Day 2 Talk 2: The Anthropology of medieval Śākta Yoga in Textual History and Ritual Practice

Explores medieval Śākta Yoga's anthropology, textual history, and ritual practice, focusing on tantric Shaktism and yogic body models.

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Key Takeaways

Śaktism represents a major, distinct Hindu tradition with deep tantric roots and independent goddess worship.
The 6+1 chakra system is central to Śākta yogic meditation and body visualization practices.
Textual studies and fieldwork complement each other in understanding Śākta ritual and theory.
Śaktism has influenced and been integrated into other Hindu and Buddhist traditions.
Academic discourse often underestimates Śaktism’s complexity and historical significance.

What the video covers

The paper discusses a distinctive Śākta anthropology of tantric Shaktism, focusing on the yogic body model found in medieval texts and rituals.
It highlights the 6+1 chakra system originating in Kashmir and its pan-Indian spread as a key visualization meditation practice.
The relationship and interplay between textual sources and ritual performance in Śākta traditions are examined.
The talk addresses misconceptions about Śaktism as a fringe or adjunct tradition, emphasizing its independent and major role in Hinduism.
Śaktism's permeation into other classical traditions like Shaivism, Vaishnavism, and Buddhism is noted.
The speaker references fieldwork among Kaula yogis in Nepal to illustrate living Śākta practices.
Historical and academic challenges in defining Śaktism and its tantric dimensions are discussed.
The talk includes analysis of the NR Tantra, a 9th-century text, and its significance in shaping Śākta yogic anthropology.
The conference theme of yoga as a middle ground between text and ritual is explored through Śākta visualization meditation.
The talk situates Śaktism within broader Hindu devotional traditions and highlights its global religious historical impact.

Chapters

What is the main focus of the talk on medieval Śākta Yoga?

The talk focuses on the distinctive Śākta anthropology of tantric Shaktism, particularly the yogic body model and the 6+1 chakra system as found in medieval texts and ritual practice.

How does the speaker view the relationship between text and ritual in Śākta traditions?

The speaker suggests that yoga as visualization meditation forms a middle ground between textual theory and ritual practice, highlighting their dynamic interplay in Śākta traditions.

What misconceptions about Śaktism does the talk address?

The talk challenges the idea that Śaktism is a fringe or adjunct tradition to Shaivism or Vaishnavism, emphasizing its independent status and major historical and religious significance.

Full Transcript — Download SRT & Markdown

Speaker A

So the title of this paper is "The Anthropology of Medieval Shaka Yoga in Textual History and Ritual Practice." Um, I'll focus on what I suggest is a particular and distinctive Shaka anthropology of tantric Shaktism, a particular Shaka model of the yogic body.

Speaker A

that we find in texts and practice and uh we see it uh depicted here in the middle of the screen and perhaps U the earliest example of this is found in the NR Tantra 9th century text which I'm

Speaker A

That we find in texts and practice, and, uh, we see it, uh, depicted here in the middle of the screen. And perhaps the earliest example of this is found in the NR Tantra, a 9th-century text, which I'm currently editing and translating together with my colleague Kevin Flood.

Speaker A

bya the South Indian sha tradition and was eventually exported to the west where it became part and parcel of global religious history however in addition to this focus on uh a medieval text and context I'll also be drawing on

Speaker A

So this Shaka anthropology is aimed at the affirmation and divinization of the body through visualizing meditation in its prototypical form, the 6 plus 1 chakra system, which probably originated in Kashmir, became pan-Indian.

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has suggested as a theme for this very interesting conference my suggestion is that yoga as visualizing meditation forms a kind of Middle Ground between text and ritual and an example uh P lungs perhaps of the interplay and Dynamics between theory

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By the South Indian Sha tradition and was eventually exported to the West, where it became part and parcel of global religious history. However, in addition to this focus on, uh, a medieval text and context, I'll also be drawing on.

Speaker A

and the Shak anthropology I'll first address the question of shaktism and what I mean by uh that term as a follow up on Gavin Flo's excellent keynote lecture so first and foremost uh there's always been independent veneration of a

Speaker A

Some examples of this Shaka anthropology in practice from my fieldwork amongst the yogis from the Kaula tradition in Nepal. I'll do so in an attempt to address the question of synergy, interplay, and overlap between texts and ritual performance in Shaka traditions, as Jan.

