Namaste Herodion, thank you for taking the time to put the links together. I will go over them as if I am preparing for an exam. It seems like that there might be an overlap with some of the shared concerns as well as differences. Here's my main concern, many Tantric lineages disappeared overtime for different reasons, and some lineages don't have all the manuscripts/scriptures anymore. Some of the reasons for loss of knowledge still exists today. Like keeping knowledge hidden within the family lineage or just a small group hoarding zealously sacred texts. Yes some info cannot be shared with the main public, at the same time using this as an excuse to keep information secret which can be shared with the public is another mistake. Then there's the commercialization of Tantra; the more you pay the more you learn and thereby the illusion of belonging to an elite selected group. Both of these approaches hurt any tantric lineage and not just Srividya. What else? Diluting authentic Tantra with other spiritual systems where you end up with a hybrid system God knows what they are. These are all serious problems we are facing nowadays Worldwide, and we need to be aware of that. However the solution to protect Tantra is not to crawl to the deepest depths of a cave to keep it hidden. The only way to ensure future generations can benefit from Tantra is to make it more accessible and not less to sincere seekers.

Namaste Bam. If you look in the article, where it says Ashvattama was initated by Sage Durvasa, just ahead of this, it says Ashvatthama had approached his Parama Guru ie Parashurama , who had initiated him alongside Rishi Durvasa. This is very much in plain sight so I am not sure where your confusion is coming from. Regarding the rest of your question, I would suggest you to educate yourself further on the matter. I dont know of anyone who denies the significance of Datta and Parashurama in the progenation of Sri Vidya, you are the first person who I have heard this from. You are also the first person I have seen unaware that within many of the lineages of Sri Vidya, Nath, and Aghora sampradaya they do in fact consider Dattatreya as Adiguru. I think you are only reading very surface level information on the internet, this is not a reliable thing to do.

Namaste Dear Kuru Sandhyasa and Herodion, let us not worry or give too much importance to the "fallen Brahmā". Hinduism and Purāṇās clearly forbid the worship of Lord Brahmā except at certain power spots, which seem to be governed by their own local traditions that allow His worship. The severed head and prohibited worship clearly indicate the "fallen status" of Lord Brahmā. Classics such as Rāmāyaṇa indicate that His own great grandson Rāvaṇa obtained His grace and became the invincible conqueror of all realms. Rāvaṇās ten heads denoting his prowess of all scriptural knowledge that there is! We can interpret the fallen status of Lord Brahmā as suggestions to not ask the Creator for something new, but work with the Preserver Lord Viṣṇu to help alleviate our sufferings with means that have already been provided by Lord Brahmā and to further seek the guidance of Lord Rudra to transform our karmas and lead us towards salvation with His Anugraha, denoted by His fifth head. The severed fifth head of Lord Brahmā may also indicate that nobody is born with complete Anugraha or salvation, but it is something that must be earned through karmic progression. We therefore cannot avoid Lord Viṣṇu or Lord Rudra. The Purāṇās and other scriptures also extol Lord Brahmā as the grantor of the most difficult boons one may seek and mention His sādhana as the most difficult one to perform to earn His grace. From a Śrī Vidyā or a tantric point of view with reference to the Kalaśa sthāpana, we clearly invoke Brahmā kalās along with those of Lords Viṣṇu, Rudra, Maheśvara and Sadāśiva. All the Pañcapretas as they are designated, form the crutches of the sofa bed of the Divine Mother and are Her support base. Further, all of them are permitted for full worship in the Āmnāya krama. Though the worship of Lord Brahmā is prohibited for the general seekers, it is NOT for those following the sādhana of Mahāvidyās. Lastly, even if Lord Brahmā has fallen to a lower realm, then so be it. He is certainly more closer to us that the rest and may we seek His blessings to alleviate us from our misery and gain from His benevolent grace! May the Divine Mother Sarasvatī, the śakti of Lord Brahmā help us in all our endeavors and shape our success. Out of total ignorance, we are finding faults with revered gurus like Tivra, Jothi, Tripuraghna etc, who have all iterated the fallen status indicated above. They certainly know a lot more that we can ever get to and through their immense compassion, they visit us as angels to help us in our spiritual efforts. Let us welcome and pray for their guidance and not dismiss that which we cannot comprehend. May we also attain a similar status so we can realize the knowledge and experience this for ourselves. Finally, let us agree to disagree and as long as I am alive and kicking and managing this site's content, I will help revered sages like Tivra in the highest regard. They are the same to me as Shri Ravi ji.

