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Vira sadhana in Sri Vidya

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MacLeod

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Vira Bhava is different from Vira sadhana. Vira bhava is applicable across all paths of tantra. The definitions differ from tradition to tradition and text to text. Essentially the tantrika starts at pashu bhava where he/she has little control over the mind and senses and then moves to vira bhava where he/she has great control over mind and senses and then to deva bhava where there is absolute control over mind and senses. The practices in any tradition are intended to take the tantrika step by step from pashu bhava to deva bhava. This is why each person is given different practices at different times.

 

One could be born in any bhava, depending on what one has brought to the current birth.

 

Depending on the tradition you belong to, the practices at each stage will differ. Sri Vidya of course in general seems to have more steps than most other traditions.

 

Vira Sadhana is a euphemism in many texts for Shava sadhana- hence my first response

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  • 2 weeks later...

The division of Kali Kula and Sri Kula is academic and arbitrary. There is Kaula Marga Sri Vidya which does recommend Panchmakaras for Vira sadhaka. Kali Upasana under Sri Vidya is an existing but little known sampradhaya.

 

How many people even know about Medha Samrajya Diksha.

 

Kali Upasana does exist in Gujarat, Rajasthan , Tamil Nadu, Kerala, and Maharashtra. Most of the Western and Indian scholars have studied only Kali Upasana in Bengal. Some of these traditions are very old.

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The division of Kali Kula and Sri Kula is academic and arbitrary. There is Kaula Marga Sri Vidya which does recommend Panchmakaras for Vira sadhaka. Kali Upasana under Sri Vidya is an existing but little known sampradhaya.

 

How many people even know about Medha Samrajya Diksha.

 

Kali Upasana does exist in Gujarat, Rajasthan , Tamil Nadu, Kerala, and Maharashtra. Most of the Western and Indian scholars have studied only Kali Upasana in Bengal. Some of these traditions are very old.

 

Surprisingly, I have come across Sri Vidya upasakas having a "negative" attitude to Kali, though that may be that individual/sampradaya view..

 

You are right- Kali upasana does exist in these states- though it is more rare, hidden and does not have the popularity of this tradition in Bengal. Of course upasana is meant to be hidden in any case. The Nath/Siddha tradition has these in all these regions, though there are some external differences in the case of Nath and Siddhar tradition of South and North.

 

On this topic, one thing the serious aspirant needs to be wary of in most ancient texts is the number of things one can do to go to hell/spend much more time in the cycle - even for the tantrika. I have found this in so many traditions and traditional books, I was surprised. The point is that these warnings were intended to create a certain impression amongst the readers of these texts...which themselves were meant for a certain 'target audience'. Since in a couple of centuries( at the least) the descendants of the target audience(us) would have changed our perspective. Without the living tradition, it is easy to misinterpret these texts.

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The Sri Vidya people you come across on the internet and outside are mostly Brahmins who was evolved a style which confines itself to their orthodox beliefs. They talk a lot about Samayachara and Vamachara like in the . That is their Sampradhaya. Maa Kali does not play a major role there. But there are a number of Kali Upasakas in that tradition also.

 

But even revealing the name of your Upasana Murti is forbidden in most sampradhayas.

 

We have already lost most of the esoteric traditions. Foe example we all have heard of Bhairavi Brahmani the Tantric Guru of Sri Ramakrishna. She was a Vaishnavite Tantrik who was a Bhairavi. Do we know anything about her tradition? Do we have any Vaishnavite Bhairavis in Bengal now? At least I have not seen any in my roaming around meeting Tantriks all over the place.

 

There were millions of Sadhus and Yogis roaming around India a 100 years back. These people also carried their tradition to the places they visited. From Kashmir to Kanyakumari. North to South and South to North. Trailinga Swami was a South Indian. But alas, we have very few of them left now.

 

Even those who are left do not find disciples to carry on the tradition. It is tough and requires years of Upasana.

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Yes- revealing any details of your practice and talking about it to all and sundry is supposed to create obstacles to siddhi( mantra-siddhi- not the powers).

 

I hope and continue hoping that there are many more hidden tantrika- because of all the different paths, these are some of the few where secrecy is obligatory.

 

One of the things which prevent people from talking is the way everyone believes that theirs is the "Raja marga". AND the bad press which accrues to the word tantra and tantrikas.

