Sanskrit literature can be classified under six orthodox heads and four secular heads. They are: (i) Sruti, (ii) Smriti, (iii) Itihasa, (iv) Purana, (v) Agama, and (vi) Darsana; and (i) Subhashita, (ii) Kavya, (iii) Nataka and, (iv) Alankara.

Mahanirvana, Kularnava, Kulasara, Prapanchasara, Tantraraja, Rudra Yamala, Brahma Yamala, Vishnu Yamala, and Todala Tantra are the important works. The Agamas teach several occult practices, some of which confer powers, while the others bestow knowledge and freedom. Among the existing books the Mahanirvana Tantra is the most famous. The main points to emphasise here are the following: the measuring and tracing of the mandala is performed using impure substances, befitting a transgressive Bhairava-tantra; the core pantheon is located on a lotus in the centre around which an intricate pattern of eight passageways (vithi) is to be constructed, with their open gates placed in. The Brahmayamala Tantra or Picumata, Volume II. The Religious Observances and Sexual Rituals of the Tantric Practitioner, Chapters 3, 21, and 45. Editor(s): Csaba Kiss. The main points to emphasise here are the following: the measuring and tracing of the mandala is performed using impure substances, befitting a transgressive Bhairava-tantra; the core pantheon is located on a lotus in the centre around which an intricate pattern of eight passageways (vithi) is to be constructed, with their open gates placed in. Jun 24, 2019 Brahma Yamala Tantra Pdf. Sanskrit Texts and Stotras. Study Sanskrit, read Sanskrit texts, listen to Vedic pundits chant, or read Sanksrit humor. Brahma Yamala Tantra Pdf. Rudrayamala Uttarakhanda. A Yamala is a different class of text. This analysis of the contents is of a tantra given.

The Agamas are theological treatises and practical manuals of divine worship. The Agamas include Tantras, Mantras, and Yantras. These are treatises explaining the external worship of God, in idols, temples, etc. All the Agamas treat of (i) Jnana or Knowledge, (ii) Yoga or concentration, (iii) Kriya or making, and (iv) Charya or doing. They also give elaborate details about the ontology, cosmology, liberation, devotion, meditation, philosophy of Mantras, mystic diagrams, charms and spells, temple-building, image-making, domestic observances, social rules, and public festivals.

The Agamas are divided into three sections: the Vaishnava, the Saiva, and the Sakta. The three chief sects of Hinduism, viz., Vaishnavism, Saivism, and Saktism, base their doctrines and dogmas on their respective Agamas. The Vaishnava Agamas or Pancharatra Agamas glorify God as Vishnu. The Saiva Agamas glorify God as Siva and have given rise to an important school of philosophy known as Saiva Siddhanta. The Sakta Agamas or Tantras glorify God as the Mother of the world under one of the many names of Devi. The Agamas do not derive their authority from the Vedas, but they are not antagonistic to them. They are all Vedic in spirit and character. That is the reason why they are regarded as authoritative.

The Tantra Agamas belong to the Sakta cult [Editor: cult means 'worship,' also 'a particular form of worship,' from Fr. culte, from L. cultus 'care, cultivation, worship,']. They glorify Sakti as the World-Mother. They dwell on the Sakti (energy) aspect of God and prescribe numerous courses of ritualistic worship of Divine Mother in various forms. There are seventy-seven Agamas. These are very much like the Puranas in some respects. The texts are usually in the form of dialogues between Siva and Parvati. In some of these, Siva answers the questions put by Parvati and in others Parvati answers, Siva questioning. Mahanirvana, Kularnava, Kulasara, Prapanchasara, Tantraraja, Rudra Yamala, Brahma Yamala, Vishnu Yamala, and Todala Tantra are the important works. The Agamas teach several occult practices, some of which confer powers, while the others bestow knowledge and freedom. Among the existing books the Mahanirvana Tantra is the most famous.

Tantra Yoga had been one of the potent powers for the spiritual regeneration of the Hindus. When practised by the ignorant, unenlightened, and unqualified persons, it has led to certain abuses; and there is no denying that some degraded forms of Saktism have sought nothing but magic, immorality, and occult powers. An example of the perverted expression of the truth, a travesty of the original practices, is the theory of the five Makaras (Pancha Makaras);-Madya or wine, Mamsa or flesh, Matsya or fish, Mudra or symbolical acts, and Maithuna or coition. The esoteric meaning of these five Makaras is: 'Kill egoism, control flesh, drink the wine of God-intoxication, and have union with Lord Siva'.

