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Shakti Rising: Embracing Shadow and Light on the Goddess Path to Wholeness
The ten forms of Shakti known as the Mahavidyas represent not only macrocosmic forces such as time and space, but also various interconnected shadow and light aspects in our psyche. The Mahavidyas have traditionally been steeped in esoteric and mystical descriptions, often removed from the practicalities of the spiritual journey.
In this book, which is written from the perspective of an ordinary woman—a cardiologist, wife and mother—these great goddesses come to life to reveal subtle aspects of the inner journey such as spiritual bypassing, spiritual materialism, and self-deception. The fierce symbolism of the Mahavidyas (Kali, Tara, Tripurasundari, Bhuvaneshwari, Tripura Bhairavi, Chinnamasta, Dhumavati, Baglamukhi, Matangi, and Kamalatmika) are explored through the lens of yoga, tantra and Vedanta. These great goddesses become the focal points for inquiry into our various shadow aspects that keep us from realizing our eternal, unborn and undying blissful nature.
With practices, self-inquiry prompts, and stories from the author’s own spiritual seeking, this exploration of the divine feminine will gently reveal the source of your fear, pain, and suffering, showing you that when you allow those parts of yourself to arise and simply be, you can finally begin to heal, overcome your limitations, and open to the light and beauty of your true nature. Through exercises and contemplations of the progressive and the direct paths, you’re invited to embrace all aspects of yourself into wholeness, the essence of non-duality.
In this book, which is written from the perspective of an ordinary woman—a cardiologist, wife and mother—these great goddesses come to life to reveal subtle aspects of the inner journey such as spiritual bypassing, spiritual materialism, and self-deception. The fierce symbolism of the Mahavidyas (Kali, Tara, Tripurasundari, Bhuvaneshwari, Tripura Bhairavi, Chinnamasta, Dhumavati, Baglamukhi, Matangi, and Kamalatmika) are explored through the lens of yoga, tantra and Vedanta. These great goddesses become the focal points for inquiry into our various shadow aspects that keep us from realizing our eternal, unborn and undying blissful nature.
With practices, self-inquiry prompts, and stories from the author’s own spiritual seeking, this exploration of the divine feminine will gently reveal the source of your fear, pain, and suffering, showing you that when you allow those parts of yourself to arise and simply be, you can finally begin to heal, overcome your limitations, and open to the light and beauty of your true nature. Through exercises and contemplations of the progressive and the direct paths, you’re invited to embrace all aspects of yourself into wholeness, the essence of non-duality.
224 pages, Paperback
First published October 1, 2017
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 35 reviews
May 4, 2018
Q:
A Mahavidya is a complex persona and a ray of divine light. She has a certain look, which may or may not be pleasant. She also has a strong, uncompromising personality. Her psychophysical and energetic attributes serve as her teaching tools. And each Mahavidya is so detailed and complex that most students can find something to relate to. For example, Kali is shocking and scary, yet she also teaches us the ways of nonviolence. Tripura Sundari looks beautiful and enchanting, yet she teaches us how to realize freedom from attachment. Dhumavati appears uncouth and filthy, yet she teaches us the reflective path to Self-knowledge. And there are seven more! We are not obligated to work with just one Mahavidya. The path of the Mahavidyas is a matter of “both/and,” not “either/or.” The path is as varied as the richness of our own personality. (c)
Q:
For example, tantra encourages us to see all of phenomenality as divine. Everything is worthy of our spiritual attention, not just the things that irritate us right now. (c)
Q:
The path of the Mahavidyas is an auspicious blend of powerful spiritual methods. Tantra brings depth and excitement to the mix. Non-dual inquiry brings clarity and flexibility to the mix. I recommended the path highly. (c)
Q:
The ability to see beauty in heinous forms requires a generous kind of nonliteral seeing. It requires flexibility and creativity. These qualities emerge from non-dual inquiry, which includes inquiry into language, meaning, and truth. (c)
Q:
Retreating to my cozy meditation room, I lit a candle and settled down, already at peace in the semidarkness. Soon, a deep sorrow made its presence known, gathering in the chest and bubbling into the throat. It morphed into such great pain that I gasped for air and, abandoning practice, lay down on the floor as tears arose.
