About Victor (Devī)

I strive to live my life in alignment with my values of transparency, authenticity, and integrity.  This naturally spills over into my work, whether it be in the realm of spirituality or my other business in the IT realm.

A Value Proposition for a New Paradigm

I will never offer something with the sole purpose of making money.  I will never try to sell someone something they don’t need just to further my own ends.  I will never knowingly offer something that is harmful to the environment, the body, or the psyche. I will never capitalize on people’s insecurities or sense of lack, nor exploit their egos.  I will go hungry before I stoop to these exploitative tactics of capitalism.

The ashram operates on a Pay What You Will basis.  No one is ever denied something I have to offer if they cannot pay for it.  Every offering I share is a partnership.  We are on this journey together.  Our time together benefits both of us, and hopefully all beings, as a result.

My Lineages, Teachers, and Influences

Gina Salā is my Root Gurujī on the Sacred Sound path. In the Spring of 2007, using the Gāyatrī mantra as she teaches it, I healed my body from multiple autoimmune conditions that a wide array of physicians, over a period of 8.5 years, said were incurable. That Fall I began going to India, first with her in 2007 and 2008 and having the good fortune to study with several of her teachers, and then later on my own, developing new connections.

Ginajī’s Advaita Vedānta teacher was Papajī, and his guru was Śrī Rāmana Maharṣi. I also have a direct relationship with Śrī Rāmana after visiting Tiruvaṇṇāmalai and Mt. Aruṇācala in 2008, and I now enjoy a home and heart family there.

I am pictured here just after my Kuṇḍalinī initiation with Śrī Vāgīsh Shāstrījī in Varāṇasī in October 2008, whom I also studied Saṃskṛtam with.

I have also taken lessons in beginning Rāga from Śrī Ṛtvik Sānyāljī and Śrī Anup Misrajī in Varāṇasī. All of these teachers come through my association with Ginajī.

In February of 2014, I took initiation into Śrī Vidyā Tantra from a Western teacher in a classical South Indian lineage teaching in Seattle. I studied with them for over a year, deepening in these potent Tantrik mantras and rituals.

Gurujī Śrī Amṛtānanda Nātha Saraswatī was the current lineage holder in this Dattātreya lineage until he left the body in October 2015. He founded Devīpuram, near Viśākhāputnam, India. Devīpuram is the home of the only Śrī Yantra you can walk inside of. It contains all 108 Khaḍgamālā deities, life-sized, in their appropriate places. I spent a week at Devīpuram in December of 2014, and received additional mantra dīkṣā from Gurujī.

I returned in January 2016, retaking initiation from Amma Annapūrṇāmba, also known as Guru Amma, and deepening in my studies over several weeks and again during Śivarātri.

I have studied Nāda Brāhma in Varāṇasī with Paulo Alvarez, who claims the lineages of Vemu Mukunda, Frederick Leboyer, Tran Qiuam Hai, Paṇḍit Śivnāth Mishra, Budadittya Mukerjee, and Tublu Bannerjee.

I have also been influenced by Nād and Kuṇḍalinī Yoga as taught by Yogi Bhajan.  I denounce Yogi Bhajan for the predator he was, while recognizing the practices have innate power, and there are thousands, if not millions, of people practicing and teaching them with integrity, with the best intentions, and harming no one.

I am a Reiki Master of the Third Degree in the Usui Lineage.

I have studied New Thought principles and practices in depth, completing the first year of a two year program of Religious Science Practitioner’s coursework under Eric O’del and Colette Mercier in 2011. I became a self-ordained New Thought minister in 2014 after I realized New Thought framework is too narrow for my cosmology. New Thought fits under my umbrella, not the other way around. I take my responsibilities in this role seriously, and conduct myself with the utmost integrity when offering spiritual coaching and affirmative prayer sessions. I lead one and two day visioning workshops using a variety of modalities, and co-creating meaningful custom marriage ceremonies is another way of being in service that fills my heart with joy.

In 2013, I became aware of Christopher Hareesh Wallis and his teachings from the Nondual Śaiva Tantra tradition, dabbled for a bit, then began studying NŚT and Saṃskṛtam with him in earnest in 2016. I find these practices to be life changing; they balance and complement my Śrī Vidyā practices in profound ways.

In August of 2019, I began studying with Maa Uma-Parvathi Natha to deepen in my practices of Śrī Vidyā within my lineage. She studied with my Gurujī Śrī Amṛtānanda Nātha Saraswatī for over 35 years. This study is ongoing.

In 2023, with the blessings of Devipuram, I took initiation into the Sarvamnaya tradition led by lineage holder Ācārya Sthaneshwar Timalsina Ji to learn more of the agamas and balance my Śākta sadhana with Śaiva practices. This is a traditional Śaiva/Śākta tantric lineage. More info can be found at https://www.vimarshafoundation.org.

I am grateful to engage in and offer chanting, mindfulness, and breath work practices in various forms, including kirtan, yantra pūjā, and homam. I am an insatiable student with a voracious appetite for continual learning and refining. I place a strong emphasis on pronunciation and being a steward of these ancient traditions, so they may be honored and preserved for future generations.  I speak out publicly online and in person on cultural appropriation and spiritual bypassing.  Altering practices and cherry picking what feels good can bring about unintended consequences we must be mindful of. We have a responsibility to take the best care we can of the tradition, ourselves, and each other.