Shambhavi is the spiritual director of Jaya Kula, a nonprofit organization offering opportunities to learn and practice in the traditions of Trika Shaivism and the Dzogchen. She has also studied meditation with teachers in the Kagyu and Nyingma traditions. Her root Guru is Anandamayi Ma.

Shambhavi emphasizes direct encounters with the wisdom of the heart through the more explicitly devotional teachings and practices of Trika Shaivism and Dzogchen. In addition to offering teachings in spiritual practice and view, Shambhavi is a trained jyotishi and diviner. At one time, Shambhavi taught at Northwestern University. She left academia in 2004 in order to devote herself to practice, writing, and teaching in her spiritual traditions.

Websites:

• jayakula.org
• timemedicine.org
• Bio Site
• Facebook group where people can get the Zoom log in info for Thursday and Sunday satsangs.

Books (Author page on Amazon)

Discussion of this interview in the BatGap Community Facebook Group

Transcript of this interview

Interview recorded June 20, 2022

Video and audio below. Audio also available as a Podcast.

YouTube Video Chapters:

• 00:00:00 – Introduction to Buddha at the Gas Pump and Jaya Kula
• 00:03:39 – Esoteric Connections and Studying Different Traditions
• 00:07:39 – Meeting Anandamayi Ma
• 00:11:55 – Encountering Divine Intelligence
• 00:16:35 – The Artistry of Limitation and Release from Suffering
• 00:21:13 – The Intimate Relationship with a Teacher
• 00:25:27 – The Role of a Teacher in Spiritual Practice
• 00:29:08 – The Friend: A Guiding Wisdom
• 00:33:04 – The Round World vs the Flat World
• 00:37:09 – Continuous Learning and Refinement in Wisdom Traditions
• 00:41:24 – The Direct Path vs the Progressive Path
• 00:45:34 – Sticking with a Spiritual Practice
• 00:49:33 – The Misunderstanding of Instant Enlightenment
• 00:53:38 – Contentment and Yearning
• 00:57:06 – The Privilege of Spiritual Practice (feat. Shambhavi)
• 01:01:11 – The Nature of Self and God
• 01:04:54 – Vrittis: Patterns of the Mind
• 01:08:34 – Shaktipat and Transmission of Enlightenment
• 01:12:38 – Science Fiction and Channeling Experiences
• 01:16:36 – The Revelation of Devotion and Integration
• 01:20:52 – Exploring the realms of science and spirituality
• 01:24:41 – The Intersection of Science and Spirituality
• 01:28:18 – The Journey to Spiritual Awakening
• 01:32:22 – The Connection between the Cosmic Heart and the Individual Heart
• 01:36:29 – Satsang and the Grand City of Manifest Life
• 01:40:23 – Living Without View
• 01:44:38 – The Nature of Reality in Trika Philosophy
• 01:48:19 – The Nuanced View of Illusion in Advaita Vedanta
• 01:52:11 – The Immanence of the Divine
• 01:55:57 – The Surprises of Spiritual Practice
• 01:59:46 – The Reality of the Experience

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Android | Email | TuneIn | RSS | More

Paul Muller-Ortega, Ph.D., the founder of Blue Throat Yoga, is an internationally recognized meditation teacher, and one of the world’s most highly respected academic scholars in the field of Indian Religion and Hindu Tantra.

In this interview, he discusses his work on the Blue Throat Yoga tradition, his views on the nature of reality, and his insights into the process of spiritual awakening. He also talks about his experiences with psychedelics, his thoughts on the role of gurus, and his advice for those who are interested in pursuing a spiritual path.

Paul is passionate and devoted to teaching students how to access their truest Self, and to offer the knowledge base to understand and support that experience. He has led hundreds of meditation retreats, offered a vast array of study courses, translated and provided commentary on many of the most inspired sacred texts of the Śaiva-Śākta tradition, and has personally trained over 40 Ācāryas as Authorized Teachers of Neelakantha Meditation.

Paul is uniquely qualified to offer these potent teachings, drawing upon the synergy of his long career as an academic scholar, his particular capacity to translate complex ideas and concepts into easily accessible and comprehensible understanding, and a personal history of deep meditation and extensive practice in the Śaiva-Śākta Tantra tradition.

Paul Muller-Ortega is the author of the highly acclaimed book, The Triadic Heart of Siva: Kaula Tantricism of Abhinavagupta in the Non-Dual Shaivism of Kashmir (Suny Series, Shaiva Traditions of Kashmir), in which he examines the “Heart” as the mystical core of Consciousness. He is also one of the co-authors of “Meditation Revolution”, as well as numerous scholarly articles on aspects of Tantric Studies.

Website: bluethroatyoga.com

Another book:

• The Philosophy of Sadhana (SUNY Series in Contemporary Continental Philosophy)

Discussion of this interview in the BatGap Community Facebook Group.

Transcript of this interview.

First BatGap interview with Paul.

Interview recorded September 12, 2020

Video and audio below. Audio also available as a Podcast.