The racking eased after several long minutes as I lay still, observing the waves of sadness as they swirled and ebbed, and was startled by a thought that said, I should take up Sri Vidya Sadhana. This was puzzling because I knew nothing of this practice and had no memory of having heard of it. Nonetheless, the thought recurred with increasing intensity. Curiosity piqued, I began to research Sri Vidya Sadhana and discovered that it was a tantric practice. (c)
Q:
For example, we might feel that getting a coveted education or marrying the person of our dreams will end all our suffering once and for all, and we will never have to seek anything else again. When the inherent sense of lack begins to poke through the bubble of temporary contentment, we gear up for another “it” that will end the seeking. In everything we chase, we seek the end of seeking, for a time when we can live happily ever after and not ever want anything again. However, such a time never comes. (c)
Q:
when I visited the ancient Palace of Knossos in Crete, where the high status of women in the Bronze Age Minoan culture is evident. There are large murals depicting female acrobats, the high priestess, and the all-powerful goddess, but as I explored more recent archeological sites, I made an interesting discovery. The temples and shrines that honor male deities had originally been built for female deities and became reassigned over time. Over the centuries, the earth and snake goddesses of the Bronze Age were entirely replaced by Zeus, the king of gods. Female deities, including the wise and powerful Athena, assumed secondary and often subservient roles. (c)
Q:
“Shakti” means power, energy, or dynamism. Without Shakti, there can be no creation. As the energy that holds the cosmos together, she is the movement of the galaxies that creates new stars and black holes. As the digestive fire, she transforms food into nutrients and strength. As the waking state, she appears as every thought, emotion, and action. As the dream state, she is the play of the unconscious mind as it lives and acts out its fears and fantasies. As the deep sleep state, she is the absorption of consciousness into rest. As the evolutionary force of the planet, she is the movement of the tectonic plates that creates continents and oceans. As the great change, she is the earthquake, the tsunami, and the volcano. (c)
Q:
Kali, Tara, Tripura Sundari, Bhuvaneshwari, Tripura Bhairavi, Chinnamasta, Dhumavati, Baglamukhi, Matangi, and Kamalatmika (c)
Q:
our identity limits our true limitless nature. This limitation is the root cause for our pervasive sense of lack. (c)
Q:
A tantric prefers whatever arises in current experience instead of wishing for something else. On this path, if lust is our current experience, we do nothing to change it or act on it. Instead, we give it our full attention and melt into it. By remaining open and welcoming all experiences, lust, anger, fear, and shame give way to the beauty and ecstasy that pulsate beneath them. Thus, our very limitations become the radiant paths to liberation. (c)
Q:
Latent Tendencies: Vasanas
Say you’re out having lunch with three of your friends, and the waitress trips and spills the drinks. One of your friends is livid and feels that her day is ruined, the second can’t stop laughing, and the third is completely indifferent. Why does the same stimulus cause three different reactions? For this, we need to examine our latent tendencies, or vasanas, which are emotional and energetic signatures attached to an event.
We attach signatures to our experiences that result in dualities, such as likes and dislikes, attachment and aversion, and grasping and pushing away. These vasana-signatures drive all of our choices and actions because they become part of our I-self. In the lunch example, the friend who had an angry response to the spill might have had an early life experience of being punished for making a mess, while the one who found it funny might have shared laughter with a caregiver for a similar mishap. Most of the time we are unable to pinpoint why we respond the way we do because vasanas lie deep in the causal body, hidden away from the conscious brain. (c)
Q:
A Mahavidya is a complex persona and a ray of divine light. She has a certain look, which may or may not be pleasant. She also has a strong, uncompromising personality. Her psychophysical and energetic attributes serve as her teaching tools. And each Mahavidya is so detailed and complex that most students can find something to relate to. For example, Kali is shocking and scary, yet she also teaches us the ways of nonviolence. Tripura Sundari looks beautiful and enchanting, yet she teaches us how to realize freedom from attachment. Dhumavati appears uncouth and filthy, yet she teaches us the reflective path to Self-knowledge. And there are seven more! We are not obligated to work with just one Mahavidya. The path of the Mahavidyas is a matter of “both/and,” not “either/or.” The path is as varied as the richness of our own personality. (c)
Q:
For example, tantra encourages us to see all of phenomenality as divine. Everything is worthy of our spiritual attention, not just the things that irritate us right now. (c)
Q:
The path of the Mahavidyas is an auspicious blend of powerful spiritual methods. Tantra brings depth and excitement to the mix. Non-dual inquiry brings clarity and flexibility to the mix. I recommended the path highly. (c)
Q:
The ability to see beauty in heinous forms requires a generous kind of nonliteral seeing. It requires flexibility and creativity. These qualities emerge from non-dual inquiry, which includes inquiry into language, meaning, and truth. (c)
Q:
Retreating to my cozy meditation room, I lit a candle and settled down, already at peace in the semidarkness. Soon, a deep sorrow made its presence known, gathering in the chest and bubbling into the throat. It morphed into such great pain that I gasped for air and, abandoning practice, lay down on the floor as tears arose.
