Full, Sparkling, Everywhere, Flowing ...

 
"My own experience of śaktipāta occurred at the age of 16 through meeting a powerful and loving meditation master.  It was not the product of wishful thinking, because I didn't even want to be there, at least on the level of the conscious mind.  My mother had persuaded me to take a two-day meditation retreat and I had acceded because I wanted the reward she was offering me; I had neither expectation nor hope that anything particularly magical would happen.  And indeed, the whole thing was fairly boring, though in the final meditation of the weekend, I did make a grudging effort to be fully present in the warm, dark stillness of the meditation room.  It was nice, but nothing special, until I opened my eyes and walked outside.  I was astonished to discover that the whole world had apparently changed.  Everything was more vivid and real, and almost sparkling.  Not only that, I was feeling an incredible energy in my heart, and it was flowing palpably between my heart and the hearts of everyone else I could see.  I call it "energy" for lack of a better word; it was a tangible power or force, not a passive feeling, and it had the nature of exquisitely pure love.  It was connecting the hearts of all the people around me, coursing freely in a kind of web or grid of power, entirely independent of whether the people liked each other or not.  Then I noticed it was really everywhere; the very air around me seemed thick with it; it was undoubtedly the most "real" thing in reality, though not perceptible with any of the five senses!  It was astonishing, and I was never the same, now that I knew this power, this love beyond anything I had ever imagined, was a real possibility in human life."
-  Christopher D. Wallis, Tantra Illuminated, 2012, p.323


Tantra Illuminated: The Philosophy, History, and Practice of a Timeless Tradition  By Christopher D. Wallis, M.A.  Illustrations by Ekabhumi Ellik.  Woodlands, Texas, Anusara Press, 2012.  Index, endnotes, bibliography, three appendices, 506 pages.  ISBN: 978-1937104016.  VSCL.  In 2012, the author was a Ph.D. candidate in Sanskrit at the University of California, Berkeley.  This book takes as its exemplar and focal point the lineages of nondual Śaiva Tantra most clearly typified by the Kaula Trika lineage.  Written for the educated lay reader.  The author shares his personal life, his spiritual life, his practices, his yoga, within this tradition of Tantra.   

Tantra: Path of Ecstasy  By Georg Feuerstein (1947-2012), Ph.D.  Boston, Shambhala, 1998.  Index, bibliography, notes, 314 pages.  ISBN: 157062304X.  VSCL.  An excellent introduction to Tantra, and a great starting point for readers.  I own, and have read and reread in the last ten years nearly all of the books by Dr. Georg Feuerstein.  If my understanding is correct, Dr. Feuerstein personally followed the path of Vajrayana Buddhism, a Tibetan Buddhist tradition, a lineage of Tantric Buddhism.  


"Tantra's body-positive approach is the direct outcome of its integrative metaphysics according to which this world is not mere illusion but a manifestation of the supreme Reality.  If the world is real, the body must be real as well.  If the world is in essence divine, so must be the body.  If we must honor the world as a creation or an aspect of the divine Power (shakti), we must likewise honor the body.  The body is a piece of the world and, as we shall see, the world is a piece of the body.  Or, rather, when we truly understand the body, we discover that it is the world, which in essence is divine."
-  Georg Feuerstein, Tantra: The Path of Ecstasy, p. 53  


Somaesthetic Practices and Theory

Tantra: Bibliography, Quotations, Links, Resources

Nature and Spirituality 

 

A Prayer to Lakshmi

Prayer to Shri  Maha Devi Lakshmi

               

"I bow to you, O Mother of All Worlds, O Lotus Born, O Four-Armed Giver of Boons.  
Gently floating on the Shatki Seas, sitting firmly on the Heart of Vishnu.
O Maha Devi, sitting on a pink lotus, thank you for letting us see Your beauty, elegance, exquisiteness, perfection.
Thank You for showering our soils with abundant rain, and for the millions of petals, flowers, fruits, seeds, nuts. 
Praised be you, Loving Devi, shimmering in golden adornments and wearing a splendid red silk gown.  
You are Shakti, Siddhi, Svadha, Svaha, Sudha.
You are the purifier of this world.
You are the evening, the night, the light, the darkness.
You are Glory, ecstasy, joyfulness, intelligence, and devotion.
You are Sarasvati. 
You are Maha Devi Lakshmi. 
You celebrate with us and You bring to us flowers, baskets of delicious food, a golden pot of coins, sacred plants, your beauty, your smile, the world as it is right now.   
You are the Knower of Great Truths, the Watcher of the Here and Now. 
O Auspicious One, you fathom the Secret Knowledge and are Supra-Insightful, Supra-Intuitive, Supra-Genius.
You are the Science of the Self, O Devi, and you are the giver of the Fruit of Freedom (Mukti).
Logic, the knowledge of all Vedas, the Tantras, worldly knowledge, and Raja Neeti are all yours.
You are fully filled and are present everywhere in this world within and without your ideal, grandiose, or fierce forms. 
O Devi, who other than You could reside in the Hart of the Him who is the real form of all Yajyas, who is contemplated by all Gods and Yogis.
O Devi, when you give up these entire Three Worlds, this entire creation goes to destruction, and then You Yourself choose to play with possibilities of an alternative world, compelled to give life anther spin again and again through dozens of Kali Yugas.   
By your grace only, a person gets a Wife, Husband, daughter, son, house, family, prosperity, peace and friends.
Those upon whom You, O Devi, bestow your kindness, they are so favored with good health, prosperity, safety, peace, and happiness.   
You are the Mother of these entire worlds, and the Goddess of Gods. 
Vishnu and You, O Mother, are present everywhere in this moving and unmoving creation. 
Please favor us with continued work, good health, wealth, home, farm, animals, enjoyables, clean water, and food. 
O Vishnu-Vaksha-Stal-Vaasini, help keep us Loving relations with our Wife, Husband, daughter, son, parents, family, spiritual community, alter-egos and friends. 
O Devi, Protect our valuables, books, tools, applicances, art, jewelry, personal belongings, and home life.   
O Pure One, your presence moves us to now celebrate purity, kindness, truthfulness, and goodness. 
You help us, O Devi, to become admirable, virtuous, brave, fortunate, full of goodness, and intelligent.
O Devi, even Sri Brahma Ji is not capable of praising Your greatness.
Thus, Maha Devi Lakshmi, may You be satisfied with us and don't ever leave us."
-  Adapted by Mike Garofalo from Shri Lakshmi Prayers, Celestial Timings

Lakshmi - Wikipedia

"Lakshmi is the Goddess of wealth and prosperity, both material and spiritual. The word ''Lakshmi'' is derived from the Sanskrit word Laksme, meaning "goal." Lakshmi, therefore, represents the goal of life, which includes worldly as well as spiritual prosperity. In Hindu mythology, Goddess Lakshmi, also called Shri, is the divine spouse of Lord Vishnu and provides Him with wealth for the maintenance and preservation of the creation.

In Her images and pictures, Lakshmi is depicted in a female form with four arms and four hands. She wears red clothes with a golden lining and is standing on a lotus. She has golden coins and lotuses in her hands."
-  Bansi Pandit

Lakshmi is also called Shri, Thirumagal, Maha Devi Lakshmi; and is associated with Sita, Radha, Rukmini.  Lakshmi is a personification of the positive, productive, and life enhancing aspects of our good life the world, abundance, plenty, wealth, health, success, happiness. 

Tantric Yoga