This online practice cohort will learn the key elements of the Greater Cycle of Ātmāśakti Teachings and Practices. This cycle can be learned anywhere on the path but it has a natural place as either forming the solid basis of the path or as the main Practice Cycle assisting the fullest expression of stages 8 & 9 (the doorway to a Mahāsiddha display). Emphasis will be on the integration of the key principles and techniques of Ātmāśakti. Participants are also encouraged to share any difficulties that come up in a workshopping type of atmosphere so that they can be overcome through guidance from Dharma Bodhi and the fruit may be attained.
WHAT YOU WILL LEARN
In Trika Mahāsiddha Yoga, the spiritual journey from ignorance to total enlightenment is characterized by the practitioner traversing through three multi-step phases. The three phases are called Self, Time and Light. The “Self” phase of the path is concerned with:
- Developing a solid base of health and vitality
- Cultivating basic sanity
- Becoming emotionally non-reactive
- Ceasing conduct that perpetuates limiting karmas
- Gaining a basic understanding and control of the mind as the ultimate creator of our reality and spiritual attainment
- Creating a masterful expression of one’s nadi or purpose in life
Maximizing the experience of the “Self” is a matter of learning to optimize the 10 Forces that comprise us. Our “Self” is called the Ksetrajña, Jivātmaśakti or Nirmanakaya in Sanskrit. All of these names point to the “Self” as being a container for the experience of our life. The “Self” is a dynamic field of consciousness, rather than a solid hunk of flesh pondering through a world of objects.
The “Self” is one of our three bodies. In ancient Indian systems of Tantrik Yoga these bodies were represented by the symbol of the trident. All three are actually one in nature with three different modes of being or expression. The “Self” has the potential to become aware of its relationship to the other two bodies and in doing so resolve the experience of suffering and re-birth. When this occurs there becomes a felt cohesion of the three bodies as one. For this cohesion to be experienced and for us to attain a level of contentment based on the wisdom of our true nature it is very helpful to understand the 10 Forces that actually are the “Self” or jivātmaśakti and to cultivate them on a daily basis. The foundation that is created by daily attention to the 10 Forces is the key to stabilizing each developmental stage of the path. Many students of nondual Dharma traditions diligently practice meditation and yoga but make the mistake of jumping over the crucial work on the “Self” or Jivātmaśakti. Work on the Self is often seen as too materialistic or gross. The common reaction to learning about the Jivātmaśakti teachings and practices is...“I thought we were trying to get rid of the self?...How can making myself more powerful actually help my spiritual progress?”
The fear is that through developing the power the practitioner will get seduced by the power itself and desire to cultivate more power for its own sake, and will then lose sight of the goal. Of course this could be true for someone practicing piecemeal outside of a systematic path, but Trika Mahāsiddha Yoga is a well-laid out, time tested and integrated path. The power developed in the Self phase of the spiritual path seamlessly fuels the intermediate and advanced stages of practice in the same way that the large booster engines of a rocket ship get the spacecraft outside of the strong gravitational pull of the earth and are then discarded when no longer needed or deep space travel. When we fail to recognize the importance of the Self in forming a solid foundation for our path not only can we get lost in the impotency of transcendentalism, but the overall trajectory of our spiritual practice is often experienced as alternating cycles of progress and stagnation or retrogression.
Being endlessly caught in these alternating cycles depletes our inborn energy reserves and the spiritual path begins to take on the characteristics of a heroic Herculean struggle instead of the natural process it can and should be. Without cultivating Ātmaśakti’s 10 Forces it is difficult to gain the type of momentum that we need in our self-experience in order to smoothly and progressively open into our inherent and blissful Being.
In this training you will learn about each of the 10 Forces and methods to cultivate each one using the three doorways of your body, speech/energy and mind.
PREREQUISITES
Participants are expected to purchase and watch the "10 Forces of Self" course prior to the start of the training or as weekly homework during the course. This material will be discussed during class sessions.
DATES
Saturdays & Tuesdays,
August 5 - 29th, 2023
- Saturdays (Theory Classes), 10am-12pm (UTC -6, Costa Rican Time)
- Tuesdays (Workshop Classes), 11:30am -1pm (UTC -6, Costa Rican Time)
- 8 classes total
* Recordings will be available for Saturday's teachings. Tuesday classes will not be recorded. Tuesdays will be dedicated to class discussion, Q&As, check-ins, etc.
CLASS FEE
$150
REGISTER NOW
About the Teacher
Dharma Bodhi (Kol Martens)
Dharma Bodhi began practicing yoga at age seven, and in his teens moved into practices of Chan Buddhism and Daoism. He then went on to study non-dual Śaivite yoga and completed Ācārya training in 1996 under his non-dual Śaiva Guru with an emphasis in Kundalinī Hatha Yoga. Since that time he has been studying and practicing Tibetan Dzogchen meditation and yoga. Settled in Costa Rica, Dharma Bodhi and his wife, Sahajadākinī, dedicate their time to raising their family, personal practice and teaching the Oral-Practice Tradition of the Mahāsiddhas to small groups of students.
