NEW PUBLICATIONS! Tarka’s “On Power” & Song of Sādhana Out Now
Plus Tarka On Power Launch Event TONIGHT!
Power is among the most loaded words in our modern lexicon — at once the name for what we simultaneously fear and desire, what liberates and what oppresses, what creates and what destroys. No single tradition, political theory, or spiritual framework has succeeded in resolving this paradox, and this issue of Tarka does not attempt to do so either. What it does attempt is something more honest and hopefully more useful: to hold the paradox open, and to let a plurality of voices — philosophical, historical, mythological, somatic, and devotional — illuminate its various dimensions and expressions.
What unites the contributions gathered here is less a shared conclusion than a shared conviction – that the question of power cannot be adequately addressed from any homogenous perspective, and that contemplative traditions carry conceptual resources for thinking about power that Anglo-American political discourse has barely begun to reckon with. The Sanskrit word śakti — power, energy, the generative force of reality itself — points toward precisely this under-explored depth. It names not simply the power that dominates and coerces, but also the power that creates, illuminates, and sustains. Yet as several contributors here make clear, even śakti has a history — and that history, like so much history, is not always straight-forward.
The topics that touch on power are as unlimited as the notion itself, but the contributed essays cover a broad and sometimes provocative territory. Like with previous issues of Tarka, Editor in Chief Stephanie Corigliano and Editorial Director Jacob Kyle have attempted to curate an issue that will hopefully create openings for further inquiry, reflection, and research.
For yoga and meditation practitioners in particular, the issue provides focused explorations of power in moments in history, knowledge systems, and invites readers to consider power in multiple guises: as ascetic discipline and inner attunement, as political and institutional force, as the creative potency of the divine feminine, as the subtle somatics of kuṇḍalinī, as the freedom discovered through devotion, and as the quiet authority we all transmit through our movements both personal and political.
Our esteemed list of contributors includes: Reggie Hubbard, Ruth Westoby, Rebekah Nagy, Trish Tillman, Jacob Kyle, James Mallinson, Christopher Jain Miller, Jensen Martin, Kalpesh Bhatt, Isa Gucciardi, Devora Neumark, Vinod Bhatia, Hap Savage, Téa Nicolae, Matthew Gindin, Allan “Adi” Abril, Igor Kufayev, Stephanie Corigliano, Bex Naj, Devon Harris, and Alba Rodriguez.
The issue is available as a digital PDF or as a beautiful print issue for your coffee table or contemplative library. Order via our online bookstore.
TODAY | TARKA Volume 9, On Power Launch Party
Tuesday, August 11 · 1:00pm ET · Online · Free & open to all
We are delighted to invite you to the online launch party for the newest issue of Embodied Philosophy’s journal, Tarka. On Power is Issue 9, but with counting our ‘zero issue’ (“On the Scholar-Practitioner”), Tarka is celebrating its 10th manifestation in print. Join us today, Tuesday, August 11th, at 1:00pm ET for a free, live gathering to celebrate the newest issue of Tarka — a journal of deep contemplative inquiry and research for scholar-practitioners and intellectually-curious students of contemplative traditions.
During our launch “party” tomorrow, you’ll hear from Jacob Kyle on the history and mission of Tarka, Stephanie Corigliano on why we chose to devote an issue to the topic of power, and a roundtable of contributors in attendance sharing the ideas behind their essays and how power connects to their own field of research and practice. Floss Harry will guide a conversation with contributors, and we’ll close with a look ahead at the future of Tarka and our plans for expansion.
The event is open to the public and will run a little over an hour. Bring your questions and your curiosity. We’d love to have you in the room.
Chants & Mantras of the Non-Dual Śākta-Śaiva Tradition
Embodied Philosophy recently compiled a book of Sanskrit chants for those who attended the Sādhana School Summer Retreat in Taos, New Mexico and Online. We are pleased to make this volume available to the broader EP and Tarka communities.
Song of Sādhana includes chants and hymns of the non-dual Śākta-Śaiva tradition, in full IAST Sanskrit transliteration with fresh translations. The volume includes chants for daily recitation, including the Śrī Rudram (Namakam section), the Gaṇapati Atharva-śirṣa Upaniṣad, the Kuṇḍalinī Stavaḥ, five of Abhinavagupta’s stotras, and several other chants and hymns. Jacob Kyle’s introduction presents the book as philosophy enacted through the practice of chanting.
The issue is available as a spiral-bound print issue or PDF download for your study and personal recitation practice.