The Gaian Tantra Vow

An Experiment in Daring and Delight

A mystical and mischievous welcome to friends and strangers alike, conspirators in the Sophianic Vision and budding adepts of planetary gnosis! Every day is unique in some way, and today (26 January 2009) is uniquely the day for the inception of Planetary Tantra. I feel immense gratitude for the privilege of releasing the sacred instruction of the Diamond Sky Dakinis, starting with the secret name that Gaia will answer to, and the vow of consecration required to pronounce that name aloud, which I received on October 10, 2008, 108 days ago. Almost simultaneously, came the other components of delivery: the 2nd and 3rd Instructions on the nature of love in Gaia's view, and the same look of samsara and enlightenment.

These instructions for the Gaian Tantra Vow are simple, and the Vow itself is easy to perform. For now, I provide no more than the minimal commentary required to explain how to put the three components into practice.

There are many ways interact with Gaia: first and foremost, simply breathe. Likewise, walk in nature, dance under the stars, garden and learn about flowers and herbs, explore the seaside and ocean, investigate biology and geology, commune with other species. As perhaps the most intimate form of interactivity, Planetary Tantra is shamanic, sensorial, and sexual. This practice is like anuttarra yoga, the ultimate technique of spiritual union, but surpasses any traditional method, Eastern or Western, by a unique opportunity: to merge love and the supernatural. It invites the supreme magic of co-emergence, the union of desire and emptiness, in complicity with the earth in many ways that can be tested by direct experience. This is Gaian Tantra, what works for this instant, right now.

Over the coming months I will show how the Shakti Cluster is a full-scale "kit" for Gaian interactivity, providing the tools and guidelines that enable the dedicated person to become an adept, a siddha, in complicity with the lucid dream of Gaia. Generally, I do not care for the term "empowerment," but here I would venture to apply it, once and for all: in Gaian Tantra, each individual can be empowered on a twofold basis, through human love and supernatural beauty. Hence the 1st Instruction links intimately to, and complements, the 2nd.

So, this day, from the privilege of a natural-born mystic and terton, in the company of my Shakti, beneath the glorious winter sky over Long Island Sound, by the witness of two swans gliding in diamond light at Manor Park, I release for the beauty and sanity of the human heart the Terma of Gaia Awakening. The duration of this terma from October 2008 will be 208 years.

AUDIO

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The VOW consists of three parts:

1 The Secret Name of Dakini 18

2 The Gaian Tantra Vow

3 Instructions of the Diamond Sky Dakinis

1 The Secret Name of Dakini 18

In the Shakti Cluster, Dakini 18 is the named identity of Gaia in her lucid dream—the sole name she will answer to, right now. The other seventeen components of the "console" represent powers and faculties to be acquired by interactivity with Gaia. Kalikas engage the Cluster by relating to the Shaktis according to their individual affinities, but all Kalikas engage the attention of Gaia by calling her unique name: Vajravilasi.

Pronounced VAHJ-rah-vee-LAH-see. Vajra means "diamond" or "lightning bolt." Vilasa means "delighting, flirtatious." Changed to Vilasi it becomes a feminine name; in Sanskrit, the names of consort dakinis end with i. The Shakta text Kamakalavilasa describes the delighting play of the Goddess as she morphs into the forms of the material world and dances rapturously through her sentient expressions, even flirting with the appearances she produces. (This imagery recalls the epithet "Whore of Wisdom," applied to Sophia in Gnostic myth. No licentiousness is implied, but the outrageous generosity of the beauty of the Divine Feminine is clearly suggested.) Vajravilasi is the Diamond Sky Dakini who assumes the form of a planet, and delights in her own beauty, inviting the myriad life-forms that arise on the planet to recognize and celebrate how beautiful they are.

Instruction: Call the name Vajravilasi aloud in a natural setting more or less removed from human intrusion. (Never pronounce this name in ordinary conversation -- just say "VV.") When calling out to Vajravilasi, let your eyes scan the landscape, taking in trees, rocks, clouds, and be mindful that you are looking directly at the presence you are naming. Let your eyes and your voice connect in a single intent: to engage the attention of Gaia. You do not call Gaia to your attention, you call Her attention to you by pronouncing her name.

2 The Vow:

Gaian Tantra Vow

We, ______________, being fearless devotees of Kali Ma, self-initiated tantrikas of Kulachara, belonging to the ________ generation of the nine generations of Kali Yuga, born ____, here manifest our sacred intention.