Namaste Kuru, Thanks for the clarification on the Guru Parampara. I am questioning this solely for intellectual reasons. Your answer didn't really address my main question. It is clearly written that Shri Durvasa initiated Shri Ashwatthama. Also, saying that every lineage accepts Shri Dattatreya as the propagator isn't correct. Sri Vidya has many sampradayas, like Anand Bhairav, Hayagriva, Dakshinamurty, and Dattatreya. So Dattatreya is limited to specific traditions, not all of them. Dattatreya being the Adi Guru of this lineage is news to me, as Shri Raviji hasn't mentioned it anywhere to my knowledge. Even in the Guru Mandala picture made by Shri Raviji, the first guru shown was Dakshinamurty, not Dattatreya. Regarding Ashwatthama having multiple gurus, I think you're mixing up diksha guru and shiksha guru here. As Sri Raviji has written repeatedly in his articles, one can only have one diksha guru for Srividya, not multiple. Also, there's a contradiction in what you've shared versus the site: on the new website you listed Parashurama as the diksha guru of Ashwatthama, but now you're saying he is the paramguru. There has to be another guru in between if that's the case. You can't have a direct diksha from a paramguru to a disciple without a sva guru, otherwise the paramguru just becomes the sva guru. On parashurama being the guru of Durvasa, These things really depend on the specific tradition. In the Kanchi Kamakshi tradition, Durvasa, who is one of the chief gurus of Srividya and consecrated the Kanchi Kamakshi temple, was initiated directly by Lalita herself through anugraha diksha. There is no mention of Parashurama initiating him in that tradition. Also, in the Trika tradition, they consider Durvasa being initiated by Srikantha Rudra to propagate the knowledge of the Agamas. So whether someone is considered the guru or paramguru really depends on what is held in that specific guru tradition, not on outside references. The same article about this lineage says Durvasa initiated Ashwatthama. So, I think you need to clarify your facts a bit here. Let's just leave this conversation, as there is no use in arguing over references pulled from here and there. I only asked Krishna ji because of the discrepancy in information between the two sites. Ultimately, only Shri Raviji knows the reality.

hahahahahahhaah - Devi commanded me to laugh so I am laughing.

Namaste; I will clarify some things. First of all, the establishment of Uttara Nivesha gives diksha through guru mandala. We have all received purnabhishek to initiate under Raviji's lineage. Santoshji has received this authority directly from Raviji. He is the one who has initiated me into Shri Vidya some many years ago, and you will see that he is the first in line on the custodians page – for very good reasons. Second, it is easy to see why one might consider the efforts shared by me, Kuru and many others as an attack. But it must be understood that our primary concerns have been always pointed at the half-knowledge being propagated in our guru’s temple and never at the teachings of Raviji himself. We prefer to call a spade a spade and to answer anything being pointed our way. This is not the case for Tivra. He chooses to reply with silence whenever we intervene and prefers discussions on topics such as kabbalic seals, people of disputed sainthood, or most recently, twin flames. The mass appeal of these topics is unquestionable, and I cannot blame any seeker with a rightful sense of urgency for desiring immediate fruits. I will agree with the others that one should never forget that there are truly no shortcuts to attainment (outside of shava sadhana). Additionally, a serious shri vidya Sadhak should definitely not look for paths which are not revealed at the guru’s feet who is the embodiment of Devi Herself. It is common for Tivra to promise instant enlightenment or immediately acting killing spells or many other alluring fruit. This sometimes makes people forget their sense and think they can skip asking a guru for shaktipat, despite many authentic lineages – even including our own – offering free diksha. The problem is that a legitimate guru will tell you many things you will not like. They will tell you, for example, that you cannot start directly with Maha Shodashi or Kali or Tara, and that you must repeat a single bija daily for 3 years while doing Yoga and Pranayama before diksha is given for stronger procedures. Such a guru may frustrate you! If you go through with it, you may find that somewhere along the course of these three years you’ve gotten a beautiful body, a sweet spouse and a satisfying job, but you will still hate him for telling you to just chant Ram Ram Ram and not giving you the mantra of the deity you heard about on TikTok! This is no elitism; this is the core of Raviji’s teaching and Shri Vidya: there is no shakti without tapas. Do you know that I’ve received emails from people who have took up mantras from random sources on the Internet and have suffered as a result of it? Some of them even thought that an online stranger, after merely knowing your strongest planet, can recommend you a rahasya Mahavidya mantra only found in the most obscure tantras and also come up with a new paradigm every few months, revealing a new supreme deity to rule them all! Much as it is the adequate way of things for people who play with fire to get burnt, I have redirected every single query to my guru and dispensed advice freely, without judgment. Everyone is free to follow who they wish, but after repeated debates here which have led only to edited comments and avoidance, we felt it necessary to take the action of founding a new refuge for seekers in the name of dharma and the spread of knowledge. Our efforts try to consolidate Manblunder’s original teachings and the wealth of revelations left behind by Raviji, which we have always followed closely and will continue to do so. Everyone is free to comment on writings published on Uttara Nivesha and dissenting opinion is very much welcomed, but our preferred framework will always be tantra, where the only sins are delusion, hesitation and inaction.

