2cd Iniation By Devadassi Sharon/Sukhaswa Suryananda. NOSEX1.TXT *********************************************************************** 2nd Tantric Initiation so called, for chelas of the Kauli school. This is a non-sexual initiation rite, signifies that the basics of Tantric thought as presented by the Guru (spiritual guide, one who dispells darkness) have been grasped and the chela (student, one on the path) is ready for more in-depth instructions. The Kaula Tantra and Mahanirvana Tantra both have this to say: "In the 1st 3 ages this rite was a great secret; men used then to perform it in all secrecy and thus attained Liberation. In the Kali Yuga (present age), the followers of Kula Puja must declare themsevles as such and wehther in the night or the day, should openly be initiated." Some people say that since the Kali Yuga is supposed to be an evil age the rites should be practiced openly, and that Kali, in her mercy, revealed the Tantras for men and women who were full of sin and worldliness and unable to atain Enlightenment any other way. But another interpretation both more ancient and more modern is that Siva/Kali revealed the Tantras only when people poisoned by ascetic dogma were ready to receive them. We should openly declare outselves initiates, and be initiated in the full light of day, as we have nothing to be ashamed of! The body is more than a vehicle or a shell, it is the Temple of the Self and deserves to be given all the respect due to Divinity. This is the Kauli initiated ritual, the "2nd"initiation of Tantra. While it is a non-sexul initiation, its significance is that the chela is ready for the maithuna sadhana, though traditionaly the guru will have more say in when the chela is truly ready for the complete (3rd) Tantrik, sexual initiaton. Guru and chela meet the day before the Kauli Puja is to take place. Honor is paid to Ganesh, the remover of all obsticles and important Tantrik god. Ganesh has the head of an elephant and the body of a man; he is the so of Purvati, who created him of her own will while her Lord Siva was away (according to myth). As a boon to Purvati, Siva granted Ganesh the status of being the 1st deity worshiped by ALL followers of the various Hindu schools and sects. Ganesh brings good fortune and success to those who love him, and is the deity traditionally assigned to the 2nd chakra, controlling the sexual organs and transmutatting of base energy to sexual energy. Blocks of resinous wood are laid in a square shape, the yantra of Ganesh. The wood is brought to life in a symobolic way by layering over it: rice grains (symbolic of bindhu or semen), sandalwood paste (smybolic of fat), essential oils (symbolic of bone marrow), resin (symbolic of flesh), red silk or red yarn (symbolic of life- blood) and finally red cloth, silk or cotton, NOT synthetic fibers (symbolic of flesh). In this way a yantra is created and given a divine form, letting the presence of Ganesh be attracted and his hospitality invoked. A Ganesh-mantra is reited by the guru. 2 of the most common are AUM SRI GANESHAYA NAMAH and AUM GANG GANAPATAYE NAMAH. As the Ganesh mantra is recited, Nyasa is performed on the 6 parts of the body to confer psychic protection and consecreate the chela's body to god. The 6 parts are touched in this order: crown of head, throat, both hands, navel, both feet, and pelvic region. As the Nyasa is perfored, 6 long Sanskrit vowel sounds are vibrated into the mantra. Then is the vital breath of Prana performed by guru and chela together; then the solar-lunar breaths, and finally the complete breath cycle. The Guru keeps close watch on the chela during the prana exercises, and they should fall into sinc with each other if the chela is truely ready for more detailed steps on the path. After the prana has been completed, Ganesh is meditated upon, using the innver visualization skill to let the mind SEE the lord of prosperity in the color of brilliant and radient vermillion, with his third eye open. His four arms are outstretched. With one hand he gives the jnani-mudra sybol of blessing. In his other 3 hands he holds a conch shell, a noose, and an elephant goad. He holds a jar of sweet wine in his curled trunk. The synmbol of the crescent moon is on his forehead, dripping its nectar downward. Coils of serpents wind around his body, kundalini herself dorning him. The meditation should be so deep that the chela and guru can literally see Ganesh and smell the scented ointments and sweet wine that are his. By wathing the chela, the Guru should be able to sense when the meditation on Ganesh has reached its highest state and intuitively signal that puja is to commence. This is mental puja (worship) where chela and Guru offer Ganesh gifts and pay him homage within the mind and heart. The gifts offered to Ganesh in meditation are the five great elements: wine, meat, fish, parched grains, and woman; Ganesh's consort is named Siddhi, and she possesses all occult powers. After this, the chela makes offerings to the Guru to show respect: the non-charged versions