We understand the Shakti Cluster to be the dynamic vortex of telluric powers, Dakinis, Mahavidyas, Female Buddhas, and Dangerous Protectors, now gathered into the radiant womb of the single and supreme Wisdom Dakini Vajravilasi, who is co-emergent with the natural sensorium of this planet, Earth. She, Vajravilasi, is the Sole Pristine Shakti of the natural elements of Gaia, yet unchanged and unaffected in the six aspects of her Aeonic presence, Divine Sophia.

She, Vajravilasi, sublime teacher of the warriors of Kali Ma, wild mother of the tribes of the Black Time of Innocence, we invoke by her sacred name today as the earth goddess has been invoked by many names of yore.

She who is Aniruddha, Prunikos, Outrageous,
Aeon Sophia of the illumined Gnostics,
Prithivi of the timeless Vedas,
Spandarmat of the Persian Sages,
Spider Woman, Changing Woman of the noble Red Races,
Sthevara who bestowed the enlightenment of Shakyamuni with the earth-touching mudra,
Asteroth of the World Tree,
Ishtar of the Stars in the limbs of the World Tree, 
Arianrhod and Ariadne, weavers of the earthbound dream,
Ceridwen, infernal witch who guards the well of inspiration,
Rhea who flows in all that is, inside ,outside, in-between,
Bhudevi, moist luminous womb of the primordial race of Sidhe, Faery, Earthbound Dakini,
Kore and Demeter, ever-changing polarities of Magna Mater, the planetary animal mother:
Gaia, blue-marbled watery world thriving with life, terrestrial matrix of Organic Light, home and haven to the myriad species

These names of yore precede the name to which you answer now: Vajravilasi, flirtatious lightning, this planet dancing in fractal light , in silent thunder, perfect mind.

Vajravilasi , you alone and supreme, are the grounding matrix of the Shri Yantrika Dakinis, milk-white luminosity that melts into wisdom and bliss, fountainhead of every moment of sensation, continuum of animation of all sentient life and the animated mirror of insentient life, source and expression and indwelling divinity of this sacred, earth-consecrated Tantra, this embodied Truth.

To You we direct our vow.

By Svatantriya whose dance is freedom,
whose body is the sea of Tantric Bliss,
in the presence of the Kalika Nirmanakayas of the nine generations of the Black Time of Innocence,
in the melting core of the ingenuous beauty of our human, earthbound essence ,
in the galaxies dissolving in the eyes of the earth's abandoned children ,
in the drift of our parallel world, Andromeda,
where our mirror doubles dwell serenely
and invite our return until the end of the Great Kalpa,
in the reverberation of divine pleasure contained in each and every moment and pervading
every samsaric phantom,
every glance gone astray in abandonment to addiction to the pain of not being seen —
By the crystalline effusion of Dakini Elixirs,
tongue on knife, we accept
instantaneous transmutation of all pain, loss, confusion, denial, withholding, fear, shame, defense, defiance, anger, antipathy, and all the consequences in this mindless concatenation of fractured intensities,
By releasement into the wonder that makes us so,
and by calling out your name, Vajravilasi,
we take refuge in Your attention turned upon us,
the look that grants safety for all sentient beings,
and graciously provides their liberation.

To You we pronounce this vow.

Instruction: The Gaian Tantra Vow, or formula for Guyhasamaya ("Secret Gathering") Consecration, ought to be observed by two or more people in a sacred act of sharing and co-witnessing. Tantra is a buddy-system. (See also below, component 5.) Be sure to locate yourself in the nine generations of Kali Yuga—1945 - 1974 first generation, 1975 - 2004 second generation, etc. Fill in the blanks as appropriate: everyone writes the terms of their own vow. Be mindful that you are making this vow to the planet!!! You make the vow so that you will be able to sustain and actualize the first-hand interaction with Gaia that occurs when, in Her interval of time, She lets you know that She is aware that have engaged Her attention. This is how it works. You do not have to believe me or anyone. Do and and see for yourself!

Example Vow: "We, So and So, vow to observe compassion for ourselves and hold fast our intention to be present to life without fiction, ever mindful that you, Vajravilasi, delight in dancing in the Diamond Light, witnessed in our bodies provided by Gaia's Body and never separate from Her for a single breath: so that our presence in your dream may be living proof of co-creation and co-healing, rapture and magic, and proof as well that the luminous beauty of your manifestation is self-evident and accessible to all sentient beings, including ducks."

