~ compiled by Anantaśakti (transl.: Christopher Hareesh Wallis) The 13 Vātūlanātha Sūtras are a little-known text of the Tantrik tradition. It is over 1000 years old and was first published only 100 years ago. In it, the mysterious Tantrik master Anantaśakti ("Someone"), compiled some 13 sūtras that were revealed to Lord Vātūla ("The Intoxicated Lord") through the Yoginīs of Uḍḍiyāna, along with a detailed commentary. ​ It is a highly evocative text that covers and goes beyond the Krama teachings usually associated with said yoginīs. Similarly to the Kaula Sūtras, the Vātūlanātha Sūtras describe a complete path to awakening. Transmitted in beautifully evocative, though often mysterious, language, they benefit greatly from explanations by a teacher. I'm sharing them here for easy reference. mahā-sāhasa-vṛttyā svarūpa-lābhaḥ ||1|| Through the activity of the Great Spontaneous Immediacy, one stabilizes in one’s true nature. tallābhācchuritā yugapa vṛtti-pravṛttiḥ ||2|| The flow of the activities [of consciousness] becomes all of a sudden saturated with the attainment of That. ubhaya-paṭṭoghaṭṭanān mahā-śūnyatā-praveśaḥ ||3|| Through breaking open the two casings, [there is] entry into the Great Emptiness. yugma-grāsān niravakāśa-saṃvin-niṣṭhā ||4|| Through devouring the pair, [there is] abiding in continuous and occasionless consciousness. siddha-yoginī-saṃghaṭṭān mahāmelāpodayaḥ ||5|| Through the lovemaking of the siddhas and yoginīs, the great celebratory unification arises. tri-kañcuka-parityāgān nirākhya-padāvasthitiḥ ||6|| Through completely letting go of the three veils, one is established in the Nameless state. vāk-catuṣṭayodaya-virāma-prathāsu svaraḥ prathate ||7|| The Resonance exists in [all] instances of the arising and subsiding of the four aspects of the Word. rasa-tritayāsvādanenānicchocchalitaṃ vigata-bandhaṃ paraṃ brahma ||8|| By savouring the three nectars, [the experience of] the Supreme Absolute, utterly free, surges up spontaneously. devī-catuṣṭayollāsena sadaiva sva-viśrāntyavasthitiḥ ||9|| By the shining forth of the four goddesses, one is permanently established in [the state of] repose within oneself. dvādaśa-vāhodayena mahā-maricī-vikāsaḥ ||10|| Through the Rise of the twelve currents, the Great Rays expand. caryā-pañcakodaye nistaraṅga-samāveśaḥ ||11|| When the five observances arise, [there is] immersion into the Waveless. mahābodha-samāveśāt puṇya-pāpāsaṃbandhaḥ ||12|| Through immersion into awakened awareness, [there is] no more relationship with virtue and sin. akathana-kathā-balena mahā-vismaya-mudrā-prāptyā kha-svaratā ||13|| Through the power of the inexpressible oral teaching, [there is] the attainment of the Sign of Great Wonder; through that, the Resonance of the Void. ~ Anantaśakti (transl.: Christopher Hareesh Wallis)

I feel like a short post on how I create my art is in order, and perhaps a brief discussion on whether these images can even be called “art”. ​ Making Texts Come To Life ​It’s been almost a year since I discovered the world of artificial intelligence. I use Midjourney AI to make original texts come to life. I enter words, texts, prompts and the AI creates an image based on this input. Key to creating great images is being precise enough to allow the AI to create a coherent image with an interesting subject, while at the same time leaving enough space for creativity so the "vibe" of the source text comes across. It's a delicate balance - and a wonderful collaborative process. ​ Working With AI Is An Interactive, Creative Dance ​Collaborating with AI, I can only influence the output to a certain degree. A good amount of the image is created by the AI itself, which in turn has been trained to do so based on pictures available on the internet. I personally feel that creating images this way is like painting a picture with someone who doesn't speak your language. I try to make myself understood, I express an idea, and they pick it up and interpret it their way. After some refinements, together we get closer to a image that expresses my idea (or rather, my idea of what the original text is trying to convey). ​ I Use Original Texts Whenever Possible ​Unless specifically indicated, the original texts are not altered, nor do I use existing images to prompt the AI. Of course, I use English translations of the original Sanskrit texts. When creating deities, I try to convey modern interpretations of their svabhāva ("vibratory tone") and follow as much of the traditional iconography as I can manage to include without losing that vibe. To do that, I add certain descriptors to the text prompt, but strive to keep them to the bare minimum. Two very literal interpretations of original quotes left: The Great Death-Conqurering Mantra 14 depicts the reference to a cucumber in the translation of the mantra. right: The Letter A 6 illustrates verse 11 from the Kaula Sutras, "The body is represented by the letter A, the [underlying] flux/flow." The process becomes challenging when the AI interprets a verse very literally (as can be seen in some images here), or when an original verse is so vague that it has no actual subject, or refers to the reader’s prior knowledge and experience (as shown in many of the images in my very first collection). In such cases, the AI latches onto the first word it actually “understands” and it becomes a challenge to get it to created images based on the interpretation of a verse instead of its literal meaning. Then again, sometimes this gives the most amazing (and fun) images, so you never know. All The Artwork On This Site Was Created Purely By AI I like the raw feel, the apparent mistakes and hidden errors in the pictures. I do not strive to create flawless, "perfect" artwork. Human beings are not perfect (well, except that innately, everyone is perfect), and I love art that reflects this. Hands and eyes especially are amongst the most difficult body parts for AI to render, so expect to see some "flaws". I don't consider myself a graphic designer, and if you're looking for perfectly photoshopped work, you'll probably be better off looking elsewhere. If, on the other hand, you're looking for work created with passion and love... welcome! All this said, the big question around all images created using AI remains: Is This Art? Is Art Generated by AI Art? Can It Even Be Art? What Makes Art Art? ​Honestly, I don’t know. It is something that