Speaker A

traditions and goddess worship what is the goddess in her Singularity uh without a concert was woried so the idea that Shaka Traditions Fringe phenomena extreme forms of tantric practice or that Shaka Traditions um only adjuncts of feminized shiism or vaishnavism uh does not really

Speaker A

Has suggested as a theme for this very interesting conference. My suggestion is that yoga as visualizing meditation forms a kind of middle ground between text and ritual and an example, uh, perhaps of the interplay and dynamics between theory.

Speaker A

to the 2 Century CE that are invoking worship uh to a goddess who is exalted as Supreme and all powerful uh just like shivba or Vishnu however although people in India and Nepal have known this for a very

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And practice. And furthermore, what interests me as a historian of religion and a textual scholar is the question to what extent can fieldwork throw light on textual studies and vice versa. However, before I turn to the text.

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furthermore it should be noted that shaktism is not only a standalone tradition but it has also permeated other classical Traditions apart from shiism such as ramism jism and even Buddhism were strong traditions of Hindu tantric godish worship have been

Speaker A

And the Shaka anthropology, I'll first address the question of Shaktism and what I mean by, uh, that term as a follow-up on Gavin Flood's excellent keynote lecture. So first and foremost, uh, there's always been independent veneration of a.

Speaker A

by uh a Shiva as someone who adheres to a system related to the de Shiva since as Alexis Anderson has pointed out in his famous article on shis and the tantric editions from 1988 a Shiva May well be worshiper of the Goddess rather

Speaker A

Goddess or a multitude of goddesses identified with a single supreme goddess in South Asia and many parts of the subcontinent such as Bengal and Assam and Nepal, as well as South India, uh, and also Rajasthan are home to vibrant Shaka.

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definition of shaktism found in my blackw chapter on Hinduism and the goddess uh namely that the Great Goddess Dei and a network of Shaka traditions in South Asia has been subsumed under the broad category of shaktism that is tantric and

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Traditions and goddess worship. What is the goddess in her singularity, uh, without a concert was worried? So the idea that Shaka traditions fringe phenomena, extreme forms of tantric practice, or that Shaka traditions, um, only adjuncts of feminized Shaism or Vaishnavism, uh, does not really.

Speaker A

confusion that one may encounter in in an academic discourse as found in handbooks introductions companions dictionaries Etc um in South Asia as well as in Europe and in the English speaking World um so uh one M question whether shaktism is a

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Tally with the lived reality of worship in South Asia, both presently and historically. And as an example, I would like to mention Bhansarka, who has shown that there are more than 240 Shaka inscriptions to be found, um, going back.

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it is non-existing so generally speaking we may say that on a conventional level uh there's more or less agreement that shaktism forms one of the major Hindu Traditions next to shis and bism however on an analytical level there's still much confusion and a

Speaker A

To the 2nd century CE that are invoking worship, uh, to a goddess who is exalted as supreme and all-powerful, uh, just like Shiva or Vishnu. However, although people in India and Nepal have known this for a very.

Speaker A

vaisnavism and shiism as one of the major forms of Hinduism practice today and in Wikipedia we have shaktism along with shiism and vavis as one of the primary schools of devotional Hinduism and here we have an example from Ax Mel's uh introduction to to

Speaker A

Long time, there's still an inconsistency within the academic discourse on Hinduism, um, where it is still important to demonstrate, uh, and argue that Shaktism, uh, exists as a distinct tradition and represents a major historical development in South Asia and beyond.

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Chism and in uh research history this relationship between tantrism and shaktism has often been illustrated by two circles so here we have an example of uh two coinciding Circles of tantrism and shaktism so the broader circle is tantrism tantric

Speaker A

Furthermore, it should be noted that Shaktism is not only a standalone tradition but it has also permeated other classical traditions apart from Shaism, such as Ramism, Jism, and even Buddhism, where strong traditions of Hindu tantric goddess worship have been.

Speaker A

as suggested uh and two intersecting but not coinciding circles uh coinciding circles and then uh the Two River models where shiism and shaktism may be seen as two rivers meeting in the second half of the first Millennium C so when when looking at conceptual

Speaker A

Incorporated. However, in this paper, I will only focus on the Hindu dimension mentioned of Shaktism. So when turning to the definition of Shaktism in an academic context, one could make the point that, uh, Shaism may be better defined.

