Sign up today for the most fun, wild, bizarre, outrageous and illuminating VVBC offering:
Siva: The Siva Purana Retold
by Ramesh Menon
4 Sundays 12 - 1pm PT
April 19th & 26th and May 3rd & 10th
Above artwork by Chandra Sekhar Poudyal
Why read the Siva Purana?
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Siva embodies the dynamic of balanced feminine and masculine energy known as Siva Shakti, expressive of Pure Consciousness and the play and display of the relative world. Reading the Siva Purana gives us an opportunity to expand our awareness of Totality while tending to our own personal dynamic and balance.
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Siva is "all things" from the most expressed gross world to the most divine finest celestial. As we get to know all aspects of Siva we open the door to getting to know all aspects of ourselves as well as all aspects of the relative and celestial. The real fun will be in seeing to what extent we can release judgment of those forms and phenomena we tend to identify as "other" and begin to embrace ourselves as "all things."
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Siva is associated with Destruction and yet is often referred to as "the merciful one." We will explore destruction as a positive and merciful law of nature and have ample opportunities to get luminously relevant with the powerful destruction operators at work in our current social, political, and global climate and in our own personal lives.
Have a question? Contact me for more information.
What’s included in the course?
To help support your discovery of Mahadeva, you'll be guided with a prompt each week to find an image, take a photo, or create art which expresses and reveals your current relationship to destruction and how it shows up in your life. You'll also be given:
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Points to Ponder: ideas, challenges, and questions to consider as you are reading
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Each week I'll share a folder with everyone's visual contributions. Each class builds their own unique gallery. It's quite extraordinary.
What happens during our live calls?
During our 1 hour calls we will discuss the assigned reading. Then:
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The group is presented with challenges
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We engage in show and tell
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We uncover the gems of meaning together while enjoying the events in the story
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We apply what we discover to our own personal experience
What if I miss a live call?
A day or two after each Zoom meeting you'll receive an email with the link to the recorded meeting (available for a limited time). You also receive:
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Brief notes on key takeaways, plus
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Any quotes, book recommendations, images, new challenges or anything else relevant that comes up during our session.
How it Works
1. Get yourself a copy of Sivai: The Siva Purana Retold by Ramesh Menon
2. Beginning a week before our first meeting, you will be sent a link to our private password-protected BOX account. In it you'll find the reading assignment for that week, and all support materials. Weekly reading is no more than 80 pages (and often it's quite a bit less).
3. On 4 Sundays from mid-April to Mid-May, we'll meet over Zoom for an hour of lively discussion.
4. A day or two after each Zoom meeting you'll receive an email with the link to the recorded meeting (for a limited time), plus some key takeaways and notes from the session.
A note about reading Puranas:
"There are eighteen principal surviving Mahapuranas, great Puranas. The Siva Purana is one of these. They are collections of revelations, in the form of stories, or otherwise, usually narrated to some rishis by a Suta, who heard them from Vyasa, who heard them from Narada, Brahma or another fabulous raconteur, in time out of mind." - Ramesh Menon
"Puranas seek to give a meaningful interpretation of the omniscience and omnipotence of the Supreme Being... the Puranas provide valuable glimpses of eternal truths that transcend the scope of modern history." - Vanamali
Unlike the linear narrative of The Ramayana or The Mahabharata, Puranas are organized non-linearly and read more like folklore or folktales than a novel. Credited to Vyasa, the great organizer of the Vedas and the author of the divinely cognized, The Mahabharata, the Puranas give life and form to each candidate for Supreme Being; when reading The Siva Purana, Siva is supreme, when reading Devi Bhagavatam, Devi is supreme, and so on.
"The moral of the story..." may seem strange and overly prescriptive to the modern reader. It will be especially fun for us as a group to exercise our discernment. There are challenging concepts in this Purana giving us an opportunity to look for more subtlety which can lead to fuller understanding.
All in all, the Siva Purana is a wild ride; theatrical, bizarre, sensual, outrageous, humorous, and illuminating. When we adopt a spirit of play we are bound to have a lot of fun in our exploration.
Are the Puranas religious texts?
To some, yes. Our tradition predates religions that formed as a result of exposure to the Vedas. As Vedic meditators, we will approach the wisdom of the Puranas by seeing to what extent we are able to recognize "self" on every page and experience Supreme between the lines. It is a journey of Self-discovery. With friends. And it's fun.
Let's explore Siva: The Siva Purana Retold together.
With Love & Jai Guru Deva,
Jamey
Contribution
A contribution of $350 can be made through Venmo @jamey-hood or Zelle using jameyhood@gmail.com.
Payment via credit card here.
For those outside the US, please send USD through Wise.
If you wish to make a Wire Transfer, request banking details at jameyhood@gmail.com.
Flexible payment plans are designed for those who inquire.
Why Ramesh Menon's translation?
Menon's translation reads like juicy fiction. He is truly a gifted storyteller with apparent devotion to his subject. His ability to vividly paint a picture with text gives us our best opportunity to appreciate and absorb multiple layers of meaning while enjoying the glorious drama as it unfolds.
Claim your space and purchase your book today!
Veda Vyasa Book Club (VVBC) is the international book club devoted to developing consciousness through Vedic literature. VVBC is for Vedic meditators who are curious about reading Vedic literature and want to do it in an environment in which a deep and nuanced understanding of the material is not only encouraged, but inevitable.
The Itihasa and Puranas are approached with a great deal of enthusiasm, giving members permission to completely, fully, and unabashedly "nerd out."
VVBC is more akin to an in depth course of study than a casual book club and sets the stage for personal growth, Self-discovery, and evolution.
Guided by me, Jamey Hood, a certified meditation teacher based in Venice, CA, and Vedic literature guide. Our meetings are joyful, meaningful, personal, and fun.
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