Sri Vidya, Yantra, Mantra, Tantra, Mudra, Guru Karunamaya

[Nuralshamal]

Dear Dao Bums,

Today I'll share my experience with "Guru Karunamaya" and his teachings of Sri Vidya (a branch of spiritual practice in Hinduism).

I have tried many things under the sun, but I am extremely positively surprised by the power of his teachings.

Intro to Sri Vidya:
Your body, energy, chakras, aura, psyche etc, is a perfect replica of the universe. This is called the "microcosm" and "macrocosm" idea.

How the energy flows in your chakras and nadis, or energy centers and energy channels, showcases how your mind works, as well as how your life is working (and will work in the future).

If the energy is flowing freely in a particular chakra and its nadis, it means your life is flowing freely in that particular area. E.g. regarding work and money, sexuality and pleasure, power and fame, love and relationships, manifestation and communication, understanding and wisdom, spirituality and oneness with the universe, etc.

By opening your chakras and nadis, you also open the corresponding areas of your life. 

You then progress through the "sri chakra" or "sri yantra". This yantra holds all yantras, all gods and goddesses, all chakras and nadis, and all areas of your life.

The beginning practice:
You start from the outside perimeter, and then work your way through it. You end up in the center, the "bindu", the point, the dot.. The divine

The outside perimeter (bottom left corner, the outermost square line) corresponds to the elephant God "Ganesha" or "Ganapati". This energy corresponds to the root chakra (muladhara chakra), and general stability and trust in your life. This also includes basic needs like work, security, fincances etc.

When you get the deeksha (initiation) into the "ganapati" (another name for Ganesha or the elephant God) you start opening this chakra.

With the shaktipat (energy transmission) of the teacher, you get a boost to your own process. Then you recite 100.000 repetitions of the mantra. This makes the mantras energy "flower" - both in your chakras and nadis, your physical body, as well as your life.

This will give you physical health, heal any problems related to the anus, spine, legs and feet, bring you emotional and mental stability as well as trust, energetically it will open your muladhara chakra and its nadis, in your life it will attract a job to you (if you're looking for one), otherwise it will make your work situation stable.

The scope of continued practice:
Further, you continue this journey of self-healing alongside realization of ever subtler levels of the Divine, inside and out (your body, energy, emotions, mind and soul, as well as your outside life). This is done by working your way through the Sri Yantra.

There's a process for everything: opening chakras and nadis, getting a job, attracting more wealth, removing black magic and evil spirits, controlling the weather, overcoming racism, depression and other negative mental states, and it just goes on and on. The sri yantra contains everything. Also ALL the siddhis (supernatural powers, e.g. auric vision (called divya dristhi or divine sight), controlling the weather, healing of self and others, and so on and so forth).

Ending blessing and prayer:
May you all be blessed, and enjoy good health, long life, prosperity, happiness, wisdom and peace

Edited November 11, 2021 by Nuralshamal

[Nuralshamal]

Dear Dao Bums,

Small update:
A small update on the Sri Vidya front

I've now been practicing daily for about 6 months.

I've done the mantras, used some of the small rituals and pujas, and lastly a 41 day ritual to empower my mantra as well as attract stability and trust.

I must say... It works!

After finishing the 41 day ritual, I immediately started getting several money making opportunities in a way I've never experienced before. People just started contacting me with small money making "gigs", and my normal job stabilized.

Additionnally, having completed so many repetitions of the different mantras, I must say, they work!

Mantras and opening chakras
In the beginning it would take about 50 minutes of mantra repetition of the Ganapati Mantra, then I would feel comfortable warmth in the tailbone / muladhara chakra area, and then with continued repetitions, I felt this warmth circulate up and down my legs as well as my spine in 4 distinct channels (2 down the legs, 2 along the spine).

After 6 months of daily japa (mantra repetition), this chakra opening and nadi circulation happens in 1-2 minutes. The time has simply reduced slowly from 50 minutes, to 45, to 40 etc with continued repetitions, and now it happens very quickly.

The Bala Tripura Sundari Mantra for the Swadistana chakra has gone through a similar development; it now opens the chakra in the front (genital area), in the middle of the body as well as on the back of the sacral bone, and I feel the energy circulate in 6 channels, some down my leg and some up and down my torso.