Namaste Rasit. I must commend your openness. I'm somewhat of a Tivra scholar myself, so I think I can help: https://manblunder.com/articlesview/sri-para-shodasi-rajya-siddhi-lakshmi-maha-mantra This is the start of the Fallen Brahma saga. And here, it is tied to Kabbala https://manblunder.com/articlesview/shri-vishnu-vidyamba-trimsatyakshara-mahamantra And here, we get the killing seal https://manblunder.com/articlesview/problems-encountered-in-our-spiritual-path (use search function for "Brahma") There is nothing inherently wrong with Kabbala or western mystical traditions, but immaturely approaching them, especially from a website that was once dedicated to research of tantra (and not without rich comparisons to the abrahamic faiths either) is not something I would recommend. And to further clarify: I wish no ill will - and like to believe the reverse is true - upon would-be dissidents of Raviji's. My problem has always been with the megalomanic claims and not the person behind them: the sin, not the sinner. I have always been first to claim that Krishna's writings are not without their merits and that he is prompt in solving translation errors, and even that some of Tivra's earlier writing has some modicum of wisdom.

Namaste Kuru and thank you for taking the time to respond. And yes, I was a critic of you and Herodion. I wasn't a fan back then or now, on personal attacks and insults on individuals or their opinions. Just as you made it very clear on your own website that personal attacks and insults won't be tolerated with, which I agree completely. Now let me make a few general statements where more likely than not we align. Honestly no idea how the mentality in India is, I can only speak about my rather narrow experience in the States. Interestingly everyone here seems to understand how long it takes to learn to read and write. However when it comes to Spirituality, there is an immediate expectation for results. To put it mildly not just Tantra, but also other schools of thoughts related to Spirituality are seen by the masses not as a teaching and learning experience but rather as a shortcut to hocus pocus /abra cadabra. And of course it doesn't work. The analogy used on your site, spider creating the web while being at the center, and each of the different threads eventually leading to the same center is how I see manblunder. Every thread is different, meaning everyone's journey towards the Divine Mother is unique. Manblunder publishes many different mantras, and this is where selective mind becomes crucial. If someone jumps from one mantra/deity to another, obviously he is missing the point. However if someone selectively just chooses the one(s) that help him to guide in his journey than that's beneficial. Therefore I personally don't see the published different mantras as a weakness but rather as a strength of manblunder. Can it be dangerous, if someone is careless jumping from one ritual to another especially when the energetic body is weak? Of course, it's dangerous!! That's even the case with a strong physical, mental and energy body. Enochian perspectives? Well let me just share with you how I see it (and I could be 100% wrong). As an Ex-Muslim, on purpose I don't bring up the subject of Sufism. Why? Because, I believe that Hinduism based Tantra is a complete system on its own and doesn't need crutches from Sufism, Kabbalah etc. Fallen Brahma? Honestly wish the search feature on manblunder wasn't this outdated, it's weak and needs an upgrade yesterday. Anyway, I couldn't find Tivra's comment about the fallen Brahma. Makes me wonder whether he was referring to the beheading of Brahma's 5th head by Rudra told in the puranas, which obviously fell. I think you starting a new Site deserves credit for fighting what you believe in. I get always happy when I come across a good Site that can help me with my balance on that thin thread towards the center of the web (creation/existence/Superconsciousness). I guess I am more than lucky to have a Guru who isn't jealous or insecure. I got his permission to learn from any source I feel like that can be useful. Therefore, I truly hope that your initiative will be fruitful and many, many thousands of seekers can benefit from it including me. I don't have the slightest doubt that I can learn from you,and other advanced Sadhakas as long as I am not asked to denounce my Guru whoever he might be.

Namaste Rasit. I myself did not write those rules, as I myself have the experience that conflict is a great catalyst for growth. I understand this is not the case for everyone however and I have the best wishes for all those involved. With regards to the fallen brahma ideas, you can find them here " https://manblunder.com/articlesview/shri-vishnu-vidyamba-trimsatyakshara-mahamantra " in the comments by Tivra. Rasit, I myself was born into a muslim middle eastern family. I was however very lucky to have continuous experiences from my earliest childhood years which had given me enough clarity on the nature of spirit and reality, that I had never fallen into the indoctrination of Islam. I searched very hard from an early age and had found ways to pursue my inherent obsession with knowledge and tantra. I am sorry for anything you had to endure with your circumstances as I know it could have been terrible. I mean it when I say I have the best intentions, though I do not always regard the soft way as an effective method of approach, I want the best for everyone.

Namaste Bam, I can see why that might have been confusing. It should be understood however that, as stated in the article, Parashurama is Parama Guru of Ashvatthama. Ashvatthama may have had multiple gurus in his lifetime, his own father Dronaacharya, Kripaacharya, lord Shiva himself. But, as we know, Parashurama is Parama Guru of Ashvatthama, and also initiated him alongside Durvasa as is stated. It is also known that Sri Dattatreya is the guru of Parashurama , and Sri Dattatreya is considered as Adiguru in our lineage. So with that said I hope it is clear why we say that Parashurama exists in our guru mandala and not Sage Durvasa. Generally, every lineage accepts the role of Dattatreya --> Parashurama in the propegation of Tripura Sundari worship and the foundations of Sri Vidya, as seen in Tripura Rahasya and Parashurama Kalpa Sutra. I hope this clears up any misunderstandings.