Namaste Nesh. On this matter, I would like to explain by first showing you a passage from the Śivadṛṣṭi: "If you ask how someone pure could be eager for something impure, we reply: because He savors the expansion of His own form, contemptibility is not appropriate for the universe. Given that it is said that it is Śiva's nature to perform the five types of activities, what need is there to search for other motives, when He is engaged in His own conduct?" In other words, there is no "reason" for Śiva's activity (though Somānanda uses the name Śiva to refer to the supreme reality, any such appropriate appellation is implicitly suggested here, too). A reason suggests the presence of rāga and niyati; attachment to a specific desired object, and the specific means by which that specific object is acquired. But as Śiva is the sole reality and full in Himself, He is in want of nothing. Moreover, His activity is nothing other than His self-awareness - Śakti, which is His very nature. So, even though He is the sole cause of everything, you could say that the divine activity is ultimately nothing other than Śiva being Himself. In Him, there is no rejection or acceptance of anything. All things exist because they have the nature of the light of consciousness. However, due to binding thought constructs, it does not seem to be this way. The Ānandabhairava Tantra says: "The Lord is without bias and acts in a manner contrary to the common worldly norms. The cause of His bestowal of grace is not the purity of the recipient... Thus, the rays of consciousness radiating through the senses, although savoring their objects, are freed of agitation. Hell is the result of dualistic thought." Here we receive a powerful teaching. It is not the contents of worldly experience themselves that are the problem. It is the particular perception of them, the agitation of dualistic thought. Conversely, the vīra is able to perceive the one taste of the Absolute in all things. Keep in mind that this is not simple hedonism. You do not need yoga to enjoy sensory pleasures. Rather, this is a subtle and profound state of awakened awareness. It is comparable to watching a drama. The actual contents of the stage by themselves have no power to generate aesthetic sentiment. That is based on the viewer's sensitivity, a sensitivity that derives from the knowledge and wonder that they are fundamentally separated from what is going on, and so the doubts and inhibitions which concern how things "should" and "shouldn't" be are absent. As a result, the dynamic, creative wonder of consciousness is able to present itself clearly and fully, regardless of the genre of the play, so to speak. Hence, the absence of rejection and acceptance, as all things are the light of consciousness. Nāganātha says in one of his beautiful poems: "How wonderful it is that my mind, which was restless in seeking satisfaction in the attainment of pleasures, now, even in the severest of sufferings, is filled with the nectar of supreme bliss." I will leave you with a teaching from the Kālikākrama. Meditate on it well. "The expanding Sun of Consciousness is the bliss of the great lotus of consciousness. The joyous play of humor and dance impels the universe, mobile and immobile. When rejection and grasping, due to the distinction between taking up and letting go, has ceased, the yogi is established in the liturgy of the worship of Kālī, which is the forceful attainment of the foundation of consciousness."

Please pardon me. There is one other thing. Previously you shared a quote related to the depiction of Kālī wearing earrings of children’s corpses. Something like, “just as the young boy plays with toys heedless of cold and hunger and other pains, so too does the wise man live, selfless and joyous and unattached.” That quote has been like a perfectly bespoke koan for me ever since I read it, powerfully capable of breaking me away from the delusions of reality and ego, and halting my mind from spirals of wasting energy, as soon as I recall it. I wanted to ask if you might share more about this, so I can digest this wisdom further and integrate it more deeply. That little sentence really is an awesome tool for spiritual progress as well as living a productive and enjoyable life.

