7 Reasons To Keep Tantra Secret & The Secret World of Kaula Artwork

For the Love of Yoga with Nish the Fish

The world of Yoga is wide and varied. In this podcast, yogi Nish the Fish shares the deeper dimensions of Yoga, Vedanta and Tantra, asking the big questions: why do we practice? What is meditation? What is the purpose of a human life? What is Beauty? What is Death? Nishanth Selvalingam studied various South Asian philosophies with his Shaivite grandfather in an ashram in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and moved to Los Angeles to study philosophy, teach yoga and play guitar in a rock band. Join him and special guests as they explore Yoga, in all its splendours. For more episodes and instruction, and to support this humble offering of the heart, visit me on Patreon: patreon.com/yogawithnish

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For the Love of Yoga with Nish the Fish

7 Reasons To Keep Tantra Secret & The Secret World of Kaula

February 04, 2025 • Nishanth Selvalingam • Season 8 • Episode 120

One of the most secret (and perhaps misunderstood) traditions in Tantra is the Kaula, the path of radical embodiment. "Kaula" which is the adjectival form of the Sanskrit word "kula", means "the body" and as such presents a spiritual approach that divinizes the body, seeing embodiment (along with all the energies thereof like lust and anger and greed) as an opportunity for spiritual progress and not as an obstacle. More esoterically, the "kula", body here refers to the philosophical view that God in Her fullness is "embodied" as this entire Universe. As such, Kaula is a transgressive, radically non-dual, Goddess-oriented Tantrik tradition. Because of this, utmost secrecy is required and so a third connotation of the world "kula" is "family" either biological or spiritual in which these spiritual teachings are offered in strictest confidence.

Over the next few weeks, I want to explore the Kaula with you in both theory and practice and work our way up to study the Adi Yajnya or the "Kaula Ritual" which Abhinava Gupta presents in Chapter 29 of his Tantraloka. This talk is a bit of a soft introduction to the origins of the Kaula and how it fits into the wider context of Indian Tantra.

This lecture follows closely on the heels of the discussion we had last week on Why is Tantra A Secret? We review some of the ideas from that talk and also make a few new points about the value of secrecy.

Also, because this talk was given on the 6th day of Magha Gupta Navaratri, we say a few things about Mātangi Mā, the Tantrik Sarasvatī in order to express our gratitude for Sarasvatī who appears in the form of teacher, teaching and also our desire to learn!|

Jai Mā Nīlā Sarasvatī Ki Jai!

For more detailed instructions for how to perform Kālī pūjā, watch this playlist: https://www.patreon.com/collection/233799

Lectures happen live every Monday at 7pm PST and Friday 10am PST and again Friday at 6pm PST.
Use this link and I will see you there:
https://www.zoom.us/j/7028380815

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