What We Share - General Overview
- Shri Ma Kristina Baird
- Mar 26, 2001
- 8 min read
Updated: Aug 24, 2025
The Significance of Āsana Practice at our Ashram
The Kaula Tantra Yoga System is based on the āyurvedic concept of prāṇa (from the Sanskrit root prā, “to fill”), comparable to chi in Chinese five-element medicine, which represents the life energy or life essence. The aim of this yoga practice is to bring one’s prāṇa or chi into personal balance or harmony.
Prāṇa or chi flows through the nāḍīs (from the Sanskrit root nad, “to flow”), which are subtle channels that facilitate the circulation of the life energy or life force. As your life energy comes into balance through the practice of this yoga system, your mind “let’s go” of recurring thoughts, and you immerse yourself in deep meditation. In this homeostasis, your physical, mental and spiritual aspects can begin to unfold.
The practice of the Kaula Tantra Yoga System has similarities to the practice of a mantra, where your mind is engaged with the mantra and does not jump from one thought to the next (the so-called “monkey-mind”). To illustrate this concept, consider the analogy of a caparisoned elephant being led through a market by his mahout. Instead, of being distracted by various objects like an apple and a banana here and there waving its trunk around everywhere, the elephant is given a bamboo stick to carry by its minder, allowing it to walk calmly and with purpose, not being distracted, as it has something to hold on to (see Eknath Easwaran, The Mind and the Elephant Trunk). Similarly, the Kaula Tantra Yoga System helps you focus your mind and cultivate inner peace, leading to a more balanced and harmonious life.
By regularly practicing the Kaula system, one can transcend the linear, judgmental mind or conscious mind and experience a deeper connection to one’s self. This has the overall effect of eradicating past negative karma. You can then also learn to translate this state of every day relaxation in yoga practice in to your everyday living and life becomes much more enjoyable when you can express from your non-linear or wholesome, Absolute and True Self. This is epitomised by śavāsana or corpse pose, where the meditative awareness is dispersed to the whole body. Śavāsana is about detaching from the bodily experience of a physical self to connect with the real self. This is why we say “relax” over and over again in our āsana system, because we are culturing the wholesome self. We are trying to be the no-mind / Zen or zero state. Remember, you are not your body or your mind but your Pure Consciousness!
This immersion in the zero state leads to a deeply experienced state of inner peace that forms the basis for experiencing the Divine within. Without this deeply experienced no-mind state, discussion of Kaula philosophy is only theoretical and integration is impossible. The daily āsana system is thus a necessary precursor to integrating the Kaula teachings of the “Divine as everything.” You must experience yourself as the Blissful Divine to truly know this system.
The Tantras and Key Concepts Explored at our Ashram
While we honour Tantric philosophy as a core part of our teachings, our aim is not to focus on over-intellectualization but rather to nurture one’s innate intelligence and sense of freedom (svātantrya, from the Sanskrit roots sva, “self” and tan, “to stretch,” meaning “Absolute Freedom”).
Our emphasis is on cultivating the true inner self through all the modalities of tantric practice, including: meditation, yoga, ritual, satsangs, chöd (“cutting through” practice), kula (community) living, along with modern tools such as nonviolent communication (NVC) to foster compassionate connection. This integrative path supports the unfolding of one’s Infinite Potential, which is the goal of Tantra. However, this potential cannot be fully realized if one is caught up in excessive intellectualization because the conceptual mind veils the deeper layers of consciousness known as cit. In these subtle realms, direct knowing (pratyakṣa jñāna) arises. Here, individual consciousness opens to the collective unconscious, as described in Jungian thought, and merges with the unified field of consciousness that both nondual traditions and quantum physics suggest, namely, that the self and the Source are One. In Tantra, this is not a theory but a truth to be experienced through meditation, dedicated practice, and quieting of the conceptual mind.
We explore Tantra with you through its key experiential insights: divine play (līlā); the freedom or independent will of consciousness (svātantrya); the recognition of the self as a spark of the Divine, which is only pure consciousness (parāsaṁvit); its self-reflection (bimba-pratibimba); and the embodiment of elevated emotions such as love and compassion. We place emphasis on living these principles in everyday life; treating them not as abstract ideas but as practical and transformative tools. This lived understanding becomes a vital paradigm to break free from the conditioning of modern existence, which often limits the capacity to integrate new awareness and blocks the inner transformation required to become a true Tantric yogi. Studying Tantra, then, is not merely an intellectual pursuit but a journey from fear to freedom. As you change, those around you begin to change as well. If you do not change, you are merely engaging in conceptual thought. But when transformation becomes embodied, you can then teach Tantra from the authority of your direct, lived experience.
Integrating this knowledge, which naturally happens over time, allows one to take responsibility for one’s life (dharma, artha, kāma). The Tantra we teach is not just a philosophy; it’s a timeless life culture. When all this information becomes an inner compass for dissolving limitations, you can begin to express as your True Self, as Svātantrya, “Absolute Freedom.”
“Tantra, as we teach it, drops all the myths. Then you express as yourself. This is the purpose of being. To express as yourself.” (Bhagavan Shanmukha)
Play (līlā)
The concept of “play” or “divine play” (līlā, लीला) is often associated with Kṛṣṇa’s joyful pastimes with the gopīs, the cowherd girls of Vṛndāvana, dancing, singing, and frolicking in the moonlit forests. This image of līlā captures the essence of divine love and ecstatic devotion (bhakti) central to Vaiṣṇava traditions. However, līlā is not confined to Kṛṣṇa’s narratives. It also plays a central role in many Tantric traditions, especially Kashmiri Shaivism (Trika) and Shakta Tantras, such as Śrīvidyā, which venerates Lalitā Tripurasundarī, “the Playful, Transcendent Beauty of the Three Worlds.” In these traditions, the manifestation of the universe itself is seen as a spontaneous, creative expression—a cosmic play—of Shiva’s pure consciousness and the Divine Mother’s creative power (Shakti, “the potential energy,” from the Sanskrit root shāk, शक्, which means “to be able”). This līlā or “sportive play” is not frivolous, but an expression of dynamic unity, where creation and dissolution are aspects of the same eternal rhythm.
