Shakti Rising: Embracing Shadow and Light on the Goddess Path to Wholeness

First of all, the "look inside" and the product description don't NEARLY do this book justice. It just arrived today, so I definitely haven't read the whole thing yet, but I can't stop flipping through the various chapters and being gobsmacked at how useful, tangible, and comprehensive this book is. Despite how it looks by the chapter names, this is FAR from being a book with descriptions of the symbolism and role of each of the 10 Mahavidyas. Instead, it combines the yoga sutras, Advaita Vedanta, tantric tradition and shadow work into one manual for shedding your limited self and realizing your divine nature, using the Divine Feminine in all her light and shadow as your guide. There are multiple practices and guided inquiries with each form of the Mother, and each form is described in several sections dealing with deep themes that affect the human experience by unraveling all of their layers. It reads thoroughly and easily and is full of descriptions that you've probably heard before if you've been a spiritual seeker for awhile, but articulated here in a way that makes these concepts uniquely accessible and connects all the dots. I am absolutely floored by this author's depth of understanding and ability to weave it all together and cannot wait to get into this book myself, including all of the practices, from start to finish!

Path to self reflection and spirituality can be challenging. The process can be confusing as well.Knowing the negatives that are weighing us down is the key to addressing and resolving them. In her new book ‘Shakti Rising’, Kavitha M. Chinnaiyan, MD captures the rich essence of Mahavidyas, the divine feminine, to clearly identify the shadows that hold us down, and brilliantly delivers approaches to target them and turn those shadows into the light of Mahavidyas.Shakti Rising invokes soul search to find one’s true ‘Self’. Once that is accomplished, author Kavitha talks about different issues that weigh us down in life, the shadows of Mahavidyas. Kavitha explains the shadow and light of all ten Mahavidyas. She charts the journey towards turning around shadows(the negatives that weigh us down) to harness the light(energy) of the each Mahavidya, leading us to the direct path to liberation. In the direct path, Kavitha states – “we go directly to the source of our being”.Each shadow(negative) is explained with real life situations which we all can relate to. Enriching the narration with her own personal experiences, Kavitha demonstrates how she turned them around. She details specific exercises to begin the journey to resolution of the issues. Exercises are clearly illustrated and are simple enough to incorporate in busy day schedule.Through Shakti Rising Kavitha brings the wealth of deep knowledge from the Yoga Shastra, Kundalini Vidya and Tantras into applicable terms that can be put to immediate use. Fairly new on the spiritual path, I was able to relate with the Mahavidyas whose shadow have been weighing me down and begin the exercises for resolving them.With her up lifting writing style and a delivery resonating passion, Kavitha lights up the path to self resolution and spirituality. I highly recommend Shakti Rising as an essential guide to both new and not so new to the spiritual path.

This book is well written, informative and inspiring. I had no prior exposure to Shiva/Shakti (beyond having heard the terms) and didn't even recognize the term Mahavidyas prior to this book. Each chapter identifies a goddess, followed by an explanation of her symbolism, her role in creation, her role in our bodies and discussions of her shadow and light. The chapters contain contemplative exercises as well as relevant anecdotes and examples. I read the book through for the first time, with notes and highlights as I would a text book of sorts. Portions of the book were challenging because I have no background in many of the areas discussed (even concepts such as non-duality, witnessing, arisings and vasanas). At first, I found myself overwhelmed. But when I took at step back and paced myself (this is not a book someone such as myself could read through in a short time), I was amazed how much information was distilled into each (roughly) 20 page chapters. Even upon re-reading a paragraph or two, I often see something that I didn't quite get the first time. This speaks to the skill and knowledge of the author. This is a book I believe I will revisit and re-read and continue to learn from. I appreciate the supportive and loving tone by which the lessons are presented and our practices encouraged.

Build a relationship with the 10 Maha Vidyas. This book is packed with so much information and wisdom. Each chapter is dedicated to one of the 10 goddesses. Kavitha goes into depth about each goddess’s shadow aspect, light aspect, and cosmic principle, how this relates to yamas and niyamas, and how this pertains to one’s personal sadhana and self-inquiry, and it’s application in daily life. There is internal consistency within the organization of each chapter to get a intimate understanding of each goddess, and yet each chapter links to the next to create a narrative that leads to a comprehensive system of working with the Maha Vidyas as a complete practice. Loved the book, and will refer back to it again and again! Also took Kavitha’s related self-study course on the Maha Vidyas after reading the book. The course has so much more to give that goes beyond the book including mantras, meditations, goddess stories in the Puranas (myths), altar ideas, self-inquiry practices, and life practices, also chock-full of information and beautifully organized. If you want to go deeper into practice, the course is totally worth the cost.

This book has come into my life at exactly the right moment. I wanted to learn more about Kali abs this was a great resource.

Amazing book. Seems a bit lacking in some parts but it is a great book for introduction to Shaktism.

This was recommended by a friend and I am so glad I bought it. It has a list of exercises which help you take these insights even deeper. I found the perspectives refreshing, the exercises profound and the overall experience very satisfying. A must buy if you have an interest in the Dasha Mahavidyas

I had been searching book on tantra sadhana. After reading this book I understand that the tantra sadhana is about dus mahavidya. This is book is really for novice sadhak. I am grateful to Kavithaji and appreciate her hard work for writing this book. This is blessing of Devi Maa.

Great for the Godess compilation in images, great for the easy summary of each godess characteristics and conscious approach.But in general the practices are weak, in the sense they are not original practices of the lineages themselves.The book is full of misconceptions and weak concepts about tantrism.