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Come one
COme all
Welcome!
Bon Appétit Traveler and Chi mate
Take what serves, leave what doesn't and make sure you come back n Feed your Head whenever you find yourself back here.
Though grief in the Ocean of Samsara Is preached, and its renunciation is urged, few people are really convinced
And renounce it with determination.
Though knowing that life will ever turn to death, few feel uneasy, or think that it will end.
Though their life is blessed with good prospects, few can practice abstention for a day.
Though the Bliss of Liberation is expounded and Samsara's pains are stressed, few can really enter the Dharma Gate.
Though the profound Pith-Instructions
Of the Whispered Lineage are given without stint, few without fail can practice them.
Though the teaching of Mahamudra is expounded and the Pointing-out demonstration is exercised, few can really understand the Essence of Mind.
To the hermit's life and the Guru's wish
One can always aspire, but few can put them into practice.
The perfect, skillful path of Naropa May be shown, without concealment,
But those who can really follow it are very few.
My dear, you should follow in my footsteps If in this life you want to do
Something that is worthwhile.
Naldjor Wangchug Milarepa.
“Women are heaven; women are dharma; and women are the highest penance. Women are Buddha; women are the Sangha; and women are the perfection of Wisdom.”
— Yoni Tantra
seated within the altar of your heart, i fold my hands. no, not to pray but to understand what is it about me that you chose to be closer than my skin, to touch me, engulf me.
i guess if i kept counting every single breath, i would know but i don't have the time or patience for things like that when i can be for you, near your sweetness. even if the mystery is unsolved and knots grow tighter and more tangled.
in the altar of your heart, my Beloved, the light shines bright enough to blind me and i think you already know how i still sit with my dead vision drinking the madeira of your love.
there's a long line outside waiting to complain and to ask you to steer the boat toward a new shore. i'm unmoved by this noise, only you put your feet on my chest and hold me down. confine me within this heart of yours for there is nothing left to do, nothing left to be. Kamesvari
Playing your instrument
Meditation, energy circulation and multiple orgasm techniques are like learning a musical instrument. At first you do them mechanically, following sequences carefully. Then, once the techniques have been mastered, you can improvise. And later yet, you can go back to the techniques in case there was something you missed in the improvisation, or something that was hard at first but now would be easy when you go back to it. You learn to press all the right keys, to blow the right winds, and to fill the right chambers. After awhile you improvise again with your treasured instruments, and give yourself concertos of blissful delight with ever new variations. Maledivine
Review the previous blogs and I encourage you to explore, play respectfully towards yoyrself and create your own path, or Expand your practice of yoga, selfcare or meditation etc.
Pick a few breaths to begin doing, perhaps just 3 or 1, learn a bandha a week or so, go at your own pace. Practice self love or not. In previous posts are techniques for Men and women, including sexual energy cycling and yoni massage and womb healing. Dive into yourself contemplating certain tantras or quotes and teachings and be present with yourself. Go deeper into your meditation practice or during your partnered tantrik moments.
If you wish to have a consultation usually 30-60 minutes regarding your practice, recommended things to start on based on your desired intentions/challenges or space in life simply contact and set up here
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Tantra is the refusal to turn away from your life experiences- even the painful ones- because you recognize that with wisdom, spiritual growth can emerge from all things.
Tantra is the willingness of your heart to thoroughly embrace that which might be difficult or different to what we expect, and through such open minded, open hearted engagement, discover a capacity to love and become wise.
Tantra is the sacred relationship of the spirit and the body which creates the soul, with all its precious gifts of healing, creativity, love and higher consciousness.
Now for this Morsel of knowledge we dive into another Tantra.
I always like to present many different branches & tantras so there comes the awareness that Yes, all is tantra but there are many ways and paths, twists, spirals and turns as in all.
"Srividya: the twists and turns of a tantric tradition : Phil Hine
In the last two issues of my Unfoldings newsletter, I have been engaging in an in-depth analysis of Kenneth Grant’s representation of Tantric mysteries in his books – using his 1999 book, Beyond the Mauve Zone as the main reference point. In support of this series of essays, I thought it would be helpful for those reading the essays to attempt a general overview of the historical development of the Tripurāsundarī traditions, known nowadays as Śrīvidyā. In this first post, I’m going to focus on the roots of this tradition – the Nityā
The term Śrīvidyā is a compound formed from Śrī – an honorific denoting auspiciousness (also an epithet of the Goddess), and Vidyā – a feminine mantra.
Exoterically, Vidyā can denote knowledge or wisdom. The early texts of the tradition do not use this term though, rather, the tradition referred to itself as the traipuradarśana (doctrine of Tripurā) or sometimes, the Saugbhāgyavidyā (Saugbhāgya denotes good fortune, happiness, and success). According to Anna A. Golovkova (2020), the term Śrīvidyā first appears in a fourteenth-century commentary on the Yoginīhṛdaya. The tradition is sometimes referred to as the ‘last sampradāya’ – the most recent of the nine classical Śaiva tantric traditions. The principal or ‘root’ text of the tradition, the Vāmakeśvarīmata tantra has been dated to between the 10th-11th century CE.
