Could someone clarify if the order of the Nitya Devis for Khadagmala recitation is reversed during Krishna Paksha? Specifically, do we recite from Chitra to Kameshwari in Krishna Paksha, as opposed to the usual order of Kameshwari to Chitra in Shukla Paksha?

Hi Claire. I might’ve been thinking of David Kinsley. would you know if your David Frawley is the same one who wrote Tantric Yoga and the Wisdom Goddesses? That book has been in my library for a couple of years and I’ve not read it, I’m always looking for signs and serendipity to determine what read next. Regarding gurus, in my heart my beloved guru whose selfless and endless efforts for humanity salvaged my life, will always be Vaidyanath Ravi, the founder of this site. I got to talking with him directly when it turned out he knew of my dad from a mutual friend. So that is how I met him, and he by example showed me how to be a human being, and besides the humans who created me, I am most grateful to Ravi Guruji for this life. Through him I met one of my current gurus, Sriram Rengan, who is a sterling devotee of Divine Mother and a veteran Shri vidya practitioner. Sriram graciously taught me of the Bala mantra and Mahaganapathy mantra and later Lalita mantras, and gave me initations in Chennai and US over WhatsApp. I feel that japa of the Shri vidya mantras he gave me had a genuinely very beneficial and stabilizing effect on my life, and japa of the Mahāshodasi mantra even closely correlated with the karma modulating effects discussed in some detail here. His initations felt very caring and also energticlally palpable. I am not sure if he is still doing them, but you can find his contact info on the guru initations page on this site. Ive met other gurus in person in India, of varying qualities and skills, and I keep in touch with one gifted priest and nadi reader of an Agastya and Lopa Mudra temple, but he is extremely focused on external rituals and jyotish even though he is an advanced meditator and can go into useful trance states with some effort. He’s alright. I had one guru who was a very dedicated and focused mystic but he had personal issues with loneliness and other things, and he begin dabbling with Indic occult stuff and sadhanas for lesser beings, and it yielded bad results. I used to be impressed by his abilities at teleporting small objects or the glowing orbs that floated around him, but the lesser beings really got a hold of his mind and he became very mentally Unwell and lost. Willingly parasitized upon. Very disturbing situation to behold. It’s tough to find a good guru who has the shakti and connections to really help and guide you to the extent you may seek. Besides Ravi Guruji and Sriram, I’ve had better luck with people I would call mentors, of which I would include recent commentors here in that category, such as Tivra and Dylan, and over recent years Krishna has given me gems of advice and Santosh provided an excellent mantra after calculating my atma bijas as well, and you can find their info on guru initiations page, although not always are they available. You can be very sure that the manblunder gurus are very genuine and selfless people who serve others as service to Divine Mother, and you would be in good hands with any one of them. However, they are busy people and you may want a guru with more time or closer proximity. When it comes to that, I would suggest, if you are healthy enough, to choose a hatha yoga or pranayama or something like wim hof breathing, and use that to clear your mind and purify your subtle form. The hermeticism methods can work well too. I suggest focus on something like that and try to see the Divine in the face of every person, every creature, and don’t be too hard On yourself either. When you are ready, have faith the right guru will appear. But it is hard. Kaal sarp can be very rough, my Rahu Mahadasha felt like an endless bad dream with lots of disorientation and loss and errors. There are ways to make the most of it. I can try to find some books or websites for you if that’s of interest. There are other paths and systems outside of Hinduism that can make worlds of difference with astrological and phenomenal difficulties