The racking eased after several long minutes as I lay still, observing the waves of sadness as they swirled and ebbed, and was startled by a thought that said, I should take up Sri Vidya Sadhana. This was puzzling because I knew nothing of this practice and had no memory of having heard of it. Nonetheless, the thought recurred with increasing intensity. Curiosity piqued, I began to research Sri Vidya Sadhana and discovered that it was a tantric practice. (c)
Q:
For example, we might feel that getting a coveted education or marrying the person of our dreams will end all our suffering once and for all, and we will never have to seek anything else again. When the inherent sense of lack begins to poke through the bubble of temporary contentment, we gear up for another “it” that will end the seeking. In everything we chase, we seek the end of seeking, for a time when we can live happily ever after and not ever want anything again. However, such a time never comes. (c)
Q:
when I visited the ancient Palace of Knossos in Crete, where the high status of women in the Bronze Age Minoan culture is evident. There are large murals depicting female acrobats, the high priestess, and the all-powerful goddess, but as I explored more recent archeological sites, I made an interesting discovery. The temples and shrines that honor male deities had originally been built for female deities and became reassigned over time. Over the centuries, the earth and snake goddesses of the Bronze Age were entirely replaced by Zeus, the king of gods. Female deities, including the wise and powerful Athena, assumed secondary and often subservient roles. (c)
Q:
“Shakti” means power, energy, or dynamism. Without Shakti, there can be no creation. As the energy that holds the cosmos together, she is the movement of the galaxies that creates new stars and black holes. As the digestive fire, she transforms food into nutrients and strength. As the waking state, she appears as every thought, emotion, and action. As the dream state, she is the play of the unconscious mind as it lives and acts out its fears and fantasies. As the deep sleep state, she is the absorption of consciousness into rest. As the evolutionary force of the planet, she is the movement of the tectonic plates that creates continents and oceans. As the great change, she is the earthquake, the tsunami, and the volcano. (c)
Q:
Kali, Tara, Tripura Sundari, Bhuvaneshwari, Tripura Bhairavi, Chinnamasta, Dhumavati, Baglamukhi, Matangi, and Kamalatmika (c)
Q:
our identity limits our true limitless nature. This limitation is the root cause for our pervasive sense of lack. (c)
Q:
A tantric prefers whatever arises in current experience instead of wishing for something else. On this path, if lust is our current experience, we do nothing to change it or act on it. Instead, we give it our full attention and melt into it. By remaining open and welcoming all experiences, lust, anger, fear, and shame give way to the beauty and ecstasy that pulsate beneath them. Thus, our very limitations become the radiant paths to liberation. (c)
Q:
Latent Tendencies: Vasanas
Say you’re out having lunch with three of your friends, and the waitress trips and spills the drinks. One of your friends is livid and feels that her day is ruined, the second can’t stop laughing, and the third is completely indifferent. Why does the same stimulus cause three different reactions? For this, we need to examine our latent tendencies, or vasanas, which are emotional and energetic signatures attached to an event.
We attach signatures to our experiences that result in dualities, such as likes and dislikes, attachment and aversion, and grasping and pushing away. These vasana-signatures drive all of our choices and actions because they become part of our I-self. In the lunch example, the friend who had an angry response to the spill might have had an early life experience of being punished for making a mess, while the one who found it funny might have shared laughter with a caregiver for a similar mishap. Most of the time we are unable to pinpoint why we respond the way we do because vasanas lie deep in the causal body, hidden away from the conscious brain. (c)
Q:
January 19, 2018
I won this book from the publisher through Goodreads giveaways. This was not as difficult a read for me as it was for other readers because I had some background in Hindu theology and yoga spirituality. I hadn't been aware of Chinnamasta, the self-beheading aspect of Parvati. The book did cause me to reflect on some topics which is all to the good.
