Vimarsha Foundation is a modern school (gurukula) for teaching and reflecting on the ancient wisdom of r̥ṣis and siddhas.

Philosophically, vimarśa is the reflective mode of consciousness that makes consciousness self-aware. Theologically, vimarśa is Mother Śakti. Metaphysically, vimarśa is everything that exists as 'this' (idam).

Our logo is itself a depiction of this profound concept. The inner eye is wisdom, light. In the center is a blue circle, the empty space, permeated with the rays communicating with the petals. Bindu and visarga stand for prakāśa and vimarśa. The phonemes (ka, ca, ṭa, ta, pa, ya, śa), written in Brahmī script, are central mātr̥kas, the matrices giving rise to the world. The outer white circle refers to knowledge spread throughout the world.

OUR SAMPRADĀYA

SARVĀMNĀYA

At the foundation of Śaiva Tantric revelation are the 28 Siddhānta Āgamas, worshipping Śiva/Rudra in the five-faced Sadāśiva form: Sadyojāta, Vāmadeva, Aghora, Tatpuruṣa and Īśāna.

Following the esoteric Kaula revelation, built upon this foundation, are the 64 Tantras in which Śiva is worshipped in various ferocious and ecstatic Bhairava forms (mantrapīṭha), and then manifests through each of His faces different streams (āmnāyas) of revelations of the Goddess (vidyāpīṭha):

(i) through the hidden, downward looking face of Kālāgnirudra is revealed the adharāmnāya Yoginīkaula tradition of Tārā, Vajrayoginī, Vajravārahī and Pratyaṅgirā;

(ii) through the Tatpuruṣa face, the pūrvāmnāya Trika tradition of the goddesses Parā, Parāparā and Aparā;

(iii) through the Aghora face, the dakṣiṇāmnāya Śrīvidyā tradition of goddess Tripurā;

(iv) through the Vāmadeva face, the uttarāmnāya Krama tradition of goddess Kālī in her Guhyakālī and Kālasaṁkarṣiṇī forms;

(v) through the Sadyojāta face, the paścimāmnāya Kula tradition of goddess Kubjikā;

(vi) through the Īśāna face, associated with the transcendent Paramaśiva form, the ūrdhvāmnāya Śāmbhava Vidyā of Mahātripurasundarī.

Sarvāmnāya, the full Śaiva-Śākta revelation that integrates all these streams, is the core of the Tantric tradition as preserved for over a millenia in Nepal. It centers around the imagery of Bhairava as evoking both immanence, the presence of the divine in all forms, and transcendence of all categories.

Our Teacher

Vimarsha Foundation's founder, Ācārya Dr. Sthaneshwar Timalsina from Nepal, was traditionally trained, consecrated with sarvādhikāra-sarvasāmrājya dīkṣā and authorized as Śaivācārya within Nepali Sarvāmnāya Order by his dīkṣā gurus: Prem Chetan, from Baglung (Nepal), and Śaṁkara Caitanya Bhāratī, from Kashmir. Khaptad Baba, also from Kashmir, was his Yoga guru. He was taught the Vedas, Nyāya, Mīmāṁsā, Vedānta, Śaiva Siddhānta, Trika, Mahārtha and other śāstras in Nepal and Varanasi, by the aforementioned teachers as well as others such as Tanka Prasad Timalsina, Vidyānath Upādhyāya, Rāmānanda Giri, Maheśānanda Giri, Ramji Malviya, Vraja Vallabha Dvivedi and Hemendra Nath Chakravarty.

He has also received academic and philological training in Mahendra Sanskrit University in Kathmandu and Sampurnananda Sanskrit University in Varanasi, as well as in Martin Luther University in Germany, where he acquired his PhD in Classical Indian Philosophy. He's currently Professor of Religious Studies in San Diego State University, USA.

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OUR VISION

To teach, research, conserve, and publish Sanskrit philosophical and other literature from the Dharma traditions that expand global awareness.

To engage the wisdom of the Rishis and sages from contemplative traditions for a creative dialogue in the humanities and social sciences.

To create and support platforms for a collaboration between the Dharma philosophical traditions and global philosophies in contemplative, experiential, and scientific empirical levels.

To promote awareness of alternative (non-Western) philosophies and worldviews, diverse cultures, languages, and ways of life, as resources for addressing global problems.

To foster dialogue between science and the humanities, and cultivate a deeper understanding of thoughts and practices from around the globe.

To support implementation of scientific findings derived from the philosophical underpinnings of the Dharma traditions in all disciplines of education.