Brother, I appreciate where your are coming from in this matter. I get it. I've learnt many things from your posts and comments here. Request you to keep sharing your knowledge and insights for the benefit of sadhakas, present and future, at your convenience. Sincere thanks,

This should settle the issue conclusively. My sincere thanks for taking the pains to search the sastras and dig up proof. I know the hard work involved in such matters, so pls accept my appreciation for your diligence. I also am thankful for the insights about the naksatra devatas. Such points build subtle confidence in and encourage sadhakas. LLM hallucinations have everyone in a tizzy, and so everybody is checking and rechecking even the minutest things obsessively. Unavoidable. Nevertheless, a silver lining. No pains taken in engaging with sastra ever goes to waste; they eventually conduce to one's own benefit. Vidya is its own reward.

Raman, the info that you shared “He also mentioned that the original Rudrayamala, which may or may not be available to the public anymore, specifies that you don’t even need initiation to worship your Ishta Devata or Nakshatra deity” is exactly the kind of info that the self-claimed gate keepers don’t want to be known by the general public. Because that takes simply power away from them as well as their source of income. Only a true Guru will not accept any money or donation for initiation as well as ongoing support. It’s too common that most of these so-called Gate Keepers are nothing more than Spiritual Businessman. Having said that, obviously if you are lucky enough to have access to a real Guru then that’s always the preferred path to follow. The info you shared definitely makes sense to me from personal experience. My religious background has nothing to do with Hinduism in one way or the other. There was a time in my life when I was stuck, and whatever I tried did not help including prayers etc. I came across a book that had the word Mantra in its title. Till then I had never heard the word, Mantra. In that book a Ganesh mantra got my interest, and a certain 40-day Sadhana was explained in detail. Due to desperation (Because Neither Christian nor Muslim prayers had worked) I decided to complete the 40-day Ganesha Sadhana. And it worked, with being stuck becoming part of history and new opportunities opening one after another. Here is the interesting part, back then I did not know that my Ishta Devata was/is Lord Ganesha. No initiation whatever and it still worked. And that’s how my journey started and the ups and downs ended after I found my Guru. So, it was a book at a bookstore that led me eventually to my Guru. If most people tried first to find a Guru before starting their journey, then the vast majority could have never started to begin with. Again, from personal experience I know that mantras simply work and some make it sound like as if it’s almost impossible in Kali Yuga. If that is the case, then how can we ever reach Moksha and what is the reason of following Tantra? Another example, before I found my Guru, a Christian-Indian friend of mine after a divorce simply couldn’t get any dates. Long story short I gave him two mantras from that book, and he completed also the 40-day Sadhana, and since then finding dates has never been an issue for him. Last but not least, folks don’t get discouraged by people who come here with an agenda to stir things up and besides negativity and criticism have nothing positive to add to our knowledge base.

Sympathy for what? Accepting Divine guidence from time to time? Only the one above Divine can sympathize. If mantras are not working as per your understanding, then I doubt anyone can change this perception. Krishna ji, a sincere request. Please create a section & move all the troll posts there. People can go on with literary comments, ridiculing posts, mocking others etc, sparing genuine readers. There may be just one with mids. Those posts shouldn't appear on main pg. Even you are trying your best. Thanks for all your efforts.

Yes, Brihad Nila tantra was what I was talking about. If I remember correctly, Shiva said that this mantra can be chanted by anyone without adhikara and that one who practices it sincerely will become a vira. About original lineage of Kashmir Shaivism and why Swamiji didn't appoint a successor, I have this own theory of mine that it was because there was no suitable successor at that point of time. Like not a realised one. While, all gurus of original parampara were those who had got realisation of their true self. So, in a way it would have been just a formality to appoint a successor. And if we analyse Swamiji's personal nature he was always more philosophical oriented rather than towards the side of rituals. He at times also opposed bali rituals. So, i believe he had some foresight too regarding the future and potential fake gurus and all, so he just ended the official parampara with himself. And then if we see the exodus of Kashmiri Pandits and all that happened there, there seems to be some relation to both. About how initiation is done, there are some disciples of his who did the formal initiation though none was a successor. One of my friend, from starting did the sadhanas by himself from shastras, and he is quite knowledgeable as well and had great experiences of his own. Though I would say he is one of the rare ones. Two of my friends did say that they have at times got dreams of swamiji guiding them. Also, the 64 bhairava tantras which are non dual in nature are the core texts, but many of them not available easily. One of the text, Swacchand Tantra and it's 32 lettered mantra, Swamiji said anyone can chant it. Other than that, there is a great gem of a text vigyan bhairav tantra containing amazing 112 methods which are just incredible. Then there are some offshoots schools, like sarvamnaya one by Dr. Sthaneshwar Timalsina and some other Krama schools which I don't have much knowledge on. At times it seems like Kashmir Shaivism is on verge of extinction but then randomly you see people with great knowledge in it. Like I was surprised to find Dylan here and just how incredible his knowledge is regarding the subject, and it's still quite a mystery how he acquired such mastery in it. I have also seen some foreign sadhaks having great command in this subject. So, mysterious nature of grace I would say.