The next mantra is the Raja Shyamala Mantra for the Heart chakra. It has great and very powerful energy, and it goes straight into the heart. I've not practiced it long enough for the chakra and nadi opening, but I can feel its power and energy.

Guru Karunamaya has also given a particular way of opening all chakras and nadis using mantras. I've only seen it demonstrated, but I can't wait to try it out! I could feel energy in each nadi when the Guru recited the mantras and demonstrated how to do it.

Imagine having mastered all the mantras for all the chakras and nadis! Then you simply meditate for 10-20 minutes, repeat the mantras for all chakras and nadis, and you will open and circulate all your chakras and channels every single day.

Only one Supreme Being, yet many Gods?
I like the intellectual explanation for the meanings of the "Gods and Godesses". Being raised strictly monotheistic, I never understood the Hindu pantheon. My current understanding, after studying Sri Vidya, is that each God/Goddess is simply a particular kind of energy.

Just like you're only one person, yet you use different parts of your body for different tasks. Your hands can work, your feet can walk, your eyes can see, yet they're all part of one, indivisble whole: you.

Similarly, there is only one Supreme Being. All the Gods are simply different types of energies of this one Supreme Being.

I look forward to continuing my Sri Vidya journey
 

[old3bob]

you might consider if you haven't already that besides there being certain energies or principles that there are also certain and actual souls or gods in related realms that the Supreme Being works through. 

Edited April 19, 2022 by old3bob

[ronko]

Hi , just wondering if you are still practicing ?

I am quite interested in taking his online course after reading your posts

[Creation]

Out of curiosity I googled "Online Srividya course" and was shocked by how many I found.  I'm glad to have this recommendation for investigating this beautiful tradition.

[Nuralshamal]

@ronko

Yes! I am still practicing

And I must say, things are progressing!

I can feel the mantras for the muladhara, swadistana, manipura, anahata, vishuddi and agnya chakra starting to work

Those are the mantras I've been initiated into so far, and with continous practice, it really works.

The daily mantras for all chakras and channels are also extremely powerful, yet it takes some time to fully open all channels.

My feeling is that it depends on your karma in each field. The more good karma you have related to a certain chakra and channel, the faster it opens. The more bad karma you have, the longer it takes.

As you open them up through the mantras, you will see and relive whatever bad energy is stuck there. Just let it pass through

@Creation
Thanks for your kind words, I'm glad it's useful

I can definitively vouch for DeviPuram and Guru Karunamaya

Everything I've learnt, I've felt in my body, my energy, my mind and in my "outside material life" (e.g. money, relationships etc).

 

[Nuralshamal]

Dear Dao Bums,

A small update

Some of my ideas about Sri Vidya so far regarding:
1) Gods and what they represent
2) The types of rituals used in Sri Vidya
3) Some of my recent experiences with mantra and rituals and their effect on my life

Each God represents:
Microcosmic level: your chakra and it's related energy channels, body organs, emotions, capacities etc
Mesocosmic level: which areas of your life are connected to that particular energy (e.g. finance, romance, sexuality etc)
Macrocosmic level: supernatural beings of a higher order, some living in the astral world of planet Earth, some living on other planets or starsystems in our galaxy

Ganapati, Ganesha or "The Elephant God" represents the muladhara chakra, root chakra and the related nadis (down the leg, up the back into the brain).

Bala represents the swadistana chakra, and the related nadis down the leg and up the torso. In your life it's related to pleasure, creativity and the sense of self.

Chamunda or Durga represents the navel chakra, which is connected to all the nadis around the navel, and it gives you "ego" power and the ability to achieve in wordly life. You have the power to defend yourself verbally and energetically, and go after what you want and achieve it.

Raja Shyamala represents the heart chakra, and all the nadis around the heart and chest area, and the sense of love, acceptance, joy and power of attraction in your life.

Varahi will give you protection from black magic, and also heal each layer of your body (flesh, blood, muscle, organs, bone, marrow and sexual fluid).

