The Secret of Sri Vidya Upasana

Hello People,

I have been fortunate enough to be reading about Srividya Upasana of late... Ever since the siddhi of my guru, Sri. Pinaiyur P.N.Narayana SAstrigal.. everything has been a roller coaster ride.. I tried to reason with Amba that my education in Spirituality was far from complete and "guru mama" cannot apparently leave me in dark like this... i realised that this world was full of so many subtle things that one cannot but help to bow down to our venerable forefathers, who have been giving us insights about the "true world" with many of their commentatories, texts and puzzles... and so i reasoned it out that my journey into the spiritual world has only started and just like all the subtle things in this world... my guru is with me in subtle form...

The very day the mortal coil of my guru was cremated.. I was inspired to learn more about the rich legacy of my guru; besides one can really say that i woke up to many things that day... and thankfully, i made friends with some of guru mama's other disciples who are more or less of "my generation".... and i can really say my guru is teaching me things through them. One of them, is now a good friend of mine.. Only Amba knows how a person can listen to all the questions i pose and reply to them with an equivalent amount of patience. And the result, I was given a lot of things to know, by way of websites, references to books and ofcourse, by word of mouth... and what i found out, during the course of my research, has left me more than dumbstruck, call it moonstruck or lightning struck... whatever.. i'm still pinching myself to believe that what i read was the truth.. and it ultimately turns out to be the most complex yet simple truth...paradox, eh??

The Traditions of Sri Vidya

Well, to begin with... there are four traditions known till date in the Shakta Philosophy. They are Samayacharam, Dakshinacharam, Kaulaacharam and Vamacharam. Of these, Samayacharam and Dakshinacharam are the "safest" methods, and strictly adhere to Vedic methods of worship. They focus more on the idols of Amba, the Sri Chakram et al... thus worshipping the macrocosm as something external to oneself. Vamacharam and Kaulacharam are purely tantric methods, and often use modes of worship that may not be entirely sanctioned by the Vedas. Vamacharam may involve "frightening" practices, but it mainly focuses Amba as the Kundalini Shakti ( all the other methods do the same, but vamacharam does it very noticeably). It compulsorily requires guidance and supervision. It might be the most easy rewarding than all the other modes of worship , its like the atomic power.... if it reaches the wrong hands, it is like giving the world's most dangerous atom bomb to the terrorist who's in search of it.

Kaulaacharam in turn, is characterised by the panchamakaras. And this is what my friend explained to me about the panchamakaras :

" The panchamakara (five "m"s) are maithuna (intercourse), madya (liquor), mudra (bean), mamsa (flesh) and matsya (fish). They form part of a rite performed by those of the class called Viras (heroes). According to the tradition, practitioners fall into three classes: divya (divine), vira (heroic) and pashu (beastlike).kaula marga is fully tantric...altho in practice ppl use subsitutes for the 5ms

me: wat are the substitutes?

like they use ginger for matsya/mamsa, grape juice (draksha rasam) for wine , flower for maithuna...few do use the absolute forms... the philosophy behind it is conceptual and wen that is understood no need of anythg...jus the bhavana wud do.... using the 5ms or not using them is based on sampradaya practice.... the vedas dont insist on them"

Tantric Methods do seem completely crazy and for the common man its highly misleading... for any commoner, the panchamakaras would seem to be the greatest vices prevailing in the society.. but these methods require great amount of focus into the philosophy behind them than the rituals themselves. Once you get distracted or disillusioned while following the practices involved, the entire procedure may mean nothing at all. Now to summarise Kaula Marga in one line : the panchamakaras are performed with the bhavana that the person or people involved is Amba herself, and the Cosmic form is being looked at in a microcosmic manner, that is in the other person. In more plain words, it means that all the rituals here are performed , with the philosophy that Amba is present in oneself , and the rituals are being offered as service to the goddess... When this feeling is not there.. the divinity is completely lost ,or to be more plain, it is mere waste. But once the practioner realises the philosophy behind Kaula Marga, it becomes more internal than external, kaula in a later stage proceeds to become more samaya or dakshina.