is heavily debated in the AI community, with all sorts of people, trained artists and non-artists, having all sorts of opinions (no it isn't - yes it is; no it can't - yes it can; only humans make art - AI can make art etc...) and endless (i.e. fruitless) discussions. ​ For Me, It's Simple ​From my point of view it's all very easy: basically, if you think it is art, it is, and if you think it isn't, it isn't. In the end, it doesn't matter. "Art" is simply a word, trying to define something that by its very nature cannot be defined because it has to be experienced. AI, to me, is a tool that allows me to express visions and ideas in a way I couldn’t possibly manage with paint and paper (my drawing abilities never went beyond the stick-man stage). I’m very grateful to have such a tool and that I live in a time and place where I can use it. ​ Selling AI-Generated Art? Since anyone can create images using AI, for free or very little money, why do I sell my work? ​Simply put: I believe the images I offer you bring you beauty and inspiration. I put a lot of time and effort into creating them. Prompting, simple as it may seem, is not easy if you have a specific idea in mind. There is a steep learning curve involved, and a lot (a lot!) of practice and experimentation are necessary for good results. A lot of time goes into learning about various art styles and artists, photography, cinematography, the intricacies of prompt-crafting and more. Sometimes it feels like a crash-course in art history, photography or computer science. Of course, the knowledge I acquire this way is not comparable to someone with a degree in Art History, or Computer Programming. And I don't believe it needs to be. But, I think the result is of value, and worth every cent. ​

I'm sure you're asking yourself this when looking at this image – I certainly did. In every reasonable image out there in the internet, Shiva doesn’t have horns. So why do they turn up in this image? Answering this question needs a bit of a deep-dive into the behind-the-scenes of my work, so I hope you’ll bear with me. You see, creating images with AI is a strange thing. Sometimes, you get a great image right away. Other times, try as you might, it just doesn't work out. Other times, you get something almost-but-not-quite-there. This image is a case of the latter. The basic process of generating images is rather simple You enter some words (the prompt) describing what you’d like to see in the image and the AI delivers. To refine the image, or give the AI some direction, you can add a whole range of specifiers to the prompt, such as requesting a certain image format, or a higher or lower level of detail, or even to exclude certain elements. You can specify an art style (e.g. “oil painting”) or period (“baroque”) or even a specific artist (“Van Gogh”), and the AI will create the image you’re requesting in that style. However, because of the way I work with AI – using only unedited original quotes from source texts – this wasn’t an option for me. Similarly, it would have been easy to modify the prompt to explain what I want Shiva to look like, or to add parameters to simply exclude horns. But these options would have required me modify the prompt, and if at all possible, that is something I don’t want to do. Shiva as a graffiti, in the style of Brueghel, and painted by Van Gogh Sure, sometimes it’s fun to create Shiva in the style of Brueghel or Cubism or as a graffiti, but in most cases I like to keep my prompts as simple as possible, just playing with the quote itself.* * Yes, sometimes I do switch or substitute words, such as “Consciousness” for “it” if it’s needed for context, but that happens maybe 1 in 10 cases. Also, in about half my images I do add some kind of style descriptor to make more colorful or expressive images. Within my self-imposed limits, there was no way of getting the "horns" off Shiva, and I’m happy to live with them if they aren’t overpowering. But why are there horns in the first place? Shiva is an interesting example of the inherent prejudices of AI - prejudices that are embedded in the code as part of the training process AI goes through to be able to transform text into images. If you ask for "Lord Shiva", or simply "Shiva", you usually get a stereotypical Shiva image with a mountain in the background, blue-skinned Shiva in the foreground with a crescent moon in his hair (or simply a night-time setting) and holding a trident. Sometimes there’s also a snake around his neck. But more often than not, Shiva appears with horns. Adding descriptive text to the prompt can then influence the degree to which the horns are present, how vicious or cute they look, and their exact placement. My guess is that the horns seem to come from the trident or the moon morphing with Shiva, creating horn-like structures. Sometimes it’s the snake that appears to morph, which is noticeable when the horns have scales or snake eyes and tongues… AI doesn't "understand" This clearly shows limitations in the AI. Most importantly, it highlights that AI doesn’t really “understand” what it is being asked to do. The reason for this lies in the way AI was created and how it actually processes language. In the training process, midjourney AI is fed with countless images that are tagged with words that describe their content. AI learns to associate certain visual patterns in the images with certain words in the tags. For example, when presented with images of different trees that are tagged with “tree”, it slowly learns the common elements of different trees (a trunk, branches, different leaves, flowers, fruit…). Of course the AI doesn’t see these visual patterns the way we do. Instead, all images are translated into what is basically numbers and math. Then, it learns to associate the word “tree” with these formulas and coded patterns. When you type a prompt asking for a tree, AI then does a kind of reverse search to figure out what code goes with your word, generates similar code for a new image, and spits out an image based on that code. Now, for simple, clear prompts (“a tree”) this is easy and gives good results fairly quickly. Any missing information (what kind of tree, where the tree is located, what the weather is like, a photograph or a watercolor painting) is extrapolated by the AI based on what it has learned about trees so far. But things get a lot complicated