Delightful Entryways to Meditation

Join Bill Mahony in exploring the Vijñāna Bhairava's guidance into readily accessible yet sublime, effective, and profound meditation practices.

In-Studio + Online Workshop

Date: Saturday + Sunday Nov 14 + 15 - 2:30 PM - 5:00 PM Pacific Time

In the tradition of Nondual Tantra, meditation is much more than relaxation or of simply quieting the mind. It is a delightful means to discover the nature of consciousness and it how it works, recognize our deeper nature, and develop the capacity to meet our lived experience with greater clarity, subtlety, steadiness, and presence. 

In this workshop with Bill Mahony, we will explore teachings from the Vijñāna Bhairava, "Divine Wisdom," one of the great meditation texts in the tradition of Nondual Tantra composed between the 7th and 10 centuries in India. Presented as a loving dialogue between Shiva and the Goddess, the text presents 112 dhāraṇās — contemplative meditation practices — that provide diverse yet remarkably accessible and effective entries into deeper and more refined awareness.

 Rather than approaching meditation as a single technique, the Vijñāna Bhairava invites us to discover many ways ordinary experience can become an entryway to deeper, clearer, and more subtle modes of awareness.

 In this workshop we will discuss and explore practices involving use of the breath, awareness of sound, physical sensation, visualization, concentration, mantra, and moments of stillness, while considering together how these practices can transform our relationship to the mind and to everyday experience.

 Through practice, reflection, and discussion, we will deepen our understanding of meditation itself: how different techniques affect our internal state, how attention can become more refined, and how meditation can move us beyond the cushion to influence the way we engage and navigate the complexities of daily life.

 This workshop offers an opportunity to experience meditation from multiple directions rather than simply learning about it. We will investigate what makes a practice effective, what we actually cultivate through meditation, and how sustained practice can help us recognize and rest in a deeper dimension of awareness.

 The practices presented in the Vijñāna Bhairava remain especially relevant today because they do they do not require us to withdraw from life. Instead, text offers practices oriented toward our daily lived experience, helping us develop greater presence and freedom in the midst of life as it is.

Open to all levels of meditation experience. No previous study of the Vijñāna Bhairava is required.

Bill will distribute copies of his translations from the Sanskrit of selected passages from the text. Participants may also want to know of these published translations and interpretation:

 Recommended texts - for those who want to study deeper

Vijñāna Bhairava: The Practice of Centring Awareness, by Lakshman Joo.

Vijñāna Bhairava or Divine Consciousness, by Jaideva Singh.

 The Radiance Sutras: 112 Gateways to the Yoga of Wonder and Delight. (This is not so much a literal translation as it is an appreciative and playful restating of the text.

 Bill Mahony is an internationally respected scholar of yoga philosophy and Sanskrit texts, and is a longtime practitioner of yoga and meditation. Known for his warmth, clarity, and engaging teaching style, Bill has spent decades helping students understand how ancient and traditional yogic teachings can enrich modern life. His ability to make profound spiritual teachings accessible and relevant has inspired practitioners around the world. Bill is a professor emeritus of Religious Studies at Davidson College, where he has long taught courses on contemplative and devotional sensibilities of religions originating in India, with an emphasis on the philosophies of yoga. As William K. Mahony, Bill is the author of many works, including Exquisite Love: Reflections on the Spiritual Life based on Nārada’s Bhakti Sūtra and The Artful Universe: An Introduction to the Religious Vedic Imagination. 

For more information, visit his website www.billmahony.com 

Price: $108 before November 10 / $125 after

Location: Online or Yogakula 1666 Shattuck Ave, Berkeley - please arrive 15 minutes before the event begins

Online: For those joining online we will forward the zoom link.

Future access: We will make the workshop recording available to you after the event, for 6 months.