Workshops - General Information
Thomas Ashley-Farrand (Namadeva) is the author of Healing
Mantras, Shakti Mantras, and Chakra Mantras as well as The Ancient Power of Sanskrit Mantra and
Ceremony in three volumes, and more than a dozen other audio and video programs. He is an ordained Vedic
Priest who has been practicing and teaching mantra practices and performing Sanskrit ceremonies since 1973.
A standard workshop is two days in length with a preceding Friday night puja open to the general public.
The cost of the workshop is $175.00 per person. For those who cannot attend both days, a single day rate
is $95.00. While the Friday night puja is included for attendees of the workshop, the requested donation
from the general public is $25.00.
The Friday night pujas are 1,000 Names and Powers ceremonies. Those usually conducted are for Lakshmi, Vishnu, Shiva, Ganesha, Dattatreya, the nine planets, Lalita, and Gayatri. Attendees are given an opportunity to participate in the ceremony which is a departure from traditional Hindu pujas where the priests alone conduct the ceremony with minimal participation even by sponsors.
To schedule a workshop in your area, you will need to have a minimum of twenty-five (25) paid attendees. Namadeva pays all of his own travel and accommodation expenses himself. Namadeva pays all of his own travel, accommodation and workshop materials expenses himself. He also makes his own travel arrangements.
One day workshops must have thirty-five (35) paid attendees at the rate of $95.00 each unless two, one-day workshops are scheduled back-to-back on the same weekend in the same location for a joint fee of $175.00. Then the number of attendees can be cut back to 25 required paid attendees.
Any scheduler of any workshop has complete authority to award partial or full scholarships to those who need it. No one should be turned away or refused attendance because of lack of money.
Each workshop attendees receives a detailed handout and an audio product with all mantras chanted during the workshop.
The first workshop below provides a good foundation for those for whom mantra practice is new. Although it is not necessary to start with it, many basic questions are addressed in this workshop. Thereafter, any workshop can be scheduled for groups of a varying levels of experience.
Two Day Workshops:
Mantra – A Path to Spiritual
and Material Attainment
The mystical Sanskrit language works directly through the chakras. Directing energy into the subtle body, Sanskrit mantras prepare us to receive higher amounts of kundalini energy into the spine. This energy solves problems, eradicates karma, and aids us in fulfilling our desires. During the workshop, Namadeva will teach mantra methods for addressing life’s problems in the areas of health, relationship, abundance, employment, family issues and others. In addition to solving problems, most us want to advance spiritually. Mantra methods for quickening spiritual evolution will be presented. Group Mantra practice will take place at all sessions.
Highlights: Participants will
- Learn details for constructing your mantra practice and methods for reaching Mantra Siddhi, (the beginning of upper levels of attainment with a given mantra).
- Hear mythical stories that are combined with powerful mantras for manifestation in the subtle and physical realms. Some mantras will be presented that do not appear in any of his books.
- Understand the mystical underpinnings of creation of Ganesha by Parvati and the interdiction of Shiva.
- Learn mantras for removal of various classes of obstacles.
- Learn the great mantras for healing a variety of ailments and illnesses.
- Understand how the creation of Subramanya and mantras lead one to become a spiritual adept.
- Understand the Eastern teaching that the very nature of power is feminine. Whether from the Shiva Sutras or the Lakshmi Tantra, the message is the same: The Nature of Power is Feminine. Various feminine mantras and their results will be taught including advanced mantra for Saraswati, Lalita, Kali and others.
- The creation of the Cosmos and its evolution into our physical universe will be discussed from the Eastern point of view.
- Learn about great rishis created long before their appearance on our physical plane. These great beings have interacted with our plane of existence since its inception. Why? Surprising answers will be given as well as explanation of the work of the Avatars of Vishnu and human evolution. Saints, sages, gurus, sadgurus, siddhas and masters and others will be discussed.
- Learn the great master mantra for enlightenment, the Gayatri Mantra.
- Hear a discussion of the great work done by the Buddha and learn a selection of Buddhist mantras and archetypes.
- Participate in a healing session of Dr. Wright’s Cleaning Out Technique.
- Have the opportunity to ask Namadeva questions.
With accompaniment from his tamboura, Namadeva will lead Kirtan (devotional singing) in Sanskrit.
The Adventures of Sita and Rama
Co-Starring Hanuman
Seven thousand years ago, the Seventh Avatar of Vishnu arrived on Earth to restore divine order by defeating two demons repressing saints, sages and the general population. Rama and Sita, representing the Divine Self and the Pure Kundalini Shakti, manifested to defeat the evil ones and show the way for individuals to live a truly spiritual life while living in the world. This workshop will give the set-up of Rama’s appearance that occurred thousands of years before his arrival and then convey the adventures of these Divine Ones.