Speaker A

described as Hinduism arrived at its last and worst stage of medieval development so they all became majores and this meant that the study of both shaktism and tantrism uh was neglected by indology U and it caused a lot of

Speaker A

By, uh, a Shaiva as someone who adheres to a system related to the deity Shiva, since, as Alexis Anderson has pointed out in his famous article on Shaivas and the tantric editions from 1988, a Shaiva may well be a worshiper of the goddess rather.

Speaker A

imprecision of these two Notions which we inherited from a time when the tantric text was yet little known and when we had not yet realized the extent of the tantric phenomenon further knowledge and the resulting Fuller grasp of the two Notions of

Speaker A

Than Shiva. However, although Shaktism is often less easy to define than Vaishnavism and Shaism, uh, it may actually be meaningful and defined by its very object of ritual and meditation, uh, so I would therefore suggest the following addition to the.

Speaker A

as being uh not synonyms but two separate things um uh originally um however in the second half of the first Millennium C these two circles they they met these Traditions uh as two uh streams of rivers uh met and resulted in two

Speaker A

Definition of Shaktism found in my Blackwell chapter on Hinduism and the goddess, uh, namely that the Great Goddess Devi and a network of Shaka traditions in South Asia has been subsumed under the broad category of Shaktism that is tantric and.

Speaker A

building of Hinduism and this cha Model results U also in a a highly complex model of Hinduism uh consisting of uh three or four major Hindu Traditions uh three major forms of religion and different modes of religious activity

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Non-tantric traditions focusing on a goddess or group of goddesses with a tendency to elevate and identify one goddess as Shakti, as power or force with ultimate reality and as the main object of worship and meditation. However, uh, here we have some examples of the.

Speaker A

more accurate understanding that allows for an accumulation of complexity and also allows one to point out and throw light on the problem areas uh such as the area of confusion that is shown here as a circle in the middle namely the

Speaker A

Confusion that one may encounter in, in an academic discourse as found in handbooks, introductions, companions, dictionaries, etc., um, in South Asia as well as in Europe and in the English-speaking world, um, so, uh, one may question whether Shaktism is a.

Speaker A

resource on the mapping of the tantric Traditions as well uh from uh earlier research where we have the two coinciding or overlapping circles in his 1988 article to the two intersecting uh but not overlapping circles in his latest research as he expressed it in a

Speaker A

Major Hindu tradition, if it is, uh, simply a fringe phenomenon, a medieval subsect of Shaism, if it is a kind of feminized Shaism or even Hindu tantrism par excellence. While some would argue that there's no such thing as Shaktism, that.

Speaker A

of later sha practitioners but it is also a very archaic and independent Shaka tradition from the outside which has been preserved in spite of various attempts at reformation and assimilation um so this may indeed be seen as a confirmation of Helm fop's U

Speaker A

It is non-existing. So generally speaking, we may say that on a conventional level, uh, there's more or less agreement that Shaktism forms one of the major Hindu traditions next to Shaism and Vaishnavism. However, on an analytical level, there's still much confusion and a.

Speaker A

characteristics uh distinguishing it from tantric sh shiism uh that have already been mentioned by Gavin flood in his keynote so uh we we find here um er ritual blood offerings Supernatural Powers initiation through alcohol and the Dy female coner

Speaker A

Tendency to reduce Shaktism to a subsect of tantric Shaivism. So here we have two examples of Shaktism as a major Hindu tradition on a conventional level. This is from the, uh, from Merriam-Webster dictionary, um, where Shaktism is, um, listed together with.

Speaker A

as hardcore tantal but it may in fact in in this context be considered hardcore Shaka U and as well as the blood offerings are significant so this um uh Shaka ritual system was preserved within tantri Chism in the mant mara as the Kul

Speaker A

Vaishnavism and Shaivism as one of the major forms of Hinduism practiced today. And in Wikipedia, we have Shaktism along with Shaivism and Vaishnavism as one of the primary schools of devotional Hinduism. And here we have an example from Axel Michaels' uh, introduction to.

Speaker A

uh neotantric form uh miring the shakata prevalent in in Bengal at at the time so these Traditions um the tantri traditions and Shaka tantric Traditions are among some of the most complex challenging and influential forms of religion in South Asia in the words of

Speaker A

Hinduism past and present, uh, excellent introduction. Um, however, here Shaktism has suddenly disappeared as a major Hindu tradition. There are only two major Hindu traditions, Vaishnavism and Shaivism, uh, and we find Shaktism reduced to a small subsect under sectarian.

