SHARANYA is a unique 501(c)(3) religious organization and Devi Mandir (goddess temple) evolving Śākta Tantra from ancient roots to serve those who seek to know the Divine beyond the boundaries of geography and religious dogma. With an authentic lineage in embodied, goddess-centered tradition as birthed in northeastern India and contextualized for today, ours is path of strengthening oneself to employ spiritual technologies in service to personal transformation and social justice. Our tradition is called Sha’can.
Our Covenant
- I. Sa’ham (She I am). I am the Goddess manifest; I recognize Her in all of Creation.
- II. I remember all that is, was and ever will be. Live the present moment, honor the ancestors, respect the future generations; time is not linear, but travels in a sacred spiral that spans all of existence.
- III. I provoke, invoke and live the Divine Will. Commit to transforming yourself, your community and the planet by doing the work of spirituality; make your practice that of the awakened mystic in our time.
Evam Astu!
So mote it be!
\
Our Mission
Our Vision
The word SHARANYA is from Sanskrit, the ancient language of India, and means “refuge” or “sanctuary.” Founded on August 2, 1998 by a scholar and activist, this public charity (EIN: 94-3334334) received federal tax-exempt status in February 2002 in order to support a local and international community through a variety of programs and services.
Priorities
Our community is open to all seeking to better understand the ways of Goddess—particularly in her antinomian, chthonic, relational, cyclical, and embodied forms. In our community:
- { We seek to know Her throughout the spaces of Self and World.
- { We dedicate ourselves to Her devotion.
- { We make a commitment to action and service for the betterment of all beings.
- { We embrace the work of conscious relationship and own a strong commitment to compassion.
- { We strive to resacralize the Feminine/Female and unpathologize the Masculine/Male.
Shakta Tantra is a belief system whose cosmology reveres the immanence of spirit and in turn provides ritualized as well as lived practices in which the body acts as, and becomes substance for, the Divine. Shakta traditions consider Female/Feminine energy to be fundamental and activating—the source of all creation without which the gods and humanity would perish.
kāmākhyā saiba deveśi sarvasiddhivinodinī ||
You, Kali, Ultimate Mother, the one who is the form of the Absolute Eternal;
Kamakhya, Goddess of Desire, in you reside all powers.
kāmanāṃ dehi me nityaṃ kāmesvarī namo-stute ||
As we offer our prayer, we recognize that this sacred land of spiritual upliftment, the abode of Srī Srī Kāmākhyā, is a land offering connection to what resides both here and beyond. When the rest of the world is agog with material pleasure, the life that is present in Her abode seems to be the summum bonum of humanity’s yearning; we come to Her and drink the pleasure of life, taking back with us to ordinary reality the deepest wisdoms. – Rajib Sharma
उदारचरि तानां तु वसुधैव कुतुम्बकम् ॥
ayaṃ nijaḥ paro veti gaṇanā laghucetasām |
udāracaritānāṃ tu vasudhaiva kutumbakam ||
It is the calculation of those of small minds to think that someone
is either ‘one of us or one of them.’ But for those of generous heart
all the world is their family.
Where male and female worship one another is the play of the Divine Mother.