The Nityā Tradition Sakta Tantra
Contemporary scholars have identified the antecedents of the worship of Tripurāsundarī within a lost Kaula tradition, known as the Nityā (‘eternal’). Much of what is known about this tradition has been gleaned from references in tantric scriptures.
As Golovkova points out, there are no references to the Nityā in works of the Trika tradition, but there are in the later Kubjika tradition, such as the Kubjikāmata (tenth century), the vast Manthānabhairava Tantra, and the Ciñciṇīmatasārasamuccaya. Only one scripture of the Nityā has survived – the Nityākaula. Chapter 30 of the Manthānabhairava Tantra which largely concerns the rules for writing and transmitting scripture, names the Nityākaula as one of the scriptures it considers valid.
In the Nityā tradition, the principal goddess is Kāmeśvarī, and her consort is the god of love, Kāmadeva, accompanied by eleven subordinate Nityā goddesses (see this long essay for some related discussion of Kāma, his weapons, particularly the Sugarcane Bow).
These Nityā goddesses are placed around a triangle (identified with the yoni) and intermediate points of an enclosing hexagram. The points of the triangle are identified with three pīṭhas (seats) of the goddess: Jālandhara, Pūrṇapīṭha, and Uḍḍiyāna. The fourth pīṭha, Kāmarūpa, is the centre of the triangle and the abode of Kāmeśvarī. Hence Kāmarūpa is considered to be the greatest of the śaktī pīṭhas.
The Kālikāpurāṇa (c.10-11th century) gives a lengthy description of Kāmarūpa (Assam) as a kind of divine wonderland, where death cannot enter; where there are no temples or images, but the deities are present as mountains, ponds, trees, and streams. After the terrible events of Dakṣa’s sacrifice, Śiva’s spouse, Satī took her own life. The grieving Śiva carted her body about with him until the other gods sliced up her body. The goddess’ yonimaṇḍala fell at Kāmarūpa, on Mount Kāmagiri (mountain of desire).
The Kāmākhyā temple complex is a centre of Śakta Tantra, and the goddess Kāmākhyā is worshipped there in the form of a yoni-stone, submerged in a natural stream, located in an underground chamber beneath the temple. According to the Kālikāpurāṇa, bathing in the waters of this stream results in release from rebirth and instant liberation. The Kaulajñānanirṇaya says that all of the women who reside in Kāmarūpa are Yoginīs who can reveal secrets and grant siddhis.
Kāmeśvarī is described as being of red hue, bearing weapons the weapons of Kāmadeva (noose, goad, bow, flower-arrows), and extensively ornamented (see these posts for some related discussion of ornamentation).
According to Golovkova, many of these elements appear in the Vāmakeśvarīmata (and later scriptures) – such as the goddess’ red hue; her bearing of the weapons of Kāma; the triangle and her triadic form; and her identification with the pīṭhas. Although, in the later tradition, Kāma has been supplanted by Śiva, there are many references to Kāma – particularly in the names of the groups of subsidiary goddesses populating the layers of the Śricakra (here’s a quick tour through the Śricakra).
In her paper, Golovkova gives a very insightful comparison between a passage she has translated from the Nityākaula and a very similar passage from the Vāmakeśvarīmata. Both passages show that the worship of the goddesses necessitates that the (male) adept should, having installed the goddess in his own body using Nyāsa, must dress in red clothing, adorn himself with flowers, smear his body with red unguent, apply eyeliner (collyrium), chew betel and spices, and equip himself with the weapons of Kāma. He is trying to further identify himself with the goddess by taking on her physical characteristics. Similar practices, albeit directed at emulating the fury of Bhairava are described in the mudrākośa section of the Jayadrathayāmala. This kind of ritualistic male performance of femaleness can be found in early tantric scriptures -even those of the orthodox Śaiva Siddhanta.
The attraction of female partners – human, or otherwise (nāgas, gāndharvas, yakṣinīs, for example) is a core concern of the Nityākaula, and again, as Golovkova shows, this is a focus of the Vāmakeśvarīmata. I concur. There is a great deal of emphasis on not only attracting women but gaining wealth, and power, destroying enemies, and obtaining siddhis in the Vāmakeśvarīmata – and relatively little directed towards what we think of as spiritual liberation.
Locating female agency is always a tricky proposition in regards to the tantras. In this respect, Golovkova argues that in these early scriptures, women have no agency at all – they are highly sexualized, mere objects for the male ritual gaze and acquisition, subjects of practices that aim at attracting and subordinating them."
