Tīvra was indeed right. Despite the clear warning, I persisted in chanting, which led to significant losses. I offer my public apology to Devi and Tīvra for chanting the Kadi Vidya without proper initiation. Moving forward, I will only use mantras that are openly accessible and don't require initiation.

Namaste Wide Awake. Kālasaṁkarṣiṇī is the thirteenth Kālikā, the Center of the Anākhyacakra. The Anākhyacakra of the Twelve Kālīs is the Sun of Kula. The Ciñcinīmatasārasamuccaya says: "The light of consciousness, the supreme secret, is the risen Sun of Kula. It has twelve rays and, endowed with beautiful radiant energy, it shines like many suns. It is the life of the living being, and it illumines the living being which is of that same nature. In this same way, it causes the fettered soul and its power to be pierced with its energy." The Twelve are the rays of the Sun in the Center, which is Bhāsacakra. Thus, the Anākhyacakra and Bhāsacakra are not especially different. The wheel of the twelve suns is the expansion of the Center. Kālasaṁkarṣiṇī is in other sources known as the seventeenth or the sixty-fifth. The seventeenth is the seventeenth kalā of the Moon, the New Moon. It is the Light of the light of the Moon, that is, the inner energy which sustains all the other kalās. It is an ancient Vedic conception: the Moon fills up with Soma during the bright fortnight and it flows out into the world during the dark fortnight. The inner energy of the Moon, the seventeenth kalā, is the unchanging energy of consciousness which perpetually sustains this activity. In the Tantras, the nectar of the Moon is the totality of all that exists. The "content" of awareness, indicated by the sixteen vowels in Sanskrit, arises within pure consciousness, like the bright fortnight. When it becomes the Full Moon, full to bursting, it is visarga, which is both the cause of and is itself the emission of all things so as to be consumed by the fire of consciousness (note that "emission" does not mean a separation; it still ultimately takes place within the Absolute itself). Kālasaṁkarṣiṇī's Kaula vidyā is seventeen syllables. Moreover, the Kramasadbhāva says: "Ascending to the kalā at the end of visarga, She is Kālī, the seventeenth kalā, the activity at the end of everything, existing as the center of the resonance of the sixteen vowels." Now the sixty-four are the energies of the Vṛndacakra: the sixty-four Siddhas and Yoginīs. Following the established pattern, Kālasaṁkarṣiṇī is the sixty-fifth, their center. She is the all-consuming Void of consciousness, so of course pralaya is integral to this system. The metaphysics of the Krama is based on withdrawal. But the name Kālī itself is understood in five different ways according to hermeneutical etymologies, each of which reveals an aspect of Kālī's nature. The name 'Kālī' in this sense is understood to mean kalana. 'operates'. So, She is understood in terms of Her five operations: kṣepa, gati, jñāna, saṁkhyāna, and śabda. 1) Kṣepa ('casting forth') is the emission of the world from Her own being (note that one of Kālī's names in the Krama system is Vāmeśvarī; She who vomits). 2) Jñāna means that what is emitted nevertheless remains undifferentiated from its source. 3) Saṁkhyāna ('enumeration') means that She has the power to manifest duality in the form of thought constructs. 4) Gati ('movement') is the appearance of all things within consciousness like reflections in a mirror. And 5) Śabda is the inner resonance of self-awareness which dissolves all duality and latent impressions. Besides being descriptions of Her operations, these are also descriptions of the phases of cognition which are the inner modes of the cosmic cycles. This in part answers your question about the Śivadṛṣṭi. The introductory verse reads: "May Śiva, who has penetrated my form by warding Himself off by means of His own Self, pay homage to His all-extensive Self by means of His own power." Here we see that it is Śiva's activity alone which both conceals and reveals His essential nature. His power of concealment serves to manifest the experience of limited awareness. Because of this, even though the light of consciousness in reality always shines unobstructed (were it not so, not even ignorance would be manifested), it is not discerned as such. And He places this limitation on Himself, since there is no other to whom He could do so. Conversely, He also reveals His essential nature in the form of recognition: "I am Śiva." Again, there is no other to whom He could do so. This is a profound teaching, the implications of which I encourage you to contemplate.