Speaker A

coined by uh Alexis serson from the 5th to the 13th century where tantri shis was the mainstream religion in India and after this we see a tantric Renaissance uh in Nepal under the malas um from the 13th to the 18th century and

Speaker A

Shaivism. And in, uh, research history, this relationship between tantrism and Shaktism has often been illustrated by two circles. So here we have an example of, uh, two coinciding circles of tantrism and Shaktism. So the broader circle is tantrism, tantric.

Speaker A

a central role in the tantric universe and it does so as well in tantric shaktism where apart from having the goddess as Shakti as the object of ritual and meditation we also find a striking focus on a particular Shaka

Speaker A

Uh, Shaivism, and within that we find Shaktism. And here we have a lot of other circles, uh, throughout, uh, research history exemplifying the relationship between Shaktism and tantrism from, uh, tantrism and Shaktism as synonyms, really one circle, uh, to two separate circles, as.

Speaker A

universe experienced as a field of energy in which the body is immersed the body is part of the universe reflecting its structure Supernatural forces and deities are present animating the body and connecting it with the cosmos and a

Speaker A

Suggested, uh, and two intersecting but not coinciding circles, coinciding circles, and then, uh, the two river models where Shaivism and Shaktism may be seen as two rivers meeting in the second half of the first millennium CE. So when, when looking at conceptual.

Speaker A

point of view so this what this lecture maybe taken as an example of at the same time uh scholarship on the yogic body Marx uh research theum as has been pointed out by mson and single son um the scholarship on the yogi body is

Speaker A

History in a Western academic context, we find that the origin of this confusion may be traced back to Monier Williams, who coined the two isms of Shaktism and Tantrism in 1877, and unfortunately he took these two neologisms as synonyms for what he.

Speaker A

earliest sources in relation to the Shakra model of the yogic body namely the NRA Tantra the Tantra of the eye which was an important shakas Sha in Kashmir and Nepal dating from around the early 9th century and widely

Speaker A

Described as Hinduism arrived at its last and worst stage of medieval development. So they all became majores, and this meant that the study of both Shaktism and Tantrism, uh, was neglected by Indology, and it caused a lot of.

Speaker A

the nro Tantra occupies a middle ground and claims universality as a Salva Tantra or writing the distinctions between the Orthodox viic scriptures the Sha Santa the mantara and the Kula Mara as well as divisions outside of shiism so interestingly uh the text has

Speaker A

Confusion, as the grand old man of tantric studies, André Padoux, wrote in 1981, uh, concerning the relationship between Shaktism and Tantrism: The difficulty in defining the relationship between Tantrism and Shaktism is in fact due largely to the.

Speaker A

incorporation of the Shaka Traditions into shiism and the nature Tantra may be the earliest known Tantra to mention the Kula amnaya or tantri goddess worship as we see here in a reference from um chapter 12 so now I

Speaker A

Imprecision of these two notions, which we inherited from a time when the tantric text was yet little known and when we had not yet realized the extent of the tantric phenomenon. Further knowledge and the resulting fuller grasp of the two notions of.

Speaker A

chapter on subtle visualizing meditation uh as we see here uh so it's the first uh Tantra to teach a system of six bodly centers uh which the meditating Yogi is supposed to pierce with his inherent power or Shakti which

Speaker A

Tantrism and Shaktism will help clear the confusion. It may even make the problem disappear. Um, so going back to the circles and Gavin Flood's keynote, uh, our suggestion is that glas.

Speaker A

just read a bit from this remarkable passage so now I will tell you about the excellent Supreme subtle visualizing meditation which comprises the six chakras the 16 supports the three focal points and the five voids the 12 nuts

Speaker A

the three powers the shakes the path of the three luminaries and three channels the text here presents an an early Shaka appropriation of different older yogic models of Nots the grandies supports the artar Etc foregrounding the central channel the Shuma and the notion

Speaker A

of how the yogi causes the ascent of his inner power as an early form of Kundalini Yoga uh so what we get is a highly complex and esoteric Shaka yogic model of the human as David White has suggested it is perhaps one of the most

Speaker A

complex and difficult serologies that we have ever encountered in the history of religions and here we have a later nipp depiction of s Shak anthropology from around the 811 CE uh this yogic body is overrun by a host of channels or systems of nadis