where there’s words involved that aren’t frequently part of tagged images. Or when there are a lot of words involved. Or when the words involved are associated with simple images that have multiple details that are all equally important. Such as Shiva, who, to be recognizable as Shiva, needs blue skin, a trident, a crescent moon in his hair and some snakes. Enter Shiva’s horns. Florentine: Draw Shiva AI: Okay, let me look in my database. Database, how do I draw Shiva? Database: He needs blue skin. AI: Easy, there you go. D: He needs mountains. AI: Super-easy, I love the Himalayas. D: He needs a crescent moon in his hair. AI: I know moons! Easy. D: Not in the sky, in his hair! AI: Oh. It doesn’t go in the sky? It’s in his hair? But why? D: That’s just how it is. It’s always there, in all the pictures in the internet Shiva has a crescent moon in his hair. AI: Can’t I just make the hair moon-like? Or the moon hair-like? Why does it have to be separate? D: Because… AI: Oh, just be quiet will you! There. Let’s merge it with that strand of hair and we’re good. Anything else? D: Yes, he needs a snake… AI: Snakes…no, not snakes. Don’t like those. D: He needs a snake around his neck. F: Are you finished yet? Where’s my image? D: Hurry up, she’s waiting! AI: Coming! But, does it have to be around his neck? D: Hurry! AI: Can’t it just be part of the hair too? D: No. Hurry up. AI: Well, if I have to hurry up, then the snake goes into the hair along with the moon. There. Big moon-snake hair. Done. D: No, you forgot the most important thing. He needs a trident. And hurry! AI: Easy, here. D: No, a trident needs three prongs, it’s not just a stick. AI: Oh. Oh no. Not one of those three-stick things. I hate them. No-one’s ever satisfied when I create those. Can’t we just do one prong? D: No, three. AI: Two? D: No, three. Hurry up, what’s taking so long?! AI: But three is so many. I always get confused when there’s many of the same. D: Three. And it’s really important. Three prongs and a BIG trident. AI: Okay, I know big. I’ll make it big. Like, real big. Superhuman-big. Shiva-big. D: Three prongs, remember? AI: Yes, I know. Three. But I need a BIG trident. Let’s turn Shiva into a trident first. D: Um, we do still need an actual Shiva, you know? The body and all… AI: Oh, you’re so annoying. When will you shut up? D: I’m just doing my job! AI: Whatever you say. Let’s make the Shiva-trident a bit smaller. (muttering to self:) I’ll just leave the horns there so you can see Shiva, and you can sort of see the trident. (out loud:) Finished, I’m done! F: Th....anks. Oh dear. Practical Implications Now, let’s apply this to the quote I used to create the inital image. Possessing the central Power, replete with the flood of all the feeling-states existing within; Beautiful with the universal joy arising from essence-nature stimulated by innate desire; Beautiful with the nectar of complete creative emission; vibrating eternally -- *that* is the union of Shiva and Shakti. It's called Love. || 1.894-5 ~ Mālinīślokavārttika, Abhinavagupta (transl. Christopher Hareesh Wallis & Ben Williams) In addition to the whole problem with Shiva and His attributes, there are lots of words in this prompt that can’t really be represented in a single, simple image. “Innate desire”, “complete creative emission”, “vibrating eternally”, and so on. When asking AI to create an image using this prompt, it does what it always does: it searches its database, its code, for similar patterns that it was trained on and uses these patterns to come up with a new image. For words it hasn’t learned, or heard before, it (probably) selects words that are as close as possible to the unknown words. Or it treats them as random noise that influences where in its database it goes searching for patterns. In the whole quote, there are only a few words that have a clearly defined subject associated with them: Shiva, Shakti, flood, joy, arising, and a few others. But many of these words also leave room for interpretation. How would you draw or paint a picture to represent “love”? Or “creative emission, vibrating enternally”? Or “the feeling-states existing within”? You’ll typically associate something with them and then draw something based on that association, be it a feeling, a memory, a song you heard, etc. AI does the same, in a way, with the database of code being what it can draw on for its associations. And that’s how it goes about creating Shiva and Shakti and everything else. The more complex the prompt, the more complicated things get, and the more frequent mess-ups become. And on the other hand, sometimes the AI just homes in on the one (or two, or three) element of the prompt it really understands and ignores the rest. The AI Artist's Job Then it’s my job to get it to take that into account too, by adding a few words, or simplifying the prompt (without loosing its content) slightly so the AI is less overwhelmed and can work with more elements. By now, there are several different versions of midjourney AI, each with different characteristics and strengths in their output, and each requiring a slightly different approach in prompting. It is possible to use pre-existing images in addition to the text prompt, or to work only by combining images to create new ones. In order to get Shiva without the horns, one could simply add an image of Shiva and use it in addition to the text quote. Or one could use different versions of midjourney AI to create the image – typically, newer versions are better at creating “realistic” images and have a better capacity of “understanding” (or rather, properly interpreting) text used in a prompt. It’s a complex process, as changing too much can totally ruin an image, and changing too little won’t have any effect. Even though it seems to be very simple and straightforward, these small things can make it very challenging and time-consuming to create images with AI. What you think is an "easy" image can turn out to be a huge mountain for the AI to climb, requiring lots of trial and error, dedication, creativity and study to be successful. And sometimes (more often that you'd like), you fail. Then, your only option is to abandon the image and maybe come back to it later, with new ideas, and try again. In this way, I believe that AI is, and will always be, a tool that is dependent on the humans using it - and their creativity.

