Tradition, Yoga, Tantra + Kali

excerpts from “Biography of a Russian Yogi: The Extraordinary story of Yogi Matsyendranath” by Keith Simons

“My tradition originated in North India and is related to Tantra, like Kundalini and Shakti. In my thinking yoga is the essence of Tantra. Yoga is therefore related to inner processes. To be successful in yoga it helps if you understand the essence of Tantra, because yoga appeared in an environment of Tantra. Of course there are many different types of yoga nowadays. Yoga is now everywhere but mostly non-traditional. Kundalini is energy in our bodies and an aspect of universal power, the mother of the universe. In Tantra there is worship of the Goddess and an understanding of how she developed consciousness, and is therefore a personification of supreme wisdom. She needs a partner and that is Shiva. So Yoga and Tantra are focused on the union of Shakti and Shiva. This is just a brief introduction.

Kali … is related to time. Time is always moving and changing. Her color is black and this is associated with death. With time we age and finally we leave this world.

Symbolically Kali kills demons and is concerned with removing our anger, envy and other weaknesses, and finally she leads us to enlightenment.

Kali is like the night time when you can see the stars in the sky, where everything dissolves. Darkness is then primordial reality in which all matter appears, such as galaxies and planets including our world. “