In both Kṛṣṇa philosophy and Tantric cosmology, līlā expresses the unfolding of the universe as a dance between pure consciousness (paramaśiva in Shiva Consciousness or paramātman in Kṛṣṇa Consciousness) and creative potential (Śakti or Rādhā). The world itself is a projection of this play. For example, in the rāsalīlā, Kṛṣṇa dances with Rādhā and the gopīs under the moonlight; a divine drama that symbolizes the union of the jīvātman (individual soul), depicted as the gopīs or cowherd girls, with the paramātman (Supreme Soul or Kṛṣṇa). Importantly, without rāsa (Rādhā, the essence of joy), the līlā (Kṛṣṇa, the playful actor) would remain incomplete.
This vision is echoed in the Bhagavad-gītā (7.6), where Kṛṣṇa tells Arjuna:
एतद्योनीनि भूतानि सर्वाणीत्युपधारय |
अहं कृत्स्नस्य जगत: प्रभव: प्रलयस्तथा || ६ ||
etad-yonīni bhūtāni sarvāṇīty upadhāraya |
ahaṁ kṛtsnasya jagataḥ prabhavaḥ pralayas tathā || 6 ||
“Thus, having comprehended that all living entities are born from this [nature of Mine as prakṛti—nature and puruṣa—universal soul]. I am the source of the entire universe—[both] its creation [prabhavaḥ], as well as its dissolution [pralayaḥ].”
In other words, while the material world appears diverse and separate, it is, in essence, a projection of the One Supreme Consciousness, whether as Kṛṣṇa, Shiva, or the Divine Mother. From a nondual perspective, this divine play is not something external or distant. It reflects the very nature of our existence. You are not separate from creation; you are a microcosmic expression of the macrocosmic Whole. Consciousness creates (sṛṣṭi), sustains (sthiti), and dissolves (pralaya) the universe; and this same cycle operates within you. Through the inner play of awareness, your thoughts, perceptions, and experiences mirror the dance of the cosmos. By engaging in Tantric modalities, such as meditation, ritual, yoga, satsang, or chöd, the tantric yogi participates in this play consciously. Eventually, through insight and practice, the tantric yogi realizes their true nature as non-different from the Ultimate Reality (paramātman or paramaśiva). This “involution” is not an escape from the world but an actual return to the deepest truth: that all is One, and that you are That (Nondualism or Monism).
Play (līlā) in Tantric Understanding
“Play” in Kashmiri Shaivism is more usually associated with the following words that are analogous to the word līlā: svātantrya (“Absolute Freedom, autonomy, or sovereign will”), spanda (“vibration, pulsation, or dynamic throb”), kriyā (“action”), ānanda (“bliss—the blissful essence of Shiva’s consciousness”), and vilāsa (“divine sport, dalliance, or amorousness”). Kriyā reflects the effortless, spontaneous action of Shiva’s consciousness, which playfully mirrors the universe as an extension of His Divine Bliss (Ānanda). Vilāsa also refers to an aspect of the Absolute’s projection, which is called vikṣepa śakti (the power of projection, through which the mirroring of the world is possible).
For example, the Spandakārikā-s (ninth century—dates of Indology), which are commentaries on the Śivasūtra-s, by Vasugupta (or his disciple Kallata), interpret Shiva’s eyes as symbolic representations of the divine creative pulsation (spanda) (verse 1.1). While līlā is not explicitly stated, the “opening and closing of the eyes” symbolizes Shiva’s effortless, playful act of manifesting and dissolving the universe through his Shakti.
यस्योन्मेषनिमेषाभ्यां जगतः प्रलयोदयौ |
तं शक्तिचक्रविभवप्रभवं शङ्करं स्तुमः || १ ||
yasyonmeṣa-nimeṣābhyāṁ jagataḥ pralayodayau |
taṁ śakti-cakra-vibhava-prabhavaṁ śaṅkaraṁ stumaḥ || 1 ||
“We praise [stumaḥ] that Śaṅkara [a name of Shiva, the Auspicious One], who is the source [prabhavam] of the manifestation [vibhava)] of the circle [cakra] of energies [Shaktis], by whose opening and closing [of His eyes—unmeṣa-nimeṣābhyām] there is the arising [udaya] and dissolution [pralaya] of the world [of one’s experience].”
In Kashmiri Shaivism, Shiva is seen as the inner Self of all beings, pulsating eternally in the rhythm of spanda or vibration.
Likewise, the Tāṇḍava dance, particularly the Rudra Tāṇḍava (“the fierce aspect of Shiva”) and Ānanda Tāṇḍava (“the dance of bliss”), are expressions of Shiva’s cosmic play or līlā. These dances represent the cycles of creation, preservation, and dissolution, symbolizing the eternal nature of energy and the interconnectedness of all things. The tradition behind the Tāṇḍava dance is immersed in the philosophy of the Shaiva Siddhānta (especially in the region of Chidambaram) and is primarily associated with the deity Naṭarāj (Shiva as the Lord of Dance).
This play is inherently spontaneous and joyful, emphasizing that the eternal cycles of creation, preservation, and dissolution are an expression of Shiva’s inherent bliss and Shakti’s cosmic energy.
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