Namaste Dylan. Many thanks for this! It is going to take me some contemplation and new study to properly digest! I surely rambled too much in my question, trying to clarify my mind to myself but at the present moment, my confusion I think is coming from wanting to experience within a certain system, and specifically, to properly cognize Lalitā and Kāmakalā Kālī in that system. I guess that is to say, I am trying to fill in a mental chart from a state of something like dvaitādvaita perception and belief. Straightforwardly, I am trying to harmonize what I have learned from Tivra with some details in the past which were shared by Tripuraghna and Jothi Agaval. Working with very incomplete information and my current gurus do not have much interest in this topic, so on one hand it is likely inconsequential but on the other, I am distracted by confusion and want to reach some clarity. Just in case it may be of use, here’s a few of the comments delivered by Tivra which sets out major facets of the system I am presently trying to experientially explore: “ Namaste Nesh. You seem quite interested in this Goddess Kāmakalā Kālī. Let me clarify your doubts about her. Fire is of the nature of Cause; the Sun is of the nature of Effect; the Moon is of the nature of Cause-Effect. Realize that the Moon is Cause and Effect simultaneously. Realize that the Moon always has a bright half and a dark half, no matter what phase it is in. The bright and dark part is the Fire (Cidagni or Soul Spark) reflected on the Earth as Cause and Effect. The one who is Fire/Cidagni as the “Cause” and the bright part of the Moon is called Lalitā. The one who is Fire/Cidagni as the “Effect” and the dark part of the Moon is called Kāmakalā Kālī. Both are Supreme Queens because they are born of Fire, but Lalitā is above Kāmakalā Kālī because Fire as Cause is superior to Fire as Effect. Lalitā and Kāmakalā Kālī are the highest authorities below Aruṭperuñjōti and Grace Shakti. They guard the door of what is higher. Lalitā rules the Night and Kāmakalā Kālī rules the Day. Lalitā is the Feminine Fire and Kāmakalā Kālī is the Masculine Fire. Lalitā is the transcendental Fire that gives rise to the entire Creation and Kāmakalā Kālī is the Fire immanent and hidden in the Creation that penetrates the Transcendental Fire that is Lalitā. If you observe what I have said well you will see that there is a mutual penetration between Lalitā and Kāmakalā Kālī. If you identify yourself with Kāmakalā Kālī you will penetrate and become Lalitā and then you will become Kāmakalā Kālī again. If you identify yourself with Lalitā you will penetrate and become Kāmakalā Kālī and then you will become Lalitā again. This is continuous. And one who penetrates them penetrates and becomes all.” “ Nesh. Now about the Sun. Dakṣiṇakālī (Sādi) is called the Eve of all Eves. Why? She refuses to lose her individuality and personality, different in each person as the Jīvātmā, even after recognizing Brahman as herself. She has this spirit of “rebellion” in a good sense. All of us humans are called Eve children because of this. We may evolve continuously, but the Gods will always be the same. This is the sense of “rebellion.” Dakṣiṇakālī is pulling the “Moon” towards herself, while Sādi Lalitā is pulling the “Fire” towards herself. Dakṣiṇakālī says to Sādi Lalitā: I want to be like the Fire, but without losing my own individuality and personality. Now about the Moon. The physical body is more complex than people think. Did you know that the tangible, material physical body has a hidden, invisible body? When Siddhas teleport long distances instantly, they absorb the physical body into this secret physical body and place the explicit physical body outside at the desired destination. This secret physical body that human beings possess and inexplicably exist everywhere is Guhyakālī, while Hādi Lalitā is the explicit physical body. When someone travels long distances instantly, it is Hādi Lalitā entering Guhyakālī and coming out anywhere in existence. The physical body has an intelligence and consciousness of its own: this is Guhyakālī. — Namaste Nesh. There is only one God and one Goddess in the Supramental Realm: Aruṭperuñjōti and Grace Shakti. They are everything below them. There is a Goddess called Lalitā Mahātripurasundarī who sits on the lap of Paramaśiva and She herself is Parāśakti. She is in triple form (Kādi, Sādi, Hādi) and is the guardian of the gate leading to the Supramental Realm. This Lalitā emerged from Aruṭperuñjōti as the representative of the Intermediate Realm, that is, She is the Mother of all Gods and is in the form of all Goddesses. Lalitā rules everything below the Supramental Realm, so in War She can invoke any Weapon, Goddess or God: She is invincible. She is the embodiment of Love and Compassion in the Intermediate Realm and you will meet Her before you enter the supramental planes; she will bless you when you reach her. Kādi, Sādi, Hādi are the shining part of the moon and out of these three arise three: Kāmakalākālī (Kādi), Dakṣiṇakālī (Sādi) and Guhyakālī (Hādi). ” If it is not too much trouble, i would be very grateful to read your insights about this

