Join Us

Admission and Initiation

We don’t want to be "gatekeepy" however, we want to maintain a safe environment for our members – in particular from men who do not have a genuine interest in our religious traditions, but aim to use our community to pick-up women because of western stereotypes of tantra.


To be invited to a kula, an existing kula member must extend an invitation to you and believe that you have a genuine interest in learning.

All we ask is that you use your best judgment when inviting people.

As an informal rule we ask for the unanimous consent of all other members of a kula before inviting someone new.

Affirmations and Agreements

Upon invitation to join, one must affirm that following:

  • One must be a feminist. Feminism is the belief in equity for EVERYONE in all aspects of life, including economic, cultural, legal, political, access to resources, etc.
    It emphasizes women because women have been systematically disenfranchised by patriarchal ideas that came to take over and dominate our world, mass culture and the systems that govern us.

  • One must support collective liberation. This can most simply be defined as one seeking equity, justice and liberation for all. Equity is striving and fighting for equal rights and opportunity. Justice is striving and fighting for current and past injustices to be redressed.
    Liberation is freedom - the freedom for one to live free from material want.


In order to help create the supportive environments we yearn for, we have created these agreements for all who join us at a Shakti Kula:


[Specific Agreements for Men]

  • Men, you are likely because of your privilege and resulting experiences in life used to vocalizing your opinions without any kind of reflection. Practice listening and reflection.

  • Men, because of your privilege and the resulting experiences in life, take up significantly more time talking when in groups. Learn to give more space so others can speak.


[Agreements for All]

  • treat others the way they want to be treated

  • Assume Positive Intent (API) – not everyone comes in with the same set of experiences and knowledge, so assume that people have good intent. Please have positive intent yourself, and be accountable for the impact of your actions and words as well.

  • Assume discretion/confidentiality – share lessons learned; don’t share names and identifiers

  • “don’t yuck my yum” / “don’t giggle my wiggle” - people have different tastes and preferences. avoid statements such as “i hate that” or “eww!”
    we all have different experiences and struggles.

  • no shaming and/or belittling each other and ourselves

  • use “I” statements – speak from your own experiences rather than generalizing

  • self-care: give care to ourselves, however that may be

    • take breaks if needed

    • pass on/delegate responsibilities if needed

    • saying yes and no when we mean it

    • asserting healthy boundaries

  • This is not the place to try and pick-up sexual partners.

  • Please refrain from making comments about others' physical appearance.