Learn Sanskrit with me.

Why Sanskrit

A language made of vibration

The Indian traditions I teach from say that sound comes before form. In Kashmir Shaivism, the letters of the Sanskrit alphabet are called mātṛkā, "the little mothers", because every word, and in that teaching every thing, is born from them. A mantra is the letter as sound. A yantra is the sound as form: a shape you can see and meditate on. Each class looks at both.

You will learn to read and write Devanagari, to pronounce each sound from the right place in the mouth, and to understand the mantras you may already be chanting, word by word.

Honestly

I'm learning with you

I'm not a Sanskrit professor. I've chanted and studied these texts for years, and now I'm going deeper into the grammar, so I'm opening my study to you. Each week I teach what I've prepared, we practise together, and where something needs a scholar, I'll say so and point you to one. If you already know Sanskrit, you're welcome to correct me. That's part of the fun.

The first four weeks

From the first sound to your first mantra

1. Week 1 · अ, the first sound. Why every consonant carries the sound a. The five places sound is made in the mouth. The simple vowels a, ā, i, ī, u, ū, and how to write them. Chant: ॐ (Om).
2. Week 2 · The vowels as seeds. The rest of the vowels, plus ṃ and ḥ. Why the tradition calls vowels bīja, seeds, and the consonants their womb. Write your own name in Devanagari.
3. Week 3 · The consonants as a map. The 25 consonants laid out in a five-by-five grid, from the throat to the lips. We'll draw it together: the mouth as a yantra.
4. Week 4 · Your first mantra, word by word. Reading oṃ namaḥ śivāya letter by letter, then a line of the Aghora mantra. Joined letters and how to look a word up.

After week 4 we keep going: semivowels and sibilants, joined letters, sandhi (how sounds join), bīja syllables and simple yantras, then whole verses from the Kala Bhairava Ashtakam and the Upanishads.

How it works

Simple, weekly, live

• When: Wednesdays, 8:00 to 9:00 pm Singapore time, online by video call.
• Each class: 25 minutes of teaching, 25 minutes of reading, writing and chanting together, 10 minutes of questions.
• Between classes: a one-page sheet and a short practice, about 10 minutes a day.
• Missed one? The replay is yours to keep watching for the whole block.
• Price: S$5 a week, paid as S$20 for each block of 4 weeks. Stop any time before the next block.
• You'll need: a notebook and a pen. A book is optional; I'll recommend one in week 1.

Read first

This is a language and contemplative-practice class, shared with respect for the traditions it comes from. It is not a religious initiation, and chanting is not medical or psychological treatment.