Tantra explains (Tanoti) in great detail the knowledge concerning Tattva (Truth or Brahman) and Mantra (mystic syllables). It saves (Trayate). Hence it is called Tantra.

The Tantras are not books of sorcery, witchcraft, magic spells, and mysterious formulae. They are wonderful scriptures. All persons without the distinctions of caste, creed, or colour may draw inspiration from them and attain spiritual strength, wisdom, and eternal bliss. Mahanirvana and Kularnava Tantras are the important books in Tantra Sastra. Yoga Kundalini Upanishad of Krishna Yajurveda, Jabala Darsana, Trisikha Brahmana, and Varaha Upanishad are useful for getting knowledge of Kundalini Sakti and the methods to awaken it and take it to Sahasrara Chakra at the crown of the head.

The Tantra is, in some of its aspects, a secret doctrine. It is a Gupta Vidya. You cannot learn it from the study of books. You will have to get the knowledge and practice from the practical Tantrikas, the Tantric Acharyas [accomplished aspirants] and Gurus who hold the key to it. The Tantric student must be endowed with purity, faith, devotion, dedication to Guru, dispassion, humility, courage, cosmic love, truthfulness, non-covetousness, and contentment. Absence of these qualities in the practitioner means a gross abuse of Saktism.

The Sakti Tantra is Advaita Vada. It proclaims that Paramatman (Supreme Soul) and Jivatman (individual soul) are one. The Saktas accept the Vedas as the basic scriptures. They recognise the Sakta-Tantras as texts expounding the means to attain the goal set forth in the Vedas.

Tantra Yoga lays special emphasis on the development of the powers latent in the six Chakras, from Muladhara to Ajna. Kundalini Yoga actually belongs to Tantric Sadhana which gives a detailed description about this serpent-power and the Chakras (plexus). Entire Tantric Sadhana aims at awakening Kundalini, and making her to unite with Lord Sadasiva, in the Sahasrara Chakra. Methods adopted to achieve this end in Tantric Sadhana are Japa of the Name of the Mother, prayer, and various rituals.

Yoga should be learnt from a Guru (spiritual preceptor). And this is true all the more in the case of Tantra Yoga. It is the Guru who will recognise the class to which the aspirant belongs and prescribe suitable Sadhana.

Brahma

The Guru is none other than the Supreme Divine Mother Herself, descended into the world in order to elevate the aspirant. As one lamp is lit at the flame of another, so the divine Sakti consisting of Mantra is communicated from Guru to the disciple. The disciple fasts, observes Brahmacharya, and gets the Mantra from the Guru.

Initiation tears the veil of mystery and enables the disciple to grasp the hidden truth behind scriptures' texts. These are generally veiled in mystic language. You cannot understand them by self-study. Self-study will only lead you to greater ignorance. The Guru only will give you, by Diksha (initiation), the right perspective in which to study the scriptures and practise Yoga.

The qualifications of the disciple are purity, faith, devotion, dispassion, truthfulness, and control of the senses. He should be intelligent and a believer in Vedas. He must abstain from injury to all beings. He must be vigilant, diligent, patient, and persevering. He must be ever doing good to all. All Sadhana should be done under the personal direction of a Guru or spiritual teacher.

Bhuta Suddhi is an important Tantric rite. It means purification of the five elements of which the body is composed. The Sadhaka (aspirant) dissolves the sinful body and makes a new divine body. He infuses into the body the life of the Devi.

Nyasa is a very important and powerful Tantric rite. It is placing of the tips of the fingers of the right hand on various parts of the body, accompanied by Mantra.

In Kavacha the one Brahman is invoked by different names in order to protect different parts of the body. For example, Parabrahman is thought of as in the Sahasrara Padma in the head. The Supreme Lord is meditated upon in the heart. Protector of the world, Vishnu is invoked to protect the throat, so that the aspirant may utter the Mantras of his Ishta Devata.

