The Spirit of Kali

We held an event called 'The Spirit of Kali' on Sunday, December 17 2023 where we discussed the symbolism of Kali through Hindu and Tantric philosophies.  Our primary objective was to explore the purpose of both positive and negative energies and then focus on how destructive energy can sometimes be harnessed to birth vastly beautiful creation that otherwise would never exist.    

The event consisted of 3 parts: Vibe Setting, Reality (learning knowledge), and Digestion (processing knowledge through an example of artwork with community).  The Digestion took the theoretical concepts presented in Reality and explored it in a practical example:  using destructive energy to collectively split wood that eventually created artwork that never would have existed any other way. 

(Image above obtained from https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/849495)

Vibe Setting

One of our goals was to create an environment that would invite a meditative vibe and a feeling of warmth where people could share deep ideas and experiences.  As people arrived, they were greeted with some humble snacks and some free time to meet new people.  Then, Iman made a special tea and played a guided meditation to awaken the meditative being within everyone.  One of my future goals is to learn how to evoke genuine emotions and transcendent vibes that feel entirely different than normal life, so that these events become a free inclusive place of community-based spiritual healing and rejuvenation.

Reality

The goal of the Reality section was to provide knowledge and ideas that were further processed and explored in the Digestion section.  I gave a presentation on the symbolism of Kali which included perspectives from Hindu and Tantric philosophies, both of which take different paths to reach the same goal of attaining spiritual oneness and emanating universal love.  The Tantric philosophy allows the use of traditionally taboo methods (such as anger, sex, etc) as pathways to  the state of universal love (see my previous video on Tantra).  For this reason, my interpretation of Kali is based on this idea of using anger to vanquish demons (looping/distracting thoughts) to allow one to singularly focus on reaching a deep meditative state.  Eventually, one should be able to reach this meditative state without anger and ideally should should use this singular meditative focus to emanate universal love and oneness with the larger spiritual river of the universe.  My presentation is below:

After my presentation, Iman talked about deep ideas related to light and dark feminine energies.  Then, attendees shared their perspectives and memories of Kali and also their life experiences where destruction had led to spiritual oneness. 

Digestion and Ceremony

The Digestion/Ceremony Section was designed to give a practical example of taking destructive energy to create something of vast beauty.  I began by giving an overview of the different tools used in woodworking and how axes can be used to split a wood, after which a hatchet (or butcher's knife) can be used to form the initial shape which is further refined by chisels and carving knives. 

I chose a really funky looking log that had been sitting in my yard for 1-3 years.  This log came from a tree in Lexington that someone had cut down.  I rescued it because I knew it had a destiny beyond firewood.  It had dried wolf's milk on it and parts that were rotting.  I also made sure to choose a log that branched because this would make it very difficult to split and would require a collective and sustained effort.  One by one, every one released their destructive energy into this log and eventually we split the log into three pieces.  As we were splitting the log, people kept a deep primal drum beat.

We used some of the wood chips (along with sticks collected from my  yard and pieces of my Tree of Life and Tree of Death) to make a fire of ritualistic transformation.  This fire, which fed from our destruction of wood, heated and fed the community sweet potatoes. 

Creation of Beauty from Destructive Energy

Over the next few months, whenever I had free time, I slowly transformed this piece of wood that we had collectively cleaved apart, into something that I found beautiful.  In the video below I share some of my process. 

Original Invitation

Sunday, December 17 2023

Lost Memories Series: Connecting to Ancient Spirituality

(Everyone is invited!)

In this series, we (Iman, Yasmin and I) will share deep spiritual knowledge from different cultures. The first part of this series, in collaboration with Iman, will be on the Spirit of Kali. Thematically, we will explore how destruction can lead to positive creation and the embodiment of both light and dark energies.

This event will have 3 parts: Reality (learning knowledge), Digestion (processing knowledge through community and art), Ceremony (experience the knowledge using the artwork)

Reality (learning knowledge)

- We will start with meditative breathing to bring us into the spiritual state.

- Iman and Vivek will share an overview of Kali and the symbolism, focusing on the two themes described above.

Digestion (making art from Reality)

- We will use our rage of destruction by going outside and using an ax to split wood. The wood represents our ego and identity. I found all of the wood locally, either from fallen trees or from other people cutting down their trees.

Ceremony (using art from Digestion for Ceremony)

- We will create a fire and use it to create charcoal art. In this way, our rage leads to the fury of the transformative fire from which we create cooked food, deep discussions, human connections and artwork.

- Those who want, can keep some of the wood and bring it to the next session woodworking!

• 1:00-1:30: Chill

  • Tea ceremonuy

• 1:30-3:00 Introduction (1:30)

  • Iman will lead meditation (10 mins)

  • Vivek’s presentation (15 mins)

  • Iman’s presentation (15 mins)

  • Other people share their perspectives on Kali (15 mins)

  • Other people’s experiences where destruction has lead to spiritual oneness (30 mins)

• 3:00-4:00 Ritual (1 hour)

  • Start the fire

  • People are in a circle doing drumming/music

  • Whomever wants to, can wear the mask

  • Break the wood

    • Some will go into the fire

    • Some I/others will do woodworking on

  • Make sweet potatoes in the fire 

  • Our question: is this enough to evoke a deeply spiritual state and if not what else is needed?