~ 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.

INSPIRED BY TANTRA ARTWORK BASED ON CLASSICAL TANTRA, CREATED USING AI DIGITAL ART and EXCLUSIVE FINE ART PRINTS EXPLORE ART HERE Join the mailing list! Yes, I want to be the first to know when new pictures and blog posts are available! Subscribe Thanks for subscribing!

Welcome! My name is Florentine. Here, I explore ways of making teachings and poetry of Classical Tantra come to life. I transform ancient verses into modern digital art and offer them to you as high-quality fine art and canvas prints so they may infuse your home, practice space or yoga studio with beauty and inspiration. In my blog, I share some of the source texts and my musings on various aspects of spiritual life. I'd be honored to have you join me! Waking up to my true nature is what inspires me most in life. I meditate, contemplate and infuse my daily life with the teachings of Classical Non-dual Shaiva Tantra. This Indian tradition with age-old lineages of transmission has provided guidance to many on their path of awakening. It is rich in classical Sanskrit texts that describe the awakening process and show practitioners a path so they may experience it for themselves. These texts are the basis for the artwork presented here. I explore them in contemplation and practice, then read them to AI image generators and play with them until the result feels right: until the feeling I get from looking at the image is like the feeling I get when reading the text. I strive to bring to life texts that inspire me, to create images that transport the many layers of meanings that are present in the original Sanskrit, to create beauty. I offer you these images out of love and the wish to share the joy and inspiration they bring. May they bring beauty to your life and inspire you on your path. May you be blessed, and may we all be free!

Imprint Blühendes Leben – Praxis für persönliche Entfaltung e.U. Florentine Faltin Lerchenfelderstrasse 49/12 1070 Vienna Austria florentine@bluehendesleben.at florentine@inspiredbytantra.com +43 676 3896388 VAT-number: ATU78767906 Trade register number: 529140y Commercial Court: Vienna Commercial Court (Handesgericht Wien) Type of trade: Free trade – commercial trade, with the exception of regulated commercial trade and commercial agent Regulatory authority/trade authority: Municipal District Office in the 6th/7th District, Vienna Member of the Austrian Economic Chamber: Distribution, online and general trade, Landesgremium Wien Applicable legislation and access to professional law: Industrial code: www.ris.bka.gv.at Our commercial activity: Online trade in artworks Copyright for design, text, photos and images: Florentine Faltin, www.inspiredbytantra.com The responsibility of the aforementioned shop operator applies above all and in particular to all photos and photo motifs published in this shop as well as to the visual appearance of the shop. Contact Us Liability for contents and links Despite careful control of the contents, we do not assume any liability for the contents behind external links. The operators of the linked pages are solely responsible for their content. As the operator, we are responsible for our own content on these pages in accordance with general laws. However, we are not obliged to monitor or research transmitted or stored third-party information that indicates illegal activities. Information on online dispute resolution The European Commission provides a platform for online dispute resolution (OS), which you can find here: https://ec.europa.eu/consumers/odr . Consumers have the possibility to use this platform for the settlement of their disputes. We are not obliged or prepared to enter into dispute resolution in front of a consumer arbitration board.