Mudra is ritual of manual gestures. Mudra gives pleasure to the Devatas. There are 108 Mudras. In welcoming (Avahana) the Devata an appropriate gesture is made. In making offering (Arghya) Matsya Mudra is made. The right hand is placed on the back of the left and the two thumbs are extended finlike on each side of the hands. Similarly, there are Mudras for the various acts done during the worship.

Yantra takes the place of the image. It is an object of worship. Yantra is a diagram, drawn on paper. It is engraved on a metal sheet also. A Yantra is appropriated to a specific Devata only. Various Yantras are peculiar to each Devata. They are various designs according to the object of worship. Yantra is the body of the Devata. All the Yantras have a common edging called Bhupura. They have a quadrangular figure with four doors, which encloses and separates the Yantra from the external world.

The Sadhaka first meditates upon the Devata or Deity and then arouses the Devata in himself. He then communicates the Divine presence thus aroused to the Yantra. When the Devata has been invoked into the Yantra by the appropriate Mantra, the vital airs (Prana) of the Devata are infused therein by the Pranapratishtha ceremony. The Devata is thereby installed in the Yantra. The materials used or acts done in Puja are called Upachara. They are sixteen in number, viz., (1) Asana (seating of the Devata); (2) Svagata (welcoming of the Devata); (3) Padya (water for washing the feet); (4) Arghya (water for ablution); (5) Achamana (water for sipping); (6) Madhuparka (honey, ghee, milk, and curd); (7) Snana (bath); (8) Vastra (cloth); (9) Abharana (jewels); (10) Gandha (perfume); (11) Pashpa (flowers); (12) Dhupa (incense); (13) Dipa (light); (14) Naivedya (food) and Tambulam (betel); (15) Nirajana (Arati); and (16) Vandana (prostration and prayer).

Sadhakas are of three kinds, viz., Pasu (animalistic), Vira (valorous), and Divya (divine).

The Pancha Tattva is essential for the worship of Sakti. The Pancha Tattvas are wine (Madya), meat (Mamsa), fish (Matsya), parched cereal (Mudra) and sexual union (Maithuna). As they all commence with the letter M, they are vulgarly called Pancha-ma-kara or five M's. The Pancha Tattvas stand for drinking, eating and propagation. The Pancha Tattvas, the five elements of worship destroy great sins, Maha-pataka-nasanam.

The Pancha Tattvas have not always their literal meaning. The meaning differs according as they refer to the Tamasic (Pasu), Rajasic (Vira) or Sattvic (Divya) Sadhanas respectively.

Wine may be wine; or it may be coconut water or it may mean God-intoxication or the intoxicating knowledge of Brahman or the Absolute. Wine is a symbol to denote the Supreme, eternal Bliss of Yoga knowledge, or knowledge of Atman (Atma-jnana).

The union of Siva and Sakti in the upper brain centre known as Sahasrara or thousand-petalled lotus is Maithuna.

Mamsa (meat) is the act by which the aspirant consecrates all his actions to the Lord.

Matsya (fish) is that Sattvic knowledge by which the Sadhaka sympathises with the pleasure and pain of all beings.

Mudra is the act of abandoning all associations with evil which leads to bondage.

Wine is fire; flesh is air; fish is water; cereal is earth; sexual union [Maithuna] is ether.

Milk, ghee, honey are all substitutes for wine. Salt, ginger, sesamum, white beans, garlic are substitutes for meat. White brinjal, red radish, masur (a kind of grain) and red sesamum are substitutes for fish. Paddy, rice, wheat and grain are Mudra. Offering of flowers with the hands formed with a particular Mudra is Maithuna [pairing, coupling].

The Sadhaka thinks that he has got a Deva body. This is Bhuta- Suddhi. Various Nyasas are performed. Mental worship is performed of the Devi who is thought of as being in red raiment seated on a red lotus. Her dark body is like rain-cloud. Her forehead is shining with the light of the crescent moon. Japa of Mantra is then done. Thereupon there is external worship.

