Hi, I'm Christopher, also known as Hareesh.
I wrote the book Tantra Illuminated, about the little-understood spiritual tradition of Tantric Shaivism. I recently finished my second book, The Recognition Sutras, in which I present my translation and explanation the 1,000-year-old spiritual masterpiece Pratyabhijna-hrdaya, “The Essence of the Recognition Philosophy.”
There's a new generation of professional scholars of the Yoga tradition who are also practitioners, and I'm proud to be part of that small but growing community. Here you'll find some of my writings, as well as my events calendar and biography. I teach around the world to yoga practitioners, and also write academically.
Please enjoy browsing this site!
"The joy of awareness is discovered through the expansion of the Center." Discover what this powerful and intriguing sūtra means in this new post on one of The Recognition Sūtras.
This extraordinary sutra teaches the goal of Tantrik Yoga—and of every nondual path—here called jīvanmukti or 'embodied liberation', and offers a beautiful definition of that goal: "jīvanmukti is defined as the natural freedom that arises for one who has recognized her own essence-nature when the entire mass of bondage melts away yet she continues to care for the prāṇas of the body."
This post features one of the most powerful teachings in The Recognition Sutras—on how to access the innate power of Awareness.
Awareness, like a fire, ‘devours’ all things; that is to say, it is that inner space in which all experienced things converge, and in which all experiences are dissolved and ultimately resolved. Since all beings exhibit that capacity at least partially, we know that all beings are forms of that same divine Consciousness which has the capacity to 'devour' all things.
This second reading of Sūtra Eight explores how the nature of awareness can be realized by careful reflection on the process of cognition—specifically, how thoughts, feelings, and perceptions arise and dissolve within awareness. Such profound self-reflection leads one beyond philosophy to a direct contemplation of the nature of fundamental Awareness itself. This contemplative process, if properly directed, results in awakening to your true nature.
Chapter Twelve of The Recognition Sutras reveals how the state of bondage that most people live in is nothing other than the state of being deluded by and about the powers and potencies of one's very own consciousness. Learn how this delusion manifests as inhibition, and how the key to freedom lies in unraveling the misunderstandings you have about yourself.
This post explores the most subtle of all The Recognition Sutras. Read it to understand why becoming more aware of awareness, and how it creates its experience of reality moment-to-moment, is the key to living a liberated life.
Chapter Ten of The Recognition Sutras explains how it makes sense to say that each and every human being is a manifestation of God. In what sense are we all constantly expressing our Divinity, whether we know it or not?
The Shaiva Tantrik tradition has a remarkable prescription for how to be happy, and it's not cute, superficial, fluffy, or easy. It's subtle, profound, challenging, and real. And it works. It's found in Chapter Nine of The Recognition Sutras.
This post clearly defines 'awakening' and documents the four uses of the term in spiritual literature and contemporary discourse.
This post clearly outlines the nature of the spiritual path according to traditional Yoga. It challenges common misconceptions and dispels fundamental misunderstandings, bringing clarity to the question of what we're doing and why we're doing it.
This eye-opening post addresses the seven main 'energy leaks' that cause depletion and inability to retain the energy generated in spiritual practice.
Why do you practice? How do your subconscious assumptions about the purpose of practice influence the results you obtain? This post presents one of the most powerful teachings the path of original Tantra has to offer.
This post, the product of years of contemplation, explores the dimensions and importance of desire on the spiritual path. To understand what you really want, and how it manifests naturally when you get out of your own way, you need to understand more about who you really are.
This post summarizes the essence of yogic psychology and the path to freedom. Warning: it may blow your mind!
Breakthroughs in recent scholarship are helping us clarify the importance of this spiritual movement and the many misunderstandings that have surrounded it. The truth is slowly getting out there!
"Light on the Tantras" is one of the greatest masterworks of the Tantrik tradition. Here I attempt to translate and explain a few of its key verses in language accessible to all contemplative people. The topic? Only "what is the cause of spiritual liberation?"
One of the eternal questions -- is free will an illusion? -- receives a fresh look. Can we integrate what science and spirituality have to say about it? Part 1 of 2. 4min read.
What does freedom from the mind-world look like? Is it really possible in our modern world, or is it only for Zen farmers? A powerful inquiry in a 5min read.
What are the two goals of the spiritual life according to original Tantra? How do these goals connect to the teaching that everything is consciousness? A powerful inquiry in a 5 minute read.
The previously unknown (to the general public) 10-cakra system of 500+ year old "Jewel-Mine of Music".
This stunning description of a 10-cakra system is the only premodern source we know of that associates specific cakras with specific mental-emotional states. Part 1 of 2.
"A tantra (i.e., tantric scripture) is so called because it expands on the topics of mantra and the principles of reality (tattvas), and because it saves us from the cycle of suffering."
In this blog I discuss the three ways of analyzing the meaning of a Sanskrit word.
This post introduces an unpublished text of the Mahārtha lineage, 'The Blossoming of your Awareness' aka 'A Bouquet of methods to manifest your Awakening', by the siddha master Vīranātha.