Sublime

Sri Meru is a three-dimensional projection of a Sri Chakra, used in Sri Vidya worship, that figures heavily in Guruji’s life and work. See also “Introduction: The World of Sri Vidya” in The Goddess and the Guru, Volume II.

I especially enjoyed the work of Sir John Woodroffe (1865–1936), a.k.a. “Arthur Avalon,” who—while prominently serving as Chief Justice of the Calcutta High Court in British India—spent his private hours explaining, defending and ultimately practicing in the then widely reviled Hindu religious schools of Shaiva and Shakta Tantrism.

Devipuram—“The Goddess’s Abode”—the temple complex that Guruji had spent more than three decades building up from almost nothing in the rural wilds of eastern India.

am telling you of a happiness that will intoxicate you night and day—you won’t need sense temptations to enthrall you. Discipline your body and your mind. Control your senses. Find God!

Among many others, I draw on the ideas of two spiritual teachers I should mention. One is my friend Douglas Harding, whose unique and inimitable approach sheds light on the Self as Consciousness, which is pure Kashmir Shaivism. The other is the enigmatic 20th-century teacher G. I. Gurdjieff. I met his teachings in my earliest days as a spiritual se