Please find Sources noted below on bottom of this blog post.
Yoga Tea with your Meal?
Yoga pose
Tadasana
The Mountain
For balance, endurance, strength and to oppose spasticity, hip flexion con-
tractures and hammer toes:
This pose requires effort each time it is done. As the yogi strives to quiet
the mind, inhibiting all the ways we have of occupying it, the practitioner of
this posture inhibits all movement of any kind. How does one inhibit those un-
intended, unheralded pitches and sways?
How does one curtail a sneeze?
Stand feet shoulder width apart, hands free falling relaxed at your sides palms facing in. Seems simple enough but it does take a moment to evolve for it is, can be a meditation.
1. Stand totally still.
2. Look straight ahead, balancing right
to left and front to back.
3. Let your arms rest at your sides,
palms facing each other.
4. Both ankles, hips, shoulders and
ears should be in one plane.
5. Balance each foot’s weight, half on
the heel, half on the ball of the foot and
big toe.
Dr. Renee Caillet suggests that if gravi-
ty’s downward force on the foot is divided
into twelve equal parts, then six will be on
the heel, two at the big toe and its meta-
tarsal, and one for each of the remaining
toes and their metatarsals (24).
Practicing this pose will help you
maintain a quieter posture for longer, but
no amount of practice will eliminate the
need for genuine effort to accomplish it.
Breathe quietly in the pose for 30
seconds to one minute.
Oxygen Bar in the Feed your Head smorgasbord 🙃
Remember in your breath practice, inhaling all that yum yum.
In your pranayama practice
Perhaps contemplate~
As Iyengar has explained that inhalation
energizes the body, and exhalation is a matter
of surrender. Exhalation permits the physi-
cal body to release and relax, especially the
central nervous system. In some postures laying down, the
body is well supported by the blankets, and
we attempt to just gently open the breath-
ing apparatus, which is the lungs, the bron-
chial tubes, and the diaphragm. These poses are
also kind to the liver, and in this posture the
breathing itself gently increases blood flow
to the brain. Like sava
In the Ujjayi breath
This pranayama is the process in which
the lungs are fully expanded and the chest is
puffed out like a pigeon.
There is also a sound
created by bringing the breath in along the
upper palate, which sounds similar to the surf
rushing onto the shore. The exhale sounds
like the surf pulling away from the shore.
1. Begin with a smooth exhalation. Completely empty the lungs without pressure.
2. Take a slow, steady, deep breath through
both nostrils creating an “ah” sound. Bring
the breath across the upper palate. The sound
should be audible.
3. Fill the lungs to the top or whatever
is possible. It is important that the eyes stay
down resting near the cheekbones on the in-
halation. Then without retaining the breath
begin the exhalation.
Please note that it has been suggested
that breath retention for those with
MS is not beneficial in the beginning stag-
es of the practice. It can cause the nervous
system to become agitated and overheated.
There is the possibility of too many adverse
effects. Be mindful if you have a lot of inflammatory
issues due to Lupus, Fibro, arthritis etc.
Be present and if there is any discomfort
don't do it or go easy on yourself and
Be Gentle.
4. On the exhalation the breath is released
in a slow and deliberate manner through both
nostrils. The chest should remain as open
as possible. The navel moves gently toward
the spine. Avoid any tension in the neck and
shoulders. The “ah” sound should not have
any rasping or catching sounds. At the end of
the exhalation, without any forcing or pres-
sure, begin the smooth breath.
Begin the 2nd cycle at the end of the
3rd smooth exhalation.
After a time, this practice becomes very
comfortable and the results are very satisfying.
Remember that this particular pranayama can
be done at any time, conditions permitting.
Always Grateful for your time, support and commitment to yourself 👏🫂
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***Sources:
- Bagchi, P.C., Magee, Mike. 1986. Kaulajnana-nirnaya of the The School of Matsyendranatha. Prachya Prakashan.
-Dyczkowski, Mark S.G. (2009). Manthanabhairavatantram Kumarikakhandah (The Section Concerning the Virgin Goddess of the Tantra of the Churning Bhairava In Fourteen Volumes). Indira Gandhi National Center for the Arts and D. K. Printworld Pvt. Ltd.
-Golovkova, Anna A. 2020. ‘The Forgotten Consort: The Goddess and Kāmadeva in the Early Worship of Tripurasundarī’. International Journal of Hindu Studies. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11407-020-09272-6
-Magee, Mike. 2011. The Mysteries of the Red Goddess. Prakasha Publishing.
-Rosati, Paolo E. 2023. ‘Crossing the boundaries of sex, blood and magic in the Tantric cult of Kāmākhyā’ in Acri, Andrea and Rosati, Paolo E. (eds) Tantra, Magic, and Vernacular Religions in Monsoon Asia. Routledge."
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MahayanaPilgrim
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