First off, thank you to Alex Thomas, who after my podcast with him, sent me a piece of writing he had been working on. His love for the great teachers across time ignited something in me and inspired this article. With his permission, I’m sharing the piece he shared with me below:
A U M
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
What does that even mean?
Sitting by the campfire that night, I listened to the old man revel in my question for hours. He waxed eloquent about the way it one day was and the way it one day would be again. The Word! He exclaimed excitedly. The way of things! He almost shouted.
He talked all the whilst she sat silent beside him.
Her madraga was so black I barely made her figure through the smoke, but for her eyes. Wide open, innocent but unyielding; blazing, red and orange, glowing and flickering the flames between us.
I couldn’t hear him anymore. Her gaze pulled me into a place so deep and so far and so thick with velvety silence. Everything was gone, the questions, the old man, the desert and the fire, everything; all what a man could want or care for was gone too. Nothing to hold to except the faintest echo of her stilted breathy voice, uttered like she had never before spoken.
This, she whispered, is Tantra.
-AT
In Tantra, the teacher holds a unique role. More than passing down knowledge, they embody it. They carry the blazing light of the Self and ignite it in others. When we are struck by this lightning bolt of recognition, a reverse process begins. The Word, a deeper, untouchable Knowledge emerges: one beyond intellect, beyond language, beyond personality. It cannot be spoken. It is knowing itself.
Grace can enter in many ways, but traditionally, it was the enlightened teacher who bestowed it, piercing the shell of our contracted state and offering everything we needed to grow into the maturity of being both, fully human and divine, liberated whilst in this body - jivanmukta.
I consider myself blessed beyond measure to have had extraordinary teachers in my life. In addition to Sally Kempton, I’d like to encourage anyone reading to seek out the work of Dr. David Frawley, Yogini Shambhavi and Igor Kufayev.
Each one unique, yet all dedicated to upholding dharma and serving humanity through a time, when for many, the deepest of truths are buried under a mountain of deceptions.
Dr. David Frawley
I once stood beside Dr. Frawley in the crisp air of the Himalayas of Uttarakhand. His gaze fixed on the sacred Trishul mountain in the distance. But it wasn’t the mountain that held my attention, it was the complete and utter devotion I sensed in Dr. Frawley in that moment. It wasn’t just another pilgrimage. I felt his love for this mountain as if he was reuniting with a long lost old friend.
Dr. Frawley taught me reverence, like a father teaching a daughter. The vastness of Dr. Frawley’s Vedic scholarship only hints at the love held within his heart for the sacred sites and all that helps to liberate a person, especially the ancient seers who devoted their lives to Perennial Wisdom and leaving a trail for others to follow.
Throughout all of his work, the attentive student can feel the echoes of the hymns of the rishis who composed the Rig Veda thousands of years ago.
Dr. Frawley’s three books on mantra and inner tantric yoga have been my close companions for the past 15 years. To this day, these books continue to reveal finer and finer layers of wisdom.
For many, Dr. Frawley is one of the most brilliant Vedic scholars of our age but for me he is the great swan, Paramahaṃsa, a being who freely navigates the heavens of the immortal Self, and I am so deeply grateful to have been his student.
Yogini Shambhavi
I was nervous about meeting Yogini Shambhavi for the first time. I had seen photos of this beautiful woman and heard of her immense spiritual power. Upon meeting Shambhavi however, everything shifted inside me instantly. Her adoration for the Divine Mother radiated palpably and pulled me in to a feeling of love so intimate and so very sweet.
I had longed to be initiated into tantric sadhana and receive the mantras of the Goddess. Without hesitation, she took my hand and led me into that sacred space.
Her guidance didn’t stop there. Shambhavi showed me how joy can unfold in the simplest of moments on the path of Shakti; preparing Mung Dhal the way it was cooked in her family; how to wrap a sari, and how to move with grace, strength and playfulness as a woman.
It was Yogini Shambhavi who brought me to ancient Devī and Shiva temples tucked deep in the Himalayas, where I could receive their blessings. And through her I learned to feel the magic that vibrates throughout life; how each plant, each animal, every mountain and tree carries the unique signature of the Mother Goddess; each a conscious act of love and creation deserving the highest admiration and reverence.
Igor Vamadeva Kufayev
And finally, what to say about the man who set me free?
For many, Igor is a public figure. His darshans are freely available on the internet, inviting everyone to explore his teachings. Igor is an originating source, a fountainhead; for those with ears to hear, Igor’s voice echoes of thunder in the valley. And for those with hearts to feel, the power of the Word resounds in the presence of an artist and lover of humanity; his collection of works is a fount of love and wisdom that will be treasured by future generations.
For me however, Igor is not a public figure at all but indeed a very personal one. It has been my life’s honor to serve in Igor’s sangha and learn the art of spiritual alchemy at the feet of a true master.
It was only behind the scenes however, where I could feel the depths of Igor’s love and compassion. Tender and unexpected moments of generosity and warmth. It was when nobody else was looking that I could witness the personal sacrifices, big and small. And most of all, I feel the deepest of admiration towards Igor’s courage and strength; he stands unwavering on the rock of ages as though sculpted from it.
He once asked me what I feared most in the student-teacher relationship. He knew the answer, he just wanted to make sure I did too.
I was afraid of losing myself in love.
Like so many students before me who have been guided along this path, I was afraid of surrendering completely; of touching this place of total trust in the one guiding me. Only to find that, somehow, through the miracle of it all, there are people who walk this earth who want for nothing and give themselves fully to this work.
In the words of Kahlil Gibran: And there are those who give and know not pain in giving, nor do they seek joy, nor give with mindfulness of virtue; They give as in yonder valley the myrtle breathes its fragrance into space. Through the hands of such as these God speaks, and from behind their eyes. He smiles upon the earth.
Igor guided me beyond what I had known and believed myself to be, beyond any outer rituals or conceptual understanding. He showed me the ancient way in which the knowledge of the Self has been passed down through the ages; like a chain of light, heart to heart. He nurtured me, tested me, and helped me stand on my own. And in the end, he set me free.
And how to say thank you to the man who set me free?
How to say thank you to Sally, Dr. Frawley and Yogini Shambhavi who gave me so much and asked for so little?
How to thank Grace with anything less than all that I am.
From generation to generation, the Word is preserved and from heart to heart, it is enriched and enlivened. Today, I write with deep gratitude for the old man and woman in black, sitting under the night sky by the eternal campfire, eagerly awaiting their daughters' and sons' safe journey back home.
In the end is the Word, and the Word is with God, and the Word is God.
A U M
— Sundari Ma
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