FAQ
How is this temple connected to the Sri Sri Kamakhya Temple in Assam, India?
Do I have to be Hindu to worship at your temple?
What is Shakta Tantra?
How does one achieve this oneness through Tantra?
What is a guru?
How do I know if a guru is qualified or reputable?
Can I practice Tantra without a guru?
How many gurus should a person have?
I really want to be initiated. Will you initiate me?
I am willing to pay you for initiation/I have been practicing for a long time, will you initiate me?
Will you teach me bija/moola/secret mantras?
Can’t I learn Tantra without a guru? Can’t I teach myself? Isn’t Tantra is about sexual healing and sacred sex?
I want to learn how to worship MAA. What is the best way for me to get started?
I don’t live close enough to come to puja. How else can I get involved?
How is this temple connected to the Sri Sri Kamakhya Temple in Assam, India?
The Sri Kamakhya Mahavidya Mandir was founded in Alameda, California, USA, by a US-born devotee of our Mother Goddess in June 2008. In May 2009, we became incorporated as a non-profit church in the state of California, and in August 2011 were granted 501(c)3 non-profit church status by the U.S. government.
Our temple Acharya is an initiate of the Tantrika Kula of Sri Sri Kamakhya. We operate with the blessing of elders of the Sri Sri Kamakhya Temple in Assam, and our Spiritual Advisory Board is composed of venerable gurus and purnabhisheka adepts of the Tantra tradition of the Sri Sri Kamakhya Temple.
We are blessed to have these spiritual and personal connections; however, we are fully an independent temple with our own distinct religious history, and are not formally affiliated with the Sri Sri Kamakhya Temple in Assam.
Do I have to be Hindu to worship at your temple?
Not at all! We are a Hindu temple but we welcome those of all faiths who wish to join us for all that our worship has to offer. Many people appreciate the Divine Mother but are not Hindus. If you enjoy traditional music, if you love or simply appreciate the Goddess, if you want to participate in traditional worship, or if you have a positive attitude and want to join us, then please do. Our mission is simply to worship and share our passion for Sri Sri Kamakhya and the Dasa Mahavidyas, and to offer whatever support and teaching of worship to sincere devotees that we can. Our temple welcomes everyone – Hindus and non-Hindus from all walks of life – to join us in celebration of the Divine Mother. Our temple worship is in the style and tradition of Sri Sri Kamakhya, and in the spirit of Kamakhya, we openly welcome all.
Shakti is the Goddess, the female principle, power, and energy. A Shakta is one who worships the Goddess and sees the Goddess as the underlying principle of all reality.
Tantra is an ancient spiritual technology for personal liberation and transformation, which uses meditation, ritual, and philosophy to help the practitioner transform and expand her or his awareness. The goal of the Tantric practitioner, called a sadhaka or upasaka, is to achieve permanent, total oneness with the Divine, in a process of personal, non-intellectual realization of that oneness.
Tantra is also traditionally a devotional path, although not necessarily in the manner we may think of in the West as devotional. For Shaktas, the Goddess is the ultimate reality, everything an expression of Her grace. There are many streams of Tantra – Shaiva Tantra worships Shiva as the ultimate reality, Vaishnava Tantra worships the various incarnations of Vishnu (such as Krishna and Rama) as the ultimate reality. For us there is no conflict, because at the core, everything is one, so how we perceive and experience the various expressions of oneness is fairly personal, leading to many paths.
Tantra, however, is a unique tradition with its own methods, and although we acknowledge that there are many different ways of approaching, experiencing, and knowing divinity – regardless of religion or doctrine – we have a specific, rigorous approach toward elevating consciousness toward oneness.
How does one achieve this oneness through Tantra?
The short answer is, there is no shortcut. The Tantric path requires dedication, discipline, humility, courage, and level-headedness. Furthermore, to practice traditional Tantra, one must form a close relationship with a guru in the tradition in which they wish to practice, and be initiated, then practice diligently under the guidance of the guru or gurus on the path.