What do the Traditions mean?

So here comes the ultimate question... what are these traditions yelling out so hoarse that even though the truth is all around us.. we don't identify ourselves to it?

Well.. let me tell you one truth here, religion is only the means to reach the truth... and all religions convey only one truth, " THE ENTIRE UNIVERSE IS WITHIN YOU".... There have been people who misunderstood religion to the worst possible extent, the result is what we see all around us : bloodshed.

So I am just going to elaborate how SriVidya Upasana expounds this truth...

So what is it??

Bhavanopanishad, one of the 108 upanishads, specialises in Shakta Philosophy. It's 37 verses long and explains how the entire universe can be realised in one's mortal sheath. It talks of four oceans in the body which are the four goals in a man's life ( Dharma, Artha Kama, Moksha), the nine chakras ( energy centres) being the support of all universe and The Muladhara being the base from which everything arises. It speaks how the knower of knowledge, the knowledge itself and the student who learns the knowledge aren't different and the realisation of this fact is nothing but the worship of the Sri Chakra or the supreme Goddess Lalita herself.

Saints have always left us with cryptic poems which talk about the secret of Kundalini Shakti which is lying dormant in every human being. Its described as lying in the form of a snake , coiling itself three and a half times, going around the waist ( Manipura),the chest (Anahata) and the neck ( Vishuddhi) energy centres. The realisation of this energy is not an easy job. It requires a great amount of practice accompanied by guidance.. if the procedure involved is wrong things may go hay wire... because kundalini is to be handled with good amount of care and guidance.

The secret of Sri Vidya Upasana is nothing but the secret of the kundalini awakening. Sri Vidya involves a number of mantras, which are very powerful. Constant repetition of these mantras, recited with concentration on the particular energy centre, slowly awakens the Kundalini. Its an arduous task and cannot happen overnight, for a normal person at least.

When the mantras consisting of the magical syllables, which resonate with the energy centres, occupies the concentration of the practitioner and transforms into meditation, the sadhaka can feel the kundalini rising through the energy centres... When it finally reaches and stays at the Sahasrara Chakra, the entire cosmos is imploded within oneself; This is the state of one-ness, the state wherein the knower of knowledge, the knowledge itself and the learner, are not seperate entities but the one and the same, as mentioned in the Bhavanopanishad.At this stage, the sadhaka enjoys supreme happiness ( paramananda),which is very different from the usual happiness a mortal enjoys, realises the self and finds oneness with the Supreme Being. He thus realises the Goddess Lalita, whom he had been worshipping throughout his life . When he lives in this supreme happiness always, attachment to the mortal sheath and the entire world is shed away and the Sadhaka takes the form of Atma Swarupa.

This is how samayacharam works; initially the mantras and yagnas are used, which slowly transforms into meditation and silence and finally into realisation of the supreme goddess.

Kaula Marga in turn, recommends the absolute forms of panchamakaras, which are offered as service to the Goddess.

Kaula Marga provides guidance to the awakening of Kundalini through Maithuna. The reproductive energy is nothing but Kundalini... and arousing it through Maithuna, and make the kundalini shakti to reach the Sahasrara, which results in supreme happiness ( in modern parlance, the climax) is realisation of the Goddess.

Vamacharam uses tantric methods to arouse the Kundalini. This might be "dangerous" and includes many rituals that may be alien to any culture. But ultimately, the goal is accomplished. Kaula and Vama are known to yield quick results, but I would like to stress the fact that the notion behind the rituals ( Bhava) is the soul of all the procedures.

Thus Shakta itself provides four ways through which one can attain the Goddess Lalita Mahatripurasundari. The realisation of the fact that the entire universe in within oneself and living with this consciousness, liberalises us, provides Moksha and the Sadhaka becomes a Jeevan Mukta.

With this basic idea in mind, if we move on to read all the philosophies propagated throughout the world, we might find that all religions speak of this truth, and the fact that they are not different ideologies, but just the million ways through which the Supreme Being can be realised.Ahem, this can just make this world a beautiful place!

-Lalita Priyaa