How is this temple connected to the Sri Sri Kamakhya Temple in Assam, India?

The Sri Kamakhya Mahavidya Mandir was founded in Alameda, California, by a

Western devotee of the Goddesses Kamakhya and the ten Mahavidyas in June 2008. In
May 2009, we became incorporated as a non-profit church in the state of California.
We operate with the blessing of the elders of the Sri Sri Kamakhya Temple in Assam,
and our Spiritual Advisory Board is composed of Purnabhisheka adepts of the Tantra
tradition of Kamakhya. We are, however, an independent temple with our own distinct
religious history.

• Read more about our history »

Ρεα δ µορ ε αβο υ τ ουρ Σπ ι ρ ι τ υ α λ

Αδϖ ι σ ο ρ ψ Βοα ρ δ ≈
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Do I have to be Hindu to worship at your temple?
Not at all! We are a Hindu temple but we welcome those of all faiths who wish to join us
for all that our worship has to offer. Many people appreciate the Divine Mother but are
not Hindus. If you enjoy traditional music, if you love or simply appreciate the Goddess,
if you want to participate in traditional worship, or if you have a positive attitude and
want to join us for any other reason, please do. Our mission is simply to worship and
share our passion for Sri Sri Kamakhya and the Dasa Mahavidyas, and to offer whatever
support and teaching to learning worship that we can. Our temple welcomes everyone –
Hindus and non-Hindus from all walks of life – to join us in celebration of the Divine
Mother. Our temple is Tantric, and we welcome those from both Tantric and non-Tantric
paths.
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What is Shakta Tantra?
Shakti is the Goddess, the female principle, power, and energy. A Shakta is one who
worships the Goddess and sees the Goddess as the underlying principle of all reality.
Tantra is an ancient spiritual technology for personal liberation and transformation, which
uses meditation, ritual, and philosophy to help the practitioner transform and expand her
or his awareness. The goal of the Tantric practitioner, called a sadhaka or upasaka, is to
achieve permanent, total oneness with the Divine.
Tantra is also traditionally a devotional path, although not necessarily in the manner we
may think of in the West as devotional. For Shaktas, the Goddess is the ultimate reality,
everything an expression of Her grace. There are many streams of Tantra – Shaiva Tantra
worships Shiva as the ultimate reality, Vaishnava Tantra worships the various
incarnations of Vishnu (such as Krishna and Rama) as the ultimate reality. For us there is
no conflict, because at the core, everything is one, so how we perceive and experience the
various expressions of oneness is fairly personal, leading to many paths.
Tantra, however, is a unique tradition with its own methods, and although we
acknowledge that there are many different ways of approaching, experiencing, and
knowing divinity – regardless of religion or doctrine – we have a specific, rigorous
approach toward elevating consciousness toward oneness.
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How does one achieve this oneness through Tantra?
The short answer is, there is no shortcut. The Tantric path requires dedication, discipline,
humility, courage, and level-headedness. Furthermore, to practice traditional Tantra, one
must form a close relationship with a guru in the tradition in which they wish to practice,
and be initiated, then practice diligently under the guidance of the guru or gurus on the
path.
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What is a guru?
A guru is more than just a teacher. A guru is a qualified, respected, and reputable guide
on the spiritual path who has been empowered to pass on the spiritual lineage through
initiation and instruction, and who passes on that lineage authentically and faithfully. The
guru should be as free from ego as possible, and willing to take on the responsibilities
required of her or him.
A guru has responsibility not only to pass on a lineage faithfully, but also to his or her
disciples. The goal of the guru is to train disciples to be better than herself or himself. To
that end, both the disciple and guru have responsibilities – the disciple is responsible for
diligently studying and practicing in accordance with what is asked of them, and must
develop patience and humility in the process. The guru is responsible for making sure
that the disciple understands the instruction. The guru is also responsible for the spiritual
progress of the disciple, and must ensure adequate progress before moving the disciple to
the next level. If either guru or disciple abdicates these responsibilities, either of them or
both of them will suffer, and the relationship won’t work.
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How do I know if a guru is qualified or reputable?
This can be a tricky thing to sort out, but there are some guidelines.

• You must have a strong connection to your guru. Do they inspire you? One
should take a guru only if one wants to emulate and learn from that guru’s
practice, attitude, and accomplishment.

• You must spend time with your guru, and your guru must be willing to spend time
with you. Traditional learning is passed down orally from guru to disciple.
Spending a considerable amount of time with the guru is a way of judging for
 yourself how qualified, reputable, and compatible they are in relation to your
spiritual goals.

• A qualified guru should be able to name their lineage and succession of gurus,
and elaborate on their tradition effectively and eloquently. They should show
respect to their own gurus and also demonstrate humility and grace.

• The students of a qualified, reputable guru should be able to demonstrate

proficiency and knowledge, and should also demonstrate consistent compassion
and love to outsiders and newcomers, as well as their fellow initiates.