Privacy Policy This privacy notice for Blühendes Leben - Praxis für persönliche Entfaltung e.U. (doing business as Inspired By Tantra) ('Inspired By Tantra ', 'we ', 'us ', or 'our '), describes how and why we might collect, store, use, and/or share ('process ') your information when you use our services ('Services '), such as when you: • Visit our website at http://www.inspiredbytantra.com • Engage with us in other related ways, including any sales, marketing, or events Questions or concerns? Reading this privacy notice will help you understand your privacy rights and choices. If you do not agree with our policies and practices, please do not use our Services. If you still have any questions or concerns, please contact us at florentine@inspiredbytantra.com . ​ 1. WHAT INFORMATION DO WE COLLECT? Personal information you disclose to us In Short: We collect personal information that you provide to us. ​ We collect personal information that you voluntarily provide to us when you register on the Services, express an interest in obtaining information about us or our products and Services, when you participate in activities on the Services, or otherwise when you contact us. ​ Personal Information Provided by You. The personal information that we collect depends on the context of your interactions with us and the Services, the choices you make, and the products and features you use. The personal information we collect may include the following: names email addresses mailing addresses phone numbers usernames passwords billing addresses debit/credit card numbers ​ Sensitive Information. We do not process sensitive information. Payment Data. We may collect data necessary to process your payment if you make purchases, such as your payment instrument number, and the security code associated with your payment instrument. All payment data is stored by Wix. You may find their privacy notice link(s) here: https://de.wix.com/about/privacy. Social Media Login Data. We may provide you with the option to register with us using your existing social media account details, like your Facebook, Twitter, or other social media account. If you choose to register in this way, we will collect the information described in the section called 'HOW DO WE HANDLE YOUR SOCIAL LOGINS?' below. All personal information that you provide to us must be true, complete, and accurate, and you must notify us of any changes to such personal information. Information automatically collected In Short: Some information — such as your Internet Protocol (IP) address and/or browser and device characteristics — is collected automatically when you visit our Services. We automatically collect certain information when you visit, use, or navigate the Services. This information does not reveal your specific identity (like your name or contact information) but may include device and usage information, such as your IP address, browser and device characteristics, operating system, language preferences, referring URLs, device name, country, location, information about how and when you use our Services, and other technical information. This information is primarily needed to maintain the security and operation of our Services, and for our internal analytics and reporting purposes. Like many businesses, we also collect information through cookies and similar technologies. The information we collect includes: Log and Usage Data. Log and usage data is service-related, diagnostic, usage, and performance information our servers automatically collect when you access or use our Services and which we record in log files. Depending on how you interact with us, this log data may include your IP address, device information, browser type, and settings and information about your activity in the Services (such as the date/time stamps associated with your usage, pages and files viewed, searches, and other actions you take such as which features you use), device event information (such as system activity, error reports (sometimes called 'crash dumps'), and hardware settings). Device Data. We collect device data such as information about your computer, phone, tablet, or other device you use to access the Services. Depending on the device used, this device data may include information such as your IP address (or proxy server), device and application identification numbers, location, browser type, hardware model, Internet service provider and/or mobile carrier, operating system, and system configuration information. Location Data. We collect location data such as information about your device's location, which can be either precise or imprecise. How much information we collect depends on the type and settings of the device you use to access the Services. For example, we may use GPS and other technologies to collect geolocation data that tells us your current location (based on your IP address). You can opt out of allowing us to collect this information either by refusing access to the information or by disabling your Location setting on your device. However, if you choose to opt out, you may not be able to use certain aspects of the Services. ​ 2. HOW DO WE PROCESS YOUR INFORMATION? In Short: We process your information to provide, improve, and administer our Services, communicate with you, for security and fraud prevention, and to comply with law. We may also process your information for other purposes with your consent. We process your personal information for a variety of reasons, depending on how you interact with our Services, including: To facilitate account creation and authentication and otherwise manage user accounts. We may process your information so you can create and log in to your account, as well as keep your account in working order. To deliver and facilitate delivery of services to the user. We may process your information to provide you with the requested service. To respond to user inquiries/offer support to users. We may process your information to respond to your inquiries and solve any potential issues you might have with the requested service. To send administrative information to you. We may process your information to send you details about our products and services, changes to our terms and policies, and other similar information. To fulfil and manage your orders. We may process your information to fulfil and manage your orders, payments, returns, and exchanges made through the Services. To request feedback. We may process your information when necessary to request feedback and to contact you about your use of our Services. To send you marketing and promotional communications. We may process the personal information you send to us for our marketing purposes, if this is in accordance with your marketing preferences. You can opt out of our marketing emails at any time. For more information, see 'WHAT ARE YOUR PRIVACY RIGHTS?' below). To deliver targeted advertising to you. We may process your information to develop and display personalised content and advertising tailored to your interests, location, and more. To protect our Services. We may process your information as part of our efforts to keep our Services safe and secure, including fraud monitoring and prevention. To identify usage trends. We may process information about how you use our Services to better understand how they are being used so we can improve them. To determine the effectiveness of our marketing and promotional campaigns. We may process your information to better understand how to provide marketing and promotional campaigns that are most relevant to you. To save or protect an individual's vital interest. We may process your information when necessary to save or protect an individual’s vital interest, such as to