About this episode
On the last Monday of ?r?vana is an especially sacred day for contemplating the Absolute because it is a culmination four or six weeks of very intense S?dhan? (spiritual practice). As such, as a celebration and consummation, I’d like to discuss something quite poignant: the yoga of grief & fullness.I want to compare some transcendalist schools of Advaita to the T?ntrik approach which emphasizes fullness, especially with regard the full spectrum of flavors (rasa) that arise in Consciousness! We’ll offer some a touching and telling stories of Lord ?iva’s grief, Matsyendran?tha's fall, and the pain and grief of Sarada Devi, Sri Ramakrishna and Swami Vivekananda!Often I feel there can be nothing more important than presenting this profoundly humanizing portraits of our heroes because rather than subtracting from their spirituality , they only add to it. Essentially, I want to talk about an all embracing kind of spirituality that leaves no experience unexplored, no facet untasted: in short, the Advaita of K?l?!. Naturally, we’ll explore the 5 phases of the 12 Krama deities too and Abhinava Gupta’s nava-rasa theory to point to the philosophical complexity and poetry of this position!Many of you will find this lecture someone reminiscent of some our community favorites like: 1. M? K?li's Bowl of Blood | Turning Suffering Into Ecstasy2. M? K?l?'s Non Dual Aspect & Tantrik S?dhan?s to Attain It3. What Does K?l? Really Want?4. and most especially How To Succeed At Tantra & The Worship of The TerribleYou'll notice that in a sense, this is the key teaching or rather the uttama-v?da, highest revelation of our K?l? tradition! This talk also contains elements from another one of my favorites: What Makes Art Spiritual? | Kashmir ShaivismAt the end we offer a very refined spiritual practice for transforming all our pain and grief into an experience of aesthetic rapture or poetic delight! On this auspicious Tuesday, on M?'s sacred day, I lay all of these words as so many flowers at your feet, you who are M? incarnate!