The allegorical lives of Sita and Rama, with Divine Servant Hanuman, are filled with adventure, mystical mantras and dramatic struggle. Rama is the Self within. Sita is the Kundalini Shakti. Ravana (the villain) is negative, selfish ego. Bharata, Rama’s brother, is the mind. Hanuman is the Prana, or life force within.
The entire program is a fun, entertaining way to learn many new mantras and solve problems.
Mantra Discipline Taught to Attendees
Attendees will learn the Secret Bala Atibala Mantra Discipline for great strength of spirit. You will not find this mantra in books about the Ramayana in English. Texts by saints, sages and scholars refer to it, but do not divulge it.
General Description
- Hanuman Mantras for physical strength and to combat attacks on our Prana.
- The mantra that made Kubera the Guardian of Divine Wealth.
- The Aditya Hridaya Mantra and verses that Sage Agastya taught to Rama to banish spiritual darkness even under the most harsh conditions.
- The great Healing Mantra of Rama.
- Several classical mantras for liberation.
- And more than 20 other mantras to charge our bodies with positive energy, heal afflictions and bring divine blessings into our lives.
Other Highlights
- Mantras to help solve common problems.
- Mantras for guidance and protection.
- Mantra to remove energy blockages.
- A Vedic Ceremony to send great positive energy to a dear departed one.
This ceremony, performed by Rama and Lakshmana for their beloved departed father, is still practiced in India today. Those who attended this ceremony at workshops have reported a profound sense of closure with the soul remembered during this ceremony.
This workshop is usually second in a series after: Mantra – A Path to Spiritual and Material Attainment. The story is terrific and the mantras especially healing.
Myths and Mantras of Ganesha
Ganesha is the pot-bellied, benevolent son of Shiva and Parvati that is a favorite among many who read or are told the mythical stories from India. For the advanced sages and mystics, he takes on epic proportions.
He is the entire universe contained in a single form. He is Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva unified into one figure. In some of the Puranic scriptures, he is an aspect of Krishna as Parvati’s older brother. When Brahma can’t create the universe, Ganesha comes to his aid. When Vishnu is asked to destroy demons, it is Ganesha who shows him how to accomplish the task. In us, he sits at the base of the spine where every energy channel in the subtle body is connected to his location there.
This workshop will teach Ganesha mantras that even experienced practitioners have never seen before. These mantras to invoke his help in every aspect of life will be taught while folded into enjoyable myths and stories from a variety of scriptures, along with Bhajans and Kirtan.
Here is a sampling of what kinds of mantra attendees will learn:
- To stop someone trying to do harm to you.
- For immediate assistance on some matter.
- To brings things around you under control (so long as it concerns you).
- To tune into angels, the prophets, and beings in higher realms.
- To remove energy blockages.
- To bring healing to a group.
- To bring success to your endeavors in this time of spiritual winter.
- To realize that all this is divine drama.
- To fix some situation that is not working properly.
- To become empowered to work with color & perform Color Therapy.
- . . .and much more.
Gurus, Avatars, Siddhas and Masters
All the great gurus and teachers want us to reach our highest potential. They dedicate their lives to our advancement. And they teach that we are divine. But what do we really know about these beings? By popular request, this program will address this topic.
What is a guru? How does a guru work with us? How do I know a supposed guru is genuine and not a fake or pretender? What are differences among gurus, sadgurus, and jagadgurus? What is an avatar and how is this being different from the others? And how are all of these different from siddhas (perfected beings) and masters?
As part of it the activities of the workshop, the life and teachings of Avadhuta Sadguru Dattatreya, reputed to be the very first Sadguru, will be discussed. There will also be material drawn from the works of Sadgurus Maher Baba and Sant Keshvadas, as well as the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali.
Here are some of the other topics also covered;
- Various types and categories of initiation, including mantra, shaktipat, shambhavi, sparsha, and others.
- The upaguru – the enlightener without form.
- The twenty-four teachers of Dattatreya, and his esoteric mantras.
- Divine Beings in human affairs.
- Frequencies of consciousness.
- Spiritual laws, including the Law of Prana, Law of the Last Thought, Law of Compensation, Law of the Spheres, and others.
- The Ego-Mind-Personality: Our vehicle of advancement.
- The Personal Spiritual Mosaic: Our unique individual journey.
- Practice of a classical spiritual discipline centered on the guru of one’s choice, or to attract a genuine guru.
As is the custom with workshops presented by Thomas Ashley-Farrand (Namadeva), there will be extensive group chanting of mantra formulas and kirtan (devotional singing). One of the highlights of the program will Namadeva’s chanting and discussion of the Avadhuta Gita by Dattatreya in Sanskrit with English translation.
One Day Workshops:
The Great Acharyas, and Mysteries of
The Lakshmi Tantra
This workshop has no sexual teachings or practices.