Namaste dylan ! Does the anakhya cakra correspond to sri kaal sankarshani ? And acc to sri swachanda bhairav tantram , swachanda bhairava orders kali to cause pralaya so that the jivatma can become absolutely shunya and becomes one with shiva .Hence , on order of swachanda, she causes pralaya ! Also acc to shiva drishti ,“One bows to universal Shiva who is one’s own nature, through the avenue of Shakti (his energy), for the removal of obstacles, which in reality are none other than Shiva.” Is this conception correct ? Dylan , Can u give please give your email id as for query related purposes?

Namaste Wide Awake. The Krama system generally follows a pentadic pattern, of which the five cakras are the most essential. These are configurations of energies which embody various aspects of the dynamism of awareness. The first of these is the Prakāśacakra, which embodies pramāṇa. The expansion of consciousness is twofold: action and knowledge. Action gives rise to the five organs of action: upastha, pāyu, pāda, pāṇi, and vāk. Knowledge gives rise to the five organs of sense: ghrāṇa, jihvā, cakṣus, tvak, and śrota. To these ten are added buddhi and manas, making twelve total. Through these, consciousness manifests perception. Then comes the Ānandacakra, to which five more energies are added, those of prameya. In this cakra buddhi and manas are taken together, so we have eleven, to which are added the five tanmātras: gandha, rasa, rūpa, sparśa and śabda. So, the Ānandacakra has sixteen parts. Then follows pramātā, the Mūrticakra. To the sixteen energies is added one more: ahaṁkāra, making seventeen. Ahaṁkāra is here understood to be the locus of the activity of consciousness as pramāṇa and prameya, a kind of turning in towards one's subjectivity in which the senses and their objects come to rest. What follows are several more cakras: Vṛnda, Sṛṣṭi, Sthiti, and Saṁhāra. But I will simply go to the penultimate cakra: Anākhya. Its energies are the Twelve Kālīs. They are twelve because the cognitive triad - prameya, pramāṇa, pramātā - is unified, and each one undergoes four phases: sṛṣṭi, sthiti, saṁhāra, anākhya. It is called anākhya - inexplicable - because it is beyond definition insofar as it does not relate to any specific activity (e.g. manifestation, persistence, etc.). It is the "processless process" of transcendental consciousness. The Trivandrum Mahānayaprakāśa introduces its chapter on the Anākhyacakra thus: "It is seemingly strewn with the cycles of the procession of creation, persistence and withdrawal, but even so, it never falls, even slightly, from its own plane, which is the attainment of rest. Having entered into that transcendental exertion which is the energy of that processless process, it is the transmission of realisation which is the cycle of the Inexplicable, perceived by the appropriate process of contemplation." It continues: "Creation, persistence and withdrawal are processes; although the Inexplicable is not a process, in relation to them, it is itself the nature of the Krama." Succession or process is based on relative distinctions. But in the unitary reality of pure consciousness, no such distinctions exist, and by extension no succession. However, the text goes into a fascinating exposition about this. I will not quote it, since it is too long, so I will summarize. It is explained that everyone is attached to sex, wine and meat, which here indicate the cognitive triad: sex = prameya; wine = pramāṇa; meat = pramātā (notice also how these are the 'ma-kāras' used in Kaula rituals). That is to say, even though the reality of Anākhya is essentially beyond sequence, sequentiality is nevertheless a tangible reality we all experience (or, more accurately, is the very nature of our experience). For this reason, it is said that the teacher should not encourage one to simply disregard these, as in more transcendentalist philosophies based in a view of the world as in some manner less substantial than another, higher reality. In the Krama it is understood that ultimately there is no "higher" or "lower", no "supreme" reality. To try to simply disregard the reality of the previously described sequentiality would be like trying to get an old cow to stop grazing in the fields. So, the practice of the 'ma-kāras' is taught so that the fullness of Anākhya as the "processless process" of consciousness can be attained. In this particular text, however, this is not merely a matter of literally taking up those things (although, assuming it aids in the development of spiritual knowledge, they can be, and often are, used that way in Krama worship). Rather, these terms are superimposed on an esoteric understanding of the dynamism of awareness in the form of the Twelve Kālīs. The anonymous author goes into a line of philosophical reasoning. If consciousness is unitary (that is, with no perceptible divisions in any way whatsoever), that cannot account for the very tangible perception of succession. If succession were simply a conception, and thus have no reality, that too would not account for it. If succession simply existed as such, then they could not dissolve into unitary pure consciousness. At the same time, succession does exist, but that could only be because it is the effulgence of unitary consciousness. In this way, the viability of all that has been said is justified through reason.

Namaskaram Dylan ! Fascinating knowledge. Could you throw some light on kali krama in kashmiri shaivism .

