Dear Dylan Thank you very much. What you wrote is very familiar and understandable to me. In fact, my practice began with Vijñānabhairava Tantra. These meditative practices became the most effective for me of all that I have ever practiced. After esoteric Christianity (despite the fact that I succeeded there), it became clear to me that my experience of the soul is connected with Eastern teachings. My practice lasted daily, hourly and minutely. Even at night during sleep, awareness was maintained. It was incredible happiness and bliss. But then I was taken away somewhere again and all these states eventually evaporated and disappeared. Now (after many years) I am trying to return what was lost, but as it turned out, it is not so easy. However (at the moment) ordinary dhyana - partly compensates for that unforgettable experience.

Namaste Kapil. When reading the injunctions of any scripture, it is important to keep in mind that most of the time that they are mostly confined to the context of the tradition and practice with which the text (or section of a text) is concerned. For instance, the Yoginīhṛdayam and its commentary by Amṛtānandanātha also deal with the Hādi vidyā. Yet, concerning the practitioner of that system, the text says: "Ceaselessly drinking, devouring, and rejecting, acting on his own of his own free will, realizing meditatively the unity of subject and object, the object will remain in happinness." Moreover, the only real rule prescribed for the practitioner in that text is that they be sincere and genuine in their interest and practice, adhering to the rules of practice outlined in the text and by the Kula. The Yogasaṁcāra Tantra says: "As the difference between one category of Tantras and others is considered to be due to the difference between the various rites etc. they teach, therefore what should be done is that which is taught in one of them (i.e. the scripture(s) used by your specific tradition and lineage), and not in accord with another Tantra of a different school." Of course, it is often the case that the concepts expounded in the scriptures overlap, and for that reason studying scriptures from other schools can be incredibly insightful and inspiring, even if you do not practice the specific injunctions of that scripture. The Tantras of Śrīvidyā, Trika, Kubjikā, Kālī, among others, share a common essence, like oil in seeds or scent in flowers. Besides the scriptures, the teacher is one of the primary means of knowledge, and it is from the teacher that one should receive specific instructions which are, if not copied verbatim, at least derived from scriptural injunctions.

Namaste Dylan. My query concerns Kaadi Vidya. With your extensive knowledge of Tantra, I would appreciate your insights on this verse from the Shakti Sangam Tantra: "हादौ तु नियमा: प्रोक्ता यमसंयमादाय:। कादौ तु नियमो नास्ति स्वेच्छया धर्मामाचरेत॥" This verse indicates that while Haadi Vidya requires adherence to rules, like those related to yama and niyama, Kaadi Vidya is free from such restrictions, allowing for practice according to one's own discretion. Considering this interpretation, Ravi Guru Ji's statement that Kaadi Panchadashi can be mentally chanted throughout the day, even amidst daily activities, appears to be consistent and legitimate. What are your thoughts on this verse?

dear michael, thank you so much for your kindness and thoughtfulness. i will try this out and have a blessed day

Namaste Nesh. The simplest way to cognize the Unstruck Sound is through paying attention to the breath. The Svacchanda Tantra says: "The God who resides in the chest of living beings spontaneously utters the Mantra not uttered by anybody and that none obstructs." Kṣemarāja explains in his commentary: "Haṁsa is the supreme formless Lord... 'He utters spontaneously' means He pulses radiantly, having transcended the entire procession of denotators and all that they denote in the cosmic order, as the great vitality of Mantra, the essence of which is supreme oneness. For there is no one who utters it or obstructs it, because, as the agent of all things, He is the supreme perceiver. Thus, He is proclaimed to be Unstruck Sound, because He is not made manifest as other phonemes are by the striking of the vital breath on the locations and instruments of articulation. He abides within the heart of breathing beings as the very life of life itself. Only a few who pay attention to it enter into that Being." The Unstruck Sound is essentially vimarśa, the reflective awareness the supreme reality has of itself, by virtue of which it is absolutely autonomous. When manifesting the world, it becomes the vital breath. As phonemes are articulated through the striking of the breath in the throat and mouth, so does the vital breath serve to "articulate" the supreme reality as the totality of all that exists. The Yogabīja says: "The breath exits with the letter Ha and should then enter again with the letter Sa. Thus, the individual soul constantly repeats the mantra 'Haṁsa, Haṁsa'." And in the Vijñānabhairava: "Throughout the day and night, he recites this mantra 21,600 times. Such a japa of the Goddess is mentioned which is quite easy to accomplish; it is only difficult for the ignorant." The exhaled breath (prāṇa) is externalization, while the inhaled breath (apāna) is internalization. Prāṇa is day, apāna is night. Or, prāṇa can be contemplated as the dark/waning lunar fortnight, while apāna is the bright/waxing fortnight. In the bright fortnight, the moon gradually fills up with light. This symbolizes the state of the development of the energies of consciousness within the transcendental reality in order to spill out. In the dark fortnight, these energies spill out into/as the world, and so is the externalization of what was developed internally. Having done this, the process repeats again. The entirety of time is enveloped in the resonance of the vital breath. All of the levels of time for all beings, from an insect to Brahmā, are in the vital breath. Knowing this, contemplating its resonance as such, one attains the highest reality.

