While some people still protested, in 1935, Mataji invested two of her close female disciples with the thread and transmitted the Gayatri mantra to them. This tradition continues in the Satyananda lineage, and I believe also in Mataji's lineage. I have no information about others.

Later, Ma said: "This body [MA] put on that sacred thread by herself. She started reciting Gayatri on her own. . . . It automatically came from her heart. That is why this body says 'This mantra does not exist in any educated person alone. It is not the property of any scholar. It exists in everyone.'"

Sadguru Sant Keshavadas, who wrote a beautiful book about the Gayatri mantra, has this to say: “It is wrong to conceive of the notion that Gayatri is solely meant for the chosen orthodox brahmin class. It is universally applicable, for it is nothing but an earnest prayer for Light, addressed the Almighty Supreme Spirit. . . . The Lord says in the Veda. . . let one mantra be common to all, and the mantra is the Gayatri.”

I hope this helps.

OM Shanti,
Shambhavi

Chennai

What do u think about women chanting the Gayatri?

Hari OM, Luciano, Blessed Self

The idea of the soul mate is usually a kind of "hungry ghost" phenomenon. Hungry ghost is one of the six ways in which human beings forget their essential nature. The hungry ghost feeling is just that: a feeling of unfulfillment, of hunger, and dissatisfaction. We imagine that some One other person is the magic cure: our "soul mate." This is generally a fantasy projection that we use to avoid the pain of feeling our true condition.

On the other hand, people do have different kinds of karma, or histories. In the best circumstances, these create opportunities for growth when people come together in a dharmic relationship. It is a good idea to consult a Vedic or other kind of astrologer about the potentials and pitfalls inherent in particular partnerships of any kind.

As for your second question, in no way is Tantrik sexual sadhana a method for regulating or providing satisfaction for any kind of overwhelming attachment or passion. Authentic Tantrik sexual sadhana is a form of ritual. It requires a great deal of detachment, and a high level of spiritual accomplishment.

If anyone is experiencing overwhelming compulsions, gaining balance in activities of eating, sleeping, and everyday life is crucial. An Ayurvedic physician can help with this.

OM Shanti,
Shambhavi

Mendocino, CA

Om mani padme hum
Om namaha shivaya!

Dearest Shambavi,

I am grateful for this opportunity to ask you some questions. i'm curious as to your opinion on two things:

1. Is there such a thing as a soul-mate, how do you know you've met someone of that caliber?

2. When passion and desire become overwhelming, unquenchable thirsts, to what extent does tantra provide the middle way between complete debauchery and complete celibacy.

I welcome any messages you may send me..and thank you in advance for your hard work, patience and compassion.

be well,
om nama shivaya
namaste!

Hari OM!
sat nam!
om shanti shanti shanti

"when somebody is suffering, we should sympathize with him. but that is not enough; we should be ready to help him because (God) is everywhere, in everything. We we develop compassion and love His grace will sponteneously flow into us."
-mata amritanandamayi

Hari OM, Muni, Blessed Self

Occasionally, things seem to burn out or unwind for good. Most times, our effort to relax a pattern is like removing a tattoo--there is still a recognizable pattern there, but much fainter. Everything has its time. Our situation is vast and is not ours alone to "control." We are one of the participants in this process. This is one way of understanding it.

Patterns too are consciousness/energy. They are us. We are all just this. Place your sense-feeling of awareness (not thinking) into the pattern or the pain or the thoughts generated by the patterns, and you will discover Self, intimacy, and compassion. Don't divide yourself and conquer. Things loom large because we finally self-recognize, yes, but also because of this fighting attitude. We get into a stand off with our samskaras. Both sides puff up. Then we get tired and finally relax, and the pattern dissipates.

Once you recognize a pattern, cooperate in the process of relaxing using your sadhana in a steady, relaxed way, and holding the open state of meditation/contemplation as much as you can 24/7. When you feel the opening of surrender, fear arises, but surrender into that. Let go. This is cooperation leading to greater participation in life. When you do surrender, MA is there with open arms. You will only experience a falling sensation, but there is no fall.

Deep surrender of all self-concept (the real meaning of relaxation) awakens you to the compassion of the Jagad Guru which is none than your own unending compassion. This frees fixation.

OM Shanti,
Shambhavi

Kerala, India

Hello,

Do you think it is really true that our ugly habits get louder when they are on their way out? Or is it just that we are more aware of them?

How do you know when it is really on its way out and when it is just digging in deeper, intent on maintaining its claim on your weak, little mind?

And how do you just drop something for good?

Hari OM, Shanta, Blessed Self

The only hell is ignorance of one's true nature. When we are in a state of tension (ignorance-avidya), Reality appears in certain characteristic distortions. We call these realm fixations. There is no PLACE called vajra hell. There is only ignorance of Self.

At any moment, no matter how darkly veiled is one's perspective, at any moment, there is the opportunity for Self-realization. Grace is every moment. No one is ever lost.

MA is tender and always by your side, even when you are in darkness. You can always reach out for Her hand. Be like a little child reaching for its mother, even in darkness. Especially in darkness. She is in your heart. She is your own true love for Self.

Any troubles we experience are only Reality, the Supreme Self, the totality of the life process, reaching out to us to bring us to the point of realization. Sometimes we have to experience pain to come to this point. Sometimes we can just relax. Even vajra hell, so-called, is Her grace.

There is nothing to worry about. Nothing to work with other than your own fixations. Keep making the effort to relax and Self-recognize. If you stick to this, as best you can, all is well.

Yes, no belief needed, but there is a life process. It has its ways of working, and it is leading you slowly toward Self-realization. You can have absolute confidence in this.