Would someone chime in about v pronunciation? Upon further thought, I would change to say that pronunciation of a proper Sanskrit v may be more similar to English v than English w. Just a slightly softened v. It can be confusing seeing how that sound carried through to other languages softens into a w or even to a sound that sound like an ō with a tiny whisp of the mouth shape of w at the beginning, like in SE Asian languages. But (fuzzily) thinking about Sanskrit visualized pronunciation chart and Sanskrit words that begin with v, like the vam bija, it seems the original Sanskrit v is more like an English v than an English w. If someone would correct and update me on this, would be appreciated. Speaking of correct pronunciations, is it correct to say there is no h sound at all in ś, but truly it’s an accented s, almost like a hiss into the next letter? Also, for om, I used home to clarify the vowel sound, not to say there’s an h component. Sorry I wrote these confusingly, was on exercise bike while responding earlier.

(Major disclaimer: I am very novice with this stuff. Please seek other consultation and if so inclined, do your own reading and seeking and keep notes to compare and contrast what you come across. Somewhat like Dylan or Krishna or Omid may presently be here, and surely they will give much better guidance and explanations) Namaste Claire Yes, I did the full 18,000. However my concentration was quite messy, so I ended up exceeding 100,000 to feel confident I got to 18,000 mentally focused and clear pronouncements. I only partially completed the purascharana. The end result had a potentially striking effect on my life, it took maybe 4 months. Everything changed mostly for the better, but I still had lot of turbulence and shake ups and discomforts, they just happened to propel me forward. I also have kaal sarp, and when I began my Rahu was in, iirc, a less than optimal setting, and since then it has moved to two progressively better positions. The benefits from each of these shifts was fairly similar to the impact of the mantra japa which was completed during a malefic time. So I would say, under my structure of beliefs and level of skepticism, which is moderately high and led me to be an agnostic with a presumption of atheism for most of my life, this mantra process at least coincided with many statistically unlikely outcomes and events that look very serendipitous in hindsight. I am just coming off of some weeks of research and consultation with astrologers, Vedic and western, going through various chart systems and reviewing various nadi readings and making something like a self profile. Through this process, it has become clearer that Rahu coincides and links with Mars and Kethu on my Sahasrāra cakra. This may be quite significant to the outcomes of performing japa of this mantra. In hindsight, it is hard to decide if I would have done this mantra at all. Like many of the Navagraha mantras, they seem to bring faster effects. We might guess why, I’m personally lacking understanding to do so. However, for me the effects were chaotic and sometimes quite like an ice bath that eventually leads to greater clarity and vitality and healing, but at first is genuinely daunting. It seems to come down to the birth chart, and more fundamentally, to karmas, destiny potentials, and something like a soul contract. Regarding pronunciations, I will try. Honestly in just a minute, I’ll be reading the guidance of auspiciously brilliant Dylan, to hopefully find clarity regarding ending the bija syllables, but I digress. The straight forward closed-lipped hummed “m” ending is fine per Śrī Ravi Guruji. To the Rahu mantra, a useful rule: vowels with a bar (ā, ī, au) should be held for about two blinks of an eye. The nasal dot (ṁ or ̐) indicates a soft hum through the nose, like the tail-end of “song.” This nasalization isn’t forced, but should be allowed to resonate naturally through the nose or sinuses. It’s often recommended to only chant aloud until you’ve fully learned the pronunciation, and then gradually switch to mental recitation, where the real subtle effects seem to begin. The mantra begins with om̐, pronounced like “home,” but drawn out and ending in a hum. It sets the tone and should vibrate through the upper head. Next is sām̐, with ā as in “father” or “calm, said to be held for about two blinks of an eye/“matras”, and ending in that nasal hum: “saaam.” Then comes sīm̐, with ī like “machine” or “seen,” again long and nasalized: “seeeem.” The following saum̐ contains the diphthong au, as in “sound” or “out,” pronounced “sowm” with a nasal finish. Sam̐ is shorter, the short a often described as just one blink in length afaik, like the word “some,” but ending in a hum. It’s more grounded, and marks a return to centeredness. Then comes rāhave, pronounced “rah-ha-vay.” The rā is long like “bra” or “spa,” and the rest flows naturally. The “v” here is often soft, almost like a “w.” Finally, svāhā, pronounced “swā-hā,” with both ā vowels long as in “father.” The ending can have a slight breathiness, or at least it feels a bit like that to me, almost like an exhalation of offering (but not a breathy h sound, which is its own letter, the visarga, I fear I am unnecessarily muddling now though)

