The Living Wisdom of the Tantrik Yoga Tradition with Bill Mahony
An immersion into the teachings that awaken us to our essential nature

Location - In-Studio at Yoga Kula or Online

Saturday + Sunday - November 14 + 15 - 11:30 AM–1:30 PM & 2:30–4:30 PM

What is the heart of yoga? What are we really practicing for—and how can the teachings of yoga help us meet the complexity of our lives with greater clarity, freedom, and presence?

Join renowned scholar and teacher Bill Mahony for an immersive weekend exploring the origins, essential teachings, and transformative vision of the Classical Tantrik tradition.

Emerging in India more than a thousand years ago, the Tantrik traditions of Śaiva Yoga offered a profound and radically affirming understanding of human life. Rather than viewing the world, the body, or our everyday experience as obstacles to spiritual awakening, these teachings invite us to recognize the sacred nature of our experience and our deeper, innate essential Self.

Through study, discussion, contemplation, and practice, Bill will introduce the central ideas and vocabulary of Tantrik Yoga in a way that is clear, accessible, and relevant to modern practitioners. We’ll explore the philosophical foundations of the tradition while considering how these teachings can directly inform the way we practice yoga—and the way we live.

Why Immerse Yourself in These Teachings?

Immersing ourselves in a living philosophical tradition can change the way we understand our practice. Study gives us a deeper map of what yoga is pointing toward and can help clarify why we practice, how we practice, and what we are cultivating through practice.

Tantrik Yoga offers a view of awakening that does not require us to withdraw from the fullness of life. Instead, it teaches us how to recognize awareness within our thoughts, emotions, relationships, challenges, and ordinary experiences. This perspective can help us meet life with greater clarity, intimacy, resilience, and freedom from conditioned ways of seeing.

Especially in complex and uncertain times, these teachings offer an important question: How can we remain deeply connected to what is essential within us while fully participating in the world around us?

Bill will unpack important terms and concepts without assuming a background in Tantrik studies. Through his depth of knowledge and gift for making complex teachings understandable, participants will be able to engage with these profound ideas in a way that is both intellectually rich and personally meaningful.

This weekend is an invitation to go deeper—not simply to learn about Tantra, but to immerse ourselves in its vision and consider what becomes possible when we begin to recognize the awareness, vitality, and essential nature that is already present within us.

Whether you are new to Tantrik philosophy or have been studying these traditions for years, this immersion offers an opportunity to deepen your understanding of yoga, reconnect with its deeper purpose, and explore how these ancient teachings can illuminate the way we practice, live, relate, and meet the world today.

Bill Mahony is an internationally respected scholar, yoga teacher, and longtime practitioner of yoga philosophy, meditation, and Sanskrit. Known for his warmth, clarity, and engaging teaching style, Bill has spent decades helping students understand how ancient yogic teachings can enrich modern life. His ability to make profound spiritual teachings accessible and relevant has inspired practitioners around the world. Bill is a professor of Religious Studies at Davidson College. As a professor, he teaches courses on contemplative and devotional sensibilities of religions originating in India, with an emphasis on the philosophies of yoga. Bill is the author of Exquisite Love: Reflections on the Spiritual Life based on Nārada’s Bhakti Sūtra and The Artful Universe. 

For more information, visit his website www.billmahony.com

Time: 11:30AM - 1:30PM PDT - Both days  Please use this time converter to check your time

Cost: $125 before October 1/ $145 after

Location: Yogakula 1666 Shattuck Ave, Berkeley - please arrive 15 minutes before the event begins

Online: We will use zoom.

Future access: We will make the workshop recording available to you 48 hours after the event