Man vs the Goddess

Alone, we never stood a chance.

Sons of Rudra and Daughters of Kālī!

It’s the Kali Yuga, not the happy butterfly Yuga. Grab your neighbors and huddle up for a few thousand years and pray like I taught you until this storm passes! Love one another as I have loved you. And when you can’t, just keep f%#%ing trying, help is on the way.

---

For decades now, I’ve been deeply immersed in the world of Tantra and the Divine Feminine, and I wouldn’t have it any other way. This path has been my refuge, my passion and above all else, the fire kund of transformation. Again and again, I have witnessed the profound awakening these ancient practices ignite: a luminous power that dissolves illusion and restores wholeness from the inside out.

In particular, the Mahavidyas, the Ten Wisdom Goddesses, have revealed themselves as profound allies for these times. Their presence is more than symbolic; it is catalytic. Each one a facet of the Great Goddess/Reality, they illuminate the hidden chambers of consciousness, pulling back the veil on who we think we are and revealing something far more beautiful (and sometimes slightly terrifying).

The Divine Mother in her form as Parvati Devī at the Shri Ramana Maharshi Ashram in Tiruvannamalai, South India.

The Goddesses are not relics of a distant past, they’re more like cosmic wake-up calls with impeccable timing. In a world that’s overdosed on disconnection and rife with confusion, their message is refreshingly direct; no language or room for interpretation when your heart is on fire.

Despite all that I had learned, witnessed and experienced, this past year has been a year of discovery for me. For reasons I cannot fully explain or understand, most of my work has been with men, most of whom had never even heard of Tantra, let alone the Mahavidyas. Many of them are business leaders, professionals, fathers, husbands; busy people with full lives and packed calendars. Most had never before meditated. And not a single one could sit in any of the lotus postures.

Yet, something remarkable has been happening.

One after another, these men have begun to awaken and in the process, are rewriting the conventional wisdom around Kuṇḍalinī awakenings.

I share in more detail the awakening of one of the men in particular, who has also become a dear friend.

First of all, he’s not at all comfortable in a yoga studio; or sitting on a meditation cushion for hours on end. He prefers pickup trucks, baseball caps and hanging out with his buddies. His language is more colorful than reverential. He is strong and carries a lived-in humility that only comes from having experienced life fully, as a father, husband, business leader. His wisdom isn’t polished. It’s raw, unvarnished and… enthusiastic (usually carrying an expletive, sometimes two).

He also, in his own words, cries funny, so he tries not to cry in public, yet can’t stop sobbing whenever he speaks of God, or Grace as he calls it. He looks down at the ground when he weeps, and in those moments, his whole body shakes uncontrollably.

It has been a privilege to witness and guide his journey so intimately. He brought intensity, commitment and a willingness to learn. I fed him mantras and yogic disciplines, stories and scripture. He devoured it all.

What unfolded in him was unlike so many of kuṇḍalinī rising experiences I had seen. Very few dramatic kriyās or drama of any kind really. He made it his mission, at least at first, to resist the Goddess and her heart-melting bliss. I had never met anyone opposed to experiencing bliss but he seemed particularly focused and driven by something else entirely.

And while his effort to resist the bliss may well have been valiant at some level, it was also, well… absurd, and absolutely doomed to fail.

Not long after giving him his first mantra, he began experiencing ‘odd’ moments and would message me.

Sundari, I lost my truck today. Not as in I forgot where I parked, I mean I forgot what a truck even was. Is that normal? It all came back after a while but for about an hour I just sat in a coffee shop smiling for no reason and with no coffee.

I recommended, of course, a recipe for Ojas milk and a few herbal supplements to support and smoothen the unfolding. He instead opted to double down on his weightlifting regimen and increase his protein intake.

Yet, the unfolding was unstoppable. Some days, he couldn’t help himself but stop beside random wildflowers just to take a photo.

Sundari! Can you believe this one?! What even is it?! It’s soo tiny, just hidden there in the leaves! Unbelievable, it doesn’t even look real!

And he made new friends. I remember one morning, sitting at a picnic table with him over coffee, when a stray cat leapt onto the table, just to lie down and rest her head on his outstretched arm. He didn’t move his arm in the slightest, for fear of disturbing her peace.

I smiled and asked: Do you like cats?

He returned my smile and said flatly, I don’t.

