Thank you dylan! You are too kind.

Namaste Wide Awake. Tārā means 'the Saviouress', since She saves from saṁsāra. How does She do this? This is implied in the traditional order of the Mahāvidyās. Being the second, after Kālī, Tārā's visualized appearance is very similar to the former, but differs in certain key aspects. For one, Kālī is naked, while Tārā wears a tiger skin. Moreover, Kālī is black while Tārā has a bluish color. Both of these indicate that Tārā is "grosser" than Kālī, and that would be because Tārā, like all the great Goddesses, is identified with Vāc. However, She is particularly associated with paśyantī level. In this respect, Mahāvidyā Kālī is parāvāc. Parāvāc is the essential nature of the ultimate reality, the reflective awareness which it has of itself. It is the a priori knowledge which underlies all others as their essential nature. It is devoid of śabda and artha insofar as these are unmanifested in it. It is an awareness which is entirely self-referential. But when it manifests all things within itself, it does so initially by positing an apparent divide within this referentiality. However, the manifestation of śabda and artha is initially self-contained in the sense that, though they are manifest now, they are not divided from each other. It is a non-discursive awareness, which is comparable in a way to seeing something briefly in the corner of your eye. It is an initial sketch of the manifestation, as it were. This occurs in the initial arising of every cognition, though most people are not aware of it because their awareness becomes immediately established in the second phase, that of discursive representation. However, one could become attentive to this initial arising, because of which it is made to pervade the grosser stages as well as the recognition that nothing is separate from consciousness. This requires a very subtle awareness, so much so that you, the individual personality, cannot actually accomplish it through your will. If you are thinking about it, then you have already lost it. So, how does paśyantī become the Saviouress? Kṣemarāja explains in his commentary on the Stavacintāmaṇi of Bhaṭṭa Nārāyaṇa: "Having brought the paśyantī level into prominence, which is preceded by the pacification of thought constructs, it manifests the state of Anāśrita, which ascends to the level of paśyantī as the object of knowledge." In other words, when paśyantī dominates one's awareness, the entirety of objective reality up to the highest level is recognized as being nothing other than consciousness on account of the dissolution of discursive thought. One's awareness becomes transparent as it were to parāvāc in accordance with the principle that: "First there is the earth, then the vegetation, then the tree and the branch, there the leaf, there again the flower, then the fruit with sweet taste. Thus, although coming from the One, one sees a path extending." The worship of Tārā, as with any other deity, is meant to purify thought so as to produce this transparency. Everything I've said up till now is suggested by Tārā's signature bīja, the Vadhu, which means a young woman, a wife, etc. Going back to the Stavacintāmaṇi, Kṣemarāja also says: "Paśyantī can be compared to a beautiful young woman who takes away the heart of her beloved by her sweet voice which pleases him, and who is watched with love on account of mutual attraction." Remember that 'bīja' (seed) refers to both the 'source of' and the 'fructification of' whatever is indicated by it. The means and the end are one and the same. Ugratārā in particular emphasizes the resonance of consciousness which emerges spontaneously and with tremendous intensity (this is the sense of 'ugra' here). Though this technically happens in every moment regardless of a person's level of awareness, it can be discerned clearly during, for instance, the peak of an intense emotional arousal or when enraptured by aesthetic sentiment. I might elucidate these more another time. Ekajaṭā means 'She who has a single knot of hair', and refers to the fact that, though the resonance of consciousness pulsates as the kaleidoscopic vision of the totality of all things, it is nevertheless ultimately self-referential and unitary in its essential nature. Nīlasarasvatī particularly emphasizes the concept of Vāc, the Unstruck Sound of consciousness which manifests as everything, which is essentially the very nature of that pure consciousness as self-expression and aesthetic wonder. The subject-object relation we all experience does not exist in a vacuum. It is inherently self-referential, since an experience necessarily cannot occur without an experiencer. That is the very nature of consciousness itself: a self-knowing knowledge.

Namaste Dylan ! Could you throw some light on ma Tara and her forms i.e ekjata , ugratara and nilasaraswati ;their philosophical relevance and their bhairav?