Dear Prince ! Well, maybe this will be the dumbest advice ever, but i will still try it.... 1.) Mantras and/or Yantras: There are some Mantras out there to handle such situations, but i do not know, if they will work or not. https://www.prophet666.com/2021/01/effective-mantra-to-remove-bed-bugs.html This is for bed bugs...but maybe it will be helpful for your specific sitation too...i do not know 2.) Special Frequencies: There are frequencies an the internet..or better on youtube for destrpying and/or chasing away different pests... from mice to fleas... https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=frequncies%20against%20pests Again, i do not not, if this works for you. But if you wish, you could try it... So if you have a notebook/laptop, you could simply place it an a small desk, and try to play the frequencies for some time...# Good Luck ! Sincerely, Michael

Hi all, I would like to share something truly heart-breaking with all of you. It may not seem like a spiritual issue at first, but it is to me and it affects me very much. I have a plant and there are many measly bugs (pests that drink the sap of the plant), and I almost sprayed pesticides on to my plant to kill them. But then i stopped and i could no longer bring myself to do that. I don't want to hurt that poor creature and be a murderer. It may be a small thing for most people, but recently i have develop feelings for all creatures (visible creatures at least) hence I never brought myself to do it. But then now I am in the great dilemma of whether saving my plant of murdering the bugs. It had really affected me a lot as i am looking for a solution that will save both! I don't know how to deal with this. Has anyone faced a similar situation before, and how did you handle it ? I remembered Vallalar's teaching of not to murder, and i couldnt bring myself to do it, even if its a tiny bug. please guide me sincerely.

hi all, I have a very technical question to ask. as we are aware during the sri-chakra puja, we invoke the avarana-yoginis one by one, in a certain krama as per the khadgamala. However, we are also aware that all deities reside in the sri-chakra, such as bhadrakali, siddhilakshmi (amnaya nayika) and the 10 mahavidyas (as per the description of ratna-dwipa. Then why are they not invoked in the sri-chakra khadgamala archana ? I was guessing that the yoginis reside within the intersections (i.e. within the triangles, within the petals, in the case of bhu-pura, within the lines), while the deities reside at the intersection of lines, corners of the lines, and the tips of the lotuses to be exact. it could be also that the different combinations of yoginis bring forth all gods and goddesses. I am not sure. please help me. (I sincerely apologise if i had made a distinction between goddesses and yoginis -please forgive me)