Namaste Nesh. The Yoginīhṛdayam is exclusively devoted to Lalitā, Her Vidyā and the Śrīcakra. The only mention of Kālī therein is in 1.22-24, which describes the āvaraṇas of the Śrīcakra in saṁhārakrama in reference to the divine acts: "In the nine cakras, Trailokyamohana and so forth, O Sureśvarī, are found Nāda, Bindu, Kalā, Jyeṣṭhā, Raudrī then Vāmā, as well as Viṣagnī, Dūtarī, and Sarvānandā, in this order. Nāda and Bindu are undivided, Kālī has the nature of will, Jyeṣṭhā is knowledge, the remaining ones being activity. The Cakra is thus threefold. It is a form of Kāmakalā; its essential nature is expansion." Kālī here is icchāśakti, located in the eight-petaled lotus, Sarvasaṁkṣobhana. Jyeṣṭhā is jñānaśakti as the fourteen triangled enclosure, Sarvasaubhāgyadāyaka. The remaining five - Raudrī, Vāmā, Viṣagnī, Dūtarī, Sarvānandā - embody kriyāśakti and the remaining āvaraṇas. This is one of a series of contemplations on the Śrīcakra from the first chapter of the Yoginīhṛdayam. That it is of the form of Kāmakalā is to say that it is the form of consciousness as the union of Śiva and Śakti. It is taught in the Kāmakalāvilāsa: "The Supreme Śakti is resplendent. She is both the seed and sprout as the manifested union of Śiva and Śakti. She is very subtle. Her form is manifested through the union of the first letter of the alphabet (A) and the vimarśa letter (Ha)." That She is both the seed and the sprout is to say that She is both the cause of all things and is Herself all things as the one Śiva-Śakti. As is said in the Īśvarapratyabhijñāvṛtti: "For an object, the condition of effect is merely its having been made external; thus, both being external and being an effect are such only in relation to a single reality, and, indeed, it is depending on the knowing subject (i.e. the Goddess) that one may speak in practical reality of internal and external. Therefore, effect is produced by the knowing subject and none other." She is the union of the first and last letters of Sanskrit: A and Ha. That is to say, She is simultaneously the transcendent (A) and immanent (Ha) realities, joined together as the one, unitary consciousness which is "I", ahaṁ, the word itself being formed by the conjunction of A and Ha. She is both Śiva and Śakti; śabda and artha; the white and red bindus. Kāmatattva is the Unstruck Sound of consciousness, the "Half of Half of Ha." The letter Ha is the last in the Sanskrit alphabet (excluding Kṣa and Ḻa), and it embodies the Kula, the totality of all manifested things. In that respect, it is the "emission" of the supreme reality in its grossest form. Emission/visarga is both that which impels the unfolding of all things and is itself that unfolding. Half of that is visarga, the last of the vowels. Unlike Ha, visarga is not as clearly enunciated. Hence, it is aptly connected with the subtler form of emission, that of object oriented consciousness still immersed in subjectivity. In Devanagari, it is written as two dots, one above the other. This suggests a kind of "double emission"; on the one hand, it is the effulgence of the energies of consciousness (the vowels) which spill out as the universe, but at the same time this emission does not take place anywhere else. It is always entirely within the supreme reality. This "Half of Ha" is the Full Moon, full to bursting with nectar. Half of that is "Half of Half of Ha." Half of two dots is one dot, so it is simply a bindu, not engaged in any act of manifestation/withdrawal. It is simply the resonance of consciousness, the Unstruck Sound in its purest form, which is self-reflexivity, self-awareness, Parāvāc. It is the New Moon, the inner, unchanging energy which sustains all the others. This Supreme Emission is Passion, the grasping of one's own nature, the Heart of all. It is complete repose in one's true nature - the very nature of pure consciousness - recapitulated at the microcosmic level as the union of man and woman, as also when there is contact between sense objects and the senses. These are the left and right channels, the Moon and Sun, which become fused on account of resting in the delight of subjectivity and so the wonder of consciousness emerges. This is how all things come about, and also how they are withdrawn in the same instant. The Ciñcinīmatasārasamuccaya says: "Kālī, the energy of the Teaching, is Passion, the divine Passion within worldly passion, the act of union which is the radiant energy within all the energies. The energy of the Teaching is said to be enjoyment, spiritual enjoyment within worldly enjoyment."