Speaker A

rivers through which the Divine nectar the amorita can flow and turn the body into a Divine body so the power or Shakti is made to flow in the central channel the suuma channel between the two channels of exhalation and inhalation that were

Speaker A

later known as EA and pinka um furthermore uh the Yogi's uh inner power Shakti was also conceived of in terms of sound or inner vibration here we have n sui the needle of sound and this uh pattern was repeated as James

Speaker A

melison has shown when the visualizing meditation of the Kundalini Yoga model was overlaid onto the physical hat Yoga practices in the 15th century Hat praa by the early NS in combination with liia and NADA yoga The Yoga of

Speaker A

sound so the NR tantras uh chapter on subtle meditation is significant in that it presents two different anthropologies and systems of visualization uh which the tricker commentator Shimara refers to as a cooler system the coola procrea and the tantric system the

Speaker A

Tantra procrea so while the inherent power only Rises up through the shumla channel in the tantric system the same power Rises up in the cooler system and reaches a reservoir of nectar Amita in the head instead of Shiva uh which then

Speaker A

uh drenches the body on its way uh down through multitude of subtle channels the nadis causing somatic joy and immortality and this technique of brining the body is later referred to as Amita plav in the mid 15th century hat

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PR by which the yogi becomes a Divine body breath of fall disease um however we also find this cooler system of am plav repeated at the ending of uh chapter seven such as here that the yogi should visualize the entire

Speaker A

body completely filled with the nectar of the central Channel flowing through the endless channels completely through to the pores of the skin uh so uh the commentator Chim division of chapter 7 is not quite accurate here the the

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Shaka isation of this chapter is is all over you could see um we also learned that the yogi should become of the same Essence as Yogi and he should merge with the perfect condition of yogan via a yogi technique

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known as the sky go and we I'm not quite sure what the reference is here um but we may take this as an example of the station of the NR Tantra and as G FL pointed out in his lecture the path of

Speaker A

the Kola is a path of transcend where the practitioner wishes to become a kerin a mover in the sky of Consciousness so the co procrea system of visualizing meditation forms part of a distinctive Shaka anthropology which is later combined with the

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physiologically fixed model of the six chakra system found in the 10th Century ktia master Tantra of the western Cowa transmission the Pima so here we have the elaboration of the six chakra system in the nro Tantra and I'll just read

Speaker A

this bit so now the six chakra system the shat chakram is told the channel circle is known as birth in the naval is the Supreme Circle known as illusion the yogi chakra is in the heart the place of

Speaker A

the ubah is remembered as splitting and the place of the Bindu is known as rupture while the place of sound is said to be Tranquility the yogi should Pierce all the chakras previously spoken about with the Trident of knowledge so the names of

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the chakras are different but the model is more or less the same including the loation of the chakras except the swana chakra uh just for comparison um here we have uh probably more familiar and standardized version of the chakras from

Speaker A

the 10th Century Kata Tantra and just like the naturo Tantra the Kika matat Tantra contains different versions and visualizations of the chakra systems for example the five chakra system described by Dorothy hitka Salin however in the 11th chapter of the kiamat Tantra we

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find the origins of the classical and widespread six chakra system of hat yoga so in this chapter the six chakras are explicitly physiologically fixed so the anos is called the base the aara the swadist arises at the penis manipuraka is in the navl and

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anahata is in the heart ruti is in the region of the throat and AA is between the eyes so this uh standardized version of the sixth chakra system in combination with Kundalini Yoga became prevalent from the 12th century onwards and was

Speaker A

further developed when it was adopted by the south Indian shria goddess tradition in the 14th century Shri viya texted the Shiva sang a seventh chakra was added to the six chakra model and we got the 6+ one chakra model with the

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sahasa PMA or thousand petal Lotus chakra added on top when this model was adopted by two of India's most successful atic orders the tantri N yogis and thetic sasis the Shaka model became pan Indian and was later exported uh to the

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Western World and if we could elaborate that in the 20th century high court judge in the British colonial Administration in Kolkata sergeon RR writing under the N Plum AR abalon decided with the help of local pandits to translate several

Speaker A

tantas into English and one of the most popular and influential arguably of these translations uh were the serpent power from 1919 uh which was based on the 16th century s the sh chakra nupa or explanation investigation of the six