YouTube Video Chapters:

• 00:00:00 – Introduction to Buddha at the Gas Pump
• 00:04:45 – Symbolic Forms of Goddesses and the Teacher Prajanaka Abhinavagupta
• 00:08:59 – The Formulation of Nilakanta Meditation
• 00:13:22 – The Meaning and Importance of Mantras
• 00:17:25 – The Activation of Mantras with Consciousness
• 00:21:53 – The Potency and Vibratory Frequency of Consciousness
• 00:26:18 – The Power of Mantra and Introversive Meditation
• 00:31:31 – The Increase of the Ananda Value
• 00:36:03 – The Shaiva Tradition and the Malas
• 00:40:35 – The Activity of Consciousness and Relatively Real Appearances
• 00:44:53 – The Subtle Attitude Towards Creation
• 00:49:59 – The Different Approaches of Renunciates and Householders
• 00:54:05 – Encounters with Ramana Maharshi
• 00:58:12 – The Wave of Freedom and Transformation
• 01:02:18 – Natural Awakening and the Impact of Grace
• 01:06:33 – The Difficulty of Liberated Individuals
• 01:10:38 – Turiya and Turiyatita States
• 01:15:24 – The Divya Chakshu and Celestial Perception
• 01:19:42 – The Value of Substandard Teachers
• 01:23:33 – The Value of Knowledge in Attainment
• 01:27:39 – Understanding the madhya space in meditation
• 01:31:45 – The Sequences of Reality and Evolution
• 01:36:25 – The Yoga Vasishta as a Syncretistic Text
• 01:40:38 – Cult Mentality and Lack of Discrimination in Today’s World
• 01:44:55 – Spiritual Perspectives on Planetary Awakening
• 01:49:19 – The Transformation of Understanding and the Re-blossoming of Spirituality 
• 01:53:39 – The Churning of the Ocean of Milk
• 01:57:51 – Making the Maximum Use of Time 
• 02:01:39 – The Significance of Aum and its Use as a Mantra
• 02:05:35 – The Subtle Levels of Reality
• 02:09:00 – Concluding Remarks

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Android | Email | TuneIn | RSS | More

Sally Kempton is a deeply practiced teacher of meditation and spiritual philosophy, and the author of the books Meditation for the Love of It and Awakening Shakti: as well as the audio course Doorways to the Infinite, recently put out by Sounds True. A former swami in the Saraswati order of India, she has been practicing and teaching devotional contemplative tantra for more than 40 years. Her teaching is powerfully sourced in the eastern meditative traditions of yoga and Kashmir Shaivism, yet highly contemporary in her focus on evolutionary practice. She offers a powerful transmission of meditative experience.

Books:

• Meditation for the Love of It
• Beginning Meditation
• Awakening Shakti: The Transformative Power of the Goddesses of Yoga
• Shakti Meditations
• Doorways to the Infinite: The Art and Practice of Tantric Meditation (audio program)

Website: sallykempton.com

• First BatGap interview with Sally
• Sally Kempton in panel discussion on Kashmir Shaivism

Discussion of this interview in the BatGap Community Facebook Group.

This interview was recorded May 15, 2020, as part of an online conference offered by the Science and Nonduality Conference, held May 17-23, entitled Wisdom in Times of Crisis. The conference has finished, but you may sign up to access all of its content.

Transcript of this interview.

Video and audio below. Audio also available as a Podcast.

YouTube Video Chapters:

• 00:00:00 – Introduction to Buddha at the Gas Pump
• 00:02:21 – Awakening Kundalini and Applying Esoteric Wisdom
• 00:04:05 – Initiations and Retreats in Ancient Cultures
• 00:05:32 – The Experience of Retreat During Lockdown
• 00:07:15 – The Power of Retreat and Inner Reflection
• 00:08:56 – Global Initiation and the Power of Practice
• 00:10:55 – Awakening and Spiritual Transformation amidst Crisis
• 00:12:38 – Consequences of our actions
• 00:14:39 – The Power of a Clarified Mind
• 00:16:25 – Samskara, Vasanas, and Pragnya
• 00:18:09 – Karl Marx’s Analysis of Capitalism
• 00:20:12 – The History of Conspiracy Theories and Real Consequences
• 00:21:46 – The Power of Ritambhara Pragyan
• 00:24:00 – Discerning Truth from Bullshit
• 00:25:53 – Hidden Spiritual Realities and Conspiracy Theories
• 00:27:33 – Clarifying Your Intelligence and Discernment
• 00:29:35 – Lingering Delusions and Finding Truth
• 00:31:34 – Seeking truth moment-to-moment
• 00:33:21 – Maintaining Clarity and Friendships
• 00:35:02 – Embodied Ascension and God’s Will
• 00:36:34 – Discerning our Callings and Obligations
• 00:38:30 – Motivation during the pandemic
• 00:40:04 – The Subtler Levels of Creation
• 00:41:59 – Tension and Forces in the Universe
• 00:43:54 – The Non-dual Shaiva Perspective
• 00:45:55 – Tapping into Grace and Consciousness
• 00:47:34 – Enriching Positive Forces in Creation
• 00:49:19 – The Universal Form of Self-Help
• 00:51:17 – Settling the Mind and Connecting to the Breath
• 00:53:21 – Taking care of yourself during difficult times
• 00:54:58 – The Accumulation of Benefits in Meditation
• 00:56:13 – Wrap Up and Thanks

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Android | Email | TuneIn | RSS | More