A guru is more than just a teacher. A guru is a qualified, respected, and reputable guide on the spiritual path who has been empowered to pass on the spiritual lineage through initiation and instruction, and who passes on that lineage authentically and faithfully. The guru should be as free from ego as possible, and willing to take on the responsibilities required of her or him. Contrary to some dogma, a guru may or may not be a “fully realized being” (and in fact many who claim to be enlightened and considered living gods are almost always exposed being very human indeed), but they are well ahead of their disciples on the path, and moving confidently and humbly toward that goal.
A guru has responsibility not only to pass on a lineage faithfully, but also to his or her disciples. The goal of the guru is to train disciples to be better than herself or himself. To that end, both the disciple and guru have responsibilities – the disciple is responsible for diligently studying and practicing in accordance with what is asked of them, and must develop patience and humility in the process. The guru is responsible for making sure that the disciple understands the instruction. The guru is also responsible for the spiritual progress of the disciple, and must ensure adequate progress before moving the disciple to the next level. If either guru or disciple abdicates these responsibilities, either of them or both of them will suffer, and the relationship won’t work.
How do I know if a guru is qualified or reputable?
This can be a tricky thing to sort out, but there are some guidelines.
- You must have a strong connection to your guru. Do they inspire you? One should take a guru only if one wants to emulate and learn from that guru’s practice, attitude, and accomplishment.
- You must spend time with your guru, and your guru must be willing to spend time with you. Traditional learning is passed down orally from guru to disciple. Spending a considerable amount of time with the guru is a way of judging for yourself how qualified, reputable, and compatible they are in relation to your spiritual goals.
- A qualified guru should be able to name their lineage and succession of gurus, and elaborate on their tradition effectively and eloquently. They should show respect to their own gurus and also demonstrate humility and grace.
- The students of a qualified, reputable guru should be able to demonstrate proficiency and knowledge, and should also demonstrate consistent compassion and love to outsiders and newcomers, as well as their fellow initiates.
- A reputable guru will never behave inappropriately with you or with other devotees. This includes sexual misconduct, financial misconduct, and other egregious wrongs. If someone tells you that they will be your guru if you pay them a large sum of money and/or will have sexual relations with them, they are probably not reputable, and you should not take initiation from them. Gurus are human beings, and even the best ones are capable of committing errors. How can you tell a guru is reputable and qualified in this case? They should be held accountable for misconduct, and ideally should hold themselves accountable. A reputable guru will admit wrongdoing, correct the situation fully (rather than just cosmetically), and ensure such a thing does not happen again. This is a grave reminder that all of us must remain diligent on the path, because the ego is wily and slippery!
- A reputable guru should be able to effectively answer your direct questions without evasion or meaningless platitudes. There are some things (such as specific mantras) which are kept very secret to all but initiates, and this is a standard code of conduct. However, a good guru will be able to give you meaningful answers to your questions, and will generally be clear (in one way or another) about the things that they can and cannot talk about. There are very good gurus who are tricksters, who will answer in riddles or give frustratingly simple answers – but these antics are meant to deepen your experience, and if it is the right guru for you, this will be effective for you.
Ultimately, it is a good idea to spend at least a year or more learning from a guru and spending time with them before taking initiation from them. It can be difficult to wait, especially when you feel an emotional impulse to throw yourself into the stream of this guru’s wisdom. But anything worth having is worth waiting for, and if you are meant to study with a particular guru, then a year or more will yield wonderful fruits, even without initiation.
Other traditions, temples, and gurukuls may approach this topic differently, and this information is not meant to disparage any other approach to the tradition of guru-disciple relationship. However, these may be taken as general guidelines, which will apply to everyone and every tradition differently.
Can I practice Tantra without a guru?
Generally speaking, you cannot practice traditional Tantra without initiation and guidance from a qualified guru. Tantra is a rigorous path requiring dedication and guidance. It is also a sophisticated technology of spiritual awakening that requires specific training.