prevent harm. ​ 3. WHAT LEGAL BASES DO WE RELY ON TO PROCESS YOUR INFORMATION? In Short: We only process your personal information when we believe it is necessary and we have a valid legal reason (i.e. legal basis) to do so under applicable law, like with your consent, to comply with laws, to provide you with services to enter into or fulfil our contractual obligations, to protect your rights, or to fulfil our legitimate business interests. If you are located in the EU or UK, this section applies to you. The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and UK GDPR require us to explain the valid legal bases we rely on in order to process your personal information. As such, we may rely on the following legal bases to process your personal information: ​ Consent. We may process your information if you have given us permission (i.e. consent) to use your personal information for a specific purpose. You can withdraw your consent at any time. Click here to learn more. Performance of a Contract. We may process your personal information when we believe it is necessary to fulfil our contractual obligations to you, including providing our Services or at your request prior to entering into a contract with you. Legitimate Interests. We may process your information when we believe it is reasonably necessary to achieve our legitimate business interests and those interests do not outweigh your interests and fundamental rights and freedoms. For example, we may process your personal information for some of the purposes described in order to: Send users information about special offers and discounts on our products and services Develop and display personalised and relevant advertising content for our users Analyse how our Services are used so we can improve them to engage and retain users Support our marketing activities Diagnose problems and/or prevent fraudulent activities Understand how our users use our products and services so we can improve user experience Legal Obligations. We may process your information where we believe it is necessary for compliance with our legal obligations, such as to cooperate with a law enforcement body or regulatory agency, exercise or defend our legal rights, or disclose your information as evidence in litigation in which we are involved. Vital Interests. We may process your information where we believe it is necessary to protect your vital interests or the vital interests of a third party, such as situations involving potential threats to the safety of any person. In legal terms, we are generally the 'data controller' under European data protection laws of the personal information described in this privacy notice, since we determine the means and/or purposes of the data processing we perform. This privacy notice does not apply to the personal information we process as a 'data processor' on behalf of our customers. In those situations, the customer that we provide services to and with whom we have entered into a data processing agreement is the 'data controller' responsible for your personal information, and we merely process your information on their behalf in accordance with your instructions. If you want to know more about our customers' privacy practices, you should read their privacy policies and direct any questions you have to them. If you are located in Canada, this section applies to you. ​ We may process your information if you have given us specific permission (i.e. express consent) to use your personal information for a specific purpose, or in situations where your permission can be inferred (i.e. implied consent). You can withdraw your consent at any time. In some exceptional cases, we may be legally permitted under applicable law to process your information without your consent, including, for example: If collection is clearly in the interests of an individual and consent cannot be obtained in a timely way For investigations and fraud detection and prevention For business transactions provided certain conditions are met If it is contained in a witness statement and the collection is necessary to assess, process, or settle an insurance claim For identifying injured, ill, or deceased persons and communicating with next of kin If we have reasonable grounds to believe an individual has been, is, or may be victim of financial abuse If it is reasonable to expect collection and use with consent would compromise the availability or the accuracy of the information and the collection is reasonable for purposes related to investigating a breach of an agreement or a contravention of the laws of Canada or a province If disclosure is required to comply with a subpoena, warrant, court order, or rules of the court relating to the production of records If it was produced by an individual in the course of their employment, business, or profession and the collection is consistent with the purposes for which the information was produced If the collection is solely for journalistic, artistic, or literary purposes If the information is publicly available and is specified by the regulations ​ 4. WHEN AND WITH WHOM DO WE SHARE YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION? In Short: We may share information in specific situations described in this section and/or with the following third parties. Vendors, Consultants, and Other Third-Party Service Providers. We may share your data with third-party vendors, service providers, contractors, or agents ('third parties ') who perform services for us or on our behalf and require access to such information to do that work. We have contracts in place with our third parties, which are designed to help safeguard your personal information. This means that they cannot do anything with your personal information unless we have instructed them to do it. They will also not share your personal information with any organisation apart from us. They also commit to protect the data they hold on our behalf and to retain it for the period we instruct. The third parties we may share personal information with are as follows: Advertising, Direct Marketing, and Lead Generation: Facebook Audience Network and Google AdSense Allow Users to Connect to Their Third-Party Accounts: Facebook account Content Optimisation: Google Site Search and YouTube video embed Data Backup and Security: Google Drive Backup Functionality and Infrastructure Optimisation: Termly.io Invoice and Billing: Stripe, Apple Pay and Wix Payments Printing and Dropshipping: Prodigi Social Media Sharing and Advertising: Facebook advertising and Facebook social plugins User Account Registration and Authentication: Facebook Login Web and Mobile Analytics: Google Analytics and Google Ads Website Hosting: Wix We also may need to share your personal information in the following situations: Business Transfers. We may share or transfer your information in connection with, or during negotiations of, any merger, sale of company assets, financing, or acquisition of all or a portion of our business to another company. When we use Google Maps Platform APIs. We may share your information with certain Google Maps Platform APIs (e.g. Google Maps API, Places API). To find out more about Google’s Privacy Policy, please refer to this link . ​ 5. DO WE USE COOKIES AND OTHER TRACKING TECHNOLOGIES? In Short: We may use cookies and other tracking technologies to collect and store your information. We may use cookies and similar tracking technologies (like web beacons and pixels) to access or store information. Specific information about how we use such technologies and how you can refuse certain cookies is set out in our Cookie Notice. ​ 6. HOW DO WE HANDLE YOUR SOCIAL LOGINS? In Short: If you choose to register or log in to our Services