 

Could Bhairavi be from the Pancharatra tradition - which is an old tantra tradition for Vaishnava ? I heard a story about Gautama muni's curse on brahmins and was struck by the fact that the two paths which seemed to be looked down in that story were Pancharatra and Kapalikas.

 

Times are such that it is not good to reveal even the fact that one is spiritual in many places. People are brought up to worship temporal things.. Tolerance for spirituality itself is low.. So I think it is possible that people have become even more secretive than they were even fifty years back.

 

We have of course the consolation that That which is created can be destroyed, but that which is revealed is not lost for ever. When I myself take another body, I hope that these traditions are around to provide me the same light as they do in this lifetime.

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well, on one hand there is a tendency to keep the rites & information about sadhana secret, but on the other hand, we live in a world of global village- mantras are being recorded and are so easy to download from internet, many texts are being published and research undertaken. There are many paramparas within Sri Vidya, some "vedizated"( if I can say that) some not.

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MacLeod,

Books have always been available with mantras to those who wanted them- long before the invention of the internet- Plus la change....... It is not for nothing that many of the ancient books warn that the mantras therein are not to be chanted without Guru's permission and guidance.

 

The reason for secrecy is because they can be misunderstood, misapplied and misused. Something akin to publishing bomb making techniques. In the wrong hands, they will blow themselves up or blow up others AND if one has such power- one scarcely wants to advertise- especially if one is a true upasaka and have no intention of using them. True seekers are not normally turned away.

 

I am surprised at the orthodox attitude of such parampara. You can call it 'orthodoxised' as opposed to vedizated. The 'Vedas' dont really support such attitudes. Many of the books and traditions which those attitudes come from are from a later period.

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well, on one hand there is a tendency to keep the rites & information about sadhana secret, but on the other hand, we live in a world of global village- mantras are being recorded and are so easy to download from internet, many texts are being published and research undertaken. There are many paramparas within Sri Vidya, some "vedizated"( if I can say that) some not.

There are a number of Sampradhayas which are still passed on from Guru to Shishya. Some of them have some old manuscripts. These will never be known in the popular magazines or the internet. No researcher will get anywhere near these. When you are not bothered about money or fame who cares?

 

If there are no Shishyas the tradition will die. If that is what MAA wants let it be so. The goal of the Upasana is not the perpetuation of the Sampradhaya. The goal of the Guru is to ensure the purity of the Sampradhaya and ensure that unqualified people do not have access to this.

 

The only book which gives a clear idea of the SriVidya tradition of the South India (The Ambal group variety) is the book by Brooks.

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Could Bhairavi be from the Pancharatra tradition - which is an old tantra tradition for Vaishnava ? I heard a story about Gautama muni's curse on brahmins and was struck by the fact that the two paths which seemed to be looked down in that story were Pancharatra and Kapalikas.

 

Times are such that it is not good to reveal even the fact that one is spiritual in many places. People are brought up to worship temporal things.. Tolerance for spirituality itself is low.. So I think it is possible that people have become even more secretive than they were even fifty years back.

 

The Pancaratra tradition is still very much alive in Tamil Nadu.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pa%C3%B1caratra

 

The pancaratra texts of Tamil Nadu do not seem to presribe any esoteric practice. We know that Maa Bhairavi Brahmani made Sri Ramakrishna go through esoteric rituals.

 

I have not read any of the Vaishnava tantra texts like Lakshmi tantra. May be there are other texts which have not been published. Most likely it was only a Guru/shishya sampradhaya whose texts have been lost.

 

It is good not to reveal your spiritual leanings even in temples. A tantrik performing a ritual in a temple will not be liked by the Priests of the temple. And the common man will fall at your feet expecting you to solve all his problems. You are even afraid of wearing the traditional red/saffron.

 

Once Swami Chinamayananda (Chinmaya Mission) remarked "People come to me and ask me to keep my hand on their head. They believe this would solve all their problems. If my hands have that kind of power, would I not be keeping them permanently on my own head."

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  • 2 years later...

I am Sivanand and belong to Samayachara path of SriVidya. As for its meaning:It is anta-sadhana form of worship. To eloborate SriVidya sadhana is mainly of 4 different paths;they are 1.Samaya chara,2.Dakshina chara,3.Kaula chara,4.Vama chara. 3 &4 acharas use pancha Makaaras while 2 follows worship through either SriChakra Meru(3 dimentional) or SriChakra Bhu-prastara(2 dimentional). 1 form of worship is thru inside chakras located in the body,Bija mantras,maalika mantras etc.,

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  • 7 months later...

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