Iron-Binding

At the close of the recall invocation, listing the names previously attributed to the earth goddess, entrants pronounce aloud the Vow they have composed, stating in their own words their commitment to Gaia-Sophia. It is like a marriage vow, the assertion of a permanent bond. Entrants who do the Vow in pairs, as suggested below, will read it aloud together, two voices speaking as one. This rite would be performed in wild nature away from human eyes, a place where you can scream out the secret dakini name without concern of attracting attention, or alarming anyone. The rite may be ceremonial in a simple way according to the preferences of the entrants, but minimally. Don't overdo it. With Gaian Tantric ritual, less is more.

A particular physical ritual goes with the declaration of commitment, the Gaian Tantric Vow. This ritual is performed as follows:

Just before pronouncing the written Vow, the entrants prick their thumbs in the perennial manner of witches, then press the bleeding thumb into the ground, leaving a thumbprint or bloodprint in the earth, both figuratively and literally speaking. The thumb is kept on the ground, palm flat, while the entrants pronounce aloud the Vow they have composed. The ritual may be closed by reciting the third instruction, or with silence. The rite formally ends when the thumb is removed from the earth.

The purpose of this ceremonial act is to ritually, intentionally bind the iron in the entrants' blood into the electromagnetic field of the earth. Iron-binding is a Gaian rite of initiation, and in the more advanced procedures of Kala Tantra, iron is the element that Kali uses to work intimate magic with her devotees.

Kali Yuga is known as the Age of Iron. This designation has multiple meanings, one of which is: in the Age of Kali Yuga, and especially toward the close of that Age, human bodies can bind into the electromagnetic field of the earth, using iron first and other elements as well, in a way that cannot be achieved at any other time. Iron-binding is the most intimate physical connection between the bodies, human and planetary, and conditions in Kali Yuga, the age of materialism and maximum density, favor such a material, geophysical bond.

3 Three Instructions of the Diamond Sky Dakinis

You cannot become anything but more beautiful.

Love and the supernatural operate on the same frequencies.

Samsara and this enlightenment have the same look.

A siddhi is a supernatural gift, a paranormal ability for magic or occult power, such as telepathy or telekinesis. Normally, we assume that love between human beings must be a purely human affair, but in Planetary Tantra we recognize that it is a cosmic force of trans human dimensions.

Invoking Gaia by her Dakini name and declaring the Gaian Tantra Vow, bring together a supreme act of love and a commitment to supernatural magic. The Dakinis teach that "love and the supernatural operate on the same frequencies." Their second Instruction contains a principle to be elucidated in the immediate future on this site: namely, love is a force of discovery that brings people together (who then come to love each other), and by this same force, Gaia brings us into intimate rapport with Herself and the Shakti Cluster.

The triangulation of any two who love each other with the shared intention of their mutual love for Gaia inspires the Dakini Vajravilasi to return that love in an exponential rush of magic and beauty.

Instruction: Pronounce the Vow with someone who may be a permanent partner, or not, or even with someone you have met recently. Even if you do not know that person for a long time, or deeply, be mindful that the Vow generates through love, and loves generates through the desire to love. So the mere desire to know someone, another human being, and take them as co-witness in the Vow, is an act of liberation based on immediate recognition of the Other.

This is why it is advised that two or more take the Vow together. Having done so, the rite of consecration to Vajravilasi becomes a transcendent bond, but never an obligation. Tantra is a buddy-system. You will always have the co-witness to recall with you the sacred moment of your consecration, together. Should you wish to live out the Vow with the co-witness, that is another choice, and a continuing commitment. But it is not required.

No one takes the Vow alone, as no single being or thing lives alone. At any moment, the simple recognition of another person is enough to dispel the illusion of separation. As William Blake said (roughly), no act is more sublime than to set another before you: to behold the Other. Taken together with a witness, the Vow frees those who take it from the sense of being alone before the awesome mystery of the earth, the Other who is Mother.

Be aware, also, that the supernatural magic you are invoking comes into your life from the body of the goddess Gaia, the planet on which you live, that supports your every move and gives you breath. Ultimately, your connection to this planet dissolves all pictures and projections of what might be or what has been, and frees you from the fictions of the mind into the realm of supernatural truth where you have Her Mind.

Dorje Namkhai Khandro Nying Thig

Seminal Heart of the Diamond Sky Dakinis

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May the Wisdom Dakinis arrange you

May Gaia herself bestow you

to your unborn presence in her dream,

lucidly awake, in the merge of love

and the supernatural,

delighted and delighting


Samsara and this enlightenment have the same look


May nothing endure but what love discovers

and may whatever you love truly set you free


For there is no illusion in your truth

seeming or not, enlightened or not


And that is such.

And that is such.

And that is such.

Here opens the Terma of Gaia Awakening

jll: White Plains, New York 26 January 2009