Rituals
There are 3 types of rituals:
Tarpana, which is done using water (a kind of offering of water with mantras)
Puja, which is done using food, incense, lamp, bell etc (representing and embodying the 5 elements during the rituals) offered using mantras.
Homa, which is done using fire (offering into the fire with mantras).

Under these general types, nyasas are used to activate certain points of the body, and mudras are used to represent or activate specific energies.

My recent experiences
The Raja Shyamala mantra and tarpana has profoundly changed my life. There is no comparison between now and before! It's really insane.

For all of my life, people that know me tend to like me, e.g. family, friends, collegues etc.
However! Strangers have always had a completely neutral, sometimes sceptical (slightly negative) attitude towards me at first. Only if they got to know me, or after they got to know me, would their attitude switch from slighty negative or neutral towards positive.

After the Raja Shyamala mantra and tarpana, even complete strangers will have a positive attitude towards me. Strangers have even begun to approach me for small talk in the supermarket, gym or even in the street. 

This has never happened in my life before! (it's not a natural part of my country's culture to do that, like it would be in the US for example. Talking to strangers outside of practical matters or politeness is considered weird).

It's really noticeable and quite peculiar to experience such a switch.

Especially the opposite gender is visibly more attracted to me than before.

Before I would say about 60% of girls would be open to me romantically if I approached them. However, now it's about 90%! They all smile, look at me, try to get eye contact, and feel like talking to me.

It's crazy!

I really feel more and more that Sri Vidya is similar to the magic we all heard about growing up. There are mantras, meditations and rituals, and they effect not only your physical body, energy and mind, they change your outer life too.

I'm steering clear of anything that could override other people's free will (e.g. attraction or sexual magic directed at specific people), and also of course any a-dharmic action (that hurts myself or others, physically or mentally, now or in the future) like cheating.

What I've read is that this "attraction" power should be used for good, guiding others towards the right path (e.g. vegetarianism, being good to oneself and others and all living beings, being loving and compassionate, not stealing, hurting, cheating, lying etc, respecting parents and elders, taking care of family and serving society, giving charity etc).

I just wanted to share with you, that Sri Vidya could potentially allow you to become like the wizards, sorcerers or magicians of the adventures and fairy tales we grew up with. Or have seen in video games

You can heal yourself and others, you can remove black magic and evil entities (at higher levels), you can attract the opposite sex and much more. I was told that at the last level, when you finally get the highest mantra and the rituals for the Sri Yantra and the Meru, you can achieve any thing you want.

You can worship the specific part of the Meru or Sri Yantra which gives more money, makes you more fertile, produce better offspring, gives you power of clairvoyance, changing the weather etc. There are 64 parts of the Sri Yantra or Meru, and each can give you a particular power or benefit in your spiritual or wordly life.

It's like a catalogue, you can "order" what you want more of in your life: money, love, sex, romance, spiritual powers etc.

I look forward to reaching that level, God willing  

Be blessed by the Divine!
 

Edited August 25, 2022 by Nuralshamal

[Nuralshamal]

Update:

Dear Dao Bums,

I would advise anyone wanting to start Sri Vidya Sadhana to opt for Devipuram's program

It's exceptionally good. 

There is a sense of community, cozyness, enjoyment, pleasure and joy when you're learning. You enjoy yourself in the process. It's great

I can't wait to continue with them, and go all the way. 

God bless you!

[forestofclarity]

How does your Sri Vidya experience stack against your Spring Forest qigong, genital weight lifting, Daoist sexual yoga, and at least two other qi or qigong related systems? That seems like a lot of systems. 

[Nuralshamal]

23 hours ago, forestofemptiness said:

How does your Sri Vidya experience stack against your Spring Forest qigong, genital weight lifting, Daoist sexual yoga, and at least two other qi or qigong related systems? That seems like a lot of systems. 

I would split spirituality into:
1) Body related
2) Breath related
3) Mantras
4) Mind related
5) Healing
6) Rituals

Sri Vidya has given me rituals and mantras for all things life-related.

SPQ I've kind of put on the back burner. I tried it, it was good, it worked, but I vibed more with some of the other systems.

SKY gave me meditation and breath.

Master Wu's qigong gave me body and healing.

