Namaste Raman. The Self is one and the same in all. In that respect, no one possesses any inherent competence over anyone else for spiritual practice and knowledge. Maheśvarānanda says in his Mahārthamañjarī: "Regarding the one who is known even to the ignorant and to water-carriers, to whom alone homage is given, the Lord of the energies, who would not consider His existence to be obvious?" This is a more philosophical statement, namely, that the Self is one and the same to all and always present to all. It is the fundamental ground of all that exists and is itself all things. A similar sentiment is found in the Īśvarapratyabhijñākārikā: "What intelligent being could ever deny or establish the cognizer and agent, the Self, Maheśvara, established from the beginning?" The point is that consciousness as such is self-established. Being aware necessitates awareness of awareness; you know that you know. There is always a self-referentiality to awareness, which means that it requires nothing else to make itself known, like a lamp which produces is own light and is thus visible of its own accord. Even awareness of objectivity requires a locus of subjective self-referentiality: "I know this". Experience necessarily requires an experiencer. To attempt to establish or debunk one's own self-awareness is contradictory because the very fact of attempting to know anything establishes said awareness by implication. This is explained in Tantrāloka in a somewhat amusing way: "It happens in this way to everyone whose capricious nature is to deny everything, namely that he experiences that: 'this negation of knowledge, oneself and the object manifests to me.'" Literally everything that exists in any perceivable or conceivable way is predicated on this a-priori knowledge. From this, Maheśvarānanda makes a point which relates to your question: "Some think that the ineffable Self is defined through distinctness; for those who thus turn away from the Self, let there remain in them the error of separating those who are 'privileged' from those who are not." In other words, considering some people to be more worthy than others is only admissible in the logic of dualism (i.e. the Self's "distinctness"). However, for the reason previously established, the unitary Self of all is accessible to all. Indeed, it is everyone's true nature to begin with from which they are never truly divorced. It is taught in the Yoginīhṛdayam: "Since luminosity is the state of things that are luminous and also that of those that are dark, there is therefore a necessary and essential connection between the universe and the highest reality." What is meant by "luminosity" here is knowledge, which has already been explained. It is the source and nature of what is luminous and what is dark, that is, being and non-being; existence and non-existence. What is suggested here is that there is no such thing as total ignorance, a total lack of knowledge. Bondage in the form of ignorance (e.g. "I am finite", "I am separate and what I perceive is division", "I am the doer of meritorious and demeritorious actions") is itself a sort of knowledge, just one that is imperfect and contracted. Were it not so, it would simply be nothing at all. Non-existence is, for this reason, existent. Take a dream, for instance. We say that dreams are unreal in reference to waking life. However, the dream as an object of awareness in and of itself is quite real. Otherwise, we would not even be able to speak of such a thing of which we have no experience whatsoever. This is what the Yoginīhṛdayam means when it says darkness has the state of luminosity. Or, to put it another way, the Śivadṛṣṭi says: "Those perceptions that could be conceived of as erroneous cognitions are found to be capable of manifestation in consciousness. That constitutes reality; and that reality in turn is the Śiva-nature that exists even in these 'erroneous' perceptions... Objection: How can a distinction exist that is based on erroneousness, etc.? Reply: That type of distinction serves mundane activity, and it is not the case, by contrast, that reality is not found in mundane activity." I bring all of this up to point out that the supreme reality is always and everywhere self-established, and for that very reason is in essence always accessible to all. However, not everyone ends up doing so, obviously. Even among those who try, it does not always come about, and it comes about easier for some than others. This is the result of Śiva's grace in varying degrees. In the nondual view, "grace" is not something that a distant deity bestows upon a lowly mortal for some particular reason (i.e. good karma, piety, virtue, etc.) Rather, it is Śiva's act of self-revelation. Even though the Self shines eternally, it is not discerned as such due to His act of veiling His own nature to manifest the aforementioned incomplete, contracted experience of reality. Conversely, reversing this process, He performs grace. Given that He alone is the object of His own activity, there cannot be any special requirement on the part of the "individual" for receiving grace. It is the Lord's Will alone; external factors can have no bearing on the spontaneous, blissful activity of the Lord. After all, He is the ash-smeared ascetic who does not abide by worldly norms. And it is precisely this grace which prompts one to develop a sincere interest in spirituality and to seek out a teacher. Dīkṣā is, understood properly, the dissolution of pauruṣa ajñāna, which is, to put it very simply, the state of contracted awareness at the fundamental, non-conceptual level. It is because of this that mantras and other practices become efficacious for the purpose of dissolving the other type of ignorance that prevents direct intuitive knowledge of that which becomes available through initiation. Otherwise, it would be like learning all there is to know about oranges, yet without actually tasting it you would be none the wiser even after all that effort. And that pauruṣa ajñāna is shared by everyone, regardless of any external factors whatsoever. I will say that there is much, much more detail and nuance about all of this, but I hope that the most basic details I have been able to fit in a small comment will help somewhat.

