Glorious Alchemy: Living the Lalitā Sahasranāma

Tattvas Tattva = “that-ness” or “such-ness,” or a principle of Reality. A way of thinking about the descent or contraction of Śiva-Śakti into matter. On the spiritual journey, they can be thought of as a map that leads us back home through a reverse process.

The two aspects of the one Reality as Śiva and Śakti are the first two tattvas (see previous chapter). Śiva-Śakti’s creative energy has three modes of operation, which are intention (icchā), knowledge (jñāna) and action (kriyā), which are the next three tattvas. Up until this point, prakāśa-vimarśa are non-separate, where objects of creation are no

Śiva (meaning auspicious) Transcendent. Formless. Ground of being. Devoid of attributes. Nothingness. Prakāśa (illumination).

The Śrīvidyā Mantra Traditionally, the Śrīvidyā lineages, rituals and texts were distinguished by three matas12—kādi, hādi, and sādi.13 They are named so based on the root of the Pañcadaśi, where the mantra begins with the syllables ka, ha, or sa.

Loss is inevitable. We age and lose our youth, our physical and mental abilities, and our loved ones. We can’t seem to keep the clock from ticking or the world from changing. No matter what we do, we can’t have just one side of any duality. Joy will always be accompanied by pain, gain with loss, hope with fear, and so on. This never-ending cycle of

Awakening Self-discovery or enlightenment. Process of reclaiming our true identity as this eternal, unborn Self (note the capital S). Occurs with the shedding of the ego or the small self (note the small s).

We’ve seen before that when vimarśa as Śakti turns toward manifestation, there is a split of the One into three—pramātṛ (subject), prameya (object), and the process of the subject perceiving the object (pramāṇa).

In her many forms, Devī resides in the Śrīcakra, with the nine enclosures (āvaraṇas) representing nine types of borders around her palace in Śrī Nagara15 in the midst of a forest thick with Kadamba trees, which bear highly fragrant flowers that she favors

One of the remarkable features of the LSN is that a variety of meanings can be gleaned from each nāma depending on how we approach it. These meanings may not be evident immediately, but reveal themselves over time, with ongoing practice and bhāvanā