Hindu texts agree that that nature of power is feminine. Shiva has Parvati (with Durga and Kali as well). Even the venerable Shiva Sutras state that all power derives from the Matrika, the Sanskrit Alphabet: She who binds and She who sets one free. Brahma’s power comes from Saraswati. Vishnu’s power is Lakshmi. Just as Vishnu is the Beingness of this cosmos, yet lies beyond, Lakshmi is the power of His Becoming, the primordial Kriya Shakti whose activity leads souls back to their source.
This workshop presents easy to grasp mystical underpinnings for the creation of the universe. Not just philosophically oriented, the workshop will teach ancient and practical mantras and techniques for addressing life’s difficulties. Disciplines for spiritual advancement from the Lakshmi Tantra also will be covered in detail.
The first part of the workshop will focus on development of a platform of understanding for the ideas and methods of the Lakshmi Tantra. This will be accomplished through examination of the philosophies and practices of three great thinkers from India’s rich history: Shankaracharya, Ramanujacharya and Madvacharya. Then the philosophy of Pancharatra will be summarized. With this as an in-depth preparation, study of the Lakshmi Tantra will commence.
This workshop will teach and include group practice of mantras rarely seen in print. Attendees will receive a workbook and extensive practice in these powerful mantras, as well as background understanding of the inner meanings presented in the Lakshmi Tantra. Finally, a Lakshmi puja incorporating mantras and special Lakshmi chants will be performed.
Maha Shakti PujaCeremony
(Invocation and Celebration of the Great Feminine)
It has been taught for centuries in the East that the very nature of power is feminine. Called Shakti in Sanskrit, this great universal feminine power has it counterpart in each of us, sitting as an atomic-like power cell located at the base of our spine. For millennia, methods for invoking this power into our lives have been taught through the use of Sanskrit Mantra and ceremony. In tune with these ancient methods and traditions, the Maha Shakti Ceremony helps awaken and invoke this power into everyday life.
This eight (8) hour ceremony is not for the timid or impatient. Celebrating the primal power of the kundalini shakti at the base of the spine, this ceremony involves participants in extensive mantra chanting and other ceremonial activities. During the ceremony, the chakras become charged with more energy and the depth of one's consciousness increases. Subtle changes take place in attendees that will continue to accelerate spiritual growth for months after the ceremony. Attendees will receive a handout of all mantras used for group chanting.
Mantras for Common Problems
A saying from the Vedas, the world’s oldest scriptures, claims that, “Speech is the essence of Humanity.” All of what humanity thinks and ultimately becomes is determined by the expression of ideas and actions through speech and its derivative, writing.
Mantras are so powerful that the Dalai Lama has proclaimed in his book The Kalachakra Tantra, “Therefore, without depending upon mantra, Buddhahood cannot be attained.
There are millions of mantras, each for a different purpose. In this workshop, mantras for healing oneself or others, immediate assistance in a difficult situation, unleashing creative expression, improving prosperity and abundance, and other common problems will be presented and practiced.
There will be ample time for questions and answers about your personal problems, issues and concerns. You will also receive a detailed handout and an audio product for pronunciation of the mantra formulas imparted during this class.
Mantras for Guidance and Protection
Modern life presents us with a maze of tasks, schedules and objectives. As part of this, there are arrangements to be made, plans to be formed, supplies to be obtained, and travel. We travel a variety of ways. - walking, trains, buses and air. We want to be safeguarded in all of our activities.
Sometimes there are important decisions to be made. They can be about the health care of a loved one. Or the proper kind of job- including where to look and when to say yes or no. Questions and situations come up in our relationships or on the job. We need our intuition to be guided to correct conclusions and decisions.
But what if we discover we have made the wrong decision? How can we change the course of decisions we have made? How can we avoid making incorrect decisions in the first place? In the midst of fulfilling our tasks and duties, how can we carry with us an aura of protection? An aura of confidence that we are on the right path? In the midst of fulfilling our tasks and duties, how can we develop an aura of protection, and an aura of confidence that we are on the right path?
The ancient science of Mantra from India addresses these issues. This workshop will feature mantras for intuition, protection, guidance, and personal empowerment that kicks in when we need it. There will be ample time for questions and answers about your personal problems, issues and concerns. You will also receive a detailed handout and an audio tape for pronunciation of the mantra formulas imparted during this class.
Mantras, Obstacles and Abundance
Abundance issues in our lives have to do with our karma. Using mantra formulas, we can reduce karmic obstacles and invoke the abundance of the universe in its different forms of manifestation: income, job, friends and relationship, peace and prosperity. Enjoy group chanting of mantras and Kirtan, along with some classic stories from the East. The CD, Mantra Therapy for Prosperity, will be given to attendees and practiced by the group.
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