OM Shanti,
Shambhavi

Fremont, CA

You have said that tantra is not a religion and requires no belief. One thing that gets me stuck is vajra hell. I have no way of knowing if that is true myself in experience. So it does require belief in what happens in the afterlife. Vajra hell has become one of those things that comes up in a panic moment worrying that I won't grow enough not to get stuck there for a long time without any reference point to hold onto. I guess my question is how do I work with things like vajra hell? The idea of not believing things I haven't had direct experience with is a relief but not I'm sure how to work that.

with gratitude,
Shanta

Hari OM, Rachel, Blessed Self

You wrote:

recently there is a movement called deeksha ( sri kalki -oneness university) which is claiming that in three weeks you can be ready to transmit this to others.

I can't comment on this movement, but there are a few points of View that are important. What is "it" that is being transmitted? And what is "transmission?"

Shaktipat means the descent of grace from teacher to student. Grace is the revelation of Reality in all of its fullness. Real Shaktipat can be focused and precise, like surgery. It can bring about sudden openings of View. Properly, Shaktipat refers to a multitude of forms of transmission, but in the West, we tend to use it to mean transmission by physical touch.

Obviously, people who been practicing for three weeks, or three years, are unlikely to have the profound understanding of Reality that is necessary to serve as a conduit for this type of transmission. Also, as far as I know, offering Shaktipat is not a technique that can be safely learned as some kind of spiritual toolbox add on. It emerges from the situation of realization.

I have often noticed that the practice of giving "Shaktipat" as it is more commonly done, tends to keep both teachers and students stuck at the level of physical sensation and spiritual drama. People get addicted to a certain feeling of intensity they mistake for spiritual accomplishment. It is not. Spiritual accomplishment is embodied understanding of Reality.

As for different kinds of energy being transmitted through Shaktipat, yes and no. The world is uncomplicated, but it appears in many forms. Body, Energy, and Wisdom are not different things; they are different modes of appearing of the one life process.

Most of us have a limited experience of body. Some few of essence appearing as energy. And even fewer can directly percieve and express the inherent wisdom of the life process. Anything anyone "transmits" will be at the level of their awareness. There are also dangers of coming into contact with other entities and karmic patterns of which one is unaware and/or unable to digest or protect oneself from.

When considering important questions such as the ones you pose, it's a great idea to read the words and stories of the Mahasiddhas and Jagad Gurus. The more sense we have of what we don't know, the wiser, and more cautious, we will be.

OM Shanti,
Shambhavi

Byron Bay, Australia

Hi I have a question about shakti pat transmission. I have read that there are different types of shakti pat and different stages of development for the practitioner. (i.e. it takes years to be inintiated fully) I am fascinated by this subject as most recently there is a movement called deeksha ( sri kalki -oneness university) which is claiming that in three weeks you can be ready to transmit this to others. I am wondering if this is the same type of shakti pat as that which is handed down through a pure lineage ( like the sivananda lineage) or if this is some other type of energy transmission. What are your thoughts?

Hari OM, Richard, Blessed Self

The succinct-est way to approach the nondual question is just to say "existence is shared." We generally experience the world as populated by separate people and things. But through sadhana, we discover that everything is shared. There is a capacity for individual experiencing, but there are no absolute individuals, absolute objects, or absolute bodies.

Nondual means "not two." If our normative experience were shared existence, then we'd likely refer to duality as "nonOne." The choice of terminology is, in part, an accident of our dualistic orientation.

However, "nonduality" has a limited application, as you hinted. Life is not contained by "dual" or "nondual." This is indicated by more positive terms, such the natural state, or simply Reality.

I hope this helps.

OM Shanti, Shambhavi

Berkeley CA

I've seen and heard the phrase "non-dual" bandied about rather a lot, and it all seems to make a rather wispy kind of sense. However, when I tried explaining the concept to a friend the other day, I realised that I have very little idea about what it actually means. Could you explain further? And why do you use a phrase that is the opposite (or negative) of something else, rather an individual word in its own right?

A succinct answer would be much appreciated...

Thank you!

Hari OM, Jackie, Blessed Self

The sounds and vibrations we hear and feel every day are condensed versions of more subtle sound vibrations. Mantras operate at all levels, from the most condensed to the finest and most subtle. The entire cosmos originated with paravac, or the supreme sound. This is the original spanda (vibration) that underlies and permeates the manifest world.

As we pratice mantra, we become more open to the subtler manifestatons of sound vibrations. Saying the mantra "mentally," is one step toward paravac, but it is still a fairly condensed form of sound vibration. Eventually, you will hear the mantra's vibration reverberating within without any effort on your part, and you will be able to directly experience more subtle levels of the sound vibration of the world.

One interesting stage of mantra practice happens early on when the mantra repeats in our thoughts over and over again. Some people then believe they have realized the mantra's essence nature. However, what has really occurred is that the obsessive mind has substituted the mantra for other,more common obsessive thoughts. Well--better a mantra than your argument with your neighbor!

I have written in more detail about the various levels of sound vibration on LT in the post "Casting a Spell."

OM Shanti, Shambhavi

Chicago, IL

I have been practicing the Gayatri to the point where I can now say it mentally without saying the actual words. But I recently was reminded that the actual words of our chants send vibrations to our bodies, resonating with chakra centers, and creating a benefit. As a reminder, why is it also important to say our chants ‘mentally'? What are the benefits? (although I realize that for me, just the practice of saying my chants is a benefit, verbally or non-verbally.)

Thank you!

Hari OM, Blessed Selves

Welcome to the newest addition to Living Tantra. Here you can post questions about anything you've read on Living Tantra, about Tantra in general, or a related topic. You have the option to keep your question private, but most questions will also be of use to other readers, so keep that in mind.

OM Shanti,
Shambhavi