And occasionally, in moments of unbearable tenderness, he’d simply melt into a puddle of tears. The love he felt was so vast and uncontainable that his whole body shook. This he did publicly, more than once at my weekend immersions.

It was a glorious defeat; he went out on his shield, as the saying goes. I admired him for trying, truly. But let’s be honest here: my dear friend was attempting to resist the power of the Goddesses. What exactly did he think was going to happen!?

To be clear, this man simply wasn’t interested in blissful experiences.

Sundari, I don’t want to disrespect any of the great work happening in Tantra but I’m not here to get high or feel good, I’m here to become more skillful. I don’t know if you’ve seen the news lately but the world I understand isn’t exactly inspiring people with its nobility and wisdom. Feels like there is work to be done and if Tantra can help people find that taproot of clarity, courage and goodness, then we need a lot more of it and I want to help you any way I can.

He wasn’t chasing ecstasy or transcendence. What he longed for was to bring the heavens down; to bring a little more light into his corner of the world. And the divine powers were indeed brought down, through tantric work, the power of mantra and the intensity of devotion. They found in him a strong vessel, ready to receive their blessings and offer them right back… through service to his fellows.

The ecstasy and transcendence just came for free, as part of that package.

As more men like my friend joined this year, a pattern began to emerge. The focus was rarely on attaining a particular state of consciousness. Instead, they seemed to approach the practice as a new kind of gladiatorial training: strength and conditioning for the heart and soul, alongside a refinement and sharpening of the mind.

This is in no way shared to diminish the women who have joined this past year; or those who have been walking this path with me for years. I could just as easily paint a remarkable picture of so many of the countless transformative journeys I have witnessed among the women.

And the freshness of what I experienced hasn’t been only about men, whether they arrived in pickup trucks or otherwise, encountering the awakening power of Tantra. It’s something deeper, more universal, that’s been revealing itself through all who are ready.

What has been truly remarkable has been to witness firsthand the weaving and the fusion of forces that Tantra has long been known for. This alchemy between the Divine Masculine and Divine Feminine seems to amplify, accelerate and empower the work in profound ways. Even those who have been immersed in this path for years, well-acquainted with the energetic field that arises in Tantric immersions, have noticed a dramatic shift, both in terms of qualities and power.

What’s also becoming more clear is this: on the journey of liberation and Self-Realization, there is strength in numbers, especially when those numbers include both men and women, striving side by side.

And perhaps most importantly, this work is becoming more accessible. Tantra has long been considered one of the more esoteric paths of awakening; but really, this just means its knowledge and practices haven’t yet become widespread. Now, however, for people like my friend, who, in a topsy-turvy world, simply want to leave their corner of the world a little better than they found it, Tantra is offering a fast track to awakening, and a real way to do exactly that.

In the words of the illustrious sage Sri Ramana Maharshi, someone who indeed inspires with his nobility and wisdom:

Your own Self-Realization is the greatest service you can render the world.

Or in the words of my newly awakened friend:

Everyone is pretty much f*cked right now and that’s ok. Better than ok actually because there is tremendous peace and great power in simply recognizing that. As an individual and as a society we are all somewhere between a little and a lot f*cked with no viable, rational path to get back to sanity, short of some great calamity.

It’s nobody’s fault and there are no villains to be found here, it’s just the way things are. Once you really grok that reality and fall to your knees, surrendering to it with as much grace and acceptance as you can muster, something special will happen. Because right there, at the place where your knees touch the ground, is a wellspring of love and compassion that will never run dry. And from that place, amazing things will start to happen, for you and everyone around you.

And you will realize that this time, this exact era we are in right now, is one of great awakening. For thousands of years it’s been said that one awakened person is like the rarest of miracles. Now just imagine, truly get your head and heart around this, the floodgates opening and this awakening happening by the tens of thousands every year. It’s going to be amazing!

This to me feels, now, like the divine feminine version of an apocalypse. Not some great fire or torrential flood but regular folks just falling in love with each other, all around the world. Army generals and hedge fund managers running outside to snap a photo of a bird for reasons they can’t explain or understand. Truly, it’s going to be amazing!

---

For more info on Tantric Meditation Weekend Immersions with Sundari Ma in Summer in Germany and in Fall in Dubai, email us at: info@thisistantra.com