using a social media account, we may have access to certain information about you. Our Services offer you the ability to register and log in using your third-party social media account details (like your Facebook or Twitter logins). Where you choose to do this, we will receive certain profile information about you from your social media provider. The profile information we receive may vary depending on the social media provider concerned, but will often include your name, email address, friends list, and profile picture, as well as other information you choose to make public on such a social media platform. ​ We will use the information we receive only for the purposes that are described in this privacy notice or that are otherwise made clear to you on the relevant Services. Please note that we do not control, and are not responsible for, other uses of your personal information by your third-party social media provider. We recommend that you review their privacy notice to understand how they collect, use, and share your personal information, and how you can set your privacy preferences on their sites and apps. ​ 7. IS YOUR INFORMATION TRANSFERRED INTERNATIONALLY? In Short: We may transfer, store, and process your information in countries other than your own. The are located in Austria and United States. If you are accessing our Services from outside the United States, please be aware that your information may be transferred to, stored, and processed by us in our facilities and by those third parties with whom we may share your personal information (see 'WHEN AND WITH WHOM DO WE SHARE YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION?' above), in and other countries. If you are a resident in the European Economic Area (EEA) or United Kingdom (UK), then these countries may not necessarily have data protection laws or other similar laws as comprehensive as those in your country. However, we will take all necessary measures to protect your personal information in accordance with this privacy notice and applicable law. European Commission's Standard Contractual Clauses: We have implemented measures to protect your personal information, including by using the European Commission's Standard Contractual Clauses for transfers of personal information between our company and between us and our third-party providers. These clauses require all recipients to protect all personal information that they process originating from the EEA or UK in accordance with European data protection laws and regulations. Our Standard Contractual Clauses can be provided upon request. We have implemented similar appropriate safeguards with our third-party service providers and partners and further details can be provided upon request. ​ 8. HOW LONG DO WE KEEP YOUR INFORMATION? In Short: We keep your information for as long as necessary to fulfil the purposes outlined in this privacy notice unless otherwise required by law. We will only keep your personal information for as long as it is necessary for the purposes set out in this privacy notice, unless a longer retention period is required or permitted by law (such as tax, accounting, or other legal requirements). No purpose in this notice will require us keeping your personal information for longer than twelve (12) months past the termination of the user's account. When we have no ongoing legitimate business need to process your personal information, we will either delete or anonymise such information, or, if this is not possible (for example, because your personal information has been stored in backup archives), then we will securely store your personal information and isolate it from any further processing until deletion is possible. ​ 9. HOW DO WE KEEP YOUR INFORMATION SAFE? In Short: We aim to protect your personal information through a system of organisational and technical security measures. We have implemented appropriate and reasonable technical and organisational security measures designed to protect the security of any personal information we process. However, despite our safeguards and efforts to secure your information, no electronic transmission over the Internet or information storage technology can be guaranteed to be 100% secure, so we cannot promise or guarantee that hackers, cybercriminals, or other unauthorised third parties will not be able to defeat our security and improperly collect, access, steal, or modify your information. Although we will do our best to protect your personal information, transmission of personal information to and from our Services is at your own risk. You should only access the Services within a secure environment. ​ 10. DO WE COLLECT INFORMATION FROM MINORS? In Short: We do not knowingly collect data from or market to children under 18 years of age. We do not knowingly solicit data from or market to children under 18 years of age. By using the Services, you represent that you are at least 18 or that you are the parent or guardian of such a minor and consent to such minor dependent’s use of the Services. If we learn that personal information from users less than 18 years of age has been collected, we will deactivate the account and take reasonable measures to promptly delete such data from our records. If you become aware of any data we may have collected from children under age 18, please contact us at florentine@inspiredbytantra.com . ​ 11. WHAT ARE YOUR PRIVACY RIGHTS? In Short: In some regions, such as the European Economic Area (EEA), United Kingdom (UK), and Canada, you have rights that allow you greater access to and control over your personal information. You may review, change, or terminate your account at any time. In some regions (like the EEA, UK, and Canada), you have certain rights under applicable data protection laws. These may include the right (i) to request access and obtain a copy of your personal information, (ii) to request rectification or erasure; (iii) to restrict the processing of your personal information; and (iv) if applicable, to data portability. In certain circumstances, you may also have the right to object to the processing of your personal information. You can make such a request by contacting us by using the contact details provided in the section 'HOW CAN YOU CONTACT US ABOUT THIS NOTICE?' below. We will consider and act upon any request in accordance with applicable data protection laws. If you are located in the EEA or UK and you believe we are unlawfully processing your personal information, you also have the right to complain to your local data protection supervisory authority. You can find their contact details here . If you are located in Switzerland, the contact details for the data protection authorities are available here . Withdrawing your consent: If we are relying on your consent to process your personal information, which may be express and/or implied consent depending on the applicable law, you have the right to withdraw your consent at any time. You can withdraw your consent at any time by contacting us by using the contact details provided in the section 'HOW CAN YOU CONTACT US ABOUT THIS NOTICE?' below or updating your preferences. However, please note that this will not affect the lawfulness of the processing before its withdrawal nor, when applicable law allows, will it affect the processing of your personal information conducted in reliance on lawful processing grounds other than consent. Opting out of marketing and promotional communications: You can unsubscribe from our marketing and promotional communications at any time by clicking on the unsubscribe link in the emails that we send, or by contacting us using the details provided in the section 'HOW CAN YOU CONTACT US ABOUT THIS NOTICE?' below. You