Dear Dylan, Reading your replies brings a mix of joy and awe and a touch of anxiety too. Your precision and clarity remind me just how vast this ocean is and how I have barely touched a drop. Thank you again for offering such rich insights. I have read these two responses twice now and I still feel I am only brushing the edges. The visarga and Kuṇḍalinī link, especially as sonic body and resonance, is reshaping how I understand not only mantra itself but also the arrangement and function of seed syllables. It feels like something foundational is being stirred. I feel a kind of ache. My heart feels like it wants to overflow but does not have a vessel to pour into. Praxis and deeper study seem the only real responses to this feeling. I wonder if that vague qualia is familiar to you. Two brief questions if I may 1. When Jayaratha speaks of the final phase of propensity toward introverted consciousness, is that properly Śāmbhavopāya or a threshold beyond all upāyas? 2. Does the triangle and yoni mapping you described reflect the body structurally such as heart throat tongue, or more subtly in the movement of awareness itself? please never feel pressured to reply promptly or at all. I have already gained so much from your generosity of time and knowledge. That said, a more open-ended reflection just occurred to me: In recognizing one’s true nature and power and the unfolding of reality itself, how much of an impediment is human dimensional perception? It is easy enough to intellectually grasp the idea of supratemporal tattvas or higher dimensions, just as one can model higher-dimensional matrices in math or code. But experientially the gap feels enormous. Is overcoming this perceptual boundary an essential hurdle in awakening? Does consciousness evolution naturally lead to a radically different experience of time? With deep thanks again, ganesh

Namaskar brother Hugo, There is a lot of wisdom and ethics in your words and it has been a bit more tumultuous than necessary lately on the forum. A lot has been spoken about and much of it is very deep and astounding and may be confusing. The newer revelations are surely worthy for discussion and debate, and it certainly is a lot to take in, when it up ends so much. These things aside, when it comes to something like what might turn sanathana dharma into a joke, if such a thing were to pass, would you not agree that nothing holds a candle to the behaviors and acts of the people who actually talk the loudest about the sacredness of sanathana dharma themselves? Look at the largest country in the world, with the most religious states having worse safety for women and children than countries that have been stuck in cycles of civil war for decades. Look at such things as some of the most populous and largest states in India, the most vocally "sanathana dharma" ones, doing things like removing or banning sex education and family planning from government schools, condensing millions of girls and young women to truly nightmarish futures. This is all the work of the most vocal and public faces of modern "sanathana dharma". In one sense, a spiritual person might come to some conclusions about it but the nature of all the philosophical and theogical underpinnings of such a place, surely having something rotten to the core. In a sense relevant to your comment, know one comes close to turning sanathana dharma into a joke like the ones who are the most sure they are following the mainstream versions of it correctly. If you put yourself into an unbiased third person perspective, would this not be apparent? The whole matter of old conceptions and new conceptions of higher reality rests in faith and unverifiable personal gnosis. A person without any preexisting biases would likely see no difference in veracity between any of the details. Besides all this, given the state India is in, we should be open to the idea that many things are wrong on very fundamental levels, perhaps from higher sources themselves. Not automatically excepting of such heresies either, but for the sake of a developing mind and consciousness, as Intellectually open and balanced as we can be given our often very deep seated conditioning and the usual activity of the human ego. Do you disagree?

Does anyone here practice BhadrakALi SAdhana?

Namaskar to all the dear brothers and sisters who are seeking God. This brother would just like to share a humble thought. If it is not appreciated, feel free to ignore it completely. The point of all Mantra is to realize Brahman. The point of the Veda is to realize Brahman. The point of Bhakti is to realize Brahman. The point of Jnana is to realize Brahman. The point of Yoga is to realize Brahman. Human beings are not here to battle against monsters who want to destroy the world. The universe cannot be destroyed because the universe is Brahman. Just as no television program can destroy your TV, in the same way, no monster can destroy the universe. Human birth is rare. Please do not turn Sanatana Dharma into a joke. Faith and patience, compassion and humility, devotion and insight for all sentient beings. ❤️

