Generosity: Our 2026 Theme

Dec 9

"You are so generous that You bestow Your own Self to Your devotees! You become the slave of Your devotees! This is Your greatness! You don’t become the master of Your devotees. You give Your everything to them. This is Your greatness!

Utpaladeva to Lord Shiva in Shivastotravali (Lakshmanjoo Academy Book Series) (p. 299)

Hello Friends,

The great devotee, Utpaladeva, understood that the Self Lord Shiva bestows on us appears in the form of all beings, all worlds, and all circumstances. This cascade of appearing is continuous, fountain-like, extravagant.

The manifest world pouring from the heart of Lord Shiva has been described in the Tantrik traditions of India as a great city. The city is a place of creativity, meetings, commerce, and surprise.

In this humming city of life, we can experience bodies. We can hang out in cafés. Cafés exist! We can engage in conversation. We can do sadhana and become more generous ourselves.

We can discover the never-ending, inexhaustible fountain in our own hearts and thus come to know that the entire creation is an expression of devotion.

We will be exploring and discovering primordial generosity in all of our retreats this year. I hope to see you soon.

with infinite love,

Shambhavi