Sexual intercourse by a man with a woman who is not lawful to him is a sin. The Vaidika Dharma is very strict on this point. It forbids not merely actual Maithuna but Ashtanga or eightfold Maithuna namely Smaranam (thinking upon it), Kirtanam (talking of it), Keli (play with women), Prekshanam (making eyes at women), Guhya-bhashanam (talking in private with women), Sankalpa (wish or resolve for sexual union), Adhyavasaya (determination towards it), Kriyanishpatti (actual accomplishment of the sexual act).

A Tantric can have copulation [Maithuna] with his wife. He calls his wife his Shakti. Wife is a house-goddess Griha-lakshmi or Griha-devata united to her husband by the sacramental Samskara of marriage. She should not be regarded as an object of enjoyment. She is his partner in life (Ardhangini). The union of a man and his wife is a veritable sacred scriptural rite.

Tantra Yoga is the saving wisdom. It is the marvellous boat which takes man safely to the other shore of fearlessness, immortality, freedom, and perfection, when practised with understanding under personal guidance of well-established Tantric Guru.

Quoted from 'Bliss Divine' and 'Tantra Yoga, Nada Yoga and Kriya Yoga' by Swami Sivananda.

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Beguiled by false knowledge, certain persons, deprived of the guru-shishya tradition, imagine the nature of Kuladharma according to their own lights. If merely by drinking wine, men were to attain fulfilment, all drunks would attain siddhi. If mere partaking of flesh were to lead to the high state, all carnivores in the world would become eligible for immense merit. If liberation were to be ensured by mere cohabitation with women, all creatures would become liberated by female companionship. Mahadevi, it is not the Kula path that is to be denounced. On the other hand, those deprived of the (Kula) paths should be condemned - Kularnavatantra II, 126-120

The Rudrayamala is used as a source by many other agamas but the original appears to be lost. Strictly speaking, a Yamala is a different class of text, and supposed to pre-date the tantras. However, manuscripts of the Yamala seem to be lost, except as quotations in later works.

This analysis of the contents is of a tantra given the same name, but almost certainly, from internal evidence, not the original text. Although its provenance is unknown, it nevertheless contains a great deal of interesting information and focuses in great detail on the identity of the goddess with Kundalini. Published in a Sanskrit edition by the Vacasampati Press, Calcutta, this work is divided into 66 chapters (patala) of different lengths and written in a simple manner. Here is a digest of its contents (under construction).

Chapter One

The text takes the form of Shiva asking questions and Shakti answering, making this nigama rather than agama form. Another example of this style is found in the undoubtedly old Kulachudamani Tantra. In his form as Bhairava, Shiva opens by saying he has heard many tantras including the Shriyamala, the Vishnuyamala, the Shaktiyamala and the Brahmayamala. Now he wants to hear of the Uttara Khanda (last section) of the Shri Rudrayamala.

Bhairavi replies that she will tell him and proceeds to enumerate the topics. These include Kumari- Lalita sadhana; Khechari, Yakshini and Kanya sadhanas; the vidyas of Unmatta Bhairavi and Kali as well as their sadhanas and a host of other topics of interest to a Shakta such as the Garland of Skulls sadhana, Guhyakali, Kubjika sadhana, Bhadra Kali, Shmashana Kali, &c. &c. She starts with a description of the well-known three types of sadhaka, divya (divine), vira (heroic) and pashu (beastlike).

Chapter 2

Opens with a description of the characteristics of Kulachara. She describes puja to be done when rising, including internal puja related to the chakras. A sadhaka must meditate on the guru on his Shakti at the centre above the head. Other meditations follow related to the other familiar six chakras in the body. The guru should be regarded in the same light as one's father, one's mother. He (or she because a guru may be either in the tantrik tradition) is the devata and is the refuge. After this section, Bhairava asks about the rules relating to initiation (diksha). He wants to know about various chakras employed at initiation time including Kulakula, A-Ka-Da-Ma, the Rashi (12 constellations) chakras, the Kurma (tortoise) chakra and others including Deva, Rinidani and Tara chakra. Initiation is so important that this and the following three chapters are devoted to the subject.

Chapter 3

Bhairavi answers these questions in this chapter and gives a host of rules about initiation into the cult of Shakti, including their shapes and the mantras associated with them. She dilates particularly on the Shiva and Vishnu yantras.

