Glorious Alchemy: Living the Lalitā Sahasranāma

When we look at the Tattva map, we see that Śiva-Śakti is characterized by three powers: icchā (will), jñāna (knowledge) and kriyā (action), which are the primordial creative forces. The first three kañcukas are the limitations of these three powers. Icchā becomes limited as rāga, jñāna as vidyā, and kriyā as kalā.

The nāmas pour into the moment-to-moment unfolding of life, which becomes infused with Devī’s radiant presence. Instead of being hindrances to liberation, our challenging life circumstances become the doorways to freedom, and sādhanā becomes a 24/7 activity. Each of the thousand nāmas of the LSN is a mantra. When we invite the nāmas into our inner

While some traditions teach us that we are a part, or a spark of, the Divine, the View of this path is that we are the whole—the One Reality. The LSN is magnificent in its teaching of this path since it begins with the nāma Śrīmāta (see N1) that reveals the contraction of the limitless, non-dual Divine into limitation and duality, and ends with the

The more valuable way to chant it is to understand it in ever-deepening practice so that it transforms us at the most fundamental level. If the LSN is deeply studied and applied in sādhanā and in life itself, no other practice would be needed for liberation. This is the approach explored in this book.

Through the ecstatic self-reflection of prakāśa-vimarśa, the one Reality becomes three: the experiencer (pramātṛ), experience (prameya), and the process of experiencing (pramāṇa), represented by the innermost triangle of the Śrīcakra (see Figure 4 and Chapter 9). Think of it this way: if we consider the bindu to be a point, it becomes two when look

The teaching of the LSN is that lasting happiness is the result of awakening to our true nature, which is the very purpose of human life. Humans are uniquely gifted with the ability to choose beyond instinctual behavior that drives other life forms. We have the capacity to go against the grain of our conditioning that keeps us bound in the ego, mak

Some Śrīvidyā lineages adhere to the requirement for initiation, quoting textual references that support this view. In other Śrīvidyā lineages (including the one into which I’m initiated), the LSN is available to all. The philosophy here is that since the entire universe is Devī’s body (as we will discover), how can anyone be excluded from her embr

Devī resides in the bindu (central point) of the Śrīcakra, seated on an unusual throne. Its four legs are Brahma, Viṣṇu, Rudra, and Íśāna and the seat is Sadāśiva (see N58). Brahma is the creator, Viṣṇu the sustainer, and Rudra, who is a form of Śiva, is the destroyer. Íśāna and Sadāśiva are two other forms of Śiva. Íśāna is the concealer and Sadāś

The Śrīcakra is surrounded by twenty-five other enclosures made of various types of rare gemstones and flora, and is itself made of the exceedingly rare Cintāmaṇi (see N57). Esoterically, Cintāmaṇi is the wish-fulfilling gem, and reference to this hints at the benefit of Śrīvidyā sādhanā—bhoga (enjoyment of material benefits) and yoga (liberation).