On 3/18/2014 8:34 PM, ultrarishi wrote: > Thanks, Richard! > > This sounds like what I am looking for. I will put it on the Kindle > tonight. > In the Shankaracharya tradition, the Adi Shankara is supposed to have engaged pundits in several important debates. One of the first such debates took place in Kambhoja, which is in the region of North Kashmere, with a tantrik, Navagupta, at Kamarupa. According to Swami Tapasyananda , Shankara visited the Sarvajna Pitha (Sharada Peeth), which is in Kashmir (now Pakistan). Some Shankara initiates, Shankara went up to Kashmere where was initiated into Kashmere Tantrism and it was in Kashmere that he acquired the Sri Yantra. This Northern tradition of Sri Yantra was taken to South India and thus became the Sri Vidya school. The Sri Yantra is the object of devotion in Sri Vidya.
"Sri Vidya focuses worship on Devi in the form of the goddess Lalita-Tripurasundari, who is regarded as the Great Goddess (Mahadevi). Rooted in first-millennium Kashmir, Srikula became a force in South India no later than the seventh century, and is today the prevalent form of Shaktism practiced in South Indian regions such as Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Tamil areas of Sri Lanka - the symbol of Srikula adepts most often worship Lalita using the abstract Sri Chakra yantra, which is regarded as her subtle form." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shaktism In fact, according to my research, all the MMY mantras come from the Sri Vidya tradition which is in turn based on the "Shat Chakra Nirupana," which elaborates on the seven chakras corresponding to the seven states of consciousness in the subtle body. You will find illustrations of the chakras along with the vertical axis of the spine and the various petals that emanate from each chakra, and the diagram of the Sri Yantra mandala. There are numerous commentaries explaining the esoteric meaning of the Sri Yantra and the mode of worship, such as the commentary by Lakshmidhara on Sound Arya Lahari and on the Ananda Lahari, both composed by the Adi Shankara. There is a chapter in the Tripura Upanishad and one in the Bhavano Upanishad and the importance of the importance given to the worship of Sri Yantra. Worship of the Sri Yantra is as interesting as it is complex: it is ritualistic, abstract and esoteric, and yet the Sri Yantra is one of the most meaningful and useful symbols that has been handed down to us from the Adi Shankaracharya: The essence of the vibration is the ecstatic self-recurrent consciousness. Impelled by universal welfare, the Adi Shankara gave great importance to Sakti worship. And to this end, the Adi Shankara installed a Sri Yantra in at places of Sakti worship. The very quintessence of the Sri Vidya is a chapter which deals with the fundamentals of the ancient mystic syllables that constitute Devi worship and the relevance of simple worship of Sri Saraswati - Lalita - Tripurasundari and the place where the Sri Yantra is installed. There is also the life story of Bhaskararaya which shows how effective are the mystic diagram and the mantras used in the meditation on Devi Shakti. The most complex yantra, like the Oregon yantra, is the Shri Yantra of the tantric school of Sri Vidya. Khanna says that the structure of this yantra is described in the Shankara's Saundaryalahari (Wave of Beauty). "Mantras, the Sanskrit syllables inscribed on yantras, are essentially 'thought forms' representing divinities or cosmic powers, which exert their influence by means of sound-vibrations." Works cited: 'The Secret of the Three Cities: An Introduction to Hindu Sakta Tantrism' by Douglas Renfrew Brooks University Of Chicago Press, 1998 pp. 88-90 'Sankara-Dig-Vijaya' by Swami Tapasyananda Sri Ramakrishna Math, 1996 pp. 160–185. 'Yantra: The Tantric Symbol of Cosmic Unity' by Madhu Khanna Inner Traditions, 2003 p. 21