Perhaps a question you may still have is: "Why am I here?" You won't remember this, but you were already perfect before diving into this creation, an atom of light from the Supramental. You won't remember, but it was you who chose to dive into this problematic Creation of Brahma. Why did you do this in the past? Out of Love and Compassion for this fallen Brahma. You couldn't contain yourself because you were pure compassion and love. You dove into this flawed creation to heal it and save this Brahma who had gone mad. Even instrumental beings like Vishnu, Shiva and other Gods dove into this creation to help. This Brahma has no soul and was mad. His first "clones or attendants" had no soul and detestable beings of the worst kind emerged. You and other atoms of the supreme being had to start "incarnating" into these beings that Brahma created, otherwise the situation would get completely out of control with beings of incalculable evil nature. These soulless beings from the beginning of this creation had to be completely destroyed. Brahma’s creation of our Universe did not have souls like yours in the beginning. Everything that is soulless and out of control in this Universe needs to be destroyed quickly. But things were worse than we imagined before we plunged into this creation. The result? We all went mad from the poison of this creation; even the Gods went mad. They all forgot. Almost everyone forgot the original reason we came to this Universe; even the Gods forgot and started playing with each other. There are other Universes that are not physical (not supramental); but this Physical Universe is Supramental, but incomplete; that is why you are involved in it, as a perfect atom of this God who is pure Light, Grace and Compassion infinite. You have come to heal this Universe; that was the original plan. Perhaps your last question is: why doesn’t this Supramental God do something? He has been doing it for a long time; your soul is an atom and a child of this God and you have come to intervene for that purpose; He also already knows that this Universe will be what Brahma planned from the beginning (Supramental), sooner or later - only the route changes, this destiny does not; all the pain involved is as little as possible so that everything goes as planned in the end. Something that he must do soon is grant the fruit of a long time of Sadhana even to those who do not practice it, on a large scale, when the time is right. This God is different; he does not want anything from you; he just wants you to remember why you came here; the rest he gives everything for free; by pure grace, even if you do not deserve it, he opens all your Chakras and elevates your soul to the heights he wants; he just wants you to remember the reason that made you dive into this creation. The other God called Shiva is called "Adiyogi" because he is a God who dived into this Universe and tried to "help" with the best of his abilities, but he ended up poisoned too and this was reflected in the knowledge he transmitted, where he preaches "running away" from this Universe instead of healing it. These Gods do not do this out of malice; they truly think of helping, but they cannot do so satisfactorily; they do not have great power and influence over the physical and gross matter because this is Supramental and above them, even if it is incomplete. But the fact is that you have never been truly hurt because you, as a perfect atom of the Supreme God, remain untouched since the beginning. It is our instruments that cause us pain; a pain that will unfortunately be part of the process. But it was you who chose to immerse yourself in this Universe; perhaps you do not understand the size of the love and compassion that you truly have as an atom of the Supreme God. You cannot measure the size of your true love and why you were moved to come here to this Universe; when you remember the size of your love, this God will give you everything for free, anything. He does not want anything; he does not need anything and he does not think that you should pay for your sins. You need the right attitude to let him forgive all your sins. Because you are equal to him in power and greatness, he can only intervene if you have the right mentality and feeling. The situation is not so easy to intervene in free will because of the greatness of these atoms or souls that have greatness and power like their Father. The quickest intervention depends on the correct mentality of these souls. After everything I have said, you will feel compassion even for the bad ones because you will see that it is not their fault. The worst pain for a soul, which is the atom of the supreme, is having to attack and destroy brothers in order to continue its journey thinking not only about its own well-being, but about the healing of this Universe. This hurts because this evil person came to heal this Universe too, but he forgot. So we have the situation where brothers who came to heal this Universe attack each other. All the people on this planet are atoms of the supreme; there are atoms of the supreme even in animals.

