About Us
A little about this path, and the people who keep the lamp.
Who this is
Siva Sri Thiyaneshamma is a quiet house of practice in the Shaivite tradition, gathered around three simple things: sitting, remembrance of the Name, and plain kindness in the hours between.
There is no membership here and nothing to enrol in. People come for a morning, or for years. Some come once, take what they needed, and are never seen again — which is a perfectly good outcome.
What we practise
We keep to a small rhythm, and we keep to it whether or not it feels inspiring.
- Sitting. Early, before the day makes its demands. Twenty minutes is enough to begin.
- Remembrance. The Name, spoken aloud when the mind is loud and left alone when the heart is already soft.
- Seva. Sweeping, cooking, washing, carrying. The courtyard does not clean itself, and the cleaning is not a lesser activity than the sitting.
We are wary of practices that require you to become someone impressive first. If a teaching cannot survive a bus journey and a difficult relative, it is decoration.
The lamp
A single lamp is lit at dawn and again at dusk. It is not a symbol of anything complicated. It simply marks that someone is awake and paying attention, and it gives whoever is passing a reason to sit down for a moment.
Visitors are welcome at either hour. Bring nothing.
About these writings
The blogs on this site are notes rather than teachings — written slowly, usually early, and left mostly unedited. The thoughts are lines that were spoken in passing and happened to be remembered. The gallery holds old photographs of the courtyard, the lamps, and the paths people walked to get here.
Nothing here is a substitute for sitting down yourself.