This verse is also featured in the authoritative Sri Vidyarnava Tantra, attributed to the revered Vidyaranya Yati. You can see it in this screenshot: https://snipboard.io/FE8CI6.jpg

Hi Chakravarti, I actually spoke with a Tantrik a while ago who confirmed that the Rudrayamala verse I shared is authentic. He also mentioned that the original Rudrayamala, which may or may not be available to the public anymore, specifies that you don’t even need initiation to worship your Ishta Devata or Nakshatra deity. For example, if your Nakshatra is Punarvasu, you can chant Devi Aditi’s mantras without being initiated. The same applies if you identify your Ishta through your Kundali. Of course, anyone may disregard my comments as I am no expert in Tantra; the words of experts like Tivra, Krishna, Prince, Kuru, Herodion, Jayant etc., will naturally carry more weight.

My dear Chakravarti, yes you are absolutely correct in both aspects. First and foremost, the authentic tantras do not use language and wording in this way. Every piece of knowledge is given very poetically and must be interpreted. Even something such as a mantra is rarely given outright. Bijas are described by their traits, or the characters or objects represented, often very conjuncted, and even after interpretation it is impossible to know if the correct interpretation is derived or not, without an enlightened guru to give the certain answer. Secondly even when Vidya is given with regards to astrological sciences and timing, it is always the qualities described of the appropriate timings. It is all very encoded and even so, a process is never given start to finish this way. There are manuals and manuscripts written in the medieval period such as mantra rahasya mahodadhi ect which do give much more clear instruction but those texts repeat a thousandfold that without a guru one will suffer so many downfalls and will not accomplish anything. Lastly, there is in fact a process which is similar to the one described which uses bhojpatra and a certain ritual to attain mantra shakti for a mantra, permitted for those who can not find a guru and who have undeniable need for the mantra (not for ordinary circumstances), but the entire process and ritual must be done hundreds of times until the devata appears in a vision or a dream and grants diksha directly. There is no room for imagination or false success here. Aside from the fact that it is obvious AI, uses language and structure which does not exist in any tantra that I have ever known of, the fact that it is contradictory to what is repeatedly said everywhere about guru necessity, and the fact that the ritual given is extremely simplified and gives a promise of immediate and unrealistic results, I think it is a safe conclusion to say that it is an AI fabrication.

Dear Raman, kindly see Kuru Sandhyasa's comment. There is a suspicion that the verse you quoted might not be real. Pls do clarify and update us about its authenticity. Now, I am aware that there's no standard text or edition of the Rudrayamala. I'm also aware that many, many things are attributed to the Rudrayamala. Several texts have been published by several publishers saying that their version is a fragment or part or section of the famous Rudrayamala. Even the Devi Rahasyam, which triggered all these discussions, is a distinct text traditionally appended to the Rudrayamala. The editor of a edition of the Devi Rahasyam, Janki Nath Kaul, metioned his own suspicions about the redaction of this text (Devi Rahasyam, not Rudrayamala as such) and observed that the Devi Rahasyam seems to have been redacted in modern times. The Rudrayamala has become a catch-all, as it were, for anything and everything about Tantra even if it is or is not related to Kashmir, Saktism or Saivism. However, I have always still believed that the core text exists, and is authentic in essence. Therefore, I request you to give all of us such assurances as can be mustered by you on the issue of the verse you quoted. Thanks.

Dear Kuru Sandhyasa, I believe you're referring to Raman's comment wherein a specific verse in praise of initiation through Siva Dakshinamurti, said to be from the Rudrayamala, is mentioned. Kindly let us know if you think the said verse is fake and has been hallucinated by AI. I personally do not mind using an AI to dress up ones' language (and I keep silent when I register the characteristic AI flavour), but I believe It is necessary for all of us to actively resist AI fabrications. Pls do let us know if you think the said verse from the Rudrayamala is not authentic or wrong in any manner. Thanks.