MARTANDA KALI : “Sun” – There’s no escaping the light of the sun. Life on planet Earth is impossible without it. (Even at night, True Blood fans, the sun is present in the form of reflective moonlight.)
This Kali is the landscape of memory. We experience our memories in contexts and settings. The smell of pizza triggers a memory of a cloudy summer day next to a chlorinated pool while wearing a soggy red cotton bathing suit and watching a pretty brown eyed girl with blue lips smile over her blue-raspberry snocone.
The great 10th century yoga philosopher Abhinavagupta writes of this Kali : “Experience of the subject is conditioned by the experience of embodied conditions.” And so she invites you to receive ALL sensual experiences – taste, smell, touch, sight, hearing – just like the Earth receives the sun. That is, FREELY, FULLY and REFLECTIVELY. The combination of the senses drawn inward in meditation create something you want for the sake of your own witchcraft- your 6th sense!
The Shakta (goddess) tantrics are the great pioneers of yoga RASA, the playful engagement of the senses and tastes and flavors of embodiment.
Beginning on Monday, January 24 I’ll lead a 4 week meditation and philosophy series on Rasa theory and practice at Akasha Yoga from 7 – 9p (in NoLiTa on Great Jones Street near the Bowery). Please email easnyc@gmail.com to register.
Eric Stoneberg 