Hello, What's the difference between these two mantras are they both shodashi 1, ka e I la him Ha sa ka ha la hreem Sa ka la hreem shreem And 2, om śrīṁ hrīṁ klīṁ aiṁ sauḥ om hrīṁ śrīṁ ka e ī la hrīṁ ha sa ka ha la hrīṁ sa ka la hrīṁ sauḥ aiṁ klīṁ hrīṁ śrīṁ Are they both shodashi mantra or different

Thank you much for shedding light. Appreciate your input and time.

Planetary karmas are ordinarily accumulated over thousands of lifetimes and shape the effect that planetary influence has over you. But with planetary mantras, one is able to significantly alter the relationship and influence with a planet. Many different bijas, and names of a planet, can be used for this. As per my understanding: The default planetary mantras (Om hram hrim hrum sah suryaya namah, om shram shrim shrum sah somaya namah, ect.) dissolve planetary karma to bring them back to their basic state. This is good for dissolving affliction and bringing much peace. And when working upon a clean slate it may be easier to reach one's goals. Also the simple practice of mantra japa does grant one familiarity with the planets and subtly increases one's capability for understanding one's planets. From what I know, the planetary mantras which contain different bijas and call planets by other names, are capable of bringing planets not only into exaltation, but to shift their influences in extremely powerful ways. These can benefit a person quite immensely in this life, but the real effect will be seen in the next life, when they are born with extraordinary physical traits, luck from birth, open doors, etc. They may even be born into extraordinary circumstances. These are mostly kept secret, for their power and also the potential of accidentally negatively altering one's planetary karmas (irreversibly).

If my Athma Bija is श्रीं given by my Guru. Would I be doing the corresponding Graha Japa as below? ॐ श्रीं ह्रां ह्रीं ह्रौं सः सूर्याय नमः ॐ श्रीं श्रां श्रीं श्रौं सः चन्द्राय नमः ॐ श्रीं क्रां क्रीं क्रौं सः भौमाय नमः ॐ श्रीं ब्रां ब्रीं ब्रौं सः बुधाय नमः ॐ श्रीं ग्रां ग्रीं ग्रौं सः गुरवे नमः ॐ श्रीं द्रां द्रीं द्रौं सः शुक्राय नमः ॐ श्रीं प्रां प्रीं प्रौं सः शनैश्चराय नमः ॐ श्रीं भ्रां भ्रीं भ्रौं सः राहवे नमः ॐ श्रीं स्रां स्रीं स्रौं सः केतवे नमः Seeking clarification for this statement - Each planet has its own bija and if these bijas are recited along with atma bija and certain other bijas depending upon other afflictions in a horoscope, the ill effects can be gotten over effectively. If my Dasha Lord is Budha and afflicted grahas are Surya, Mangala and Shani would I be then doing - ॐ श्रीं ह्रां क्रां प्रां ब्रां सः बुधाय नमः (Om Shrim hraam kraam praam braam sah budhaaya namah)

Practice narsimha swamy mantras. ,start with this. (1008 times) ॐ उग्रं वीरं महाविष्णुं ज्वलन्तं सर्वतोमुखम्। नृसिंहं भीषणं भद्रं मृत्यु मृत्युं नमाम्यहम्॥

Kāmarāja’s reach appears wildly greater than I’d ever imagined. Does this brilliant passage imply that some mahavidyas, the āshta Matrikas and ashta Bhairavas, all the famous Ganapathys except Ucchistha Ganapathy, all the exquisitely fundamental alphabet Saktis, they are all potentially vulnerable to Kāmarāja’s arrows? Did Kāmarāja attain this incredible potency after the encounter with Chinnamastā, and the reversal of flow of the tattvas, and transformations so Purusha tattva and Prakriti Tattva become equal to Siva and Sakti tattvas, and actually sustaining of all the levels? Does Chinnamasā have an atypically high level of consciousness even as a mahavidya? Do some of the goddesses who manifest at dashamahavidya level, have esoteric supramental ultra-high forms per level of consciousness, as looks to be the case of Mahatripura Bhairavi to my ignorant mind?

Regarding the Practice mentioned by Tivra ji that requires no initiation. Can I clarify the steps: - "you imagine penetrating the secret door at the bottom of the Ājñā Chakra" Can we imagine the two petaled chakra and imagine penetrating this from the bottom? - Tivra Ji has also mentioned belts and the word Veils, I assume we need to imagine the white particle with golden hues and the 7 belts around it like the solar system (top down view?)