Bhairavat, I will tell you that such texts do exist, although perhaps not necessarily describing a step by step method. They teach "easy" methods of realization. I put easy in quotes because it is more complicated than what one might think. They are "easy" in the sense that they are very direct, requiring no rituals, japa, meditation, or anything like that. Liberation is "easy" in that it is really the result of only one thing: knowledge. The numerous practices taught in the scriptures, the teacher, philosophical inquiry; these things are technically only secondary causes that serve the purpose of aiding in the attainment of knowledge. However, at the same time. liberation is very difficult. The fact is that knowledge (technically called pauruṣa jñāna and bauddha jñāna) and liberation is not reducible to a straightforward process that can be attained through following a series of established steps. The Lord's grace operates in a wide variety of ways. Sometimes it is immediate, a sudden intuitive realization that takes place without need of sādhana, a teacher, or scriptures. Sometimes one has this realization simply by interacting with a teacher: through sight, speech, touch, etc. But for the most part, it is a gradual unfolding that makes use of these means of knowledge. Grace is nothing more than the revelation of one's true nature, and it is a purely divine act that operates without any consideration whatsoever of any external factors. It is the Lord's spontaneous will. So, the manner in which it unfolds is unpredictable. You cannot assume that because someone has lots of meritorious karma, is pious or virtuous that they will "receive" grace ("receive" in quotes because ultimately it is only Śiva doing this to Himself), or even to a greater or lesser degree than others because of such factors. I will show you the first verse of one such "easy method" texts, the Vātūlanāthasūtras: mahāsāhasavṛttyā svarūpalābhaḥ: "One's true nature is attained by the dynamism of the Great Audacity." What is meant by the "Great Audacity" is the sudden, spontaneous surge of awakened awareness which is absorption into the supreme reality. The instruction is literally to just... let this happen. Beats spending the rest of your life doing arduous sādhana, right? It is remarkably easy, and yet it is likely to be the most difficult thing you will ever do. If you wish to try your hand at these sorts of texts, I will tell you some of them: Vijñānabhairava Tantra, Vātūlanāthasūtras, Chummāsaṅketaprakāśa, Svabodhodayamañjarī. If you read these, you will find that a lot of what they have to teach seems deceptively simple. No deities, no mantras, no pūjā, no japa. But, if a powerful descent of grace has touched your heart, they will reveal an incredible beauty. I also want to tell you something about the kinds of practices most people are used to. These practices are external, in the sense that they pertain to and are performed with objective realities, which are both "external" (i.e. ritual objects, yantras, mālās, etc.) and "internal" (i.e. pertaining to the mind and yogic body). The supreme reality, which is itself liberation, is not like this. It is beyond the world of transactional objectivity. Knowledge thereof is the cause of liberation. In which case, how could these practices possibly be effective towards that end? The means do not correspond to the subject; you are effectively trying to use a candle to illumine the sun. But that is really only true if to you that's all these practices are: external. The Gama Tantra says: "Yoga (i.e. union/liberating knowledge) does not differ from action and action does not differ from Yoga. The insight that, mounted up through the metaphysical principles, serves to quell the latent impressions in one's mind, is termed action." Here, the specific example of dīkṣā (the purification of the tattvas through dissolving them into the supreme reality) is used, but this really applies to all practices. The purpose of this ritual is to create pauruṣa jñāna, but this is inseparable from the act of dissolving the metaphysical principles. Jñāna and kriyā are never separated. Thus, the practices are, when applied properly, knowledge. The Trikasāra explains what happens when this is not contemplated properly, using the example of mudrās: "The wise man is always marked with the higher modes of mudrās that arise from the body. He alone is the true holder of mudrās; the rest who only maintain certain gross poses of the hands and the body are merely holders of bones." Still, the sort of contemplation which acts through and as these practices is conceptual. But there are two types of conceptual knowledge: vikalpa and vikalpana. Vikalpa is object-oriented awareness, firmly placed in the domain of Māyā. Vikalpana, however, is conceptual knowledge which is established in the pure subject. It is a "pure thought" in which the object of conceptualization (i.e. "this") is established in the higher reality of subjectivity (i.e. "I"). Hence, it is often referred to as the state of awareness in which "I am this and this I am." The practices that you, the egoic personality, have the capacity to do are meant to develop this vikalpana. But, as the supreme reality is beyond ANY type of conceptualization, what do this "pure thought" do? It displaces and obliterates vikalpa, purifying the intellect. The obstacle to liberation in life is the impurity of the intellect in the form of vikalpas. Even if one has received initiation and thus has had the non-conceptual pauruṣa jñāna destroyed via union with Śiva, so long as embodiment persists this is as if absent. It is non-conceptual, which is difficult to perceive when consciousness is firmly established in the activity of the intellect on account of life. Moreover, the intellect is covered in vikalpas which create a woefully incomplete and incorrect picture of absolute reality. The development of vikalpana serves to purify the intellect, making it transparent to the light of pauruṣa jñāna. This is the condition of liberation in life. It is not that conceptualization, even as vikalpana, causes the supreme reality to show itself, for obvious reasons. Rather, it clears the way for its clear perception. But, as I explained, this can only really happen when one understands (either intuitively through practice or through study, or both) that practice is primarily contemplation and acts accordingly. The various common practices have inner meanings, which you can learn about at the end of the Vijñānabhairava, after the enumeration of the 112 practices, and in the Cidvilāsastava. The Mālinīvijayottara Tantra thus states that "right reasoning" (basically synonymous with vikalpana) is THE limb of Yoga. The other limbs are only efficacious to the extent that they serve that end; the same applies with other practices. I can tell you that when I realized this myself, the course of my own practices changed considerably. The Yoginīhṛdayam teaches three modes of worship: 1) supreme, which is more or less just the sort of "easy", spontaneous practice previously explained, 2) lower, which is generic external ritual worship, and 3) middle, which combines the inner with the outer. Interestingly, Bhairava says: "The second one, the worship of the Cakra, is ceaselessly performed by me." Amṛtānandanātha explains that Bhairava is suggesting that, even when done in light of inner contemplation, external worship serves the purpose of reinforcing the vikalpana that there is no real difference between the external and internal, and so the practitioner should not feel ill of it. The immanent and transcendent realities are one and the same. Action is knowledge, remember? The Mahārthamañjarī says quite beautifully: "Like a bird whose feathers on either side are not different, from where does the fiction of the qualification of the yogi as introverted or extroverted arise?" To reiterate, the supreme reality can manifest itself through external practices by penetrating them, as vikalpana or non-discursive knowledge (the latter being the ultimate goal), but the reverse is not true, that is, external realities in and of themselves cannot reveal the supreme reality on their own. This is probably the most practical thing I can give you, but remember that your path is your own. Of the three primary means of knowledge - teacher, scripture, and oneself - it is one's own direct knowledge which is the most important. Knowledge can be attained by means of the teacher and scripture, but ultimately that knowledge rests in you. You are the one who is bound and you are the one who is liberated. Without competence on the practitioner's part, the scriptures and the teacher can accomplish nothing. You have to figure out over the course of your entire life how to make that work for you.

Namaste Dylan, I find myself still having trouble cognizing this unstruck sound in normal waking state. Would it be possible to continue expounding on this matter? perhaps I hope there will be some words that start to make it click for me.