• A reputable guru will never behave inappropriately with you or with other
devotees. This includes sexual misconduct, financial misconduct, and other
egregious wrongs. If someone tells you that they will be your guru if you pay
them a large sum of money and/or will have sexual relations with them, they are
probably not reputable, and you should not take initiation from them. Gurus are
human beings, and even the best ones are capable of committing errors. How can
you tell a guru is reputable and qualified in this case? They should be held
accountable for misconduct, and ideally should hold themselves accountable. A
reputable guru will admit wrongdoing, correct the situation fully (rather than just
cosmetically), and ensure such a thing does not happen again. This is a grave
reminder that all of us must remain diligent on the path, because the ego is wily
and slippery!

• A reputable guru should be able to effectively answer your direct questions

without evasion or meaningless platitudes. There are some things (such as specific
mantras) which are kept very secret to all but initiates, and this is a standard code
of conduct. However, a good guru will be able to give you meaningful answers to
your questions, and will generally be clear (in one way or another) about the
things that they can and cannot talk about. There are very good gurus who are
tricksters, who will answer in riddles or give frustratingly simple answers – but
these antics are meant to deepen your experience, and if it is the right guru for
you, this will be effective for you.
Ultimately, it is a good idea to spend at least a year or more learning from a guru and
spending time with them before taking initiation from them. It can be difficult to wait,
especially when you feel an emotional impulse to throw yourself into the stream of this
guru’s wisdom. But anything worth having is worth waiting for, and if you are meant to
study with a particular guru, then a year or more will yield wonderful fruits, even without
initiation.
Other traditions, temples, and gurukuls may approach this topic differently, and this
information is not meant to disparage any other approach to the tradition of guru-disciple
relationship. However, these may be taken as general guidelines, which will apply to
everyone and every tradition differently.
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Can I practice Tantra without a guru?
Generally speaking, you cannot practice traditional Tantra without initiation and
guidance from a qualified guru. Tantra is a rigorous path requiring dedication and
guidance. It is also a sophisticated technology of spiritual awakening that requires
specific training.
You can learn some things from books and be guided by intuition in some areas, but
without the guidance of a guru you cannot achieve any depth. The danger is that egotism
takes over and one builds energy that just ends up feeding the ego, gaining a sense of
entitlement. In this tradition, knowledge is powerful, but you have to know what to do
with that power to avoid serious pitfalls. The guru provides that crucial guidance. It’s like
trying to navigate a very turbulent river – if you want to go down the river safely, you
need an experienced guide who has been down this same river, who can tell you where
and how to paddle, and when you need to pick up your boat and walk around dangerous
rapids.
If you don’t wish to pursue a relationship with a guru, and don’t feel called to a rigorous
path, there is no need to worry! You can follow the path of the bhakta, or devotee, which
requires no guru and is based on inner feeling and a relationship with the divine. But this
is not and should not be confused with Tantra.
We embrace both paths of pure devotion and of traditional Hindu Shakta Tantra in our
temple, and honor many ways of knowing and understanding the Divine Mother.
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How many gurus should a person have?
This depends on your sampradaya, the school or lineage tradition. Some demand
devotion to a single guru who acts as both your initiator and your sole teacher. Others
take a wider approach, encouraging learning from all avenues, and from many gurus.
We believe that one should always be in a place of learning, and thus you should learn
from many teachers, and receive blessings where they are given. There are diksha gurus
(gurus that give you initiation) and shiksha gurus (gurus that give you instruction, but not
necessarily initiation). One should make sure that their shiksha gurus are reputable and
qualified, but should choose diksha gurus especially carefully. Initiation is a serious
matter and one should understand all of the responsibilities and expectations before
accepting or pursuing initiation with any guru or lineage.
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I really want to be initiated. Will you initiate me?
We do not offer initiation (diksha) to the public.
Diksha in any tradition can take years of effort. It requires a willingness to start at the
beginning, demonstrated commitment over a long period, and a close relationship with
the guru of the tradition. Diksha is in essence a process of making you part of a family,
with all the responsibilities that come along with that, so you must demonstrate that you
are capable of maintaining tradition. It is not something that is given lightly, and should
not be received lightly, either.
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I am willing to pay you for initiation/I have been practicing for a long time, will you
initiate me?
Again, we do not offer initiation (diksha) to the public.
Diksha is not something that can be bought and sold. Although it is customary and
traditional to give a donation and/or gifts to the guru initiating you, this should not be
construed as a payment for initiation. The guru gives freely of himself or herself, and we
expresss our gratitude by helping to support the guru and allow him or her to do their
spiritual work in the world. In the modern West, this typically means making a significant
monetary donation. What is significant is relative to the person making the donation.
Gifts and donations should be given in gratitude and generally express that we value what
we are being given. This is called guru dakshina. It should NOT be seen as part of a
transaction.
No one is entitled to initiation, no matter how much they practice or pay, and regardless
