TANTRA 112

Bestselling author and sanskritist Dr. Hareesh Wallis had finished his translation of the revered 9th-century yogic practice guide, the Vijñana-bhairava-tantra, and wanted to build an app to bring the text to life. It is an influential catalogue of 112 practices, radical at the time, and still today. Many of the practices guide you to inner stillness on your meditation cushion, but just as many invite you to find that stillness out in the world—eating a meal, watching dappled light, or wandering until you collapse, all with intensified presence.

We designed a new learning path through all of the 112 practices, designed to support a consistent daily routine. Each of the practices were categorized by where and how they should be done—many can just be done seated in silence, but the transgressive nature of the text means a large amount break that pattern, and setting expectations for so many varied formats for an audience maybe more used to a predicable and controlled Duolingo-like experience was challenging, but has been well received by long-term practitioners and newbies alike.

I built the app with Expo and React Native for iOS and Android. I designed the interface, did mockups, and prototyped with Figma, and illustrated each of the 112 practices with Midjourney. Additionally, I conducted user testing, and iterated on the design based on feedback.

The app is currently in a closed alpha testing, and will be avaible in beta this August, with a launch to the public in Fall 2025. Sign up for pre-release access here.