The path does end in the sense that liberation is the point of no return. Once you have crossed the threshold of whatever impulses of duality remain, you are finished. Anantaśaktipāda says in his commentary on the Vātūlanāthasūtras: "The stable abiding of this continuous consciousness is its condition as perfectly devoid of reversal. As it is permanent, there is no discontinuity due to the repeated unfolding of consciousness with thought constructs, nor is entry into it attained by that nature of consciousness which is devoid of thought constructs." In other words, in the liberated state one is not subject to falling back into dualistic thought, nor does it involve attaining anything. Abhinavagupta says in his Paramārthasāra: "Neither has liberation any abode, nor does it involve a going elsewhere. Liberation is the manifestation of one's own energies realized by cutting the knot of ignorance." Moreover, even in the midst of daily life one is incapable of falling. The Īśvarapratyabhijñākārikā says: "He who, having all as his essence, thus knows: 'All this multiform deployment is mine', he, even in the flow of mental constructs, attains the state of Maheśa." However, it is more complex than just that. The nature of the supreme reality is dynamic awareness. Its vibrating radiance manifests as everything in every moment. Even a liberated being continues to burn off the karmas that have already begun to bear fruit in (or as) this life, even though their sense of being a finite doer of action has ceased and so they are no longer bound by karma and thus are not reborn. It is comparable to a potter's wheel which, once put into motion, continues to spin for a while before stopping. It is said in the Śivasūtra: "The link with the vital breath is natural." The vital breath is a gross manifestation of the Unstruck Sound of consciousness, the aforementioned vibrating resonance. This being the case, the liberated soul remains perfectly reposed in the Bliss of Stillness. The "Unstruck" part indicates a resonance which, paradoxically, has no origin and no conclusion, no source and no form. This is nothing but Speech, which in its essential nature is the self-revelation of consciousness itself. This self-revelation takes the form of the world and all things. Even if the object of awareness is seemingly differentiated, it is ultimately nothing but this. This is Āgama, sacred revelation, which is reflected in the scriptures (which are condensed forms of this awareness) in their style: a dialogue between two people, usually Śiva and Devī. This being the case, though one is firmly established in the liberated state, he is continually surging with consciousness and bliss. It is like flying in an infinite sky where direction is meaningless, and yet somehow always flying higher and higher. So Abhinavagupta says in his Tantrāloka: "The state of emission is the projection of one's own nature from one's own nature into one's own nature." It is also said in the Kramasadbhāva: "Kālī does not eat anything, but She devours everything." The liberated soul's conduct is nirācāra, no conduct. It is said in the Brahmayāmala Tantra: "If the one who recites mantra is Still and abides within the body of an avadhūta, he then performs the yogic rite of adoration of Śiva. Avadhūtā is that energy he possesses and the one who is Still is Śiva." Note that nirācāra can also be taken to mean "without social convention", that is, this activity of the liberated being, which is nothing other than the vibrant radiance of consciousness, is beyond worldly norms and conceptualizations. What is meant by Avadhūtā here is Kuṇḍalinī, the energy of consciousness which has "shaken off" the impurity of duality. The sense of all of this is taught in the Śivasūtra: vismayo yogabhūmikāḥ: "The planes of union are wonder." This is the nature of Aśvarūḍhā in Śrīvidyā. Now concerning the endings of bījas. The anusvāra at the end is not actually just one part of the bīja, but encompasses several: bindu, ardhacandra, nirodhinī, nāda, nādānta, śakti, vyāpinī, samanā, unmanā. These are extremely subtle, inaudible resonances which are various levels of consciousness. In sṛṣṭikrama, they are the development of the world as resonance out of pure consciousness. In saṁhārakrama, that of mantroccāra, they lead back to that supreme state. The anusvāra at the end of a bīja is uttered at the palate where the Egg of Māyā/Rudra is understood to be in the subtle body. If you recite the anusvāra not as "mmm", but as "ng" (as in "sing"), your tongue will vibrate on the roof of your mouth. This pierces through the knot of Māyā and the subtle resonances follow, ascending up to twelve finger spaces above the top of your head. The central channel is likened to a lamp's wick, the resonance of consciousness being the flame which ascends on it. The subtle resonances between the brahmarandra and dvādaśānta are like a plume of smoke, at the end of which the energy of consciousness burns without smoke in its supreme state. The anusvāra at the end of bījas is thus also likened to the tip of the flame.

