October 2015 Issue of Sutra Journal

Tantra and the West

October, 2015 by Dr. Sthaneshwar Timalsina

Tantra in the Western imagination stands for exotic and orgasmic rituals coming from India and Tibet that blend sex and meditation. Tantric practice is often compared with pagan animistic rituals that include blood and sex, and the supernatural powers described in Tantric texts are often compared with magic. This does not mean that Tantra has always been painted positively in its homeland. For most native Indians... read more

Interview with Gopi Krishna on Consciousness and Kundalini

October, 2015 by Pandit Gopi Krishna

This interview with Gopi Krishna was conducted in New Delhi in the mid-1970s by a reporter for a UNESCO publication in India.

The mystical vision is like the awareness gained by one when awake. I must make this clear, with all the emphasis at my command and in full conformity to what has been as emphatically stated by mystics of the past that the objective world disappears, like a phantom, in the illuminating blaze of mystical consciousness. read more

How Deepest Tantra Saves the World - Part I

October, 2015 by Dr. Stuart Sovatsky

In this and the next two issues of Sutra Journal, Dr. Stuart Sovatsky discusses the nature and the impact of the Scientia Sexualis, the sex-desire-centric liberated sexuality based in Freudian theories and supported by modern birth control methods, which has also appropriated Indic Ars Eroticas of Kundalini-Tantra and Hatha Yoga in Scientia modes of neo-tantra and neo-yoga read more

Sacred Roots: India's Divine Music

October, 2015 by Naren K. Schreiner

The human voice was recognized to be the original and perfect instrument of sound. When the need for verbal communication arrived and language was created, words merged with vocal sound; lyrical song was born and became a powerful form of expression. The word for musician became bhagavatar, one who sings the praises of the Supreme. In time, instruments were developed in order to accompany or mimic the myriad expressions of vocal music. read more

Ṣaḍ Darśanas - Six Views on Reality

October, 2015 by Dr. Jeffery Long

For many centuries, Indian thinkers have spoken of the ṣaḍ darśana, or six views on reality. This article will explore the concept of darśana, the question of precisely which views are intended when the term ṣaḍ darśana is used, and the six views that have come to be accepted as belonging to this group of perspectives. read more

India: Walking a Razor's Edge

October, 2015 by Philip Goldberg

It is in that context that recent news items from India, about Hindus reconverting Christians, should be understood. It is in large part a backlash against centuries of aggressive conversion, which is viewed by Hindus as religious imperialism. They can’t imagine why anyone would want to coerce another person into abandoning their own traditions and pledging allegiance to a new one. read more

The Buddha in Vedic India

October, 2015 by Dr. Koenraad Elst

Orientalists have started treating Buddhism as a separate religion because they discovered it outside India, without any conspicuous link with India, where Buddhism was not in evidence. At first, they didn’t even know that the Buddha had been an Indian. It had at any rate gone through centuries of development unrelated to anything happening in India at the same time. Therefore, it is understandable that Buddhism was already the object of a separate discipline even before any connection... read more

The Five Actions Of Ayurveda

October, 2015 by Vikram Zutshi

It was a steady flow (Dhara) of cooling liquid streaming down on my forehead through a hole in an earthen pot, placed directly over the head. The liquid is a decoction of buttermilk processed with Amlaki and Cyperus rotundus. The leaves and root of the Cyperus plant have been recommended in Indian Ayurvedic texts for reducing fever and inflammation, digestive disorders, menstrual cramps and other maladies. In traditional Chinese medicine Cyperus was considered... read more

A Conversation with Dr. Richard Miller

October, 2015 by Vikram Zutshi

Yoga Nidra is an ancient and comprehensive approach to meditative self-inquiry, awakening, and enlightenment that leads to the fundamental realization of our essential nondual nature that we share in common with all of life. The aim of this practice is to enable us to realize, or awaken to the Mystery that all life - sentient and insentient - arises from and into which it dissolves and remains not-separate. read more

Who are the Nagas? - A Journey into Embodied Awareness

October, 2015 by Virochana Khalsa

A Naga is a subtle elemental entity with a predominance of watery, somewhat spacious essence who resides primarily within the subtle dimensions of our earth. In such kingdoms reside individuals ranging from relative beginners to masters of almost incomprehensible development expressing through all levels of creation in an enlightened continuum. ... and here we come back to my earlier statement of Nagas having a predominance towards the water element. read more

Yogavasistha II: Reflections on Action and Dispassion

October, 2015 by Mary Hicks

Near the end of the Mahabharata (MB), the author Vyasa says, Whatever is found elsewhere in other texts is also found in this book. Whatever is not found in this book is nowhere else to be found. The Yogavasistha (YV) falls in the genre of MB in terms of the wisdom contained therein. Instead of the historical narratives and genealogies in which these nuggets of wisdom are embedded in the Mahabharata, the YV chooses parables and fanciful stories ... read more

My Journey Making SOLD - In service of a bigger plan…

October, 2015 by Jane Charles

When I received a call from my friend, Director Jeffrey Brown, in early 2007, telling me that he had just read a book that he thought I should read, I had no idea that we would embark on an 8 year + journey together. That book was SOLD, the award-winning novel by Patricia McCormick and we’re about to release the feature film based on the novel in March of 2016. read more

Ananda Coomaraswamy - True Art

October, 2015 by Ananda Coomaraswamy

Primitive man, despite the pressure of his struggle for existence, knew nothing of such merely functional arts. The whole man is naturally a metaphysician, and only later on a philosopher and psychologist, a systematist. His reasoning is by analogy, or in other words by means of an 'adequate symbolism.' As a person rather than an animal he knows immortal though mortal things. read more

On Krishna: Interview with Artist Keshav Venkataraghavan

October, 2015 by Bhagavad Gita, Mirabai, Keshav

You are the primal God, the ancient Spirit, You are the supreme resting place of all the universe, You are the knower, the object of knowledge, and the supreme state. All the universe is pervaded by you.

Includes Interview with Keshav - Our understanding of art is to view it as a whole, not just painting, but the entire gamut of the fine arts – like sculpture, dance, music, architecture, etc. It is to make the artist complete in every sense of the term. read more

Light on the Language of Yoga — Variances in Sanskrit Pronunciation

October, 2015 by Yogi Baba Prem Yogacharya, Veda Visharada

Sanskrit, the language of yoga, is often a mystery to many students of yoga. Yet, it would be correct to say that most students of yoga commonly use Sanskrit terms and the language has permeated the nomenclature of everyday English; as many people are familiar with terms such as OM or Namaste, Guru, Karma or a host of other terms which are from the Sanskrit language. read more

Jyotish and Gaṇeśa

October, 2015 by Freedom Cole

The elephant-headed deity has become loved by many all over the world. He’s big, friendly, sometimes clumsy and he helps us when we are stuck- who wouldn’t love him. Gaṇeśa is also associated with technology, which includes our computers. ... Here, I want to share an astrological technique to look at which position of Gaṇeśa is the most appropriate for an individual to approach him. read more

October 2015 Issue of Sutra Journal

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