2. Kuṇḍalinī is essentially visarga, the resonance of consciousness, its self-awareness. So, Kuṇḍalinī is Speech; Mantra itself. You will recall that KLĪṀ, in the context of the verses from the Vāmakeśvara Tantra, is what arouses Kuṇḍalinī and is indeed Her aroused state. The actual practice being described is this: when the yogi attains one-pointedness and thus activates the central channel, having become that pure consciousness which is the Liṅga, he penetrates and thus arouses the Yoni by enunciating the bīja, the passionate arousal of which is the ascent of Kuṇḍalinī, which was hitherto in the "middle of desire". On a more practical level, this means that the yogi, presumably after having inhaled and holding his breath, enunciates the bīja either mentally during breath pause, or aloud while exhaling, in either case causing its resonance to move up the central channel and culminating in the Sahasrāra where it fades away. So, the resonance of the bīja and that of Kuṇḍalinī are one and the same. She rises consciously on account of the union of the Liṅga and Yoni, that is, consciousness impelling itself, by means of itself, into itself. She is that emission; visarga. 3. The meaning of "Liṅga" here should probably be clarified first. The Chummāsaṅketaprakāśa gives a definition: "That in which all cognitions, arising in relation to both internal and external phenomena, gradually merge with the untouchable Supreme Space, which is beautiful with the bliss of stillness, that is, the unlocalizable Supreme Śiva, beyond the dichotomy of manifest vs. unmanifest states: that is taught in this oral tradition as the supreme ‘Liṅga’, transcending all, highly celebrated due to its universality, and eternally distinct from the three worlds by virtue of the recognition of it as the Self." In other words, the Liṅga is the one-pointed, central awareness which arouses Kuṇḍalinī by penetrating Her in Her abode. This makes sense: if you are being thrown about by the movement of Kuṇḍalinī which you do not even recognize, this is precisely because you do not recognize that you are yourself the Lord, who is one with His Power. Conversely, when you do attain this central awareness, that Power is recognized to be your own. Hence, in the act of manifesting all things from paśyantī to vaikharī, you are simultaneously withdrawing the world of duality because you realize that the expansion of all things is none other than the radiance of your own Being. It is not separate from you. Now about this "Touch". It is essentially undifferentiated perception. As the skin (which, in the scheme of Sāṁkhya tattvas, is connected to tactile sensation) covers the whole body and retains its ability to feel all around, so pure consciousness is the experience of all things as being of one flavor; sāmarasya. And this is precisely because there is nothing other than the light of consciousness. It is, in that respect, its self-awareness or self-grasping (again, skin and tactility are associated with the act of grasping). It is this which arouses Kuṇḍalinī. 4. To "throw the universe into turmoil" means the state in which the ordinary course of things is halted and controlled. The noise of saṁsāra comes to a halt as a result of this practice. The motif is fairly common. I believe the Svacchanda Tantra mentions the yogi being able to stop the movement of the stars, planets, tides, and basically everything, as also with Pratyaṅgirā's ability to stop the movement of the stars and planets with Her laughter, just to name a few. What is meant here is that the world of duality, characterized by the incessant noise of thoughts, is destroyed on account of the arising of awakened awareness which, as previously stated, is the recognition of nonduality, the lack of "another". This does not mean that the universe literally vanishes before one's very eyes. Rather, it is viewed in a completely different way, so much so that destruction is an apt comparison. It is explained in one of the Chummās: "In that state, that which takes the form of the operations of Emission, Stasis, and Dissolution, Time itself, is dissolved in the quiet & indistinct vibration of non-sequential Awareness—that is called the Devouring of Time." This is the "bliss of stillness" mentioned in the other quotation. It is "still" because, there being only one "thing" that exists, Śiva, there is no real change or movement. Such things necessarily imply sequentiality, mutual differences between one reality and another. The phrase also implies one's control over all things. Again, this is because the yogi recognizes that he is Śiva, who is the Lord of the Wheel of Energies which radiate from Him like the sun's rays. This is not a matter of the limited, egoic personality gaining supernatural powers. Rather, quite humbly, it is that same ego being submitted to and subsumed by the Will of Bhairava, which is none other than the trans-individual spontaneous dynamism of awareness. Now about diseases. The comparison of saṁsāra to a disease is fairly common. The most relevant example for this site, I think, is that of the Sarvarogaharacakra in the Śrīcakra, which literally means "Destroyer of all illnesses". The Yoginīs of this cakra embody a state of awareness in which the energies of consciousness move about freely in the infinite, empty sky of consciousness. According to Amṛtānanda in his commentary on the Yoginīhṛdayam, this cakra is appropriately called the remover of diseases, because it embodies a state of nonduality free from the "illness" of saṁsāra.