I was bothered by what looked like a New Age bias. The book seemed to be promulgating the idea that all problems can be solved by a change in the reader's attitudes. Yet there are economic and social problems that can't be solved by meditation or a more positive focus. The author gives the example of a woman who believed that she didn't deserve comfort. When she overcame this attitude, she bought a large comfortable house. Yet most barriers to buying a large house are economic. Some are rooted in job discrimination. Most women still don't receive equal pay for doing the same job as a man. Readers are encouraged to believe that there is something wrong with them rather than society. So political activism may be a more effective remedy than meditation.
I was bothered by what looked like a New Age bias. The book seemed to be promulgating the idea that all problems can be solved by a change in the reader's attitudes. Yet there are economic and social problems that can't be solved by meditation or a more positive focus. The author gives the example of a woman who believed that she didn't deserve comfort. When she overcame this attitude, she bought a large comfortable house. Yet most barriers to buying a large house are economic. Some are rooted in job discrimination. Most women still don't receive equal pay for doing the same job as a man. Readers are encouraged to believe that there is something wrong with them rather than society. So political activism may be a more effective remedy than meditation.
December 26, 2018
I have read many Hindu/Yogic-philosophy books seeking answers for an experience I had during a Yoga class, and I flipped open this book, and there was my answer--illustrated with a drawing and complete with a chapter explaining the experience in the easiest terms it has ever been explained to me. This book has insights into the Goddess that all the male consorted myths leave out. Highly recommended if you have any interest in Yogic philosophy.
February 7, 2018
A fascinating look at liberation/enlightenment through the lens of the 10 goddesses known as the Mahavidyas. Each goddess embodies a shadow (an aspect that keeps us blinded to or bound from liberation) and a light (the lesson or freedom arising once the shadow aspect is overcome). Chinnaiayn explains all of this an a variety of ways, from the symbolism of each goddess' form and features, to explanations and examples, to exercises we can practice to realize or recognize these shadows, lights, and eventually, liberation.
A note: While I found this book engaging, informative and eye-opening, I definitely think it would be overwhelming for beginners. A good foundational knowledge of the concepts and language of the eight limbs (ashtanga) of yoga, Hinduism, or the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali is a must for really understanding the information presented in this book.
*Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC, provided by the author and/or the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
A note: While I found this book engaging, informative and eye-opening, I definitely think it would be overwhelming for beginners. A good foundational knowledge of the concepts and language of the eight limbs (ashtanga) of yoga, Hinduism, or the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali is a must for really understanding the information presented in this book.
*Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC, provided by the author and/or the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
November 4, 2017
I won this book in a giveaway. It took me awhile to get through this book. There were a lot of vocabulary words and ideas that I had a hard time wrapping my head around. However, when I applied the things I learned while getting my psychology degree, this book made perfect sense. I liked the portions of the chapters that focused on knowing yourself, letting go of want and a sense of lack, being addicted to worry and a victim identity, and feeling a connection with the universe and all others. I feel that I am at the beginning of understanding this from a spiritual perspective and this may not have been the best book for me to choose as an introduction to the Mahavidyas.
October 5, 2019
At the first glance, this book looks simple especially if you have some background in Hindu mythology or you are used to ready complex philosophical books. However, once you dive in (and start to devote time to exercises proposed in the book), you see the power of the book. It gets to the core (if you allow it, of course), it is a good deal of some personal work.
You can see what Mahavidyas mean personally for you, you feel their presence.
If you want to evolve, work on your spiritual practice, then, it is a book for you. Its apparent simplicity makes it accessible to the Western public with relatively small background in Hindu philosophy.
Simple but extremely powerful!
You can see what Mahavidyas mean personally for you, you feel their presence.
If you want to evolve, work on your spiritual practice, then, it is a book for you. Its apparent simplicity makes it accessible to the Western public with relatively small background in Hindu philosophy.