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chakras promoting a Shaka anthropology based on a kinian chakra model very similar to the one found in the shivba Sita so in this way a Shaka anthropology originating in the medieval Indian Kul Mara eventually became part and parcel

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of global religious history and uh all this was of course originally uh esoteric and secret practice knowledge uh only for uh well serious practitioners under the supervision of a of a guru of a teacher so returning to the nature tant

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find at the end of the dialogue in chapter 7 that Shiva as amesa Bava proclaims to his beloved wife and Rich ask me that except for you oh devoted one uh this practice has not been revealed by me to anyone now it has been

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revealed to to you one may add um so on on one hand it is often assumed that religious practice constitutes the basis for the internalization and transmission of religious narratives and conceptions and on the other hand it is

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argued that religious practice should be studied in separation from symbolic systems and generation of meaning however as I've argued with s lerson in an 2018 article uh in German uh yogic practice knowledge or's Vision uh seems highly suitable to illustrate the close

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relationship between yogic theory and practice and therefore also provides a um a strong case for the possibility that field work May flow light on textual studies and vice versa um so one one could ask uh why Nepal and the catmandu valley and um

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there's a historical background for this that in the 13th century we saw the end of chism's period of dominance including the high cultural sism of the Kula Mara due to significant political changes caused by invasions the Delhi altimate

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and introduction of Islam on a large scale after this time the tantric Shaka and shba traditions they lose their political influence in Kashmir and North India uh but they continue to thrive in South India especially in the form of

Speaker A

Shia as well as in Northeast India and Nepal you could say rather in its cicular forms onto the Malak Kings and especially in the 15th to the 18th centuries in what has been referred to as the tantric Renaissance and this is

Speaker A

where our manuscript is from so it's it's not only uh manuscript sources that have been preserved in the mild and uh uh friendly catmandu Valley but also uh several medieval K Traditions such as the cult of trior Su and the

Speaker A

godess Kika um which are still living traditions in theal today when turning to neul U um doing field work uh some of the first few surprises that one encounters uh U could be something like that that all aoris in theal uh do

Speaker A

not come from India and they're not all shivas as has been suggested by some Scholars and some of these agoris um actually identify as Shak agoris and some are from Nepal uh as mentioned the Kika tradition has not died out but is still a living

Speaker A

esoteric tradition in the valley n yogis in Neal have not all exchanged the wild goddesses with mild goddesses and turned to sh such as most na yogis in North India uh but many if not most na yogis in Nepal are actually oriented towards

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the kakula uh the NAT Yogi s is not always separate from the aori Sadaya in Nepal as is usually the case in India and many yogis belong to the rori Sha from Bor um so a first example would be

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chanti Baba Guru living at the tary temple in Toka the oldest Nea town in the valley U uh chandi Baba is a is a teacher and in his practice he's operating with a standard 6+1 chakra system that is physiologically fixed and

Speaker A

he identifies as shakori and is from Nepal in describing his kolini practice he showed me this remarkable picture of a kolini racing gone wrong as he said uh calini yoga is no joke uh the picture is taken just at the moment when the

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Kundalini Shakti uh uh during practice uh went out from the shna channel and actually broke his left uh shoulder and as he pointed out calini yoga is a long and dangerous path and it will take a lifetime of practice to to

Speaker A

master in describing his Kundalini Yoga practice you also mentioned the yogic technique of the skyo the kiter mutra resulting in and amria plav or drenching of the body and he described the technique as a kind of kumaka resulting

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in amria the drinking of Amita so he described the physical sensation of amri overflowing the body all the way out through the pores of the skin beginning with the head and hair then all the way down uh the body and

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uh th this this uh practice would be an index of of the Kola pra system of tantric shaktism rather than the Tantra pra system of tantric shiism and it is indeed text and tradition specific uh although he described his knowledge as

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embodied and representing an oral tradition and and of course he had not heard of of texts such as the nro Tantra Ora Tantra um the late kalib Baba became a disciple of Dr r agori was a Raa aori

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from tarit in Bengal when he was 12 years old he was then sent to Nepal as his kades or place of practice and stayed there for 50 some years on a mountain in till cot so he identified as

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a shakor and told me that it had taken him around 20 to 30 years to learn to practice Kundalini Yoga and each year I visited him his Kundalini Yoga practice at changed slightly so some years uh there was only one chakra some years