Respected Krishna Garu, 1)Some people say this form is fictional. They argue that after the Sharabha episode, the Narasimha avatara concludes and that there are no mentions of Ashta Mukha Gandabherunda Narasimha in the main Puranas. Also, since there are no temples dedicated to this form in India, they question its authenticity. Could you kindly clarify whether this form has scriptural basis or significance in any Agamic or Tantric texts? 2)Are there any authentic gurus or lineages that teach the deeper path of Narasimha upāsanā—especially connected to rare and powerful forms like Gandabherunda Narasimha? I have heard this path is very secretive, especially within certain Vaishnava or Tantric paramparas. If you happen to know any such living tradition or Guru, I humbly request your guidance to help me approach them properly. 3)Lastly, could you please share powerful mantras for worshipping Lord Varaha and Bhagawan Parashurama?

Respected Krishna Garu, 1)Some people say this form is fictional. They argue that after the Sharabha episode, the Narasimha avatara concludes and that there are no mentions of Ashta Mukha Gandabherunda Narasimha in the main Puranas. Also, since there are no temples dedicated to this form in India, they question its authenticity. Could you kindly clarify whether this form has scriptural basis or significance in any Agamic or Tantric texts? 2)Are there any authentic gurus or lineages that teach the deeper path of Narasimha upāsanā—especially connected to rare and powerful forms like Gandabherunda Narasimha? I have heard this path is very secretive, especially within certain Vaishnava or Tantric paramparas. If you happen to know any such living tradition or Guru, I humbly request your guidance to help me approach them properly. 3)Lastly, could you please share powerful mantras for worshipping Lord Varaha and Bhagawan Parashurama?

For a long time I have wondered what God looks like in His Supreme and purest form. I looked up and found Him very far away; if you look up, you will see Him extremely far away. I looked down and was surprised at how close He is; if you look down, you will see Him very close. What do I mean? I mean that God in His Supreme and Pure form is something Physical and Material... but He is something more Material and Physical than what you are seeing and touching. If you take a piece of stone in your hand and compare it with God in His pure form, you will see that He is more physical and material than this stone in its form. Out of the 51 Mātṛkas, God in His purest form is the letter "y", but without any vowel; this letter is God becoming Himself; how so? If you look down, you will see Him very close in the form of this letter alone; if you look up, you will see Him very far away in the form of this letter; If you go towards this letter while looking down, you will be transported to the top instantly, without making an upward movement; you will notice that it is a top that grows, it is not static, it is a God that does not stop growing - this is transcendence. But what surprised me is that the top is very, very material and physical; it is more physical than what you see here today. It is as if this Physical Universe was something very close to what exists at the top; it is as if this Physical Universe was very close to being completed, but it was not. This reinforces the idea that this Material Universe was not completed and that the Creator (Brahmā) fell before finishing what he had planned in his mind at the beginning (that is why there is so much pain, confusion and uncertainty in this Universe). I am sure of this because of the name of the Lord Brahmā of our Universe: YHVH. Do you know what these letters mean and what his Mantra is? His Mantra is: " yhōvāḥ । " Surprisingly the first letter of his Mantra is the letter "y", but unaccompanied by a vowel. This letter "y" alone is infinitely higher than the rest of the Mantra. The "hōvāḥ" part of the Mantra is like a grain of sand in the ocean which is "y". Lord Brahmā of our Universe was only able to mirror and create a Physical Universe with the letters "hōvāḥ", but he could not handle this force which is "y" and he went mad and fell. Only this letter was missing for him to finish the creation. This fallen Brahmā did not say from the beginning that his name was "yhōvāḥ" (YHVH), he revealed this only later after his appearance to a human being; he refers to himself by a name that reveals what he and this universe should have been from the beginning, had the creation been fully completed. People think that Kṛṣṇa always existed, but He only came into existence after all the trouble caused by Lord Brahmā in our universe. To understand this situation better, I will have to speak of Sathya Sai Baba (who passed away in 2011). This Sathya Sai Baba was not a charlatan and was actually an Avatar of Kṛṣṇa. People do not understand the essence of Kṛṣṇa very well; he is both Brahmā and Viṣṇu, but with the predominance of the nature of Śiva; this proves that even Vaiṣṇavas do not actually know Kṛṣṇa. Continuing the story, Sathya Sai Baba set the date of his death to be 10 years after 2011 (Avatars can choose the date of death), but Yhōvāḥ (YHVH) wanted to humiliate Kṛṣṇa and weakened his body to make him die