Simple but extremely powerful!
July 22, 2020
Personally I loved this book, especially as someone who is South Asian and is reconnecting with her roots. I love the fact that she talks about spiritual bypassing, about not being caught up in the capitalist aspect of spiritualism. That if you don't have your basic needs met, you can't just think positively and it will all go away. Im happy it addresses that kind of privilege.
And what really resonated with me is she talks about embracing your shadows which is SO important. Love it. Her exercises have really helped me out in my day to day meditations!
And what really resonated with me is she talks about embracing your shadows which is SO important. Love it. Her exercises have really helped me out in my day to day meditations!
April 7, 2025
A very well researched and scholarly book. Kudos to the author for her efforts. But as far readability goes, this was really difficult to follow. All the good intentions go down the drain when one is unable to adequately comprehend the text properly.
Good read for Shakti upasakas.
Good read for Shakti upasakas.
February 19, 2021
A very interesting and beautiful book.
January 25, 2025
I wish it would have talked about Duality more
December 12, 2017
I have quite finished this book yet. It is definitely a slow read because one needs to take time and think when reading it. It is interesting and full of new concepts for those who were raised in the Christian tradition.
March 4, 2019
Engrossed in details
This book keeps you involved if you want to know about your life and how the forms of goddesses are connected. This would help you with understanding the base of our lives to amend ourselves.
This book keeps you involved if you want to know about your life and how the forms of goddesses are connected. This would help you with understanding the base of our lives to amend ourselves.
April 28, 2021
This is a beautiful book. Chinnaiyan takes you from the foundations of Yoga and Vedanta through the different Mahavidyas in a logical, coherent, and practical fashion, introducing important terminology with flowing prose. More importantly, she grounds the spiritual imagery in their everyday occurrence, because, rather than purely religious, the mythology surrounding Shiva and Shakti could also be read as a heuristic to understand what biochemistry, psychology, and modern medicine have endowed with rich descriptions since – just long before this level of scientific inquiry was available. Sundari’s shadow? Obsession. Chinnamasta’s shadow? Narcissism. Bhairavi’s shadow? Depression. Bagalamukhi’s shadow? Anxiety. Prana? Adenosine Triphosphate, oxygen, heat from bloodflow. Chitta? Immuno-transmitters, neuro-transmitters, hormones, electro-magnetic fields in our nervous system. Then why engage with mythology rather than modern science? After all, the author is a cardiologist herself. Well, first of, it's fun, and it's beautiful to read and behold. Interestingly, I keep coming across scientists calling for a more holistic understanding of these fields. The immune system is intricately linked to nutrition, movement, emotional literacy, or the processing of inter-generational or childhood trauma. Yoga, Vedanta, and Tantra start with this holistic understanding and have moved to practices to engage these predicaments hundreds of years ago, towards what Patanjali specified as: ‘stilling the patterning of the mind’ – eminently relevant to our times of information overload, shattered attention span, and brittle self-esteem. ‘Shakti Rising’ takes you on a beautiful journey through understanding and practice towards something not too dissimilar from what psychiatry or medicine aim at: to reduce suffering.
January 2, 2023
What an incredible book, and for me an introduction into the Mahavidyas and Hindu spirituality. This book walks us through a gallery of goddesses who mediate and minister reality at a cosmic level, and down to the atomic and personal level. I hope to learn more about Hinduism, but what I understand is that these are not allegories but actual divine beings, participants in the creative outpouring of Shakti in her delighted dance with Shiva.
As a Christian, this tracks delightfully closely with Fr Bulgakov's "Bride of the Lamb" and his Sophiological outline of creation, where Sophia contains the exhaustive outpouring of God's creative divinity, and is herself endowed with her own freedom. She fractals into hierarchies of every conceivable personal and impersonal thing, striving to express and discover all that God is, and we participate in her. Shiva and Shakti are wrapped in this same embrace, with love as the foundation of creation.
And at the same time, each of these challenging and poignant Mahavidyas are like a catalyst, an enzyme, for personal development and awakening. Valentin Tomberg's 'Meditations on the Tarot' provides a series of reflections on complex art pieces, unpacking the effect these characters have on our spiritual development. The Mahavidyas are like these Tarot 'catalysts', only they are also living beings who are personal laws of creation. I love how dramatic, visceral, and immediate these meditations are, full of fruiting skulls and death and lotuses and smiles, harshness and humility, shadow and light.
