About this episode
One of the distinctive features of K?l? p?j? is animal sacrifice. But you know, this is only practice for a much greater sacrifice: the killing of the pa?u, that is, one's own sense of limited self. Notice how Sri Ramakrishna used the same sword that is reserved for the goat sacrifice to offer M? K?l? his own head (the best form of Nara Bali, human sacrifice) and also how later in his s?dhana, he used a subtle, internal sword to cut even his beloved K?l? in half, to discover Her formless aspect? This krama (process) of killing the literal, external animal, then killing the "pa?u" (the animal within) and then finally even killing M? as the "other" or "object of devotion" (in order to recognize Her as the Self) are the three stages of T?ntrik s?dhana that I hope to explore with you a little bit in this talk.You see, to become ?iva you must first kill Brahm? as per the foundational Puranic story of the beheading of Brahm? and the transformation of ?iva into Bhairava, the K?p?lika par excellence. This narrative arc is the age old process of going beyond religion to spirituality, from externalized institutions to the interiority of genuine mysticism. Its at its core a story about transcending the rules and regulations (and above all, externally and societally informed purity codes of the Ved?c?ra all of which at one point can be spirituality productive but eventually become obstacles to intimacy, to true interiorization. And to get to M? you have to then kill ?iva! Otherwise, on what corpse will M? dance? We gave this talk a day or two after the ?y?ma-K?l? p?j? and clearly we're in some kind of bhåva because this might be one of our more controversial, yet most honest and if I may say so, most inspired discussions we've had in a while: Khadgan?th?ya namah! ??ghram! ??grham! Kuru Kuru Sv?h?!M?, idam m?msa ca raktam! M?, esha sa-prad?pa ?irsha! Rudhirapriye, Balipriye, Grhna imam! Grhna imam! Pras?da, pras?da! Siddhi me bhavatu, Dev? Tvat pras?d?n, Vame?var?!Salutations to the performer of the animal sacrifice!Quickly! Quickly! Do it, quickly! May it be an offering!O M?, here is some meat! Here is some blood! Here is the severed head with the burning lamp!O You who are fond of blood and sacrifice,Come! Come and take this and be pleased, Mother!Grant us power and perfection, O Goddess of the Left, By Your grace alone is anything possible. M?Lead us from religion to spiritualityFrom externalized institutions to the interiority of genuine mysticism From purity to powerFrom morality to freedom From the periphery to the centre!Support the showLectures happen live every Monday at 7pm PST and again at Friday 11am PST Use this link and I will see you there:https://www.zoom.us/j/7028380815For more vide