Why do you mix two traditions, Sri Vidya (Sri Lalita) and KaliKrama (Kali Ma)? Love, surrender to one Deity, why complicate your life? Dig deep to reach the water. All Tantric traditions require initiation into mantras to protect the practitioner. Ask the Mother Goddess to send you a Guru, he will come (knock and it will open for you), if not, then your faith is weak! If not in this life, in the next, there is no hurry. I read somewhere that by making distinctions and looking for them, you simply anger the Great Shakti, She Is One in different guises. As Sri Ramakrishna said: "The Mother prepares different dishes for each child, according to his nature." Most students rush about in search of a Deity, Gurus do not want to understand that everything has its time. If you have chosen one Deity, it happens spontaneously and it is true, if it does not suit you, then the Deity itself will correct and direct you in the direction you need. Trust this process.

Namaskaram sisters and brothers. I am having confusion about the relationship of Lalita mahātripura Sundarī and Kāmakalā Kālī. Specifically this relates to the primacy of these two supreme queens of consciousness. In recent comments and many articles here, we can see the exoteric Śrī Vidyā view, which was especially clarified by Tivra, and says Lalita is the transcendent / Fire as cause / First of the intermediate realm / Feminine causal Fire, while Kāmakalā Kālī is the immanent / Fire as effect / the universal force that penetrates all of Lalita’s Leela / Masculine Fire as the effect of Lalita’s causal station. However, perhaps looking at texts such as Yoginihrdaya and Radha Tantra (which i would need to more closely study to properly cite), one gleans a sense that Kamakala Kali may not be the effect or product of Lalitā but instead perhaps the ultimate icchā śaktī that gives rise to the form of Lalitā, or turns herself into Lalitā. I am totally winging it here to be sure but it’s been on my mind daily so I’m just going to continue. Are there any scriptures or exegesis examing Kāmakalā Kālī as the will to be Lalitā, and perhaps having one phase where she is more primordial to Lalitā and not yet manifested in full structure, and another phase where this Kāmakalā Kālī is fully manifested as the whole effect of Lalitā? This is to say, what if Kāmakalā Kālī has a form that is so pre-emanant that she in this state proceeds even transcendence as we may know that concept? So, Kāmakalā Kālī as something akin to the pre-causal ignition, the Fire behind the Fire? Perhaps the Love that the Fire is born from? I really have not studied enough or experienced enough to be soundly speculating about these things but this matter has been really floating around my thoughts. I wonder if this would necessarily get into non-linear causality, looped genesis etc. From the standpoint of the greatest throne of the intermediate realm, Lalitā seems first, while from the standpoint of the soul spark or its source, perhaps Kāmakalā Kālī is the spark that caused the throne. Desire creating what then gives itself meaning. Could there be a sort of superposition primordial form where both supreme queens of consciousness are one? And a singular impulse, then both “arise” together from “there”? Could there be a form that is like pre-linguistic Will that proceeds Lalitā as structured Will? Or could some phase of Kāmakalā Kālī be traced back as an inverse of Lalitā? Really this all brings to mind the systems where Kāmakalā Kālī is Rakta Guhya Kālī, who both is an emanation of Guhya Kali, and who then goes on the give rise to countless forms of Guhya Kali within the immanent realms? In that case to me it looks like one Goddess who is utterly beyond causality (Guhyakālī) is giving rise to a phase of herself that is also beyond but touching the boundary and igniting the flames of causality (Red Guhyakālī / Kāmakalā Kālī). So perhaps in this case, the eternally singular Guhyakālī takes the form of the manifold of Kāmakalā Kālī, who erupts a potentially infinite number of immanent Guhyakālī forms across all dimensions. I mean I have no clue. Would really appreciate hearing thoughts and guidance about this matter, and any text recommendations.

Dear dylan.. im from sri lanka. I am surrounded by adharmic people in my work place and neighborhood . Pease recommend me a mantra to get rid of them please.