of the elements of grains, fish, meat, and sweet wine (or pure spring water). This is the end of the formal pre-initiatory preparation. The following day, the chela bathes in a ritual manner before going to the Asram, and presents sesame seeds and coins to the Guru, symbolic of the destruction of illusions. Gold is traditional but as it's the symbolism that matters, even pennies will do. Meditation is performed in the presence of the Guru in the traditional manner of imagining Brahma, then Visnu, the Siva, the 9 Planets and 16 Divine Mothers, as being born from and drawn back into, one's Self. Then with the right hand a mark is drawn like the lower half of an ellipse. The chela asks the Guru's permission to continue, then makes a solmenn declaration that he or she desires the removal of all obstacles, spiritual refinement, attainment of a long life, health, strength, and prosperity. Then the chela invites the Guru to begin the initiation. The Guru then prepares the Temple with in the Asram and santifies it for the initiation rite. Leaves, fruits, and stringed temple bells should already be hung. The Guru then lights insence, waves the insence cone or stick to the four directions and finally overhead to the ether. A red cloth has been spread on the floor in preparation. Lamps are lit and scented, symbolic of disspelling all traces of darkness. On the red cloth, the guru builds an alter from fresh earth collected specificly for the initiation, 4 fingers high and 1-1/2 cubbits long and wide. The guru then takes powdered rice which has been dyed with saffron, kohl, henna, and other natural substances yellow, red, black, blue, and some left white, then draw a circle with each of the colors. This is called Sarvato Bhadra. The elements are then purified (see 5-M text file available here for exact methods). The jug containing the wine or pure water should be either gold, silver, copper, earth, or brass and it should be placed on top of the Sarvato circle, charged with the Guru's personnal weapon, and a vermillion collored yantra drawn on it by the Guru. After this has been done, 9 coins or gems are placed ito the jug by the chela, and the Guru covers the mouth of the jug with a branch or leaves symbolic of the particular Guru and or chela in this initiation. On top of the branch covering the jug, the Guru places a platter of the same material the jug is made from on top of it, with dried fruits and rice grains on the platter. 2 pieces of natural cloth, such as silk or cotton, are tied to the neck of the jar: white for Siva and red for Sakthi. Mentally, the Guru places ALL five scared elements into the sealed jar: grains, fish, meat, wine, and maithuna sadhana, sacred Tantrik union. Now the jar is considered symboliclly to be filled with the elixer of heaven, the lunar nectar. The Guru again performs Nyasa on the chela and waves lights and insence to atract attention of the divinities. Then the Guru performs the 3 prana exercises which the chela had performed the day before, invoking Kali and worshiping Her. After that, the guru honors the chela by garlanding him or her with red and white flowers and presenting insence, sandlwood paste, etc. as gifts to the chela. The chela recites: KLIM, HRIM, SHRIM over the charged jar, feeling the presence of Kali and her auspisiosness. After that, the Guru says: "Rise, O jar who art Brahman (the one god from which all stems, the un-knoweable), Thou art Divinity and the granter of all success. May my disciple, bathed with Thy waters and leaves, achieve reunion with Thou Brahman." The chela turns to face north and the Guru unseals the jar and sprinkles the chela with the charged wine or water as the chela recites private mantras given to him or her personally, the symbolism of them has been explained and taylored for that chela specifically. The Guru senses and declares the presence of Divine Sakthi, and calls the chela by name. the name is also personlly chosen for the chela's qualities, and the surname ends with "Ananda," being if associated with an Asram, the same surname as that of the Asram's Yogi or Yogini. The chela is now no longer a student, but a brother or a sister, and worships his or her OWN divinity using the mantras and yantras of the deity which is the closest arcetype to his or her heart. The initiate then honors the Guru by offering to him or her the grains, fish, meat, and sweet wine or pure water. Sadhana Maithuna is not performed, this is the 3rd initiation, on a litteral, physical level. Rather, the Maithuna celebrated is the union of the divinity within. Initiate and Initiator or Initiatress share the food and drink, the insence is wavd to close the puja, and the powdered and colorred grains of the circle are gathered up and stored in a container for the Initiate to carry with him or her, as a reminder of the second stage of the journey. Sharon Taylor. This is my first entry into a large library of Tantrik files located at Modem Magick, (619) 447-5010. Myself and Yogini Padma Ushas Suryananda are avilable by modem at that number also.