Namaste Nesh. 1. Yes, that is essentially what it is describing. Kuṇḍalinī is defined in the Siddhayogeśvarīmata Tantra as "the womb of the universe." Her initial state is described in the Tantrasadbhāva: "Wrapping itself inwardly around the Bindu of the Heart, it slumbers there in the form of a sleeping serpent and is aware of nothing at all. That goddess, placing in her belly the Moon, Fire, Sun, stars and fourteen worlds, sleeps like one affected by poison." Jayaratha says, commenting on a verse from the Triśirobhairava Tantra: "When this energy is devoid of the tendency to externalize and so rests in Herself alone, She is called Śaktikuṇḍalinī, because Her form is like that of a sleeping snake. As long as She is in this state, She is in Her lower form, and Her nature is pure consciousness alone." On the other hand, this can be understood to mean the state of the Goddess, one's own awareness, in its contracted form. Kuṇḍalinī is really always active, manifesting and withdrawing the universe in every instant. But normally, we are not directly aware of this. She throws the bound soul about through Her ascending and descending movements in the left and right channels. Unfolding on account of the churning of the Liṅga, however, She is made to unfold. The Tantrasadbhāva continues: "She is awakened by the resonance of supreme awareness and churned by the spontaneous rolling of Siva's seed within Her. Pierced in this way, that subtle power of Kuṇḍalinī is aroused." I have already explained the meaning of this in the previous comment. It is because of this that the movement of Kuṇḍalinī becomes conscious. She is invoked in the central channel, where the oscillation of consciousness is stilled. Kṣemarāja says: "The joy of awareness is discovered through the expansion of the Center." You probably know that She is said to be coiled three and a half times. This is a reference to the triangular Yoni, which is the womb of all energies and a map of Kuṇḍalinī's movement. The three lines of the triangle represent Her three energies. The left line is Vāmā, which embodies sṛṣṭi, icchā, paśyantī, among other things. Vāmā means two things. Firstly, it means a reversal. From the transcendent state of Parāvāc, Vāmā is the initial sprout of manifestation as paśyantī. It also means "she who vomits", that is, expunges the hitherto unmanifest energies of consciousness in order to manifest all things. The top, straight line is Jyeṣṭhā, who embodies sthiti, jñāna, madhyamā, etc. Her being represented by a straight line symbolizes the interconnectedness of all the reality levels, from Kālāgni to Anāśrita. The third line on the right is Raudrī, who embodies saṁhāra, kriyā, vaikharī, etc. Now, even though She embodies the "grossest" levels of divine activity, this is because She is the culmination of it all. She is often described as having the shape of a water chesnut, that is, of the form of a triangle, the idea being that She embodies the perfected form of the triangle, the culmination of Kuṇḍalinī's activity. The half-coil is actually the center of the triangle. It is a half-coil because it is not one among the other energies; it is their ground and essential nature. On this point, I suggest you read the Māṇḍūkyopaniṣad. The same general idea of everything I have said is presented therein. The overall idea is that Kuṇḍalinī's ascent is simultaneously a sort of emanation and withdrawal. Recall how I said that this is the conscious rise of Kuṇḍalinī, and that Kuṇḍalinī is in fact always active, whether we realize it or not. When Kuṇḍalinī rises through the central channel, She unfolds as Speech, moving from supreme to grossest in the phases of articulation. This is the "articulation" of the entire universe, and it is mirrored in the human form, where the three aforementioned phases are located in the heart, throat and tongue, respectively. Kuṇḍalinī is the sonic body of the Goddess, the embodiment of all the phonemes (remember this for the answer to your second question). There is much that can be said on the topic of Kuṇḍalinī, but for our purposes here this will suffice. Now with the context out of the way, I will simply quote Jayaratha again to explain the culmination of all of this, which is the crux of your question: "In the final phase of propensity towards the introverted state of consciousness, She assumes the form of surpeme pure consciousness alone, at rest within itself as the Supreme Kuṇḍalinī." This is what is meant by "enfolded in the womb of desire." Again, there are layers to all of this which I haven't even touched upon, but I've gone on long enough here. I will answer your other questions in more comments.

I’ve been meaning to ask you, would you recommend one or two specific texts for cognizing the panchadashi mantras, primarily kadi? What about regarding the Lalita and Kali nityas? Many of the texts one finds cited, such as Dakshinamurthy Samhita, are difficult to find translated into English.

Wonderful translation and commentary...This site should be used by many.