Sexual qigong is body related, just makes lovemaking more enjoyable and converts it from a qi-depleting activity, to a qi-building experience.

So I really felt like learning each of these systems gave me something different. 

All together, I now feel empowered. No matter what I need, I feel like I know how to get it. No matter if it's body, energy, mind or even life related, I feel like I have the tools.

Want more money? I have the mantras and rituals for it.

Want more peace of mind? I know the meditation

Want better sex? I got some handy skills

Want healing? I know the exercises and mantras for that.

So I bow down before Almighty God, and all of my teachers, for allowing me to use these systems for improving the harmony within my bodies (physical, energy, spiritual), the bodies of my friends and family, as well helping me and my friends and family in staying healthy, happy, whole and materially secure as well as spiritually uplifted.

God bless you

[NaturalFlow]

On 24. 8. 2022 at 10:48 PM, Nuralshamal said:

Dear Dao Bums,

A small update

Some of my ideas about Sri Vidya so far regarding:
1) Gods and what they represent
2) The types of rituals used in Sri Vidya
3) Some of my recent experiences with mantra and rituals and their effect on my life

…

greetings !, your posts made me really curious about Sri Vidya courses from Guru Karunamaya. My main concern is the complexity of the ritualistic part of worship. Would you say it is quite difficult to learn for someone not Indian and with only a little background in puja etc… ?

 

[Nuralshamal]

2 hours ago, NaturalFlow said:

greetings !, your posts made me really curious about Sri Vidya courses from Guru Karunamaya. My main concern is the complexity of the ritualistic part of worship. Would you say it is quite difficult to learn for someone not Indian and with only a little background in puja etc… ?

 

If you're from the first world with a high school education / upper secondary level education, you should be able to manage.

I've been in contact with 3 Sri Vidya teachings so far:
1) Karunamaya,
2) Devipuram (same lineage as Karunamaya, actually Devipuram was founded by Karunamaya's Guru),
3) Sri Vidya Tantra Peedom (different lineage, south India).

The materials from Devipuram were prepared by western people who are also western educated. They must have had a degree in design or something similar, the materials are of exceptional quality. Super clear, beautiful and well-structured. Similar to what you would read from a professional academic in the West - illustrations, set-up, mini-explanations, color-coding, the whole she-bang.

Any person could pick them up and follow them - they're that good.

The materials from Karunamaya are (sorry to say) quite poor. Without the oral explanations and visual demonstrations, you will most likely not be able to just pick them up and do the rituals. However, of course, if you do the online workshops, you can (with some strain).

Sri Vidya Tantra Peedom are somewhere in between - pretty clear in explanations, however they usually don't provide materials for everything - only sometimes. They give the explanations, but it's usually up to you to take notes. If you follow the classes and actually practice what is taught, you will pick it up.

If you're looking to start Sri Vidya, here are my pros and cons for learning from each:

Karunamaya
Pros
Quite frequent online workshops

Cons
Indian-ly strict, not that friendly, loving, understanding nor compassionate from a westerner's viewpoint of a Guru
Little bit expensive
Mid to low-level quality of materials
Cannot really be personally contacted and have one-on-one dialogue for guidance etc
Mostly looking for donations, building his organisation and personal brand, increasing number of followers and making a name for himself

Devipuram
Pros
Exceptional materials
Guru Amritananda (even though passed away physically or in "maha-samadhi") is very high caliber spiritually
When you connect with his energy it's very noticeable and really helps your sadhana
Just 3 levels to get all dikshas and rituals 
The 3D Meru specifically designed by Guru Amritananda is really good and beautiful to use for puja and for meditation
First level is free and online
If you travel to the physical site, you can connect with the energy of a 3D Sri Yantra (Devipuram IS a Sri Yantra)
Level 2 and 3 on site is exceptionally fairly priced, even though of course you will have to physically travel there
Their live teaching is also very good - well-structured, evenly spaced with breaks, focus on hands-on training alongside theory, very good and friendly community - you can feel they're well-educated and used to westerners.