You can learn some things from books and be guided by intuition in some areas, but without the guidance of a guru you cannot achieve any depth. One danger is that egotism can take over, and one builds energy that just ends up feeding the ego, gaining a sense of entitlement. In this tradition, knowledge is powerful, but you have to know what to do with that power to avoid serious pitfalls. The guru provides that crucial guidance. It’s like trying to navigate a very turbulent river – if you want to go down the river safely, you need an experienced guide who has been down this same river, who can tell you where and how to paddle, and when you need to pick up your boat and walk around dangerous rapids.
If you don’t wish to pursue a relationship with a guru, and don’t feel called to a rigorous path, there is no need to worry! You can follow the path of the bhakta, or devotee, which requires no guru and is based on inner feeling and a relationship with the divine. But this is not and should not be confused with Tantra.
We embrace both paths of pure devotion and of traditional Hindu Shakta Tantra in our temple, and honor many ways of knowing and understanding the Divine Mother.
How many gurus should a person have?
This depends on your sampradaya, the school or lineage tradition. Some demand devotion to a single guru who acts as both your initiator and your sole teacher. Others take a wider approach, encouraging learning from all avenues, and from many gurus.
We believe that one should always be in a place of learning, and thus you should learn from many teachers, and receive blessings where they are given. There are diksha gurus (gurus that give you initiation, and take you in as part of their family) and shiksha gurus (gurus that give you instruction, but not necessarily initiation). One should make sure that their shiksha gurus are reputable and qualified, but should choose diksha gurus especially carefully. Initiation is a serious matter and one should understand all of the responsibilities and expectations before accepting or pursuing initiation with any guru or lineage.
I really want to be initiated. Will you initiate me?
We do not offer initiation (diksha) to the general public. However, dedicated members of our temple community who attend our pujas and classes regularly are invited to inquire about diksha and the process involved for being accepted into the Tantrika kula.
Diksha in any tradition can take years of effort. It requires a willingness to start at the beginning, demonstrated commitment over a long period, and a close relationship with the guru of the tradition. Diksha is in essence a process of making you part of a family, with all the responsibilities that come along with that, so you must demonstrate that you are capable of maintaining tradition. It is not something that is given lightly, and should not be received lightly, either.
I am willing to pay you for initiation/I have been practicing for a long time, will you initiate me?
Again, we do not offer initiation (diksha) to the general public, and one’s previous experience with Tantra has no bearing on this tradition.
Diksha is not something that can be bought and sold. Although it is customary and traditional to give a donation and/or gifts to the guru initiating you, this should not be construed as a payment for initiation. The guru gives freely of himself or herself, and we express our gratitude by helping to support the guru and allow him or her to do their spiritual work in the world. In the modern West, this typically means making a significant monetary donation. What is significant is relative to the person making the donation. Gifts and donations should be given in gratitude and generally express that we value what we are being given. This is called guru dakshina. It should NOT be seen as part of a transaction.
No one is entitled to initiation, no matter how much they practice or pay, and regardless of any time period. If the tradition is sound, then when the student is ready and can demonstrate that readiness in all aspects, and when the guru is satisfied with their attitude and progress, only then will they be initiated.
Will you teach me bija/moola/secret mantras?
The bija and moola mantras (that is, the essential, root mantras) of any deity are treated with great respect at our temple and in our tradition, and we do not share them with the general public. These mantras must be learned and performed in the context of initiatory lineage and within the structure of appropriate ritual, in order to have significant and positive effect. We do offer teachings in use of certain mantras in some of our more in-depth classes.
If you wish to recite a mantra to the deities in our temple, we recommend that you recite pranama mantras, which may be recited freely without initiation. You are also welcome to meditate on the deity. Practicing in this way is a powerful method of training the mind and the heart, and builds humility, strength of character, and devotion. All of these are required – and indispensable – for the Tantric practitioner.
Can’t I learn Tantra without a guru? Can’t I teach myself? Isn’t Tantra is about sexual healing and sacred sex?