of any time period. If the tradition is sound, then when the student is ready and can
demonstrate that readiness in all aspects, and when the guru is satisfied with their attitude
and progress, only then will they be initiated.
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Will you teach me bija/moola/secret mantras?
The bija and moola mantras (that is, the essential, root mantras) of any deity are treated
with great respect at our temple and in our tradition, and we do not share them with the
public. These mantras must be learned and performed in the context of initiatory lineage
and within the structure of appropriate ritual, in order to have significant and positive
effect.
If you wish to recite a mantra to the deities in our temple, we recommend that you recite
pranama mantras, which may be recited freely without initiation. You are also welcome
to meditate on the deity. Practicing in this way is a powerful method of training the mind
and the heart, and builds humility, strength of character, and devotion. All of these are
required – and indispensable – for the Tantric practitioner.
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Can’t I learn Tantra without a guru? Can’t I teach myself? Isn’t Tantra is about
sexual healing and sacred sex?
These are all questions related to neo-Tantra. Neo-Tantra is a relatively recent form of
Tantrism, and takes many forms. We will discuss two very different forms of neo-Tantra:
1. Tantric sex, or sacred sexuality: This form of neo-Tantra is quite popular in the West,
and gaining popularity in India. This is the image of Tantra that you find by perusing
book stores or searching the Internet, and is based on a long-standing profound
misunderstanding and exoticizing of Tantra. Historically, this tradition is based in
Orientalism and cultural appropriation, and many of the New Age followers of this
tradition are shocked to learn this, deny that this history exists, or ignore it. This is based
on an appropriation of a very, very, very tiny portion of classical Tantric language and
concepts which mention sexual rituals, and grafting it onto Western spirituality and
psychology. The goals of “Tantric sex” are typically to improve sexual enjoyment and
intensity, or to create feelings of sexual freedom. Such paths often equate orgasm with
kundalini energy, or employ orgasmic breathing techniques which they call pranayama
(breath control). While we have no argument with sexual healing practices, this cannot be
called Tantra in any traditional or meaningful sense. The goal of Tantra is to destroy the
ego so that someone can experience divine oneness, but not in a psychological or purely
mental ecstatic state. Tantra does employ the body, the mind, and all aspects of human
experience in this pursuit of oneness, but if one experiences both of these paths they will
see that they are quite, quite different. The goals of these Tantric sex workshops are often
to help one enjoy and become better at sex, which typically involves a process of
strengthening the ego (which is counter-productive to traditional Tantra), and the
breathing techniques taught in these workshops often have absolutely nothing to do with
actual, traditional Tantric spiritual development.
2. Neo-Pagan Tantra: This should not be confused with the previously described form of
neo-Tantrism, as it is quite different! Sometimes called Indo-Paganism (though not all
Indo-Pagans consider themselves Tantric) or syncretic Tantrism, these paths merge
Western approaches to ritual and spirituality with Hindu and Tantric deities and practices.
They may or may not acknowledge that they are neo-Pagan paths. Neo-Pagan is defined
here as including many Western traditions such as Paganism, witchcraft, Wicca, etc.,
which share certain common approaches to deity and practice. They may or may not
include focus on sexuality, but it tends to be emphasized far less or not at all. Adherents
of these paths tend to be sincere practitioners focused on devotional approaches to
divinity who employ Tantric ritual in various ways, and who tend to be eclectic. They
emphasize a sort of do-it-yourself approach that may include loose or strict leadership.
They do not tend to follow strictly traditional Tantric methods of initiation, nor do they
tend to pass down traditional lineages in traditional ways, although they may include a
process of diksha that mimics traditional methods while incorporating new ones, and may
include many teachings of Tantric practice.
Neither of these approaches are what we do here at our temple. Our practice and worship
is based in traditional Hindu Shakta Tantra.
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I want to learn how to worship MAA. What is the best way for me to get started?
Come and share worship with us! Just check our worship schedule and then RSVP so we
know you’re coming and can give you directions. This is the best way to get to know us
and get to know our worship. The best way to demonstrate willingness to learn is a
willingness to be in the worship space with us without expectation.
We also offer classes to help you and your family learn more about worship, and you are
welcome to join us for those. If you have a group interested in scheduling a private class
or series of classes, this can also be arranged.
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I don’t live close enough to come to puja. How else can I get involved?
If you are unable to join us physically, you can also offer donations.
The Hindu religion has a long-standing tradition of tithing ten percent of one’s income,
which helps to support temples like ours to get established and grow. We are very small
and in a private home, which is the way many temples start in the US. As a non-profit
organization, you can be sure that your donations are going to a good cause, and will be
used solely for the non-profit purposes of the temple. We hope one day to grow large
enough to secure land and a purpose-built temple, but the community must support that
growth. You can be a part of that by supporting us financially, whether through small
donations or through major sponsorships and donations of funds, a permanent building
dedicated to the temple, or land.
Donations will also help us to develop more classes and online opportunities for learning.
All of these things cost money, and can only happen through generous donations.