prematurely. You will ask me, "How can this Brahmā do this to Kṛṣṇa Himself?" I have already said that the Physical Universe as you know it today is something recent and had never been created before, and that for a Brahmā to create something like this Universe he was certainly trying to mirror the Supramental in the form of a created Universe, but he could not do it and fell down. What I mean is that this Brahmā of our universe tried to deal with forces which are above Kṛṣṇa, and he did so in parts, because gross physicality came into existence, but not in the fullness of the letter "y" which is the Supramental which alone makes everything else seem insignificant. This Brahmā gained great strength before he fell down, but he was still very strong even after he had become very weak due to his evil and diseased nature. You will certainly see that Kṛṣṇa and other Gods do not have much direct strength in the material, physical field because that is something of the Supramental, but it is incomplete. But this Brahmā has killed almost a hundred thousand people at one time with just one attendant or angel. This fallen Brahmā (Yhōvāḥ) has more mastery over matter than Kṛṣṇa, Lalitā, Pratyaṅgirā, GuhyāKālī, all Divine Gurus, all these Gods. The problem of the cycle of birth and death would be easily solved if this fallen Brahmā (Yhōvāḥ) would cooperate and give proper orders, but he only gets in the way. These Gods (Kṛṣṇa, Lalitā, Pratyaṅgirā, etc.) are "invisible hands" influencing physicality to the best of their ability to help, but they are totally dependent on Yhōvāḥ to do anything of extreme material impact; gross physicality is something of the Supramental, something far above these Gods. But the good news is that what Brahmā planned to create before he fell will come to fruition sooner or later in an infallible way; how so? Scientists today say that our Universe is in the process of expansion, that is, it is growing. What is the spiritual explanation for this? Our Universe is moving towards what Brahmā planned from the beginning, but was unable to complete. This happens slowly because of the fall. Brahmā's word cannot be taken back, so even though this Universe is fortunately destined to become what he wanted before he fell. If the Gods could do something faster, they would have done it already. If I were to illustrate how our Universe is today, it would be like a "car without a driver", but since Brahmā left imprinted in the Supramental what he planned before he fell, no one will be able to stop this Universe from becoming what was planned. In this way, I explained why the various Gods of Hinduism cannot help a human being in the way they expect. They cannot, due to the peculiarities of this Universe that I have already explained. So we can conclude that the Supramental or the letter "y" is something physical and gross, but more physical and gross than what you see today and this is more powerful and the origin of what they call spiritual. Thus I explained why the true God is only reachable through a physical body: it is because he is closer to the physical than to the spiritual. The Supramental is physical, but more physical and real than the current state of things. Finally, you may ask me why the letter "y" is not in Vallalar's Mantra on Arut Perum Jothi. It turns out that Brahmā (Yhōvāḥ) is something more objective, while Vallalar goes straight to the "feeling" behind this letter. If you approach the letter "y" objectively, you will go crazy just like Brahmā went crazy. Only through the "feeling" explained by Vallalar is it possible to deal with this letter "y" which is Cit Sabha (Supramental Realm). The letter "h" is Unmani Akasha; the letter "o" Sphutatara Kriya Shakti; the letter "v" is Maya-Pralayakala; the letter "a" is Anuttara-Cit-Amṛta; the letter "ā" is Ānanda who is sovereign over the Panchakrityas Creation, Preservation, Destruction, Involution and Evolution; the letter "ḥ" is Visarga and signifies the expansion and contraction of the Universe. The secret of why death exists lies in this Visgarga "ḥ": the contraction and expansion of the Universe is occurring outside the letter "y", therefore subject to death; if the Universe starts to expand and contract from this letter, it does not die. This is the Mantra "yhōvāḥ", which should not be recited because it refers to Brahmā who no longer remembers his nature, but his Mantra is the objective project of what our Universe will be in the long term. Since only humans can extract the "feeling" of the letter "y", it will be humans who will heal the Gods and the fallen Brahmā in the future. Today they are sick, but they will be healed by this letter "y". But who can replicate the feeling of this letter? The news I know is that only human beings can. But as I said, Brahmā's original plan before he fell will happen anyway because there is no one who can stop it. The physical is of the Supramental, if the Gods could do something they would have done it already. This Universe is a car without a driver, but it will arrive at the right destination anyway; what can change is the route. The Gods can only change the route, but not the destination of this Universe. So I tried to explain as clearly as possible what really happened and is happening.

