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of the universe that flows through and composes all of manifestation” while simultaneously embracing material reality, remaining “observant of the world in all of its beauty and all of its ugliness.”9 An image of the lotus is prominently displayed on the lamen of the Ordo Sunyata Vajra (OSV),10 the order from which the practices and teachings of New Aeon Tantra are derived. A brief introduction to the history and work of the OSV may be helpful to those readers who are unfamiliar with it. The Ordo Sunyata Vajra, or Order of the Adamantine Void, was founded in 1999 in the San Francisco Bay Area by Gregory Peters, the author of this book. It began as a sangha, or spiritual community of sorts, with the Diamond Sapphire Gem of Radiant Light11 as its central rite. Regularly occurring celebrations of the Diamond Sapphire were offered in San Francisco and the greater Philadelphia area within a few months; and a number of practices, many of which are published in this book, quickly began to emerge and coalesce into a coherent system. The Ordo Sunyata Vajra has since grown into a full, self-contained magical order with its own set of teachings, practices, and rites, with active satellites spread across the United States and individual members in locations around the world. The Ordo Sunyata Vajra is, first and foremost, a Thelemic organization, but it draws inspiration from Chinese Ch’an Buddhism, Japanese Shingon Buddhism, Tibetan Vajrayana, Taoism, Advaita Vedanta, and Hindu Tantra (particularly the vamamarga12 traditions). The careful reader can easily discern the influence of Shingon in its rituals, for example, and the influence of non-dual traditions such as Ch’an and Advaita Vedanta in its teachings; whereas the Holy Books of Thelema, such as Liber AL vel Legis, Liber Cordis Cincti Serpente (Liber 9. G regory Peters, Stellar Tantra: The Gnosis of the Self (Cupertino, CA: Sunyavada Press, 2009). 10. The lamen can be viewed at http://ordosv.org. 11. See chapter 12 for the script of this ritual. 12. Left-hand path.