Tantra: Freedom and Self-Sovereignty
with Sravana Borkataky-Varma and Keith Edward Cantú
Tantra: The Body and The Release, an Esalen Signature Series, Part 2: Wheels and Breath: A Tantric Body
with Sravana Borkataky-Varma and Keith Edward Cantú
Spoken
Upcoming
Tantra: The Body and The Release, an Esalen Signature Series | Wheels and Breath, The Tantric Body
April 21, 2023
- April 24, 2023
What is the relationship between our physical substance and subtle bodies? In this workshop, we aim to individually and collectively understand physical and subtle bodies and their importance and relationship in Tantric traditions. Together, we’ll trace the historical development of the Tantric body with its physiology of wheels and channels. We will also review the desire of the Theosophists and later New Age authors to map the so-called “astral body” and earlier cosmic bodies onto the Tantric body.
Podcasts
A Conversation with Sravana Borkataky-Varma
A candid conversation with Dr. Sravana Borkataky-Varma, historian, practitioner, educator, and social entrepreneur.
Kundalini & Tantra Yoga Part 1
Sravana Borkataky-Varma is a historian, educator, and social entrepreneur. As a historian, she studies Indian religions focusing on esoteric rituals and gender, particularly in Hinduism
Kundalini & Tantra Yoga Part 2
Sravana Borkataky-Varma is a historian, educator, and social entrepreneur. As a historian, she studies Indian religions focusing on esoteric rituals and gender, particularly in Hinduism
The Yogic Studies Podcast
32. Sravana Borkataky-Varma | Hijrās, Women, and Gender in Śākta Tantra
In this episode we welcome back to the Podcast, Sravana Borkataky-Varma. We catch up on her latest book projects, research, and teaching at Harvard Divinity School. We discuss the categories of so-called Classical Tantra vs. Neo Tantra, and some of the nuances of the scholar-practitioner. We discuss gender and transgender, particularly within the hijrā communities, and the recently formed Kinnar Akhara. We then preview the upcoming course, YS 120 | Women and Gender in Hindu Tantra—detailing its four modules: Sacred Transgender Identities, Temple Wives, Guru Mothers, and Superwomen Gurus.
The Yogic Studies Podcast
8. Sravana Borkataky-Varma | Śākta Tantra, Female Practitioners, and Misperceptions of Tantra
In this episode, we speak with Dr. Sravana Borkataky-Varma about her experience growing up in India, receiving initiation into a Śākta tantra lineage at Kāmākhya, discovering Religious Studies and the academic path, her doctoral research, the role of female practitioners, tantric sexual rites, being censored by Facebook, online pūjā services, and much more.
Yogic Studies
YS 106 | Śākta Tantra: Yoga and Hindu Goddess Traditions
This online course surveys the rich tapestry of Goddesses within the Hindu Śākta traditions—and uniquely explores their living relationship to the practices of Yoga.
Esalen
Tantra: The Body and The Release, an Esalen Signature Series, Part 3: Maṇḍala: The Macrocosm and the Microcosm
with Sravana Borkataky-Varma and Keith Edward Cantú
Tantra: The Body and The Release, an Esalen Signature Series | Freedom and Self-Sovereignty
with Sravana Borkataky-Varma and Keith Edward Cantú
Yoga Alliance
Unpacking Tantra: Defining the Meaning of the Word Tantra, Part 1
This robust three-part workshop series explores the meaning and relevance of the term Tantra, the types of authority and authenticity debates that shape the global-digital world of Śākta Tantra, and the relevance of additional terms such as Goddesses, Initiate, and Adept. Part 1 seeks to define Tantra, specifically.
Unpacking Tantra: Gender in Hindu Śākta Tantra, Part 2
This robust three-part workshop series explores the meaning and relevance of the term Tantra, the types of authority and authenticity debates that shape the global-digital world of Śākta Tantra, and the relevance of additional terms such as Goddesses, Initiate, and Adept. Part 2 analyzes the status of women and the third gender in the world of Hindu Śākta Tantra.
Past
Chakras And Embodied Writing
Artists work with their entire bodies, calling upon every layer of their beings to power their creativity. Writing is often thought about as a discipline of only the conscious mind. The truth is, language, characters, and plots emerge from the substance of the body and the subterranean depths of the spirit. This workshop aims to collectively explore and fine-tune ways in which we not only rediscover the macrocosm within the microcosm but also develop tools to identify emotional loci in our subtle body, i.e. the divine body.
A Symposium on Embodiment
The theme of the symposium is “Embodiment,” but we are particularly interested in accounts of the subtle body, and other extra-ordinary or super-normal embodied possibilities.
The symposium is a collaboration between the Harvard Divinity School Center for the Study of World Religions' new initiative, Transcendence and Transformation, Wonderstruck, and Five Books. We hope to bring together members of the T&T initiative and other experts on extraordinary embodiment for a three-day gathering in a beautiful setting.
The Hindu Margins: Third Gender and Women Spiritual Partners
This lecture focused on the Hindu view of life from the margins. While the “Hindu margin” is a fairly large heterogeneous group, this lecture laid the lens on the third gender, Kinnars (pejorative term hijṛā) and spiritual partners, categorized as “consorts.” Both these groups were discussed within the ritual praxis of “lived religions,” within the larger world of Śākta Tantra (Goddess esoteric traditions).
The Myth, Reality, and Freedom of Tantra
For the first time in Esalen's history, Tantra will be offered from its roots, 1500-year old history, and cultural context. Co-leading a series of workshops in 2022 is Sravana Borkataky-Varma, lecturer for Harvard Divinity School and founder of Lumen Tree Portal.
Himalayan Institute of Cultural & Heritage Studies Presents The Unlocked Series Lecture 15d
Dr. Sravana Borkataky, Lecturer, Harvard University & University of North Carolina-Wilmington speaks on Hybrid Hinduism: Study of Hindu Traditions from Alternate Lenses
Divine Feminine Revealed: Shakta Tantra
LMU Yoga Day 2020 Interview: “Divine Feminine Revealed: Shakta Tantra” Sravana Borkataky-Varma with Serenity Tedesco
Stanford Medicine Covid 19 Message
Sravana Borkataky-Varma, Hindu Traditions Lecturer, Harvard University