Shambhavi Sarasvati is the spiritual director of Jaya Kula, a vibrant nonprofit community of diverse people learning and practicing in the direct realization traditions of Trika Shaivism and Dzogchen. Find out more at jayakula.org. Shambhavi is the author of The Reality Sutras: Seeking the Heart of Trika Shaivism (2018); The Play of Awakening: Adventures in Direct Realization Tantra (2012, 2018); Nine Poisons, Nine Medicines, Nine Fruits (2017); No Retreat: poems on the way to waking up (2016), Returning: Exhortations, Advice and Encouragement from the Heart of Direct Realization Practice (2015), and Pilgrims to Opennness: Direct Realization Tantra in Everyday Life (2009). In addition, she published an academic book, Avatar Bodies: a Tantra for Posthumanism. She holds an MFA in Fiction from Mills College and a Ph.D. in Modern Thought and Literature from Stanford University.