Chapter 4

The subject is continued. Bhairavi now speaks of the Brahma chakra at length. In the remainder of this chapter she speaks of the Rinidani (loss-gain) chakra and then begins to talk about defects some mantras may have.

Chapter 5

Bhairavi discusses how these defects can be removed. After a candidate is initiated, she says the types of dreams will determine whether initiation is successful.

Chapter 6

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Bhairava asks about more information concerning the bhavas. Devi describes the pashu bhava, opening by hailing Shiva as Pashunath, Viranath and Divyanath. She describes the Sushumna Sadhana, performed in the morning. After meditating on the guru, the sadhaka is to meditate on Mahakundalini, who is the self of both inhalation and exhalation, i.e. breath. This Kula Mohini is as bright as millions of suns and moons and gives Mahabuddhi when brought to the 1,000 petalled lotus. She is the form of time and everything else, existing as the Yogini Khechari in the form of the vital breath (vayu). The sadhaka should worship her as showering the body with nectar. Then Devi gives a hymn to Kundalini bestowing siddhi, and called the Kundalikomala Stava. At the close of this chapter, Anandabhairavi talks of the bhavas again and begins to describe the characteristics of the Kumaris (virgins) and how worship varies depending on which class the sadhaka holds.

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Chapter 7

This starts with a description of Kumari Puja. If performed, it is said to remove poverty and illness. The place of puja is either a Mahapitha or a Devi temple. The text lists the different maidens including Nati (actress), Kapaliki, Rajaki, Napita, Gopala, Brahmani, Vaishya, Shudra and Chandala. The girls should be given sweets and other pleasant things and treated as forms of the goddess incarnate. The mantras of the Kumaris are given.

Chapter 8

Continues the topic and deals with recitation of mantra (japa) and sacrifice (homa) to the Kumaris. The hymn to the Kumaris is also given along with details of oblations.

Chapter 9

Gives the Kumari Kavacha (armour) which follows the usual form of these charms, for example: Maharaudri and Aparajita,. protect my throat! The recitation of the armour is said to bring siddhi quickly. It may be written on bhurja (birch) bark and borne on the body, when it will give the practitioner the desired results. The text gives times for doing this including on a Saturday or a Tuesday on the ninth, eighth, fourteenth days of a waning moon or on a full moon day.

Chapter 10

Concludes the subject of the Kumaris. Anandabhairava asks the goddess to tell him about the 1008 names of the Kumaris, which Anandabhairavi proceeds to do. The seer of the names is Vatukabhairava, anushtubh is the metre, Kumara is the devata and the application is success in all mantras. The names follow the order of the 36 consonants of the Sanskrit alphabet. Various results are described depending on the number of days the names are recited.

Chapter 11

Bhairavi opens this chapter by talking, once more, about the three bhavas. She describes the different characteristics of divyas, viras and pashus. The best type of sadhaka is a divya, who obtains the highest siddhi. Both divyas and viras practise using the five tattvas. At the close of this chapter, the Devi lists a series of chakras she will discuss.

Chapters 12,13, 14

She describes the Kamachakra, the Rashichakra, results of the Ajnachakra and the Nakshatra chakra. These include the placing of the letters according to positions of the 12 constellations (the tantriks use a sidereal zodiac) and the 27 nakshatras or lunar mansions. Different letters of the alphabet are placed in the different compartments and the chapters describe the different results obtained by worshipping in these yantras.

Chapter 15

Anandabhairava asks the goddess to tell him about the nature of the Brahmastotra, the Brahmavidya and the macrocosm. (Brahmasharira). This chapter is related to the description of the Ajnachakra. She says that this is like the vital air in the body of Shakti. One should meditate on the Brahmananda in the heart to become a true knower. Shakti is Kundalini Devi, the true form of the mother of the world. The vital breath (of Shakti) pervade the macrocosm, including constellations, nakshatras, and lunar days. Practising according to the rules she describes gives the state of Khechara in one month, a diamond body in two, &c. Eventually a sadhaka becomes one with Supreme Shiva by a knowledge of the vital airs. Shiva asks who is a Vaishnava (follower of Vishnu), who is a Dharmika (a doer of that which is right) and who is a Yogi. The goddess says a Vaishnava is stationed in the Ajna chakra. One who does a sacrifice (a yajnika) is stationed in Brahma consciousness. A Dharmika has realised his oneness with Brahman and is a rejector (tyagi) of both good (dharma) and bad (adharma). One who knows the Brahman is an avadhuta and a yogi, can do as she or he wills and is not restricted by times or any other conditions. He or she is unaffected by results or lack of results. The avadhuta knows the parampada (supreme). Because the avadhuta has realised the supreme nectar of Kundalini in the Ajna Chakra, she or he is praised by Rudra and all the gods. These tantrik precepts show an aversion to the orthodox expression of the Hindu terms as usually applied.