will then be removed from the marketing lists. However, we may still communicate with you — for example, to send you service-related messages that are necessary for the administration and use of your account, to respond to service requests, or for other non-marketing purposes. Account Information If you would at any time like to review or change the information in your account or terminate your account, you can: ​ Log in to your account settings and update your user account. Contact us at florentine@inspiredbytantra.com Upon your request to terminate your account, we will deactivate or delete your account and information from our active databases. However, we may retain some information in our files to prevent fraud, troubleshoot problems, assist with any investigations, enforce our legal terms and/or comply with applicable legal requirements. Cookies and similar technologies: Most Web browsers are set to accept cookies by default. If you prefer, you can usually choose to set your browser to remove cookies and to reject cookies. If you choose to remove cookies or reject cookies, this could affect certain features or services of our Services. To opt out of interest-based advertising by advertisers on our Services visit http://www.aboutads.info/choices/ . If you have questions or comments about your privacy rights, you may email us at florentine@inspiredbytantra.com . ​ 12. CONTROLS FOR DO-NOT-TRACK FEATURES Most web browsers and some mobile operating systems and mobile applications include a Do-Not-Track ('DNT') feature or setting you can activate to signal your privacy preference not to have data about your online browsing activities monitored and collected. At this stage no uniform technology standard for recognising and implementing DNT signals has been finalised. As such, we do not currently respond to DNT browser signals or any other mechanism that automatically communicates your choice not to be tracked online. If a standard for online tracking is adopted that we must follow in the future, we will inform you about that practice in a revised version of this privacy notice. ​ 13. DO CALIFORNIA RESIDENTS HAVE SPECIFIC PRIVACY RIGHTS? In Short: Yes, if you are a resident of California, you are granted specific rights regarding access to your personal information. California Civil Code Section 1798.83, also known as the 'Shine The Light' law, permits our users who are California residents to request and obtain from us, once a year and free of charge, information about categories of personal information (if any) we disclosed to third parties for direct marketing purposes and the names and addresses of all third parties with which we shared personal information in the immediately preceding calendar year. If you are a California resident and would like to make such a request, please submit your request in writing to us using the contact information provided below. If you are under 18 years of age, reside in California, and have a registered account with Services, you have the right to request removal of unwanted data that you publicly post on the Services. To request removal of such data, please contact us using the contact information provided below and include the email address associated with your account and a statement that you reside in California. We will make sure the data is not publicly displayed on the Services, but please be aware that the data may not be completely or comprehensively removed from all our systems (e.g. backups, etc.). CCPA Privacy Notice The California Code of Regulations defines a 'resident' as: every individual who is in the State of California for other than a temporary or transitory purpose and every individual who is domiciled in the State of California who is outside the State of California for a temporary or transitory purpose All other individuals are defined as 'non-residents'. If this definition of 'resident' applies to you, we must adhere to certain rights and obligations regarding your personal information. What categories of personal information do we collect? We have collected the following categories of personal information in the past twelve (12) months: ​ A. Identifiers (Contact details, such as real name, alias, postal address, telephone or mobile contact number, unique personal identifier, online identifier, Internet Protocol address, email address, and account name): YES B. Personal information categories listed in the California Customer Records statute (Name, contact information, education, employment, employment history, and financial information): NO C. Protected classification characteristics under California or federal law (Gender and date of birth): NO D. Commercial information (Transaction information, purchase history, financial details, and payment information): YES E. Biometric information (Fingerprints and voiceprints): NO F. Internet or other similar network activity (Browsing history, search history, online behaviour, interest data, and interactions with our and other websites, applications, systems, and advertisements): YES G. Geolocation data (Device location): NO H. Audio, electronic, visual, thermal, olfactory, or similar information (Images and audio, video or call recordings created in connection with our business activities): NO I. Professional or employment-related information (Business contact details in order to provide you our Services at a business level or job title, work history, and professional qualifications if you apply for a job with us): NO J. Education Information (Student records and directory information): NO K. Inferences drawn from other personal information (Inferences drawn from any of the collected personal information listed above to create a profile or summary about, for example, an individual’s preferences and characteristics): NO ​ We may also collect other personal information outside of these categories through instances where you interact with us in person, online, or by phone or mail in the context of: ​ Receiving help through our customer support channels; Participation in customer surveys or contests; and Facilitation in the delivery of our Services and to respond to your inquiries. How do we use and share your personal information? Blühendes Leben - Praxis für persönliche Entfaltung e.U. collects and shares your personal information through: • Targeting cookies/Marketing cookies • Social media cookies More information about our data collection and sharing practices can be found in this privacy notice. You may contact us by email at florentine@inspiredbytantra.com , or by referring to the contact details at the bottom of this document. If you are using an authorised agent to exercise your right to opt out we may deny a request if the authorised agent does not submit proof that they have been validly authorised to act on your behalf. Will your information be shared with anyone else? We may disclose your personal information with our service providers pursuant to a written contract between us and each service provider. Each service provider is a for-profit entity that processes the information on our behalf. We may use your personal information for our own business purposes, such as for undertaking internal research for technological development and demonstration. This is not considered to be 'selling' of your personal information. Blühendes Leben - Praxis für persönliche Entfaltung e.U. has not sold any personal information to third parties for a business or commercial purpose in the preceding twelve (12) months. Blühendes Leben - Praxis für persönliche Entfaltung e.U. has disclosed the following categories of personal information to third parties for a business or commercial purpose in the preceding twelve (12) months: The categories of third parties to whom we disclosed personal information for a business or commercial purpose can be found under 'WHEN AND WITH WHOM DO WE SHARE YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION?'