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three seven or eight chakras and it depended on uh one's mood and meditation as he explained uh the the chakra systems are just tools for visualization so this understanding uh fits with the more arbitrary numbers of chakras and

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different models of the humans found in earlier texts such as the natur Tantra and um uh and also the K Tantra before the uh standardization and and physiological fixation of the chakras into the 6 plus1 chakra system so according to kalib Baba

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when Kundalini shaki would reach the head chakra it would meet not with sha but with the goddess either in the form of KH durka um mahesar or balam Muki which is one of the mavas in Neal and this maybe point out to to be a

Speaker A

striking resemblance to the Kini yoga of the all tradition School the Sara uh school that is particular to the nas in the Katmandu Valley where the goal for the tantrika is to realize his or her identity with the highest goddess the

Speaker A

mahadei uh which could be in the form of tripura or KH the late Dr chagin Gori was a famous ramadori living at The Bash mishar Gat in the paspa temple area and he described himself as a Shaka and a

Speaker A

worshipper of Khali uh and he told me that he had operated with seven chakras and only seven chakras he had practiced the Chong twisting technique of K mutra until recently and when asked about the result of this technique uh he would say

Speaker A

that it depended on one's disposition and acknowledging that the technique may be used in different contexts for different results however uh the one result that he described was indeed the am plava or printing of the body with nectar as an index of a Shaka

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imaginary it was also argued by Dr chagui and also more generally by not yogis and Shaka G that are met in theal that external ritual uh is more for Gories and internal kin yoga kin yoga is more the practice of n yogis and some

Speaker A

would uh start out as aoris uh prati practicing external ritual and would then go on uh if they qualified to practice internal Kundalini Yoga as a n Yogi uh so so what may we sort of prorally conclude about the

Speaker A

relation between text and ritual in relation to yoga as a visualizing meditation um well we could say that uh the yogi needs through the practice of visualizing meditation to realize his true nature as part of a religiously defined Cosmos so he he participates in

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a shared theory of of Cosmos that is handed down from the Supreme deity of the tradition uh in this case a a female deity through a personal transfer of knowledge in a line of succession from teacher to student a par and this theory

Speaker A

of the cosmos is then internalized through repeated and ritualized yogic practices and codified uh onto the yogic body uh uh one may use the term in textualization of the body so the body is thought to be deified through these

Speaker A

practices and this happens when cosmological levels are are rically identified with parts of the body whereby through cosmological homologies and systems of correspondences a tantric body is created and in this case a Shaka tantric body uh cultural knowledge uh and not

Speaker A

least yogic practice knowledge May thus consist of nonverbal Visionary and bodily experiences that are internalized ritually and very interestingly as the fieldwork shows these L experiences are often closely related to specific textual narratives taxonomies and conceptions that connect the yogic

Speaker A

individual uh with the tradition in a very text specific way and finally um while while the no surviving texts from the original Shaka influx into shiaism namely the sum santin or the the original Shaka kikas uh through the Atara 3 uh we we do find

Speaker A

expressions of the antinomian cult and practices in later texts from the viya p and Kula Mara U and we see that the early Kola phase was dominated by Visionary transgressive Cults based on the creation ground ticism um of these early Shaka kikas who once

Speaker A

widespread from Casmir and Nepal in the North to the Tamil speaking South uh and in the picture here we we see a Gori Guru manikandan from the true goris as they call themselves from Tamil Nadu whom I had the honor to meet at the

Speaker A

uat in kamaka in uh 2019 where he was performing a kipa at night so the true agoris are explicitly Shaka aoris and it is striking how the definition of the original Shara three Shaka kapal influx would fit such a group and indeed

Speaker A

they they belong to an oral tradition and the practice may be said to be embodied knowledge uh but the practice is certainly text and tradition uh specific in many ways um we see here that uh uh that that it corresponds with uh

Speaker A

Kavin fr's uh votation here distinct col ritual system system comprising initiation as possession AIA by the goddess consumption of impure ritual substances the chu prashana the V along with erotic ritual mituna with a consecrated partner the duty blood

Speaker A

sacrifice Bali and Collective orgastic worship mil milaka uh so it's it's interesting and tempting to ask whether their practice could potentially throw light on the earliest influx of Shak Traditions into shaivism thank you

Topics:Śaktismtantric Shaktismmedieval yogayogic bodychakra systemNR TantraKaula traditionvisualization meditationHinduismtext and ritual

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