Cons
Don't host programs that frequently, so you have to be patient
You can't really have a one-on-one personal relationship with anyone for on-going guidance in your sadhana, it's all somewhat mechanical teaching-wise "this is the program our guru set up, this is what we teach, nothing more, nothing less" and no space for a personal guru you can talk to, cry with, get guidance and reassurance
Doesn't focus on occult skills or practical applications (prayogas) - everything is a clear-cut system you simply follow in a bhakti (devotional) manner

Sri Vidya Tantra Peedom
Pros
Good technical explanations
FREE 1 year program including initiations
Can be completed online
Focus on occult skills and practical applications (prayogas)

Cons
Depending on where you live it can more or less difficult time-zone-wise for the online courses
You need to be very mindful in how you personally interact with the guru - the pro is that you can indeed contact him directly (whatsapp), however in 90% of cases he will wave you away with standard copy/paste responses - which can be very frustrating. However, every once in a while he gives pretty good and helpful personal feedback - he might even do a prayoga to help you with your issues. I felt this the first or second time I contacted him - he gave a pretty good, helpful and heartful personal response, and after a little while I felt a Narasimha energy come over me (which was an energy we discussed could help me with my issue, however I am not yet initiated in it, and as I live in western country there are no temples to go to). So I felt he did some small Narasimha prayoga and sent me the energy, which I thought was super nice and helpful. So with these high hopes I've contacted him once or twice more (over maybe 1-2 months), however all the other times he waved me away or semi-insulted me. So that was kind of a bummer. I think it depends on whether you get him on a "good day". But compared to the others, at least the possibility of personal contact and help is there, which it is not at all with the others.

Wrap Up
Depending on your personality and likes/dislikes, I would most likely recommend you not to start with Karunamaya, but opt for either Devipuram or Sri Vidya Tantra Peedom.

If you like low-risk high reward, I would recommend you to simply sign up for the free 1 year program starting next month: you can see the 2 posters at the end of this post https://www.thedaobums.com/topic/56087-update-new-experiences-of-sri-vidya/

Then you can try it out and see if you feel it will be worth the wait to do Devipurams 3 levels (1 level online, 2 on-site).

All the best!

Sri Matre Namaha

 

[NaturalFlow]

Hello

On 31. 8. 2024 at 9:19 PM, Nuralshamal said:

If you're from the first world with a high school education / upper secondary level education, you should be able to manage.

I've been in contact with 3 Sri Vidya teachings so far:
1) Karunamaya,
2) Devipuram (same lineage as Karunamaya, actually Devipuram was founded by Karunamaya's Guru),
3) Sri Vidya Tantra Peedom (different lineage, south India).

…..

 

Hello dear Nuralshamal! Wow, that is such a nice, clear, detailed and helpful answer. I really appreciate it and I am grateful for your words and the time you had to spend writing it. It gives me a better starting point. 
 

A little “thank you wish”: May you always be well, happy and prosper

[centertime]

I wonder bija mantras are the same, do they  also open the chakras? 

[Nuralshamal]

18 hours ago, centertime said:

I wonder bija mantras are the same, do they  also open the chakras? 

Hey @centertime,

Bija mantras are like "basic building blocks" of energy.

So yes, repeating the bija mantra of a chakra will activate the energy of that chakra. Bija means seed, it's the seed level of energy.

E.g. 100.000 reps of "lam" will energize your root chakra.

However, deity mantras do more than just that. On top of unblocking your chakra, the effect of repeating the mantra will fructify a whole host of benefits in your material and spiritual life. A deity is a living being.

So bija is a seed in potential, latent and unexpressed form, deity is a full grown, living tree continously bearing a wide variety of sweet and nourishing fruits.

Edited October 1 by Nuralshamal

[Shakti Abby]

I also want to throw in my support for the Devipuram on-line course! They have a very comprehensive setup for beginners. Especially if you're interested in the ritual side of Sri Vidya. I took it a few years ago and what I learned is still a very important part of my sadhana. I ultimately decided to go with a non-dual shaiva tantra group, but proximity was the deciding factor not the quality of teaching.

Edited November 10 by Shakti Abby
mispelling

[Nuralshamal]

Thanks for sharing your 2 cents @Shakti Abby
 

Edited November 12 by Nuralshamal