Namaste Wide Awake. Both Svacchanda Bhairava and Amṛteśa are understood to be the supreme reality in their respective Tantras. The deities are "mental modifications", as Bhāskararāya puts it in his commentary on the Lalitā Sahasranāma. In other words, they embody certain realities and aspects of awakened awareness. So, though they are each complete in their own right, they reveal that reality in their own ways. Kṣemarāja wrote brilliant commentaries on both the Svacchanda and Netra Tantras. At the beginning of his commentary on the former, he says: "Meditating upon the oneness with supreme consciousness, I laud Svacchanda Bhairava, the body of supreme light, underlying substratum of the universe, supreme being and the creator primordial." He understands the name Svacchanda to mean Śiva whose activity is the spontaneous, blissful play of consciousness. He has two primary forms which correspond to two mantras. The first is Bahurūpa, His visualized form connected with His thirty-two syllable mantra. The other is His niṣkala "form" connected with His four-lettered bīja. The four letters, in Kṣemarāja's analysis, relate to the four phases of the Krama, that is, the four phases of cognition: udyoga, ābhāsa, carvaṇa, and alaṁgrāsa. Amṛteśa and the state of awareness He and His mantra embody (since the mantra and deity being one and the same) is described lucidly in the eighth chapter of the Netra Tantra: "'I am not, nor is there any other' - he that state beyond manifestation. This state is called the supreme state of Śiva, the highest Self. 'I am not, nor is there any other' - in that state no object of meditation is to be found. Immersed in a state of bliss, the mind attains the flavour of unity. One should not direct one's meditation towards something above, nor below, nor in the middle, netiher before nor behind, nor on either side. One should not contemplate any place within or outside the body. One should not fix one's attention towards the sky, nor should one direct one's gaze downwards. One should neither meditate with closed eyes, nor by fixing one's eyes open without blinking. One should neither meditate on a support nor without a support, nor with the help of any support. One should focus neither on the senses, nor on the elements, nor on sensual perceptions. Abandoning everything, established in samādhi, one should only abide as one with That. This is called the supreme state of the highest Self. Verily, attaining the state beyond manifestation one turns away from saṁsāra. In this way one should meditate on the Self through a powerful devotional contemplation of the Self. Such a yogī becomes the supreme, peaceful Śiva, of utmost purity. That is the One Reality everywhere: Mṛtyujit, Śiva. That is the supreme Amṛteśa, the third (i.e. beyond subtle and gross), highest state." Notice how the deity, the instructions for practice, and the result of practice are all equated and sort of meshed into one description of a direct experience of the supreme reality. You see the same thing throughout the scriptures regarding descriptions of deities and their practices. I think this is the key to understanding them. Also, like Svacchanda, Amṛteśa as Netranātha - the Lord of the Eye - is understood by Kṣemarāja to represent the Krama. The Eye is understood as having four parts, the aforementioned four phases of cognition. These are four cakras that metaphorically form an eye: 1) an outermost, unseen red wheel of twelve spokes; 2) the white of the eye, a wheel of sixteen spokes; 3) the iris, a gray wheel of eight spokes; 4) the pupil, a black wheel of four spokes. All that being said, the scriptures speak of things which are subtler and much more fundamental than any physical reality. While I think it is certainly interesting and insightful to discuss certain topics through the lens of the context of spiritual teachings, the specific aim of the scriptures is very clearly defined. In recent times a lot of people seem to have the habit of superimposing the findings of scientific inquiry onto spirituality and vice versa in a pretty haphazard way. Again, while I think such interdisciplinary conversation can be very insightful, it should be done with integrity and honesty.

Thank you, Dylan! I was curious to know if ladies are exempt from the initiation process. I distinctly recall a lady asking Tivra whether she might chant the Kaamkala Kali mantra without undergoing initiation, and Tivra affirmed that she could. This naturally led me to ponder whether all ladies are permitted to chant any mantra without prior initiation. Your insights on this would be greatly appreciated.

It is indeed my pleasure. Allow me to elaborate further on this matter. Within the Devi Rahasyam section of the Rudrayamala Tantra, there exists a verse wherein Lord Shiva imparts wisdom to Devi Parvati, stating that in the absence of an available Guru, the scripture itself may serve as the preceptor for one's spiritual practice. In light of this verse, the scholar to whom I previously referred advised me that the Devi Atharva Sheersham can effectively function as a Guru for the purpose of chanting the Panchadashi mantra. This is particularly pertinent as the Devi Atharva Sheersham contains a specific verse that reveals the Panchadashi mantra: कामो योनिः कमला वज्रपाणिर्गुहा हसा मातरिश्वाभ्रमिन्द्रः। पुनर्गुहा सकला मायया च पुरूच्यैषा विश्वमातादिविद्योम्। Hence, the learned scholar recommended that I recite the Devi Atharva Sheersham 108 times in a single session, and subsequently, during all four sandhyas daily. This practice, in effect, bestows upon the practitioner the requisite authorization to chant the Panchadashi mantra, thereby establishing the Devi Atharva Sheersham as one's Guru. However, in consideration of Dylan's recent comment, it seems the most auspicious path to embark upon this spiritual journey would undeniably be to seek a living Guru capable of initiating one into this mantra. Finally, I must say this again, I possess no claim to expertise in this domain. My understanding is purely based on insights I've gathered from various sources, which I've shared with you.