These are all questions related to neo-Tantra. Neo-Tantra is a relatively recent form of Tantrism, and takes many forms. We will discuss two very different forms of neo-Tantra:
1. Tantric sex, or sacred sexuality: This form of neo-Tantra is quite popular in the West, and gaining popularity in India. This is the image of Tantra that you find by perusing book stores or searching the Internet, and is based on a long-standing profound misunderstanding and exoticizing of Tantra. Historically, this tradition is based in Orientalism and cultural appropriation, and many of the New Age followers of this tradition are shocked to learn this, deny that this history exists, or ignore it. This is based on an appropriation of a very, very, very tiny portion of classical Tantric language and concepts which mention sexual rituals, and grafting it onto Western spirituality and psychology. The goals of “Tantric sex” are typically to improve sexual enjoyment and intensity, or to create feelings of sexual freedom. Such paths often equate orgasm with kundalini energy, or employ orgasmic breathing techniques which they call pranayama (breath control). While we have no argument with sexual healing practices, this cannot be called Tantra in any traditional or meaningful sense. The goal of Tantra is to destroy the ego so that someone can experience divine oneness, but not in a psychological or purely mental ecstatic state. Tantra does employ the body, the mind, and all aspects of human experience in this pursuit of oneness, but if one experiences both of these paths they will see that they are quite, quite different. The goals of these Tantric sex workshops are often to help one enjoy and become better at sex, which typically involves a process of strengthening the ego (which is counter-productive to traditional Tantra), and the breathing techniques taught in these workshops often have absolutely nothing to do with actual, traditional Tantric spiritual development.
2. Neo-Pagan Tantra: This should not be confused with the previously described form of neo-Tantrism, as it is quite different! Sometimes called Indo-Paganism (though not all Indo-Pagans consider themselves Tantric) or syncretic Tantrism, these paths merge Western approaches to ritual and spirituality with Hindu and Tantric deities and practices. They may or may not acknowledge that they are neo-Pagan paths. Neo-Pagan is defined here as including many Western traditions such as Paganism, witchcraft, Wicca, etc., which share certain common approaches to deity and practice. They may or may not include focus on sexuality, but it tends to be emphasized far less or not at all. Adherents of these paths tend to be sincere practitioners focused on devotional approaches to divinity who employ Tantric (or quasi-Tantric) ritual in various ways, and who tend to be eclectic. They emphasize a sort of do-it-yourself approach that may include loose or strict leadership. They do not tend to follow strictly traditional Tantric methods of initiation, nor do they tend to pass down traditional lineages in traditional ways, although they may include a process of diksha that mimics traditional methods while incorporating new ones, and may include many teachings of Tantric practice.
Neither of these approaches are what we do here at our temple. Our practice and worship is based in traditional Hindu Shakta Tantra.
I want to learn how to worship MAA. What is the best way for me to get started?
Come and share worship with us! Just check our worship schedule and then RSVP so we know you’re coming and can give you directions. This is the best way to get to know us and get to know our worship. The best way to demonstrate willingness to learn is a willingness to be in the worship space with us without expectation.
We also offer classes to help you and your family learn more about worship, and you are welcome to join us for those. If you have a group interested in scheduling a private class or series of classes, this can also be arranged.
I don’t live close enough to come to puja. How else can I get involved?
If you are unable to join us physically, you can also offer donations.
The Hindu religion has a long-standing tradition of tithing ten percent of one’s income, which helps to support temples like ours to get established and grow. We are very small and in a private home, which is the way many temples start in the US. As a non-profit organization, you can be sure that your donations are going to a good cause, and will be used solely for the non-profit purposes of the temple. We hope one day to grow large enough to secure land and a purpose-built temple, but the community must support that growth. You can be a part of that by supporting us financially, whether through small donations or through major sponsorships and donations of funds, a permanent building dedicated to the temple, or land.
Donations will also help us to develop more classes and online opportunities for learning. All of these things cost money, and can only happen through generous donations.