Namaste Wide awake. The general idea of both standing on the shoulders and sitting on a lotus is more or less the same, but exact meaning can differ somewhat depending on the deity. With Siddhilakṣmī there are usually two seats, like you say. They are Time and Death, the world and the Light within which it inheres. It is said in the Jayadrathayāmala Tantra: "If the Wheel of Lakṣmī unfolds within the world, which is the root Kula within the abode of the objects of perception, then the Sound of the supernal Sun is well established." Here we see a description of enlightenment as simultaneously transcendent and immanent. The Sound of the supernal Sun, the resonance of consciousness beyond being and non-being, becomes established in the world of being and non-being through the Wheel of Lakṣmī, turning it into the nectar of immortality. The center of the maṇḍala, represented iconographically as the Goddess at the top of a host of deities, is simultaneously the center and the periphery without contradiction. The world - the maṇḍala - is understood to be Bhairava, the Skeleton of Time, who crowns the hierarchy of deities forming the Goddess' maṇḍala and so represents the totality of all things and their essential nature: "Kālī, the Supreme Goddess who devours the Skeleton, is manifest there. Once having drunk from the vessel of the sprout of the Skeleton born of the nectar of the Sky, She is made to pulsate and to vomit and so brings the universe into being." This can be understood better with reference to this verse from the Bhāvopahārastotram: "The presentation of offerings to you in Mahākāla's skull is the blood of the elements mixed with the Lord." In other words, the elements which comprise the world ("the root Kula within the abode of the objects of perception") are dissolved into their true nature, that is, are recognized as being of the nature of pure consciousness and so are offered as distillations of nectar to the Goddess who is one's essential nature. The sacrificial vessel through which they are offered is the skull of Mahākāla, that is, the thoughtless state through which such recognition comes about and which is itself that recognition. This is the abode of Kālasaṃkarṣiṇī. Mahākāla is the Lord, the great cremation ground which is the all-encompassing awareness in the form of "I am all this." But this state too is dissolved into its Heart, the Goddess. As a result of this, consciousness blossoms. She is camatkāra, the state of wonderous repose in one's own nature. So, Her standing atop Bhairava and other deities represents the state of the supreme reality's dominance, the essential nature of all that exists, both in the sense that She is their source and that into which they are withdrawn. This is both a theological and experiential reality. Sadāśiva is the ultimate level of subject-object reality. All of the deities forming the Lion Throne are pretas, but in the Trika Tantras Sadāśiva is especially so. In the Trika's maṇḍala, he is visualized as an emaciated corpse, laughing loudly as he gazes up towards the three deities who crown the maṇḍala. He is emaciated because he is the height of immanence, the state of "I am this" where the subject takes priority over objectivity (which, at this level, is simply an undivided whole; "this"), and so is devoid as it were of the contents of the more fleshed out reality below. His laughter is the resonance of consciousness, gazing upward because he is established in his essential nature. The prongs of the trident upon which the three Goddesses are seated emerges from his navel. The navel is the place from which Kuṇḍalinī rises. It is Maṇipūra, the City of Jewels, because it is the womb of the energies of the phonemes, the "jewels" of the body of Kuṇḍalinī. Kuṇḍalinī is visarga, the aforementioned blossoming of consciousness which arises due to the churning of Śiva and Śakti, the delightful repose in one's true nature. The lotus has three parts: leaves, stem, and pericarp. These are soma, sūrya, and agni; prameya, pramāṇa, pramātṛ. Unified, they form the seat of the deity. As Śrīvidyācārya Amṛtānanda says: "The seat of the practitioner should be understood as that entire collection of reality levels, from earth to Śiva, upon which the deity of the innate Self whose nature is pure awareness is ever established." And it is said in the Vīrāvali Tantra: "By the union of the Moon and the Sun, the individual soul becomes Pure Being, here Brahmā and the rest who long for liberation dissolve away, so as to achieve liberation." The lotus in particular embodies various levels of reality which correspond to the inaudible resonances following the enunciation of the concluding anusvāra of a bīja, leading up to the mahābindu of the Goddess. Kuṇḍalinī dissolves the 'cause deities' who form the throne, 'liberating' them in the sense that the realities which they embody are dissolved in the unitary resonance of pure consciousness, culminating in the lotus and finally to Lalitā Herself.

Namaste TĪvrajī. Could you comment on the mantra, 'om̐ aim̐ klīm̐ sauḥ hrīm̐ bham̐ bhadrakālyai namaḥ', and how it relates to Bāla?

Can we recite maa siddhalakshmi's dhyaan sloka without initiation ?