Thank you for sharing such valuable information Raman Ji. I had no idea there was a method in the Devi Atharvashirsham to self initiate into the panchadasi mantra. Could you please share more about this and where specifically it is written that doing so gives one permission? If this was shared to you personally by a scholar and you don’t have the exact citation I completely understand, but was just interested to read more about the Uddhara Shloka and how it grants one adhikara.

Namaste Raman. Initiation is most certainly essential. The word dīkṣā is traditionally understood as that which bestows (dāna) self-realisation and destroys (kṣapaṇa) bondage. As such, it is much more than a mere ceremony. It is in essence an inner transformation. This is imperative, and the scriptures make this very clear. It is said in the Kāmika Tantra concerning the initiating teacher: "One who does not know the teachings in this way is not a teacher, even if he has been consecrated by passing through all the levels of initiation..." The Siddhayogeśvarīmata Tantra likewise says: "The teacher who does not know the sixfold interconnection of the Path, present both internally and externally, cannot liberate others." And in the Kacabhārgava: "It is said that knowledge of the scriptures is the primary and most fundamental prerequisite of a true teacher, He who possesses this knowledge is considered to be a teacher and is preferred to others who do not, even if he is devoid of all the other characteristics of a teacher." Note that in the Kacabhārgava, knowledge of the scriptures is the most fundamental quality of a true teacher, although this has a double meaning. The obvious meaning is clear, but the purport of the scriptures is of course the direct realisation of the supreme reality. This is explained in more detail in the Siddhayogeśvarīmata. The very first chapter of this scripture begins with the Goddess asking Bhairava why the many practices and mantras taught in the scriptures are so often ineffective, and how they can become efficacious. Bhairava answers that they are protected, their true potency and salvific power is hidden. Even if one recites a mantra one billion times, it will amount to nothing. He then explains that the solution to this is what in that scripture is called Rudraśakti, that is, the salvific power of awakened consciousness. The source of such power, He says, is the teacher. By extension: "if someone initiated by the rite of Śiva wishes success, he should know how to be possessed by the Power of Rudra..." This power of awakened awareness is the vitality of consciousness which enlivens consciousness and gives mantras, and indeed all spiritual practices, their salvific power. Without it, mantras are simply sounds, mudrās are simply contortions of bone and flesh, etc. The power of a mantra is not to be sought in the audible sounds by themselves. The outer form of the mantra is like a channel through which one taps into this vitality, a reflection of the energies experienced inwardly as non-discursive awareness. True adhikāra is the destruction of spiritual ignorance and the arising of spiritual knowledge, that which gives mantras their salvific power. Even if it does not become directly apparent right away, the possibility for it to blossom becomes real and true. So, the scripture also says concerning initiation: "In this system, one is not initiated merely by the established practice with tools and measurements of the tools and the rest..." The teacher and the disciple are not essentially different. Both are the Self; Paramaśiva. It is only from the transactional, human perspective that one and the same Self appears as both the enlightened teacher and the student who receives it from them. It is because of this that the teacher's knowledge is able to become the disciple's knowledge. Initiation is knowledge. Conversely, the Yoginīhṛdayam explains the consequences of practicing without this adhikāra: "Those who, deprived of the tradition, are infatuated with their own science, since they transgress the rule, the rays of consciousness destroy them." This verse has multiple layers of meaning, but for the sake of this exposition I will simply point out that the "rays of consciousness" are in fact the deities of the maṇḍala (in this case the Śrīcakra, but the same idea applies to other systems), and they cause disequilibrium in the bodies, minds, and lives of those who disregard the aforementioned process. With this in mind, we can understand the warning of the Spandakārikā: "He who is deprived of his power by the forces of obscuration, and a victim of the powers arising from the mass of sounds is called the fettered soul. Operating in the field of the subtle elements, the arising of mental representation marks the disappearance of the flavour of the supreme nectar of immortality; due to this man forfeits his freedom. Moreover, his powers of speech are always ready to obscure his nature, as no mental representation can arise unpenetrated by speech."