I'm grateful for this entry into the mystery and majesty of Shakti, a stunning resonance with the self-revelation of Sophia in the Hebrew Scriptures, and harmonizing with the resurgence of honor for the divine feminine within the face of God.
As a Christian, this tracks delightfully closely with Fr Bulgakov's "Bride of the Lamb" and his Sophiological outline of creation, where Sophia contains the exhaustive outpouring of God's creative divinity, and is herself endowed with her own freedom. She fractals into hierarchies of every conceivable personal and impersonal thing, striving to express and discover all that God is, and we participate in her. Shiva and Shakti are wrapped in this same embrace, with love as the foundation of creation.
And at the same time, each of these challenging and poignant Mahavidyas are like a catalyst, an enzyme, for personal development and awakening. Valentin Tomberg's 'Meditations on the Tarot' provides a series of reflections on complex art pieces, unpacking the effect these characters have on our spiritual development. The Mahavidyas are like these Tarot 'catalysts', only they are also living beings who are personal laws of creation. I love how dramatic, visceral, and immediate these meditations are, full of fruiting skulls and death and lotuses and smiles, harshness and humility, shadow and light.
I'm grateful for this entry into the mystery and majesty of Shakti, a stunning resonance with the self-revelation of Sophia in the Hebrew Scriptures, and harmonizing with the resurgence of honor for the divine feminine within the face of God.
January 21, 2021
From now on, whenever someone asks me which book they should read about yoga, this is the book I'm going to suggest first hands down. Not only does Kavitha Chinnaiyan expound the philosophy of Mahavidya Sadhana with extreme clarity, she also gives us extremely practical advice concerning how to incorporate the Devi into our daily lives. I've been a tantra yoga practitioner for a couple of years now, and I fully intend to use this book to bring myself to new heights. Extremely well done.
January 21, 2025
Three stars seems about right. I can't say I particularly loved any of it, with its whole pick-and-choose-a-deity approach to finding your wholeness - whatever the fuck that means. I missed Krishna. Bhagavad Gita this was not. But of course, it wasn't. That's why it would be petty of me to give it only two stars when there was nothing exactly obnoxious about it either. It was fine. What's next?
October 14, 2023
Definitely an interesting book. I was familiar with some of the Hindu Deities but not with others, so I learned a lot. It was not an easy read and I will definitely go back to this book, read it again and do the exercises. However, it is a great book with a lot of insights and helpful information. I recommend giving it a chance!
February 7, 2019
This book had some great insights, but it read so much like a textbook that I didn't find it a very enjoyable read. I would have appreciated a lot more real-life stories or fictionalized examples of the light and dark forces of the Mahavidyas.
April 20, 2021
A whole new way to see the divine Shakti! A different and unique way to approach the Mahavidyas and a powerful yogic exercise regimen.A refreshing read for those who love spirituality in its full meaning.
February 18, 2022
Mind expanding! The spectrum of the physical to spiritual was very fascinating. This book is most powerful if you already have a background in yogic texts (Yamas and Niyamas specifically) and a meditation practice.
July 21, 2025
A pre-existing understanding of Hindu mythology will go a long way to help you understand this book as it is a deep drive. Beautifully written with each chapter containing exercises to help the lessons come alive
August 26, 2017
I received this book from Goodreads First Reads in exchange for an honest review...
Medicore.
Medicore.
August 27, 2017
I follow a Pagan path, dedicated to a Goddess (Hecate), so this book initially interested me. But even I found this book boring, to the point that I was barely able to finish it.
March 24, 2020
Good for examining the goddess, their power, their studies, etc.
May 28, 2020
This book is good if you want to learn more about this goddess.
November 4, 2020
one of my favorite books on the mahavidyas.
January 1, 2021
Beautiful and practical exploration of Mahavidyas. Journal prompts support contemplation and ways to weave Maha Devi into daily life.
March 9, 2022
I'm not a hindu. I found this book very interesting.
March 19, 2022
A stunning portrayal of the Ten Feminine archetypes, The Mahavidyas.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 35 reviews