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Chapter 16

Continues the discussion of Ajna Chakra. This is a brief section of only 44 verses (shlokas), continuing the praise of a person who has reached this stage.

Chapter 17

An interesting chapter because it describes the characteristics of the Atharva Veda, to which some tantrik schools ascribe their vedik credentials, and, later on, apparently recommends the adoption of Buddhistic practises (Mahachinachara) to achieve enlightenment.

The goddess first says the Atharva Veda is the essence of all and focuses on the path of Shakti. She describes the Sama Veda as being of the nature of the tamas guna, while the others partake of sattvas and rajas guna. Brahma, Vishnu and Hara are of the nature of rajas, sattvas and tamas while Kundali, associated with the Atharva, is the supreme devata. The text proceeds with a eulogy of the goddess, describing her as the form of knowledge, the supreme aether, and she who gives grace and success on earth. She is Kamarupa in the Muladhara chakra and is always united with Shiva-Kameshvari in the 1,000 petal lotus. Bhairava then wants to know about the different vital breaths in the body. Anandabhairavi speaks about this topic at great length. She describes the pitha Kamarupa as being in the Muladhara, Jalandhara in the heart chakra, Purnagiri is in the throat, Varanasi is in the forehead and Jvalanti is in the (three) eyes. Other locations of the great pithas are given.

The goddess says that the chakras have four, six, 10, 12, 16 and two petals respectively. The Brahmarandhra, at the top of the head, is known as (Mount) Kailasa and is known as the 1,000 petalled lotus and the Great Lotus (mahapadma). Millions of nadis pervade the body. The subtle breaths pervade these. When they are merged together (laya) it brings steadiness of mind using kumbhaka and other methods, again described in some detail.

In verse 108, the tantra begins a remarkable story. It speaks of Vashishta, describing him as being engaged for a long period of time in pursuing sadhana, restraining himself and practising austerities (tapasa). Despite 1,000 years of this, he had not achieved his goal. He had a vision of Sarasvati in which he was told to go to the land of Buddha (buddhadesha), to Mahachina, a non-vedik place, where he would achieve what he wanted.

Going to the region of the Brahmaputra, he discovered hosts of men and women apparently engaged in non-Vedik practises, swilling wine, eating flesh and engaging in sexual intercourse. Engelhard 100 oz silver bar serial number lookup engine. All were naked, their eyes reddened with liquor. Yet all were enlightened. Going to Buddha, Vashishta asked how this could be. Buddha is made to reply: 'Vashishta, listen! I will speak of the highest path of Kula by knowing which a man takes the form of Rudra immediately!' He then speaks of the practice of Mahachinachara. By this method, all the Hindu gods became enlightened. More details of the Mahachinachara come in the Brihadnila Tantra (chapter seven):-

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'Bathing and so forth is done mentally, purifying celestial gaze is done mentally, so too is clothing and recitation of mantra. Resolution (samkalpa) and so forth and puja are also done mentally. All times are good, there is no time that is not good at all. There is no difference between day and night, nor of twilights and great nights. One should do everything mentally, including clothes, seat, place, temple, body, wine. One should never do purifying here and act mentally, free of distinctions. There is no need here for purashcharana (prior actions), nor for considering faults of mantras and so forth. The mantrin who meditates thus obtains the fruit of all that is desired. [VII, 103-107] The Mahachinakrama, it emerges, is sexual intercourse with an initiated Shakti.

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[To be continued - under construction]

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Artwork is © Jan Bailey, 1996-2018. Translations are © Mike Magee 1996-2018. Questions or comments to mike.magee@btinternet.com

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