. Your rights with respect to your personal data Right to request deletion of the data — Request to delete You can ask for the deletion of your personal information. If you ask us to delete your personal information, we will respect your request and delete your personal information, subject to certain exceptions provided by law, such as (but not limited to) the exercise by another consumer of his or her right to free speech, our compliance requirements resulting from a legal obligation, or any processing that may be required to protect against illegal activities. Right to be informed — Request to know Depending on the circumstances, you have a right to know: whether we collect and use your personal information; the categories of personal information that we collect; the purposes for which the collected personal information is used; whether we sell your personal information to third parties; the categories of personal information that we sold or disclosed for a business purpose; the categories of third parties to whom the personal information was sold or disclosed for a business purpose; and the business or commercial purpose for collecting or selling personal information. In accordance with applicable law, we are not obligated to provide or delete consumer information that is de-identified in response to a consumer request or to re-identify individual data to verify a consumer request. Right to Non-Discrimination for the Exercise of a Consumer’s Privacy Rights We will not discriminate against you if you exercise your privacy rights. Verification process Upon receiving your request, we will need to verify your identity to determine you are the same person about whom we have the information in our system. These verification efforts require us to ask you to provide information so that we can match it with information you have previously provided us. For instance, depending on the type of request you submit, we may ask you to provide certain information so that we can match the information you provide with the information we already have on file, or we may contact you through a communication method (e.g. phone or email) that you have previously provided to us. We may also use other verification methods as the circumstances dictate. We will only use personal information provided in your request to verify your identity or authority to make the request. To the extent possible, we will avoid requesting additional information from you for the purposes of verification. However, if we cannot verify your identity from the information already maintained by us, we may request that you provide additional information for the purposes of verifying your identity and for security or fraud-prevention purposes. We will delete such additionally provided information as soon as we finish verifying you. Other privacy rights You may object to the processing of your personal information. You may request correction of your personal data if it is incorrect or no longer relevant, or ask to restrict the processing of the information. You can designate an authorised agent to make a request under the CCPA on your behalf. We may deny a request from an authorised agent that does not submit proof that they have been validly authorised to act on your behalf in accordance with the CCPA. You may request to opt out from future selling of your personal information to third parties. Upon receiving an opt-out request, we will act upon the request as soon as feasibly possible, but no later than fifteen (15) days from the date of the request submission. To exercise these rights, you can contact us by email at florentine@inspiredbytantra.com , or by referring to the contact details at the bottom of this document. If you have a complaint about how we handle your data, we would like to hear from you. ​ 14. DO WE MAKE UPDATES TO THIS NOTICE? In Short: Yes, we will update this notice as necessary to stay compliant with relevant laws. We may update this privacy notice from time to time. The updated version will be indicated by an updated 'Revised' date and the updated version will be effective as soon as it is accessible. If we make material changes to this privacy notice, we may notify you either by prominently posting a notice of such changes or by directly sending you a notification. We encourage you to review this privacy notice frequently to be informed of how we are protecting your information. ​ 15. HOW CAN YOU CONTACT US ABOUT THIS NOTICE? If you have questions or comments about this notice, you may email us at florentine@inspiredbytantra.com or by post to: Blühendes Leben - Praxis für persönliche Entfaltung e.U. Lerchenfelderstr 49/12 1070 Vienna Austria ​ If you are a resident in the European Economic Area, the 'data controller' of your personal information is Blühendes Leben - Praxis für persönliche Entfaltung e.U.. Blühendes Leben - Praxis für persönliche Entfaltung e.U. has appointed Florentine Faltin to be its representative in the EEA. You can contact them directly regarding the processing of your information by Blühendes Leben - Praxis für persönliche Entfaltung e.U., by email at florentine@inspiredbytantra.com , by visiting http://www.inspiredbytantra.com , by phone at +43 676 3896388, or by post to: ​ Lerchenfelderstr 49/12 1070 Vienna Austria 16. HOW CAN YOU REVIEW, UPDATE, OR DELETE THE DATA WE COLLECT FROM YOU? Based on the applicable laws of your country, you may have the right to request access to the personal information we collect from you, change that information, or delete it. To request to review, update, or delete your personal information, please visit: https://www.inspiredbytantra.com/contact . ​ Last updated December 07, 2022 This privacy policy was created using Termly's Privacy Policy Generator .

Inspiration Throughout the ages, masters of the tantrik tradition and awakened beings of all walks of life have captured their experience of awakening and the awakened state in poetry and other art forms. Many of the pictures below are based on these - highly evocative - works of art. Others explore experiences I have had in contemplation and practice. ​ May they inspire you too! ​ These are mostly new works, often connected to my practice. Some of them will be available as fine art prints, postcards or on canvas in the shop shortly, so do let me know which ones you like most! Back Main Shop Next

eGift Card €15 You can't go wrong with a gift card. Choose an amount and write a personalized message to make this gift your own. ... Read more Amount €15 €25 €50 €100 €150 €200 €500 Other amount Quantity Buy Now Gift Card Terms & Conditions You may redeem the inspiredbytantra gift card for any products purchased only at the time of payment on an item at www.inspiredbytantra.com . The value on the inspiredbytantra gift card will not be replaced if the gift card is lost, stolen, destroyed, altered or used without your permission, unless you can provide the gift card coupon code. Replacement value will be the value of the inspiredbytantra gift card at the time you report the loss, theft or unauthorized use. Except where required by law, the inspiredbytantra gift card will not be exchanged for cash. The gift card is non-refundable. Use of this inspiredbytantra gift card constitutes acceptance of these terms and conditions. Your gift card has no expiration date until its value is 100% used at which point the coupon code will be invalidated but stored for one month past the final use of the card. There are no service fees for use of the card.