Did you ever stick with this Rahu mantra for 18,000 recitations? I have Kaal Sarpa yoga and would like to attempt this sadhana. Any hints on pronunciation ?

Namaste Nesh. The Sun of Consciousness in the Kālīkrama is the wheel of the twelve Kālīs who embody the dynamism of awareness. This wheel of energies performs the joyous dance and is itself that dance. The Jayadrathayāmala Tantra says: "The Sun of the Twelve Kālīs that is the illumining Light in the world has emerged from the middle of the Sun in the center. Within the Sun of the Twelve Kālīs is the Sun that illumines all the universe. The universe is filled with the network of of the rays of energy that emanate from Her, She who is Bhānavī Kaulinī." The triad of cognitive awareness consists of prameya, pramāṇa and pramātṛ. Each of these undergo the four cosmic cycles: sṛṣṭi, sthiti, saṁhāra and anākhya. So, taken together, the three and the four are the twelve Kālīs. This is technically called Anākhyacakra, in which the triad is subsumed in the Fourth state. This twelve rayed Sun emanates from its center, the Sun of the Sun, which is the unitary ground of the twelve. This is Bhāsa, the highest reality of the Kālīkrama and the object of worship at the conclusion of this system's pūjā (which, at the most elevated level, is not an external ritual but rather is absorption into the dynamism of consciousness). Concerning Bhāsa, Maheśvarānanda says: "The ignorant imagine a division by saying that Light is the fifth function of the whole. In reality, Light is the stem connecting the other functions and they are its leaves." The wheel of the twelve Kālīs is the expansion of consciousness, its resonance, which is the forceful attainment of its own nature. The same source of the original verse also says: "The Kālīkrama arises as Kuṇḍalinī, pulsing with energy by the delight of the consciousness of its savour. It merges into the supreme plane with the sound of a flying bee." Leading into your second question, the dance of the energies of consciousness is inherently uninhibited. However, it appears to be so due to ignorance. Kṣemarāja says in his Pratyabhijñāhṛdayam: "When one lacks realization of this, one exists in the state of a saṁsārin: that of being deluded by one's own powers." He then defines this state more concretely: "This state of delusion is one of being nailed down and thus paralyzed by the 'spikes' of various anxieties, doubts, and inhibitions, both worldly and religious. It is this which constitutes the state of being a saṁsārin." To explain by way of aesthetics again, it is understood that there are several factors which inhibit the viewer's sensitivity and thus capacity to cultivate rasa. Notably, if there is too personal an identification of the scene with one's everyday experience and if one is too caught up in their personal sentiments, they will not be as sensitive to aesthetic wonder. Sound familiar? Rasa is particularly understood as a different sort of experience, one that transcends everyday, common experience. It is a very potent engagement which is, ironically, brought about by this sort of detachment. Abhinavagupta says: "Once one has overcome distraction, the pleasure one enjoys through the sentiments of love, etc., expressed in poetry or drama, for example, differs from the pleasure derived from sense objects. This is because one gains access to it by the removal of of such obstacles as the anticipation of possible personal gain." What he is suggesting here is that rasa is not simply enjoyment of sense objects as such or simply an emotional state. As I said, rasa is not ordinary experience. The source of aesthetic rapture is oneself. More specifically, it is repose in oneself freed from, as Kṣemarāja says, anxieties, doubts, and inhibitions. One becomes satisfied in repose in the Self, and thus grasping and rejecting fall away. The scriptures take it further than just enjoyment of drama, though. The universe itself becomes a grand drama through which one experiences the wonder of the Self. It is not the specific contents of worldly experiences that thus become beautiful; it is You. And Your body is the Śrīcakra, the totality of all things. Nothing is excluded. Everything is of one flavor (though this does not mean that everything is "the same"; the universe is a garden, not an empty room). The energies of consciousness thus become uninhibited, flying freely in the sky of consciousness. Intoxicated with the bliss of the Self, they dance and sing, so to speak. This is a very general and short explanation, and the truth is there is much, much more that could be said about this. But to give a starting point for further study and practice more appropriate for Śrīvidyā, I will say that Vārāhī and Śyāmalā embody this secret in their own ways. You could say that they embody the aforementioned dancing and singing, respectively. They are at the left and right sides of Lalitā, the Playful One.